DAM News Round-Up – 18th December 2023
A selection of DAM-related articles from around the web, sourced by the DAM editorial team. As we’ll be taking a short break for the holidays, we’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our readers, sponsors and supporters for their continued support and to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. Cheers!
The Value of Trust in Photography
Visual technology expert Paul Melcher explores the history, meaning and value of trust in photography, and how developments in the world of generative AI and datagraphy (images created using data instead of cameras) are challenging – and perhaps undermining – the traditional role of photography in being an arbiter of truth. Paul proposes a number of solutions to the problem of misinformation and trust erosion, and how we might begin to reinstate photography’s diminishing authority by introducing immutable certification. The first challenge might actually be to decipher and understand the growing number of mechanisms and specifications that are available to rubber-stamp your digital provenance information, including Content Credentials, C2PA, and The Content Authenticity Initiative, plus the numerous manufacturers that are developing their own in-camera authenticity systems.
Generative AI at Taxonomy Boot Camp Conference
Author and taxonomist Heather Hedden reflects on her recent attendance at this year’s Taxonomy Bootcamp, and how the ubiquitous topic of generative AI was, as at most conferences this year, the soup du jour. Heather details the various keynotes, case studies and sessions that covered AI, ChatGPT, machine learning, and large language models (LLM) and their potential uses for taxonomy/ontology development, auto-categorisation, and as a general knowledge management assistant.
AI Development & Ethics: AI Is Designed to Lie
Author, digital transformation, marketing and web sustainability expert Gerry McGovern presents an alternative take on artificial intelligence, and how ChatGPT’s tendency to provide false or misleading information exposes a darker side to AI. Gerry also examines the underlying nature of the current swath of AI platforms, and how it has been designed for “engagement and overconsumption” for the sole purpose of earning profit, reinforcing the modern adage that if a product is ‘free’, then its users are the product. The article also exposes a number of other undesirable facets of AI such as its cost to the environment, the baked-in inherent bias and cultural prejudices, and how its unknowable nature (even to its designers) should be raising red flags.
Australian DAM consultants databasics have recently posted the second part of their three-part series on DAM stakeholders. In this article, they focus on the marketing department, the key personnel roles, and the unique requirements that marketing staff demand from a Digital Asset Management system, including brand governance, quick and easy discovery and access to on-brand marketing material, collaboration features, and a streamlined digital asset lifecycle. Like-to-have features are also covered and include analytics, AI, video management and user support and training. A worthwhile read for anyone involved in DAM or digital marketing. The first part is available here.
File names can jeopardize your workflow – here’s what you can do
Stefan Horst‘s recent article for DAM integration tool vendor CI HUB takes a deep dive into the topic of file and folder naming conventions, and how bad digital housekeeping can have a negative impact across your entire workflow. Stefan provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide to defining your own file naming convention that includes tips on the use of descriptive text, dates, project names and categories, using filenames as a simple versioning system, and considering how naming affects sorting/ordering.
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