Digest #510 → Subscribe⁶ | Upgrade to Pro²⁴²

Hey folks,

“your tokens are tears in the rain in there”

That’s from Bryan’s (Marketing @IBM) tweet^1,291 this morning and it hit home for me. The talk around how AI companies use your writing is full of made-up claims. Should we do a detailed blog on the fear around “will AI train on my writing”?

TLDR; inside today’s newsletter

• OpenAI’s Operator, slow down in AI excitement and YouTube’s new experiment

• ICYMI: new tutorials and blog exploring ChatGPT search

• snack n skill - get working with a new piece of software in minutes, thanks to AI

• 5 of the best new AI tools

• 7 interesting posts from around the web

• to-do’s

Alright, let’s get to it!

 🔎 Trends & news

• Agents are coming—for tasks in your browser. OpenAI’s version of this agent is codenamed Operator.⁵⁸⁹ It’ll likely be available in January, both as a research preview and in API. Anthropic already has launched a similar feature called “Computer Use” for Claude but it’s still primarily usable by developers.

• Slack's latest survey shows a surprising reality check on AI usage at work⁴⁸⁰. Two themes stand out:

  1. Lack of proper training - 61% of desk workers have spent less than 5 hours learning AI.

  2. Fear of using AI - Nearly half of desk workers will be uncomfortable telling their managers that they used AI.

  As always the execs are all in on adding AI to the company, but they need to fix these psychological and training issues for it to be successful.

• If you hate designing slides and dread that feeling of staring at a blank slide, Gamma⁸⁶³ is here to help. Gamma⁸⁶³ has become one of the fastest growing AI web products in the world, adding 25 million new users this past year, and is setting its sights on becoming the modern alternative to Powerpoint.*

• YouTube is testing restyled soundtracks for Shorts.²⁸³ Creators in the test group can now use AI to reimagine official songs into unique 30-second Shorts soundtracks. They can change the genre or mood while keeping original vocals, with clear attribution to the source song.
  *sponsored

👀 ICYMI: New stuff we’ve launched

You might have noticed ChatGPT search had an underwhelming response. I believe this because people are using it as a standalone search engine. The better way to use it is to remove the back-and-forth to a Google search tab in your workflows. But how? We got you:

New tutorial - Use ChatGPT search to learn a new software⁴⁵⁹ (walkthrough below).

And if you’ve missed the embargo: here’s what you need to know about ChatGPT search.²⁷¹

🍽️ Snack ‘n’ skill

Learn how to master new software using ChatGPT Search

Struggling with a new tool? Instead of drowning in scattered documentation and outdated forum posts, use ChatGPT as your personal tech mentor. It can search, understand, and explain technical steps in plain language—turning that intimidating learning curve into manageable steps.

Step 1. Gather your learning resources

Start by asking ChatGPT to search for relevant examples and documentation about the software you want to learn. Be specific about your business context while keeping the language natural. ChatGPT will find and compile resources from across the web, including visual examples.

Step 2. Get personalized guidance

• Describe your specific needs in plain language - no technical jargon needed

• Share screenshots of features you like from example implementations

• Ask ChatGPT to explain the thinking behind different approaches

• Get click-by-click instructions customized to your requirements

• Share your progress and get help with troubleshooting

• Request simpler alternatives if something seems too complex

Tip: Don't worry about using precise technical terms. ChatGPT understands the context from your descriptions and screenshots. Phrases like "that dropdown thing" or "the coloured labels" work just fine.

This walkthrough is a condensed version of this tutorial⁴⁵⁹. Check it out and see how easy it is to prompt AI to master any new tool.

⚙️ Top new tools

• Kick⁴⁰⁹ - Replace your bookkeeper with accounting software that does the work for you. Backed by OpenAI and built for the modern business owner.*

• Segwise¹⁴⁶ - Catch issues in campaign data before they drain your ad budget.

• ElevenLabs Projects¹⁹³ - Structure, edit, and generate long-form audio with precision.

• Koncile²⁵⁵ - Customisable OCR for all your data extraction needs.

• Gems in Gemini¹¹³ now have file uploads but you still can’t share the Gems and it’s still behind Custom GPTs across features.

More tools here →¹³⁶
*sponsored

 📜 Interesting posts

• Supermaven is joining Cursor²⁸⁰ to build the best AI code editor.

• Perplexity is experimenting with ads¹⁵⁶ on its platform 👀.

• 200 AI adoption examples⁴⁶⁸ from Microsoft Copilot.

• How academics and researchers²⁴⁷ are using GenAI.

• Diagrams³⁰⁶ AI can and cannot generate.

• How non-technical domain experts can solve complex problems with prompt engineering³⁵².

• Uncovering the secrets of AI friendship¹⁸⁹ with 4 chatbots strapped to a tripod in the woods.

📌 To-dos

1. Let us know^42† if you have any tutorials or courses you want us to create—we’re always open to ideas.

That wraps things up for today! See you again next week. 👋

Ben

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