Sunday night warning

CBS told viewers the world may be sleepwalking into a future where artificial intelligence runs loose, with humanity itself at stake.

“sleepwalking toward a future where artificial intelligence runs amok”

A narrow window

The framing was urgent: we still have time to steer AI, but not much of it. That was the pitch on prime time television.

Then came football

Earlier the same day, NFL on CBS viewers heard a new name attached to the broadcast. OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, had signed on as a sponsor.

Sponsoring the sideline

ChatGPT is now the presenting sponsor of sideline report segments, the handoff from the booth to the reporter on the field.

“the AI chatbot, it turns out, is now the presenting sponsor of the NFL sideline report segments”

Alarm meets ad buy

One network, one day, two messages. The doom segment and the ad read shared the same airwaves and the same revenue line.

Who pays for the warning

For now, AI companies are subsidizing the football broadcasts. That money sits awkwardly next to any story about slowing AI down.

“we will have to be content with the AI companies subsidizing our football broadcasts”