Digital Snapshot (AI edition) | March 2025

Welcome to the first ever (and potentially only ever because who knows if I'll have the time / content to do this again) bumper issue of the Digital Snapshot*. This month I had a plethora of links to share and, instead of popping them all in one issue, I thought I'd spread it out.

This bumper issue is focusing on AI, with lots of useful and interesting links relating to AI use, strategy and news within and outside of the sector. AND, whilst I have your attention, why not register your interest for this year's Let's Get Real programme, focusing on (you guessed it) AI? If you want a casual chat about the programme, drop me a line: alec.ward@theaudienceagency.org

*since I took over publishing it.

• Make It Fair is a campaign from the UK Creative Industries which aims to highlight how creative content is at risk of being given away for free to AI firms, as the government proposes weakening copyright law.
• The UK competition watchdog has dropped its Microsoft-OpenAI probe investigating the partnership between Microsoft and the creators of ChatGPT, OpenAI.
• My colleague Stephen Miller has created a summary of the HAMLET project, which is a three-year initiative to bring the benefits of generative AI to the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs). Worth a read!
• An Italian newspaper has claimed to be the first newspaper to publish an entirely AI generated edition.

• This is a great article by Kate Mroczkowski, at Supercool, on balancing the positives of AI against its potential negatives (with a focus on ethics and environment).
• Here are some useful lessons for careful AI adoption.
• Nazma Noor, of Cog Design, has created a reporting dashboard that anyone with a Google Analytics 4 account can use to see how much traffic you're getting from ChatGPT. I've noticed ChatGPT popping up in client GA4 accounts of late, so definitely one to keep an eye on.
• Reddit has published a research paper exploring the challenges of AI adoption, particularly on the effective use of AI by marketers.

• Not sure if it's inspiring, but it's definitely slightly distracting - AI is booming in China, from chatbots to intelligent toys. AI by stealth is only going to increase as its adopted in more aspects of our daily lives. Shielding yourself and colleagues from it will become increasingly difficult in the coming years. Time to get on it.
• 'Chatbots Are Cheating on Their Benchmark Tests'. This article from The Atlantic outlines how the speed of AI progress is slowing down and that some LLM-powered chatbots may already be near their peak.
• 'Semi-autonomous artists can offer society new means of working with AI' - an interesting article on The Art Newspaper about how artists have a history of giving cultural and social relevance to new technology and that AI offers that same potential.

• Global AI Dialogues creates structure for global public input on AI policy and model development. It aims to gather diverse perspectives through demographic data collection and discussions to help inform key decisions, track AI’s impact on society, and ensure inclusive governance.

And that’s all for this edition.

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You can find all past editions of the Digital Snapshot here.