Data Privacy Company Transcend Illustrates the Pitfalls of Unregulated AI with a 'Yum Bot'

Transcend, one of the leading names in data privacy and data governance, is launching a new campaign to bring the somewhat elusive topic of AI governance to the forefront. With its new product, Pathfinder, Transcend is building the new frontier of AI governance software – giving companies the technical guardrails to adopt new AI technologies with confidence.

The centerpiece of the campaign is an entertaining social video called 'Pancakes'. Created by independent brand consultancy Red & Co., the whimsical video features a central character, an executive in charge of launching an AI-based 'Yum Bot' that generates breakfast recipes. What starts off as an innocuous, jovial demonstration of AI ability soon spirals out of control, as the Yum Bot begins offering a pancake recipe with bleach, resulting in disastrous and dangerous outcomes.

In the end, the narrator – sadder but wiser – reflects on the experience, explaining how the disaster and snowballing aftermath could have been avoided with AI governance guardrails. It directs viewers to the campaign website, transcend.io/ai, where they can sign up for the Pathfinder waitlist and learn more about Transcend’s approach to AI governance.

“In an already saturated market that keeps telling us the same old ‘dream the future with AI’ stories in a serious tone, this video has a more surprising and lighthearted approach while still introducing us to the real risks of enterprise AI,” said Mira Kaddoura, founder/ECD of Red & Co.“‘Pancakes’ was inspired by real events that we uncovered in our research and it got us thinking…What is the funniest and memorable cost of not regulating AI?”

Beyond the video – which features animation, a custom-made soundtrack, and narrator – the campaign is designed to foster a broad conversation about the importance of AI governance. It encourages individuals, businesses, and governments to engage in discussions, share ideas and work towards creating an effective and ethical AI governance framework.

“When businesses use AI without code-level governance, they gamble with uncertainty – putting their data, IP, trade secrets, private information, reputation, and credibility on the line,” said Kate Parker, chief operating officer of Transcend. “For companies torn between behaving recklessly and moving too slowly to stay competitive, we believe Pathfinder is the key to using AI tools safely and responsibly.”