AI round-up: Week of March 11, 2024
Judging by our increase in sign-ups, things are starting to get real. I’ve only been doing this Roundup for eight months, yet about five years' worth of advancements have transpired in that time.
We’re on this journey together now, guys. We are tracking what’s going on out there, looking for clues to see what we should do and when we should do it. You are among the people who get other people’s attention at dinners and happy hours.
“What’s that you’re saying about AI?”
“Do I really need to try it? Understand it?”
“Is it just a fad?”
If you haven’t been asked that yet…don’t worry. You will.
So, in the spirit of AI's evolution and how quickly things have changed, I’m once again changing the format of this Roundup. You’ll see it sectioned out a bit to help for easier and faster reading and prioritizing what and when you read.
See what you think. I always love feedback, so let me know what you think!
The Big 5
1. AI Prompt Engineering is Dead. Long Live AI Prompt Engineering.
We’ve shared a lot of articles about the importance of prompt engineering. Prompt libraries. Best practices. But the reality is … do we need it? Will the LLMs eventually just be able to do that themselves?
2. Time to talk to your kids about AI?
It's too late. They’re already seeing AI videos on YouTube. Why? Well, because people can get rich on them, of course.
There is so much to talk with your kids about when it comes to AI:
=Safety – do you have a password if your kids get a video or a call from “you”?
=Reality doesn’t have to be accurate – are you pushing your kids to fact-check what they see online? YouTube and TikTok are the top search engines and news sites for kids.
=Ethics – just because you can doesn’t mean you should, especially when it comes to schoolwork. There is value in doing the work … with the AI tool, not letting the AI tool do the work.
3. Want to see what happens when a humanoid robot has ChatGPT installed on it?
Are you sure you want to see?
4. Last week, we talked about a Claude update. This week? It’s Pi’s turn.
5. I don’t share this article lightly.
This is a roundup. The purpose is to share thoughts and ideas, as well as news, from around the world of AI. We have relied on Christopher Penn from the start … and will continue to do so.
That being said, this week’s read from his Almost Timely Newsletter is heavy. Very heavy. It won’t be for everyone. I saw tremendous value in it and was happy to see that a lot of what I have been thinking and planning for aligns with how he frames up his thinking around the term ‘Intelligence Revolution’.
Learn a little
Perplexity v. ChatGPT
This is a very extensive breakdown of what I’ve been talking about a lot lately (Perplexity) … and what we’ve all been hearing a lot about since November 2022 (ChatGPT).
Did you hear about…
…Google’s Gemini won’t let you look up election info
…Deloitte thinks this is the year companies train on their own data.
…IBM proving that AI-generated ads perform better than non-AI ones?
… how AI could pose an extinction-level threat to us?
Must read/must discuss:
GenAI is a skills amplifier. Not a skills democratizer.
Hey, if you’re good, you’re good.
Finally.
Yes, I am a religious consumer of The Artificial Intelligence Show. Yes, I heard the quick discussion regarding Sam Altman’s comment regarding the future of the marketing world.
And yes, I listened to this week’s pod where Paul brilliantly lays out his timeline in response to that quote.
It is a must-listen. A must ponder. A must everything. The topic, the legs of this, the implications … all of this … goes beyond this simple roundup. But I’m happy to talk about it if you’d like.
Email me to learn more.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to share!
-Ben
As a reminder, this is a round-up of the biggest stories, often hitting multiple newsletters I receive/review. The sources are many … which I’m happy to read on your behalf. Let me know if there’s one you’d like me to track or have questions about a topic you’re not seeing here.