OpenAI’s recent debut of its GPT-4o large language model technology provided an inadvertent blueprint for many of us to follow in terms of how we conduct and present ourselves.
The company’s setup for their demo of GPT-4o appeared unassuming at first glance. The design of the stage was reminiscent of something from the Dick Cavett show in the 1970s. It also took place inside, where it seemed no more than 30 people or so sat in an audience, occasionally applauding. Mira Murati, Open AI’s chief technology officer, seemed uncertain as she addressed the crowd, and wasn’t quite sure where to look when addressing the audience. That being said, it all felt very human, something that you’re not necessarily expecting when talking about an issue like Artificial Intelligence.
Why did it work? For starters, it helps to have a paradigm-shifting AI technology that can affect almost every aspect of life, but I think that only partially explains why the company’s recent demonstration made such an impression.
OpenAI’s GPT-4o demonstration was streamed live, which isn’t a feat in and of itself, but the company decided to have its employees demonstrate GPT-4o’s features live as well, instead of just throwing to a pre-produced video demonstration, which would have been very easy to do.
The visual of one person under the spotlight, showcasing new operating systems, iMacs, iPods and ultimately the iPhone, stays burned in the minds of many
Instead, Ms Murati introduced OpenAI’s Mark Chen and Barret Zoph, who were equipped with smartphones synced to a larger monitor, and they proceeded to showcase ChatGPT’s newest voice recognition and conversation technology. It wasn’t perfect, and the audio was patchy at times, but make no mistake, the impromptu conversation and back and forth interaction between man and machine was impressive. That portion of the live demonstration, along with dozens of other parts of the demo, were later clipped, shared and reshared by tech enthusiasts and media outlets, racking up millions of views along the way.
To execute this well, I think OpenAI studied carefully from another technology giant, Apple, but not necessarily the current incarnation of Apple. I am, of course, talking about the 1997 to 2011 version of the California-based consumer technology company. Those years provided countless examples of Steve Jobs, who returned to the company after being ousted in 1985, take to the stage in front of various packed auditoriums. The visual of one person under the spotlight, showcasing new operating systems, iMacs, iPods and ultimately the iPhone, stays burned in the minds of many.
The technology, however, I would argue, was only part of what made those product demonstrations work. In hindsight, watching Steve Jobs on stage, those appearances look less like keynote addresses and more like tightrope walks.
During the January 9, 2007 event, where Apple introduced the iPhone for the first time, Jobs even went as far as making a crank-call to Starbucks, where he proceeded to joke and order 4,000 lattes for the audience that was watching him. Mind you, this was on an unproven and untested iPhone device. It worked, there was ample laughter from the audience, and billions of iPhones later, the memory of that moment lives on.
Oddly enough, Apple in recent years has opted for a slightly different approach. Most of the company’s big announcements have been carefully executed with edited videos featuring a fleet of Apple employees demonstrating products and services. The pandemic kicked off the trend of these highly produced product demonstration videos, and I should point out that Apple is not alone in this approach, but I do think that technology companies grew very attached to this level of control even after the pandemic subsided.
Even Alphabet-owned Google, which had its own impressive debut of new AI products at its annual developer conference, opted for showing videos of the products. While chief executive Sundar Pichai was indeed live in front of an audience, right behind him was a screen where the pre-produced videos played.
Simply put, when the product demonstrations are executed with pre-produced videos, you don’t have to worry about potentially disastrous results.
What technology companies seem to be forgetting, however, is that we’re all human, and technical glitches happen. Within reason, such glitches are rarely fatal.
Back in 1998, when Microsoft’s then chief executive Bill Gates was trying to demonstrate the new plug and play features of Windows 98, the much-anticipated operating system crashed, eliciting laughter and some applause from the audience. Mr Gates and his Microsoft colleague on stage both laughed, and fast-forward to 2024, and Microsoft is still around, very relevant, and incredibly innovative.
In 2010, when the iPhone was beginning to crescendo and Apple was eager to showcase the latest features, the model that Jobs was demonstrating was having trouble maintaining an internet connection. Obviously, that’s really bad optics for a device that’s supposed to be connected all the time and make calls. Jobs, however, had a solution for the moment: he asked the audience to turn off their devices in the audience, so his device could connect. Again, there was laughter, and the moment was not cataclysmic, but rather, a curious footnote.
These examples, combined with OpenAI’s recent successful demonstration, teach a lesson from which all of us can learn something. While we often seek perfection, sometimes it’s the imperfections that really resonate. It’s even more important to embrace those human imperfections and uncertainty amid the onslaught of impersonal AI technology that shows no sign of slowing down.
In such a noisy world where new products, new ideas and new technologies come and go at the crest of a wave, live demonstrations showing real human vulnerability, matter more than ever, and they’re more memorable than pre-produced videos.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
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Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
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Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
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Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
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In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
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Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
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Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
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Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
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Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
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