my partner and i always discuss the billboards whenever we drive through the city, noticing the new additions and updates and wondering what the companies are even trying to say with each one. your essay is really insightful with pulling together how the billboards are winking, making inside jokes, and vice-signaling in this weird combination of ragebait, humble-brag, sheepishness, self-consciousness/awareness, etc.
Thank you for this article. Your descriptions of the billboards makes me feel sad. Imagine the marketing people deciding to spend this way when the company is trying to figure out its place in the world. And truly, even if the market for (say) large language model AI realizes the expectations of the tech industry, most of these companies will vanish without a trace. In the meantime, so there's so much reckless hope sustaining these ventures.
I agree with you. There is a sense of sheer nihilism and opportunism in those billboards, although unfortunately, they are a part of the Bay Area economy. We really need to challenge ourselves to do better and ask those in marketing to stop capitalizing and feeling good about rage-baiting and deliberate moral ambiguity.
I recently counted seven AI billboards on the eastbound approach to the Bay Bridge, and I probably missed (or misinterpreted) a few more. I also take note of SF Muni bus-shelter ads, like the one I saw last week for ElevenLabs that read "THIS POSTER SOUNDS BETTER IN A BRITISH ACCENT." It's for AI-enabled voices, of course.
my partner and i always discuss the billboards whenever we drive through the city, noticing the new additions and updates and wondering what the companies are even trying to say with each one. your essay is really insightful with pulling together how the billboards are winking, making inside jokes, and vice-signaling in this weird combination of ragebait, humble-brag, sheepishness, self-consciousness/awareness, etc.
Thank you! The terms “humble-brag” and “sheepishness” are incredibly insightful! I can definitely sense the hidden message.
everything about this piece is absolutely brilliant
thank you thank you this really means a lot
Thank you for this article. Your descriptions of the billboards makes me feel sad. Imagine the marketing people deciding to spend this way when the company is trying to figure out its place in the world. And truly, even if the market for (say) large language model AI realizes the expectations of the tech industry, most of these companies will vanish without a trace. In the meantime, so there's so much reckless hope sustaining these ventures.
I agree with you. There is a sense of sheer nihilism and opportunism in those billboards, although unfortunately, they are a part of the Bay Area economy. We really need to challenge ourselves to do better and ask those in marketing to stop capitalizing and feeling good about rage-baiting and deliberate moral ambiguity.
I recently counted seven AI billboards on the eastbound approach to the Bay Bridge, and I probably missed (or misinterpreted) a few more. I also take note of SF Muni bus-shelter ads, like the one I saw last week for ElevenLabs that read "THIS POSTER SOUNDS BETTER IN A BRITISH ACCENT." It's for AI-enabled voices, of course.
ok i need to admit this one is good