Use AI to own the haters, Microsoft says
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Artificial intelligence won't steal your job — but it could help you prove all the haters in your life wrong, according to the big-budget ad Microsoft ran during Sunday's Super Bowl.
Why it matters: The 60-second spot tries to reframe AI for the general population, presenting it not as a scary unknown novelty but a way to help people achieve their personal and professional dreams, Axios' Scott Rosenberg writes.
Catch up quick: The ad for Microsoft's AI Copilot rolls out a parade of people who list their thwarted ambitions.
- "They say I will never open my own business" ... "get my degree" ... "make my movie" ... "build something" ... "They say I'm too old to learn something new" ... "too young to change the world."
- That's the first 30 seconds. In the second half, we see each dream brought to life — thanks to timely creative and organizational help from Microsoft's Copilot AI bot, which responds to each user's inquiry: "Yes, I can help you."
The big picture: Microsoft wants the world to see the AI it is spending billions on as a boon to our humanity.
The other side: The ad touts how Copilot can provide tutorials, designs and code.
- But it leaves out all the actual human tutors, graphic designers and programmers whose labor is being bypassed — and whose know-how was slurped up by AI models without consent or compensation.
Of note: Surveys show Americans evenly divided over whether they think AI will help or hurt them.
Go deeper: Microsoft's game-changing Super Bowl ad