Bitter experience

The book is a haunting account of survival and of the beauty of the desert – made all that more poignant for me because, when I worked in Windhoek, I had the opportunity to visit the hideout Martin and his colleague fashioned out of the craggy cliffs above the Kuiseb River.

I made the mistake recently of watching a YouTube video – made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) software – which butchered the story. The characters changed appearance multiple times, there were animals you don’t get in the Namib, the guns they had were wrong and the canyon was like the Colorado River, not the Kuiseb.

That bitter experience still in my mind, I was prepared to launch into attack mode when I saw Nedbank’s new ad which is fashioned almost entirely with AI.

Some AI programme – they don’t say which – is asked to imagine what South Africa would be like in 2100 if we ignore all the climate and environmental global programmes and advice.

It’s not pretty: It’s dystopian. From a sea of shacks surrounding island-skyscrapers, to dried up river beds and litter-desecrated cities, it reminded me of Neil Blomkamp’s disturbing movie District 9. The AI generated images made the experience even more creepy, because they were so life-like.

Fortunately, the AI was turned on to what would happen if we decided to do the responsible thing and take the road not taken by politicians like Donald Trump, who believe the science of global warming and climate change is some giant scam.

This 2100 South Africa is what we all want. We have healthy and abundant crops, state-of-the-art educational systems as well as cities and transportation which looks like it comes out of a science fiction future.

The message is that we – not only Nedbank clients – need to embark on what the bank calls a “promise journey” where we look at bigger things… and where the bank promises to guide investments to where they can do the most to protect the environment and create the society we all want to see.

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It’s about optimism and thinking about the generations to come, which also sends the subtle message that Nedbank intends to be around in 75 years’ time.

It’s also a brave idea, out of a co-operation between Joe Public (Nedbank’s main agency for many years now) and MonkeyDonkey, the agency which specialises in generative AI. So Orchids all round – to Nedbank (for being brave enough to go with this), Joe Public and MonkeyDonkey.

MonkeyDonkey’s Stu Stobbs says: “We used generative AI to visualise this journey. Not for hype, but to spark hope. Because when brave brands like Nedbank invest in the right initiatives, and when South Africans pull together - we shape something powerful. At MonkeyDonkey, we believe in the soul of South Africa. And we believe AI can help build a brighter future for all of us.”

We’re going to hold you to that, Stu. And, if you’d like to have a go at doing a proper story about Henno Martin, I’ll gladly lend you the book…

Sainthood

Why is it that government departments and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) so love spending public money (because regardless of their actual corporate status, it is us, taxpaying mugs, who pay for their Beemers and fancy offices) on telling us irrelevant stories.

The latest to do this is Rand Water, which had a big front-page ad in the Sunday Times, informing the world that it is about to be nominated for sainthood for supporting small and medium enterprises.

So what? Your job is to deliver water supplies and, given the mess they’re in, especially in Gauteng – because you have dithered for years about maintenance, in favour of being a nice sinecure for ANC apparatchiks – we residents don’t want to know.

What we do want to know – and to be fair, your comms people have done it quite well recently – is how the stoppages will affect us.

We don’t care about your support for the little guy – it’s in your mandate and should be standard operating procedure. We only care if said small guy – somebody’s friend or relative – can’t do the work.

So, Rand Water, put this Onion on your boardroom table as a reminder to stick to your core business.