Sports & Entertainment Beat

Welcome to the Spotlight! It seems that talk of being at an inflection point in the adoption of artificial intelligence (hat tip to Haley Joel Osment) is ubiquitous. First, there came the lawsuit by Getty Images against an AI software company for scraping data from its image repository.

Last month, we heard several stories about college athletes using artificial intelligence software to write essays and LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne vaulting her name, image and likeness toward the endorsement of one of the companies behind such software, sending academics, ethicists and talking heads alike into an uproar. The latest saga involves a Drake and The Weeknd collaboration called “Heart on My Sleeve.” Only it’s not really Drake and The Weeknd, but rather AI language models mimicking their voices to create something new and eerily mistakable for the real thing. To say that this will keep record label executives up at night is an understatement. Never mind (hat tip to Nirvana) the whole existential-threat-to-humanity shtick that comes along with A.I., but the music industry may have a big problem on its hands if these A.I. creations continue to wind up on streaming services and legislation. Talk about virtual insanity (hat tip to Jamiroquai).

For now, here to boost your natural intelligence are some other stories in this week’s Spotlight:

• • 7-foot 1-inch, 325 pound NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal was finally served with legal process in the FTX crypto-investor class action after nearly three months of failed attempts. What changed this time around? The process server opened their eyes.
    
    
  • Jungkook of K-Pop heartthrob group BTS makes a sizable donation to a Children’s Hospital in South Korea, and in so doing, proves he has a Seoul.
    
    
  • Poster women of the NIL era in college athletics, Haley and Hanna Cavinder are moving on from college but only getting started in the sports and entertainment industry, taking their podcast to Betr Media and announcing their intent to be professional wrestlers with World Wrestling Entertainment. A Doublemint Gum endorsement cannot be far off.