Notes from the journey of writing Fabric and reflections on generative AI
Short field notes as I work on my forthcoming AI book, Fabric. Thoughts on the ongoing generative AI journey as it unfolds – starting from early 2023. Longer essays coming soon.
I’ve been living inside an alternate reality since January 2023, and it feels like a good time to share it.
Two and a half years ago, no-one was talking about synthetic users, AI-generated UGC or AI agents. What will we be discussing in 2027, that is not even on the horizon today?
Right now, AI agents are like an early-stage gold rush. Everyone knows there's something huge here, but no-one's quite sure how to extract the real value.
Maybe in the generative AI era, the furious pace of development and off-boarding of employees will be accompanied by a renewed interest in long-term thinking and societal responsibility.
The truth is that generative AI should be 'for everyone' – especially since one of the biggest shifts is the way it allows you to interact fully in natural language – no coding skills required.
HeyGen just announced 500+ community-generated AI avatars, which is really exciting progress. But it got me thinking about the future of content creation and fair compensation.
Deep Seek, the new Chinese LLM, is impressive. But don't jump ship from your preferred AI tools and models just yet – here's why.
If your business performance relies on SEO or SEM, prepare yourself for shock and disruption.
VW closing three plants, Porsche profits down 40%, Mercedes in trouble, budget deficit for 2025 hitting €13.5bn (due to lower tax revenues).
This week's news about potential VW factory closures sent shockwaves far and wide. How will Germany fare if its stake in the automotive industry declines, and the next wave of innovation is one in which it has no stake?
Now you can leverage multiple LLMs, for free, to help you get the best genAI deliverable while you experiment and choose your preferred infrastructure.
Even in a self-proclaimed 'AI business', understanding how to leverage genAI is not always widely distributed across the organisation.
"I never use Google search for anything any more." 18 year old at a gallery during Berlin Art Week yesterday. Basically, search is broken.
The meaning of 'team' in 2024 has radically changed.
Last week's unveil of the Figure 01 was jaw-dropping. But the implications of industrialising this technology are even more breath-taking.
In the vibrant yet cutthroat advertising landscape of San Francisco, two agencies, Quantum Creative and Narrative Edge, embarked on markedly different paths with the advent of generative AI, setting a dramatic stage reminiscent of a David Fincher narrative – complete with tension, intrigue, and an enlightening twist.
Most people had never used a mobile phone in 1984. And most of them wouldn't have wanted to.
There seems to be a lot of panic on social media about the impact of generative AI on the creative industry. This was triggered by Sam Altman being quoted as saying that generative AI will do "95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today."
I've been wanting to try this for a while, ever since I got my HeyGen account activated last year, and am very excited to finally have time to conduct and share my experiment. I was originally planning to try it out with a custom avatar based on my own image, but I decided to see how far I could get using free tools only. In some ways, that proved to be an even more fascinating journey.
The signs are that AI-generated content of all types will explode in 2024. The chart below is just an indication (based on fake and possibly AI-generated reviews on Trip Advisor), but Amazon last year already had to limit the amount of self-published books an author could release – to 3 per day.
I wonder if there will be any more 'why did it take so long?' moments in 2024. And for once I'm not talking specifically about generative AI, rather the shift in perspective needed to see where huge value can be created by something relatively simple.
It feels like the last 24 hours are showcasing two very different sides of generative AI. On the one hand we have the excitement and transformational utility of the new ChatGPT app store, on the other we have some of the first public announcements of "offboarding" directly caused by generative AI replacing work previously performed by humans.
An article in the New Scientist caught my eye this morning. It announced that EEG technology and AI have been combined to create a non-invasive thought-to-text device. The initial 40% accuracy rate is already increasing to 60% in the latest studies – so this has great potential – despite the ground still to be covered.
Often it's the sex industry taking the lead in adopting new technology, but when it comes to generative AI, the political establishment seems to be one of the first movers.
When I read about the 'lazy holiday' traits that ChatGPT has been exhibiting recently, I wasn't sure if it was real. But I tested, validated and found a simple solution.
As often happens, while reading an article in the FT app this morning, I speculated about some interesting possibilities that I wanted to integrate into my work.
I came across this ad in a magazine in my hotel room yesterday, and it caught my imagination in terms of the future of AI celebrities.
Did you ever dread sending a message or email involving a sensitive or complex topic? Did you ever send one and wish afterwards that you had worded it more effectively? Introducing ✨Message Mentor✨...
Last weekend, ChatGPT and I created "Julianne Hartley", a charming AI-author stirring hearts with "Whispers in the Mist", first chapter published on Wattpad.
My approach to learning how to get the most out of generative AI, including understanding its limitations and how to work around them, is to experiment as much as possible – on low-risk use cases.
I'm often surprised by how many super smart, capable people are not yet consistently using generative AI in their day-to-day workflows, but I think I know the reason why.
In 2019, Sebastian Errazuriz predicted that 90% of architects will lose their jobs to AI. He didn't comment on designers, but I collaborated with ChatGPT to construct a realistic future scenario…
For many, recent job losses haven't yet been offset by new opportunities. So when OpenAI opened up their GPT Builder, building a GPT that helps people who are looking for work right now seemed like a natural test case.
OK, I've read about this, but first time I've experienced it – generative AI can be super biased when creating images.