The CQ | The Environmental Cost of Using AI Agents, and Rise of Longevity Tourism
The CQ | The Environmental Cost of Using AI Agents, and Rise of Longevity Tourism
The Forerunner Team's Must-Reads of the Week
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What We’re Talking About on Slack:
September consumer confidence falls the most in three years to 98.7 from 105.6. In comparison, the forecast was for a reading of 104, and the consumer confidence index for pre-pandemic February 2020 was 132.6. The biggest drop was among the 35-54 age group who earned less than $50,000. “Consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned negative while views of the current labor market situation softened further. Consumers were also more pessimistic about future labor market conditions and less positive about future business conditions and future income,” said the chief economist at The Conference Board.
The hidden environmental costs of using AI chatbots: a bottle of water per email. The Washington Post reports on about how much water and power OpenAI’s ChatGPT consumes to write the typical 100-word email. Chatbots generate a lot of heat and keeping servers cool enough to function in data centers requires a vast amount of water—or, in drought-prone areas, electricity through the use of air conditioning. Further evidence of the toll on resources: “In July, Google released its most recent environmental report, showing its carbon emission footprint rose by 48%, largely due to AI and data centers. It also replenished only 18% of the water it consumed—a far cry from the 120% it has set as a goal by 2030.”
Related: Big Tech is rushing to find clean power to fuel AI’s insatiable appetite. Some of the new innovations currently being explored: Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are working with utility companies to try to harness geothermal power from heat beneath the earth’s surface or through the development of small nuclear reactors. Another potential innovation is the production of batteries that store clean power for days, instead of hours. The companies are also striking deals for new carbon-removal efforts, which could help neutralize emissions.
Legalizing sports gambling is proving to be a huge mistake, says The Atlantic. Since the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2018, sports betting has surged with more than one in three Americans now betting on sports, yielding $10 billion a year in revenue. While some view this as harmless entertainment, research suggests it has resulted in financial distress and increased domestic violence, especially among low-income households. One study found that for every $1 spent on betting, households invest $2 less, while another paper showed that legalization of online sports betting increases the risk that a household goes bankrupt by 25% to 30%, and increases debt delinquency. More alarming, a third study suggests that legal sports betting leads to a roughly 9% increase in intimate-partner violence.
In response to vacations full of excess, the new frontier of luxury travel is longevity tourism—think: a $44,000 course of stem cells and a club stocked with IV stations. Storylines calls its cruises, packed with meditation, smoothies, and bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, “blue zone at sea.” Meanwhile, an Ibiza resort is home to Rose Bar, which features a cold plunge, hyperbaric oxygen chamber, and infrared sauna as well as longevity expert Dr. Mark Hyman as its chief wellness officer. This shift reflects a growing demand for travel that promotes health rather than indulgence, with wellness tourism expected to reach $1 trillion by the end of 2024 and the expanding $27 billion longevity market.
From Wall Street Journal: It’s the Year 2030. What will artificial intelligence look like? Experts from academia, business, consulting firms and think tanks highlight a grab bag of optimism and caution. Several doubted that we will ever achieve true artificial general intelligence by 2030, citing the limitations of current LLMs and the need for advanced innovation in order for that to happen. Most pointed to a more gradual change over the years that will not necessarily eliminate jobs, but change them. One expert says, “Only when AI stops being seen as a new technology—and becomes just an assumed part of everyday work and life like the internet—will its true potential be realized.” A commonly-citd risk: AI emotional companions and AI-generated content that may make people vulnerable to “dangerous manipulation” and a breakdown of societal trust.
Because algorithms of the main social media platforms prove to be ever-evolving and unreliable, publishers turn to a new source for sharing their content…WhatsApp. Today, news outlets are experimenting with WhatsApp Channel, a new feature from the world’s most popular messaging app, allows them to send links and headlines directly to followers. “It has become a huge source of traffic actually, larger than X,” said a director of Telemundo’s new division.
Can AI companions help cure the loneliness epidemic? The Wall Street Journal tested several apps with online participants and found that those who used the AI companion experienced a notable decrease in loneliness, averaging a 16 percentage-point reduction over the course of the week. Those who interacted with the AI companion were 14 percentage points less lonely on average than those who didn’t interact with the app. “We found that the more people felt heard…the greater the reduction in loneliness they experienced.”
Portfolio Highlights:
WWD covers Glossier’s plans to expand on its fragrance category with two new extensions of the Glossier You perfume, Rêve and Doux.
Congrats to Headway and Fora for making LinkedIn’s Top 50 U.S. Startups on the Rise.
Fay Co-founder and CEO Sam Faycurry is profiled in Entrepreneur.
WWD interviews Prose executives Helen Nwosu, vice president of social impact, and Megan Streeter, chief marketing officer, at WWD's Women in Power event.
Faire CPO Ami Vora appears on Products That Count CPO Rising Series.
Mike Micucci, CEO of Fabric, speaks to PYMNTS about how retailers can manage the complexity of omnichannel fulfillment.
Modern Retail’s article on brands using science-backed studies in marketing points to Ritual as an example and includes quotes from founder and CEO Katerina Schneider.
WWD takes a look at how Chime’s latest study shows how Gen Z is affected by pay cycles and are missing out on big social events.
San Francisco Business Times recognizes Faire’s Lauren Cooks Levitan as the 2024 CFO of the Year award in the Emerging Company category.
Forerunner Highlights:
WWD features Founder and Partner Kirsten Green in its list of Beauty’s Most Powerful Financiers.
Job of the Week:
Wonder, a platform for scaling great quality meals through a new restaurant and delivery model, is hiring a Senior Product Manager to help spearhead product experience and expansion.
There are ~525 open jobs at Forerunner portfolio companies, check them out.