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Friends,
Some of us still believe that AI is a passing phase - and that there are limited uses for AI in the workplace. (The reality is that active use is increasing at a rate - now at 28% in the US for example and Mckinsey believe the number is going to skyrocket) I’m a techno-optimist - the AI Age has only just begun - and we are starting to see how AI could accelerate progress across various fields. Despite the prevailing negative narrative around AI, we need to cut through the noise and look at technology's potential to address major challenges such as climate change, and see AI's importance as a transformative tool for humanity.
The optimism extends to the business world, where companies across industries are eager to explore how AI can offer competitive advantages. Entrepreneurs and companies in stealth mode are working on numerous applications of AI (with some you reading this email), although these developments often remain unseen by the public and the media. While we could move fast and break things along the way, it’s important to think ethically about this stage of humanity, not only for the risks that come with new tech - but simply because of the unknown nature of alternative intelligence. I personally advocate for exploring its positive potential alongside managing associated risks.
I do think that the power of humans, groups of humans, humanity and the human connection will become important as we move over the next decade. We will be stepping back into being more human as we step forward into a new age. Over the last 25 years, we have drifted further apart, because we falsely believed that technology could replicate connection. In some ways, it can provide belonging (reddit, facebook groups, tribes). In others, it can provide the tool to provide linkage (whatsapp, zoom, gmail) where physical connection is not possible. I certainly don’t think humans can cope with being global celebrities, followed by millions, being influencers - and having connections with hundreds of thousands of people that we they have never met.
And so as we shift to using technology as a tool, I think we will shift to valuing real human connection more. But maybe that’s more me becoming an aging cynic.
So onto those tools:
As you know, there will be specifics for every niche. For example, this link has the toolkit that I look at for education and edtech. But for the general workplace etc it’s important to position perception as tools to support improvement, increase in speed and productivity. It’s not quite magic - but many are magical. But here are the ones you should consider:
If you want a broader list, you should check out The Top 100 AI Tools for Work by Flexos.
These are my recommendations:
Chatbots, Ideation & Search:
ChatGPT: worth the $20 upgrade or just search for free - it’s the most popular tool by far.
Claude 2: Another powerful chatbot worth trying.
Copilot: Microsoft kinda giving you chatGPT for free + bing.
Perplexity: My new default for search (especially as Google considers charging for search)
Content Creation:
Jasper: Helps generate content, summaries, and articles - adopting your tone. Marketing magic!
Copy.ai: Creates compelling copy but with workflows
Quillbot: The surprising tool that improves all your gdocs, and translates on the fly!
Writesonic: A sort of ChatGPT alternative for SEO
Grammar Checkers and Rewording Tools:
Meeting Notes
Video Generation and Editing:
Image Generation:
DALL·E 3: Creates unique images from textual descriptions.
Midjourney: A bit like magic, generates stunning visual content, but tricky to figure out
Bing Create: If you handle the Microsoft login process.
Canva: The simplest and the best design support, now with AI
Speech to Text
Audiopen - Have started including this in my workflow. Just converting voice notes to text, getting rid of the ums and errs. I think I like this a lot
TrintAI - the professional version to create your text from Audio.
TubeonAI: Summaries of the YouTube videos you wanted to watch but don’t have the time to.
Knowledge Management and AI Notes:
Mem: Organizes and retrieves information - a new type of notes app
Notion AI Q&A: Helps answer questions based on stored knowledge.
Personal AI: Personalized AI assistance - on my list to explore
Scheduling:
Slide Decks and Presentations:
Decktopus: Creates professional slide decks.
Beautiful.ai: AI-powered presentation design.
A final note on recommendations: There are now a bunch of tools that are out there. And if you read the recommendation emails, there are still tens if not 100s of new tools being launched every week. The best use cases- and those with proof of model will win out, not necessarily the best solutions. I also think traction is important. And that is to do with network effects. If you don’t have a large base, the tool will need another way to grow. And that is with integration or with automation. If you are that way inclined - play with Zapier, Make or N8N - who all connect various apps and automate workflows - will become increasingly important in this first stage of evolution of generative AI. Some tools have that workflow built in - but some exist on an island. And if you are on an island, you’d better be very good at what you do.
One thing I should emphasise is that AI doesn’t just do the work for you - you need to work in conjunction with AI and treat AI as a co-intelligence partner that amplifies your human capabilities. This perspective encourages us to engage with AI in a more collaborative manner, where both human and machine intelligence shape the creative process.
You’ll see longer lists than mine above from people who spend all day doing this. While knowing what’s going on is important, spending time experimenting with AI is crucial to understanding its capabilities and limitations. Suppose you spent a weekend experimenting and directly engaging with models like GPT-4 or Claude 3 to experience their different "personalities" and strengths. In that case, you’ll be in a place of strength in deciding about the other tools that are thrown at you.
Prompt engineering, or crafting prompts to elicit the best responses from AI, is currently considered as a key skill - but soon we are going to have products, like the ones listed, that do the work for you - and as prompt engineering moves to become agent-led - you’ll be able to summon what you need when you need it.
I’d love to know what AI tools you use daily. Email me or share them in the comments.
Stay Curious - and don’t forget to be AI amazing,
Here are my recommendations for this week:
Part of my workflow on consuming and learning information has been ramped up by AI tools. One that I’m using regularly is TubeonAI which creates summaries of videos and podcasts in seconds. If you need to up your lifelong learning to stay ahead of the game, sign up for free and then use code BOXOFAMAZING for a premium discount) Sign up
Now
14 Secret Code Words You Might Want to Know: Some words, when used in specific situations, have deeper meanings than you realize: Whether they’re said over a PA or in a one-on-one conversation, these seemingly innocuous terms are codes to alert those in the know that something is up while keeping others in the dark. Here are 14 examples of secret code words that you might hear while travelling, going on vacation, or in your everyday life. Randomly related: 13 Professional Organizers on the One Item They Tell Every Client to Buy
Avoid blundering: 80% of a winning strategy: What most people say is: “That guy is better than that guy, so that guy won.” But that’s not why that guy won. Normally the game is very close, and then someone blunders and now it’s over. If you look at it with a computer, it will say “no one’s winning” and then “white’s winning” and then “black’s winning” and then “no one’s winning again” and then someone blunders and they lose. - Brilliant.
How Not to Be Bored When You Have to Wait. Sick of queuing? Instead of looking at your phone, you can….
As obesity rises, Big Food and dietitians push ‘anti-diet’ advice: dietitian influencers promote junk foods and discourage weight loss efforts: Online dietitians — many of them backed by food makers — also are building lucrative followings by co-opting anti-diet messages. Anti-diet hashtags, such as #NoBadFoods, #FoodFreedom and #DitchTheDiet, have proliferated on social media. Also: The air fryer is a hoax
How to Be Confident. (Must read) Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather taking action despite the fear. Confidence is the memory of success - Great advice for younger people than me. Also: We all live on a knife's edge, and it's fine
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‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
The Israeli army has marked tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects for assassination, using an AI targeting system with little human oversight and a permissive policy for casualties
Warming Is Getting Worse. So They Just Tested a Way to Deflect the Sun: As humans continue to burn fossil fuels and pump increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the goal of holding global warming to a relatively safe level, 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with preindustrial times, is slipping away. That has pushed the idea of deliberately intervening in climate systems closer to reality.
Amazon's AI Stores Seemed Too Magical. And They Were: The 1,000 contractors in India working on the company’s Just Walk Out technology offer a stark reminder that AI isn’t always what it seems.
BMW Is a Surprise Winner in Electric Vehicles: Once considered a laggard, the German luxury carmaker is one of only a few established automakers that has been able to compete effectively against Tesla.
Weapons of Mass Production: What the industrial revolution was for atoms, the AI revolution is for bits. The difference is: bits are a lot more scalable than atoms, and they’re coming after a distribution revolution that allows us to direct those bits all over the world. This means that this revolution will happen fast. Expect lots of deepfakes and truth-questioning, a tsunami of AI images and videos and shows and movies, and the rise of user-generated generated content. We’d all better strap in as the next wave of mass production begins. (Must Read)
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Really practical framing for bringing AI into everyday work. One specific use case worth adding: meeting intelligence. For most knowledge workers, meetings are where a significant chunk of time and decision-making happens, and the post-meeting work of capturing what was agreed is often where that time gets multiplied. CogniAIX specifically handles this: it automatically captures decisions, task owners, and open items from every call. One of the most immediately practical AI tools for workplace productivity.