Marketing and advertising companies are increasingly using AI models to track trends and generate slogans, Bryan Walsh writes.

The big picture: Marketers and advertisers focus on two things: identifying and predicting trends that indicate what consumers want, and shaping messages that will appeal to them.

• AI — and especially new language models that can be tuned to produce messages far quicker than even the slickest Mad Man copywriter — are ideal for both.

By the numbers: The global market for AI in advertising and marketing is valued at more than $12 billion, and is projected to reach $107 billion by 2028, according to a recent report.

• Research by Gartner predicts that by 2022, more than 30% of digital content will be created with the help of AI.

How it works: AI models are particularly good at drawing in vast amounts of data and identifying connections and correlations, which makes them excellent at instant trendspotting, says Daniel Anstandig, CEO of the enterprise tech platform Futuri.

• Futuri's AI application Topic Calls takes real-time data from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and 100,000 new sources, and looks at early signals to determine what will be popular in a particular market or demographic up to 24 hours from the present.
• A newsroom or a brand content marketer "could look at a specific audience and determine where their investment of time and energy in terms of content generation is going to be best used," says Anstandig.

Between the lines: AI can increasingly help with generating that content as well.

• neuroflash, a Hamburg-based marketing company, uses natural language processing AI to generate scores of suggested slogans, email subject lines and social media language.

Details: I used neuroflash's product to try to generate a slogan for Axios Future, my twice-weekly newsletter.

• After inputting a roughly 150-word brief describing the newsletter and selecting a few keywords — like "future," "artificial intelligence" and "journalism" — and the U.S. market I was focused on, I let the machine work.
• The results weren't too bad. "From the future to you," ranked highest, followed by "Future-focused in a flash" — the latter being clear evidence that the AI had twigged to marketers' love of alliteration.

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This week I'm test-driving the 2022 all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EUV. Four days into the loan, it was recalled by General Motors, Joann Muller writes.

Why it matters: The car's batteries may catch fire.

What's happening: GM isn't messing around. The company is telling all Bolt owners to park their vehicle outside and away from structures and to not charge the car overnight. And it gave owners special instructions for charging in the meantime to avoid extreme charging cycles.

• Since I had a Bolt EUV from the media test fleet, GM advised me to follow the same instructions as any Bolt owner.

What I did: With help from a video on GM's dedicated Bolt recall page, I hit a few buttons on the car's touchscreen to limit the charging capacity to 90%.

• This was pretty simple, but GM says anyone who feels uncomfortable making the change should ask a dealer to do it right away.
• Following GM's instructions, I also recharged the battery more frequently rather than waiting until the battery was almost run down.
• I also parked the car outside my garage and per GM's advice, did not leave it charging overnight.

What's next: This isn't the car review I expected to write about the Bolt EUV (electric utility vehicle), a slightly roomier version of the Bolt EV hatchback. I really enjoyed driving it, and I plan to share some of the highlights — including its hands-free highway-driving option — in the coming days.

• But right now, the focus is on avoiding catastrophe.

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Companies want to protect themselves from the impact of employees leaving in droves, Axios business editor Kate Marino reports.

Driving the news: In PwC's latest U.S. Pulse Survey, nearly half of executives said they want to reduce their dependence on employees’ institutional knowledge.

Why it matters: The Great Resignation is underway, and employers are grappling with the fallout.

• A whopping 65% of employees said they are looking for a new job, according to PwC's survey, conducted Aug. 2-6, of 1,007 employees and 752 executives in the U.S.
• Not surprisingly, 88% of executives said their company is experiencing higher turnover than normal.

Keep reading

San Francisco's viral $72 fried rice is coming back. Now, it's way more expensive — and for charity (San Francisco Chronicle — subscription)

• When Lily, a Vietnamese restaurant, introduced $72 crab fried rice as a prank, it couldn't meet demand and had to drop the dish. Now it is reintroducing the delicacy — "a purposefully over-the-top dish with caviar, uni from Japan, A4 Miyazaki Wagyu sirloin and black truffle XO sauce" — in limited amounts at $500 per plate, with proceeds to charity.

Chipotle experiments with plant-based "chorizo" in Denver (Axios Denver)

• Denver and Indianapolis are testing grounds for pea protein: Chipotle Mexican Grill "is now offering plant-based "chorizo" in its burritos, tacos and bowls."

Iowa State Fair food 2021: We tasted the good and the wacky (Axios Des Moines)

• Axios' Linh Ta, an Iowa State Fair veteran, reports that the chicken egg salad with Indian fry bread was named best new food of 2021. Per WOI Local 5 News, it "combines fry bread with cool chicken and egg salad, which includes celery, cranberries, pecans, cabbage slaw, bacon-tomato aioli, fresh cilantro and smoked paprika."

What's Next: The persistence of pandemic pets

Tom Broad and John Denton of Kingwood, Texas, write: "We just had to send you our little iPhone star, Abner, an adorable Maine Coon. He has gotten us through the pandemic with his cute little antics.

"Yes, he guards the house, looks for snakes, harasses his big sister, and gives us hours and hours of blissful pleasure. If we all spent more time watching our Maine Coons, we wouldn't have to worry about What's Next (although I would still read your fascinating newsletter)."

What's Next: Wider use of therapy dogs

Richard Katz writes: "Hospitals traditionally were the primary use of therapy dogs until the pandemic expanded their use in a variety of facilities and environments.

"Photo taken by me at the Fantasy Springs Casino, in the Palm Springs area. Sam, my therapy dog, giving joy and happiness as customers listen to classic rock and play the slots."