Daily Archives: May 25, 2022

There is a limited risk of another housing bubble developing in Ireland due to stricter rules that have reduced risk in the financial system, the European Commission has found in an in-depth review. Naomi OLeary reports.

After a gap of more than two years, the World Economic Forum has gathered again in Davos, Switzerland. Joe Brennan is there for The Irish Times and rounds up the main stories on day one of the forum in his Davos Diary.

The shine has gone off equities, amid rampant inflation and war in Ukraine. In our personal finance feature, Fiona Reddan offers a guide to navigating the recent stock market volatility.

New family-friendly workplace policies have been introduced by professional services firm Grant Thornton, in a move designed to help it recruit and retain top talent. It could be a win-win for the staff and the firm, writes Cantillon.

After years of spectacular growth and stellar investment returns, Big Tech stocks have taken a battering in recent months. Should we be worried? Laura Slattery gives her verdict in her weekly column.

In Q&A, a retired couple have a tracker mortgage that has been sold to a third party and wonder if their new lender might be open to an offer to clear the debt. Dominic Coyle offers some guidance.

In Me & My Money, Niamh Shaw, engineer, scientist and writer who lectures at the International Space University in Strasbourg, makes the case for a world without money. Tony Clayton-Lea tells the story.

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No housing bubble, Davos is back, and rout of Big Tech shares - The Irish Times

The best thing you can do with tequila is take it in one shot with salt and lemon. The second best thing is having this cocktail. Your black cherry Margarita is ready. OK, er, thanks? Well, that was fun. Dont drink and publish articles. Id take more offense, but the would-be comedian who made my drink before launching this unprovoked attack against my typical workday is actually a robot bartender by the name of Cecilia.ai, a drink-pouring, bad joke-telling piece of automated technology billed as the worlds first interactive bartender.

Welcome to just one of the many ways that big tech, big data and A.I. are infiltrating the drinks space.

Within the past several years, a sweeping range of tech and A.I. projects have made their debuts, appearing in nearly every corner of the alcohol industry. Swedens Mackmyra Whisky launched a product whose recipe was designed by an algorithm, while Carlsberg has invested millions of dollars into an A.I. initiative dubbed the Beer Fingerprinting Project, which evaluates the composition of beers and analyzes yeast types while matching desired flavors with chemical counterparts. Huge conglomerates like Diageo are using Buzzfeed-style interactive questionnaires such as Whats Your Whisky to try to help consumers find their flavor preferences, and a Ph.D. student at Virginia Techs department of food science and technology recently used machine learning to scan thousands of whiskey reviews to collate flavors, themes, and terminology.

Don't miss a drop!

And then there are the intelligent inventory management solutions such as BarTrack, which has raised more than $15 million since its founding in 2018, and commercial dashboards such as Tasting Intelligence, which uses A.I. to analyze reviews and social media posts, allowing brands to get their fingers on the pulse of the zeitgeist as it relates to whether people collectively like or dislike their latest extra hazy blueberry soured triple IPA.

These examples offer a glimpse across the spectrum of possibilities from intelligent evolutions where deploying data or advanced technology offer logical and clearly beneficial applications. Using A.I. to attempt to minimize a winerys impact on the environment while enabling it to thrive amid changing conditions is probably as lawful good as it gets. On the other hand, theres a staggering level of money and hype being thrown around for projects, and products, which on the surface dont appear to offer any kind of tangible improvement in the imbibing lives of consumers or producers and could potentially veer straight into that chaotic evil space pretty quickly.

Initially designed as a platform to provide vineyards with actionable data to adapt to climate change, Terraview has already partnered with more than 100 wineries, including large companies such as Pernod Ricard Spain. The company combines satellite imagery with historical weather and yield data, short- and long-term forecasts, microclimate segmentation, and more to deliver specific, data-backed insights with an assist from A.I. and machine learning.

Weve designed Terraview to help owners take data-backed reliable decisions while saving time and money, says Prateek Srivastava, co-founder and CEO of Terraview. He cites being able to automatically calculate yield estimates, monitor soil nutrition levels, and accurately optimize staffing needs as examples of his platforms direct, day-to-day impact for a given winery, but the companys aspirations are lofty, to say the least.

Our vision is to transform wine into a $1 trillion carbon-neutral industry and build tools which can serve over 500,000 growers around the world to tackle effects of accelerated climate change, Srivastava explains. We foresee our platform as a way to augment the generational knowledge and traditions followed by practitioners in agriculture, and to ensure primary industries are better equipped for tomorrow not just to survive, but continue to thrive.

By deploying a set of six finished bourbons that consumers can taste and combine together in thousands of ratios to create unique blends, WoodCraft Bourbon Blender is bringing whiskey creation to the masses with a plug-and-play bourbon franchise it says is ready to sweep across the nation.

Consumers go through a 45-minute experience where they learn the history and how to blend to their tastes, says WoodCraft Bourbon Blender co-founder Doug Hall, who spent decades working with companies like Edrington and Diageo. In addition to physical franchise capabilities, the company also offers at-home and online renditions, such as MyBourbonWizard.com.

Unsurprisingly, seasoned whiskey blenders dont believe a quick couple of questions or 45 minutes of history can produce an excellent whiskey. A.I. may be able to replicate an existing flavor, but interpreting whether the blend is good is based on taste and opinion, not just a formula, says Joe Beatrice, founder of Barrell Craft Spirits, a prominent blender and independent bottler. Our blending process uses constant experimentation and iteration, through which we discover nuance, and we seek flavor profiles that create a synergy together, Beatrice continues. But this is a subjective interpretation [not an automated one] which involves a team of professionals to taste and discuss whether a blend tastes good.

WoodCraft is already in action in the heartland of bourbon production, in Louisville, Ky. Earlier this year, the parent company behind Louisville Slugger and its popular Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory became a franchisee, opening up another wood-centric attraction downtown, Barrels & Billets. Its a continuation of Hillerich & Bradsby Co.s long history of creating uniquely Louisville experiences, says marketing director Andrew Soliday, noting that the experience is entirely different from a standard distillery tour and tasting.

Visitors taste through the six bourbons and blend them together in 0.5 to 1 milliliter increments to create a personal recipe, of which they can also buy a full-size bottle. Even for the novice, this interactive process gets at the heart of what blending whiskey represents in a way that a questionnaire or A.I. recommendation such as Diageos Whats Your Whisky, or Woodcrafts own virtual bourbon wizard simply cannot. When it comes to blending whiskey, there is no substitute for the human palate, Beatrice says.

As an interactive tourist attraction, WoodCrafts model seems like an intriguing way to bring more people into bourbon, though I wouldnt expect to find a franchise in every strip mall next to its Subway anytime soon. You can choose any footlong toppings you want, after all, but that doesnt really make you a chef, does it?

Not everyone can make a blend that tastes good, Beatrice says. Blending whiskey is a true art that is just now starting to get the attention and respect it deserves.

When you need to mix up to 120 cocktails per hour, Cecilias your gal. Developed in Israel and unveiled to the public at this years South Beach Wine & Food Festival, Cecilia, an interactive robot bartender, can deliver feisty jokes in 40 languages, tote 70 liters of booze, and even check IDs.

Our goal is [for Cecilia] to work alongside human bartenders and help them serve more drinks to their guests, says Nir Cohen Paraira, Cecilia.ais director of marketing. The world of service and hospitality is all about making the guests experience the best it can be, and advanced technology makes the service more personal, faster and fun.

Allow the collective groan from your favorite neighborhood bartenders to subside. Im wary of the full robot replacement of job sets that dont require, but currently include, human interaction, because I think this interaction keeps us grounded and connected with the rest of humanity were a social species, says Donny Clutterbuck, the executive vice president of the United States Bartenders Guild, and a bartender and manager at Cure Bar in Rochester, N.Y. If the point of a bar is to provide a third space in peoples lives, or a sociopolitical landscape where the bartender is sheriff, judge, smith, and friend, Im not entirely sure a robot can do this.

Cecilias backers arent trying to universally replace bartenders, though, which Brian Connors, director of the Bacardi Center of Excellence and a Florida International University hospitality professor, notes is the most common question he receives. Cecilia is about creating a new and different beverage experience in settings where guests dont expect the same level of hospitality; a bar or restaurant will always need a human service provider, for now, he says. Instead, he sees the robot living in busy theaters during intermission, or at any type of festival or conference.

Standing in line at a concert or sports game to receive a beer isnt a passion of anyones, and the interaction with the counter person or bartender is so quick and to the point that it may just as well be a robot for all practical purposes, Clutterbuck says, adding that this doesnt mean he supports a full replacement for bartenders.

Ultimately, whether or not youd like to be served a drink by a robot depends on what youre looking for from that drink. Is it a new cocktail developed by an expert bartender in whom you trust, or is it just a precisely stirred rendition of a classic drink whose exact recipe has been known the world over for the past century?

No one ever got anywhere by avoiding change and progress, and theres no point in being afraid of becoming irrelevant; I say bring on the future, Clutterbuck says. If the robot can also make me laugh, Im game to try it out.

In that case, Cecilia, who claims shes goddamn hilarious, has some material shed love for you to hear.

This story is a part of VP Pro, our free content platform and newsletter for the drinks industry, covering wine, beer, and liquor and beyond. Sign up for VP Pro now!

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The Good, the Bad & the Artificial: How Big Data & Tech Are Infiltrating the Alcohol Industry - VinePair

In March, the European Union (EU) took a significant step toward reining in Big Tech offenders with theDigital Markets Act. Targeting the gatekeepers of todays digital economy, the law is a historic piece of legislation and is a critical next step in the broader fight to level the playing field. However, this watershed moment has failed to reach the US, which continues to fall short in protecting consumers and innovative small businesses from predatory tech companies.

Congress must stop playing catch up with Europe and take a leadership role to protect its constituents. Courage and cooperation across the aisle are needed to strengthen the laws that protect the majority. Big tech, their lobbyists, and those seeking to fund their next election are far too cozy as mega-companies continue to exploit their dominance and suppress innovation. The lack of US action is embarrassing, as our friends across the pond take decisive steps.

The EU created the Digital Markets Act, or DMA, to limit the reach of internet powerhouses and restore balance to the economy. It is aimed at the most frequent offenders companies such as Amazon, Meta, and Google, which have repeatedly abused their large market share and used it to damage smaller, less powerful competitors.

The landmark measure carriesmajor consequencesfor these firms. Gatekeepers will now be required to interoperate with smaller firms, avoid setting their software as the default option, and no longer engage in self-preferencing. In short, the DMA is targeting weak points that prop up the largest and most powerful technology firms and crush innovation in the process. Once officially adopted by the EU, enforcement will be critical since we all know that Big Techcannot be trusted.

While European regulators remain at the helm of Big Tech reform, the US lags far behind. Politics have altered how we handle Big Tech, allowing mega-corporations to grow even bigger. Just recently, Amazon closed its $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM. The Federal Trade Commission hadevery opportunityto block the merger, but the deal was approved without much pushback. The FTC decision was deadlocked between two Democrat appointees and two Republican appointees, and politics came before ensuring fair competition.

Take data privacy, for example. In 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was enacted, a milestone in privacy protections that safeguards Europeans against the transfer of personal data. While the EU is focused on protecting consumers and competition, Big Tech lobbyists here at home are writing watered-down privacy bills for legislators that amounts to a disgusting practice that cedes legislators job to the powerful few. In Virginia, Amazonboostedpolitical donations tenfold before persuading lawmakers to pass a toothless privacy bill that their own lobbyists drafted rather than the elected officials.

It is not just the EU taking action as a collective body. In 2021, Italys antitrust watchdog fined Amazon over $1 billion for alleged abuse of market dominance one of the largest penalties levied on a US tech giant in Europe. Meanwhile, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation into Amazon Web Services (AWS) is only nowmoving forward againunder Chair Lina Khan. A challenge to the MGM acquisition, among others, may come now that Khan has the majority on her side.

Its not too late for the US legislators to turn things around and lead. Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Chuck Grassley have introduced theAmerican Innovation and Choice Online Act, a bipartisan attempt at limiting Big Techs power. Much like the DMA, the bill aims to regulate online marketplaces abilities to diminish competitors. The legislation targets the same mega-corporations Apple, Meta, Google, and Amazon and these companies areterrified of the consequences.Tech lobbyists are desperate to spin the narrative and convince politicians this is gross governmental overreach. While it may not be as impactful as the DMA, its a step in the right direction.

The DMA is a strong example of how to tackle Big Tech, but this blueprint should have originated from US leaders, not EU leaders. Congress and antitrust authorities now need to take steps to protect American consumers and small businesses. America must lead in this critical area, not follow Europe. We have the ability to hold these companies accountable, and we must do it before its too late.

Written by Jason Boyce.Have you read?How AI Can Act As the Perfect Complement to Sales TeamsbyMaura Kautsky.4 Must-Try Methods to Transform Yourself Into a Thought LeaderbyAlyssa Patzius.Transcendence is Built on Strong CulturebyDiane Primo.One Companys Ace in the HolebyLeo Bottary.What Executives Should Know About Digital Currencies byOmid Malekan.The power of humble leadership: Twitter Canada managing director Paul Burns on humility and humanitybyCraig Dowden.

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Europe Is Getting Tough on Big Tech. When Will the US Do the Same? - CEOWORLD magazine