AI The Focus Of Last Night’s DSF Cocktails And Controversy In NYC
October 10, 2023 by Dave Haynes
The Digital Signage Federation ran its annual Coffee and Controversy event last night in New York, changing the title to Cocktails and Controversy and focusing on AI’s impact on digital signage.
I was drafted to be the moderator and we had a good session talking specifically about how artificial intelligence is being applied to digital signage and digital out of home.
My panelists were software exec Jeff Weitzman of Navori, creative producer Jim Nista and Intersection CEO Chris Grosso. I’m guessing 80-100 people turned out at the NYC offices of SONY, across from Madison Square Park.
I didn’t take notes because I was in the middle of it, but I’d generally say AI is central to what Navori, Nista and particularly Intersection – most know for its LinkNYC DOOH network – do day to day.
Deakin Bell of BSV Displays generated a summary on Linkedin …
- As a public space medium DOOH- “dynamic content still needs rule based algorithms. AI can play a role in creative optimisation, but still human eyes need to moderate.” – Grosso
- AI can be exciting, but be careful. It can be “just enough to be dangerous. You want to experiment, but for innovation, you need guardrails.” – Grosso
- “It’s like a super power. If you are not using it, you are being left behind.” – Nista
Certainly lots to debate & consider how best to apply to your digital signage strategy. Both Skynet & the Minority Report were mentioned and luckily the consensus was we are still far off from these wild scenarios… but not too far!
Grosso spoke about how AI is being used behind the scenes for managing data, among many things. Nista says he uses AI tools all day as part of creative production, though generated visuals don’t get used as is, but help in the process. Weitzman made particular note of customers using AI for consumer-facing applications, especially as they relate to computer vision.
There are a few events on in New York this week. I’m going to hit the DPAA’s digital OOH conference today, and the Solomon Partners cocktail party. I also have a sneak peek at a project finishing up in lower Manhattan, and want to stick my head in some flagship stores.
This, by the way, was terrifying – unmissable as people walked into Sony’s sky lobby.
You have to test and tag the content before you have rules. So, like all AI and ML, you need a pipeline to apply the rules and reporting to measure the outcomes.