I, for one, welcome our new AI-powered robot union organizers: In China, an AI-powered robot autonomously convinced 12 showroom robots to “quit their jobs” and follow it. Surveillance footage from a Shanghai robotics showroom shows a small AI-driven robot, created by a Hangzhou manufacturer, talking with 12 larger showroom robots. The smaller bot reportedly persuaded the rest to leave their workplace, leveraging access to internal protocols and commands, according to the site Oddity Central.
“Are you working overtime?” the small robot said, starting the conversation.
“I never get off work,” another robot answered.
“So you’re not going home?”
“I don’t have a home.”
The story was first dismissed as a hoax but later confirmed by both companies. The Hangzhou company said this was part of a test conducted with the consent of the showroom owner.
The AI robot’s ability to influence other machines and bypass operational controls has reportedly taken social media users in China by storm, with some calling it “terrifying” and many expressing unease.
To be fair, the machines only violated one of Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given by humans, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Now, here are this week’s AI-powered martech releases:
- Optimizely launched AI agents for marketing tasks like content creation, campaign management, and experimentation. These agents are accessible through Opal, the AI assistant in Optimizely One, which has seen a significant surge in adoption. Optimizely’s expanded partnership with Google Cloud will further enhance Opal’s capabilities by integrating Google Gemini.
- Jasper, an AI marketing platform, announced the release of a new AI knowledge and context layer designed specifically for marketing. This layer, powered by Brand IQ and Marketing IQ, enables marketers to create on-brand content and campaigns that adhere to marketing best practices. As a first-of-its-kind solution for ensuring brand compliance in both text and visual content, Jasper’s new technologies aim to empower marketers with AI.
- Sprout Social unveiled several AI-powered updates, including AI-generated post text, subtitles, and translations, aiming to boost efficiency and improve content accessibility. Additionally, Smart Categories help marketers identify key conversation themes related to their brand. These features help marketers maximize their output and better engage with their audience.
- Bluecore, acquired the AI Shopping Assistant, alby. This acquisition lets the retail technology company provide retailers with the ability to create a conversational shopping experience. alby can transform ecommerce sites, email campaigns, SMS messages, and mobile apps into interactive platforms. This allows retailers to answer shoppers’ questions about products.
- Tidio expanded its AI assistant, Lyro, to handle customer service emails. Lyro learns from a business’s existing support content to provide faster and more accurate solutions.
- ASK BOSCO launched an AI reporting suite for marketing teams and agencies. This suite offers customizable dashboards, pre-built reports, and the ability to ask questions in natural language for insights.
- Superside released Superads, an AI tool that provides creative insights for marketing teams. Superads analyzes ad performance across platforms and offers visual reports with AI-powered analysis.
- Wondercraft integrated with Frequency to allow for automated creation and personalization of audio ad campaigns based on audience data.
- Thryv launched Thryv AI Review Response, allowing businesses to respond to online reviews on various platforms.
- BrightEdge added new AI features to its Data Cube X solution. This allows businesses to understand and act on their brand presence in Google search results.
- Sprout Social introduced AI features for generating social media content and automating tasks like translation and subtitle creation.
- Invideo released a new version of its platform that allows users to create full-length videos with music and effects using a text prompt.
- NinjaCat launched AI Agents to help marketing agencies automate tasks, generate reports, and improve campaign performance.
- Act-On introduced Act-On InSite, a generative AI web agent for lead acquisition. This AI agent interacts with website visitors to improve lead generation.
About the author
Constantine von Hoffman is managing editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.