Artificial intelligence (AI) was once again the talk of Austin as thousands gathered from around the world to attend SXSW 2024. Some argue that it’s our most dangerous invention yet, while optimists say it will usher in a new golden era of productivity and innovation.
While opinions on AI's impact remain divided, the urgency surrounding not just AI but also tech, climate change, misinformation, and the future of media couldn't be clearer.
Futurist Amy Webb sounded the alarm, stressing the need for AI regulations to prevent potential disasters. But amidst the cautionary tales, there's hope that AI breakthroughs could address some of our most pressing global issues. Let’s look at some of the big topics from the week.
AI Anxiety
In 2023, SXSW was marked by a division between AI optimism and AI anxiety. In 2024, the scale tipped over to the anxiety side of the dystopian-utopian spectrum, fueled by rapid advancements outpacing regulation.
Webb described the looming arrival of a new ‘tech supercycle’ merging AI, connected devices, and biotechnology. This tech supercycle, she said, will disrupt just about everything. Webb warned that we must act now to avoid a society resembling dystopia, especially with the rise of organoid intelligence - biological computers made from human brain cells - adding a new layer of ethical complexity. Webb predicted “catastrophic outcomes” if this concentration of power remains with a small group of the elite.
MIT’s Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau echoed these concerns, emphasizing the need for greater attention on issues such as bias, misinformation, sustainability, and ethical supply chains, and less on the 'distracting' dramas between tech leaders. She spotlighted OpenAI's previous exploitation of Kenyan workers, stressing the need for closer scrutiny of the AI economy.
The Battle for Your Face
The need for data to continue fueling AI advancements brings us to our next interconnected trend in the supercycle: connectables and the world of connected devices. Soon, AI will have scraped every inch of data that lives on the internet and will look to new sources such as our offline lives. This is incentivizing big tech in the race to “face supremacy,” which has already begun with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro.
According to Webb, these face computers are not just about facial recognition; they're equipped with advanced eye-tracking technology and Large Action Models (LAM) that will predict behaviors, paving the way for hyper-personalized experiences. She declared that the battle for our face will be the “next stage of capitalism,” adding that we will soon be surrounded by millions of sensors collecting streams of real-life data to fuel the advancement of AI.
The New Goal for Women's Sports
Interest in women’s sports is growing at a meteoric pace. Women’s college basketball, for example, averaged more viewers than the men's side this season. As soon as Caitlin Clark declared for the 2024 WNBA draft, the Indiana Fever, which holds the No. 1 overall pick, sold out their lower bowl in just 15 minutes. Last August, Nebraska volleyball had the largest attendance for a women's sporting event of all time, fitting 92,000 fans inside Memorial Stadium, typically the home of the football team.
Yes, women’s sports has made a huge leap forward, but there’s still more room to grow, WNBA star Sue Bird said. She highlighted the outdated media system, which wasn’t originally designed to support women’s sports as robustly as it does men’s, calling for greater equity of coverage that has traditionally catered to men.
This is why MilkPEP committed to exclusively feature women in its campaigns in 2023 and has now partnered with Vox to launch a dedicated women’s sports section in The Cut. To commemorate the launch, The Cut Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Peoples sat down with three top female athletes to learn about their lives on and off the field: Chloe Kim, an American snowboarder and Olympic gold medalist; Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in history; and Haley Rosen, a former pro soccer player and the CEO and founder of Just Women’s Sports.
Delta Wins for Branded Activation
Brand activations are more than they seem at SXSW; they are a comment on who has capital to play with. From guerilla-style takeovers to large, experiential executions, brands once again pulled out all the stops. So, who stood out in the plethora of sponsored experiences?
Paramount+ returned with its Lodge on Rainey Street this year, showcasing some of its key programming such as Mean Girls and Star Trek. Amazon’s Audible pulled off a carnival-style activation complete with a Ferris wheel, alongside Prime Video’s post-apocalyptic, and impressive, world to promote its new show, Fall Out. Porsche took attendees through a Meow World-inspired car wash, and Shipt sent a giant trolley rolling down the streets of Austin. But Delta was the talk of the town this year, making its first major appearance at SXSW.
From the moment of arrival at the airport in Austin, Delta made its presence felt. This included a Delta Lounge for SXSW badge holders and SkyMiles members, staffed by real Delta flight attendants, which consistently had a line around the corner. As part of this presence, CEO Ed Bastian shared how a people-first approach with both employees and customers took the airline from the brink of bankruptcy to the largest in the US.
"We invest in the culture of our people and we unleash them to do their best in taking care of our customers," Bastian said, detailing the profit-sharing initiative Delta launched for employees that paid out $1.4 billion in 2024.
