We’ll be listening to AI-generated advertisements anytime now, it seems.

This week, we’re bringing you news about Adthos’ recent launch: a platform that uses generative AI to create audio ads. From the scripts to the voiceovers, the ads are entirely AI-generated, though the startup encourages clients to keep a human in the loop to ensure that the ad is of an acceptable quality.

We’ve got that and more, all alongside press releases and blog posts from Centific, XTM, Hanna Interpreting Services, and more, in this week’s recap.

Got news you’d like to share in next week’s Week in Review? Send it over to our editorial team here. 

Adthos uses generative AI to completely automate audio ads (via TechCrunch)

Is it possible that the ads you hear on your morning podcast are entirely AI-generated — from the scripts to the voices reading them?

Probably not yet. But the startup Adthos is working on it — the company recently launched a platform that uses generative AI to create scripts and voiceovers for advertisements. Geared toward small- and medium-sized businesses looking for a DIY approach to advertising, the tool uses GPT-4 to generate scripts and its own text-to-speech tools to create audio ads. When asked about the platform’s potential to harm marketing and advertising agencies, the company’s CEO was frank and to-the-point:

“It will undoubtedly cause jobs to be lost. But the people that prepare and embrace AI will thrive and be more productive,” Raoul Wedel, the company’s CEO, told TechCrunch. “The ones that don’t will be the ones losing jobs.”

Walmart VP confirms retailer is building on GPT-4, says generative AI is ‘as big a shift as mobile’ (via VentureBeat)

Anyone in the United States can tell you just how pervasive Walmart is in the states — and now the company is moving into the territory of generative AI. The company’s vice president of emerging technology told VentureBeat that the technology is bound to “be as big a shift as mobile, in terms of how our customers are going to expect to interact with us.”

So what’s Walmart, of all companies, going to be doing to leverage developments in generative AI? Well, for starters, the company is planning to improve its “Text to Shop” feature, which allows customers to add products to their cart by sending off a simple text message.

English language pushes everyone — even AI chatbots — to improve by adding (via Science Daily)

When somebody tells you to improve something you worked hard on, how might you do that?

If you’re a native English speaker, you might try to add things onto it — at least, that’s what a study recently published in Cognitive Science suggests. In English, the study finds, the concept of “improvement” is more semantically linked to addition, rather than subtraction — that means that in English at least, words and actions that deal with adding, tend to be looked at more positively. It’s a trait that’s even been found in AI chatbots — ask ChatGPT to improve on an outline or essay, and it’ll likely add more topics to include.

“The positive addition bias in the English language is something we should all be aware of,” one of the researchers told Science Daily. “It can influence our decisions and mean we are predisposed to add more layers, more levels, more things when in fact we might actually benefit from removing or simplifying.”

King County Sheriff urged to provide more interpreters for non-English speakers (via KUOW)

Investigators recently urged the Sheriff’s Office in King County, Washington to work on its language access efforts. After a 2022 investigation found that officers used excessive force on an individual with limited English proficiency, an oversight committee implored the office to update its practices with regards to working with interpreters in situations where an individual doesn’t speak English. 

Language Industry Blogs

• Should your digital global marketing efforts be language-led or country-focused? (via Born to be Global)
• The Impact of ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence on Storytelling (via Vistatec)
• Why you can’t afford to ignore Linguistic Validation for patient reported outcomes (via RWS)
• How to Scale Your Business to Languages You Don’t Speak (via BLEND)

Press Releases and Event Recaps

• Centific rises another position higher on Slator’s 2023 language service provider index
• Green Terp launches GT-Loudify, the app-less simultaneous interpretation solution for Microsoft Teams on smartphones
• Woman-owned local business Hanna Interpreting Services named among top 100 industry providers
• Translating Success: How AI is Changing the Enterprise Landscape on 4/11/2023
• Scaling For Success: PGLS Welcomes Three New VPs
• Welocalize strengthens leadership team with Paul Carr, positioning for next era of language services
• MotionPoint taps Stephen Tyler to take AI and website translation at MotionPoint to new heights
• XL8 drives affordable translation and subtitling for FAST channel market
• Mayfair to invest in Jonckers, a leading tech-enabled language services provider to accelerate growth