Welcome! 👋

This weekend I took some time to revamp the graphics of the newsletter, hopefully making it a little more easy on the eyes, but also on the mind with more sections. Last, but not least - a dedicated section on news and the launch of the referral program. I’m looking for help in getting the word out, to reach more fellow-minded individuals like you and also find potential sponsors who are interested in adding value to the community.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Latest news from OpenAI and Google’s big events last week

• AI-Anxiety

• AI Skills: Who really has them?

AI-Anxiety: Is it Generational?

Personally, last week was crazy.

Both the OpenAI and Google I/O events took place a few days apart, fueling further the ‘AI Arms race’ that has gotten our heads spinning the last year or so with all kinds of announcements, drama and uncertainty.

So, if by any chance you missed out on those, here’s what you missed:

OpenAI launched GPT4-o (‘Omni’) - Basically, we’re now able to live in the movie ‘Her’ (which you should definitely check out if you haven’t), where AI now has a female-flirting voice “programmed to feed dudes ego” (thank you the Daily Show, second clip). This is revolutionary to say the least, with Mac desktop apps being rolled out as we speak, and Windows later on this year.

Why It Matters - Improvements in latency and human speech are incredible, plus it’s multi-modal, meaning it works with live video as a feed and interacts in real-time.

Google revealed its plethora of ‘Agents’ throughout its suite - Basically, we have the same plans as above with OpenAI, but with Google’s main advantage (having apps people use for work, email and so on) and disadvantage (can they really disrupt so much with Search Ads being 75% of their revenue)

Some people called it the ‘AI Vertigo’, I call it AI Anxiety; I’m looking for ways to understand it but feel dizzy with the amount of things happening and potential scenarios unraveling. Some people are calling it ‘the end of the web as we know it’. Which then got me thinking. Is it a generational problem?

Contrary to widespread fears of AI-induced job erosion, Gen Z is shockingly positive about AI, with only 22% having AI-related concerns for the workforce. As one student explained, “AI will make it easier to get the tedious processes out of the way so I can do the specialized stuff.” This is a startling difference from the 61% of U.S. adults who around this time last year said AI is a threat to humanity. This is a startling difference from the 61% of U.S. adults who around this time last year said AI is a threat to humanity.

If there's a growing disconnect between generations, it might be because Gen Z, as digital natives, are experiencing a slow boil. Unlike previous generations who entered the digital world gradually, Gen Z has been immersed in it from birth. This constant barrage of information and social media creates a sense of overwhelm and disconnection, much like a frog slowly cooked in a pot.

Three key ingredients are contributing to this experience, as Alberto Romero (Algorithmic Experience) nicely sums up:

• The constant barrage of social media and smartphones has taken a toll on mental health. We're bombarded with information, leading to a sense of overwhelm and disconnection.

• The rise of generative AI is making it difficult to trust online information. Fake content and manipulated data are flooding the internet, making it hard to distinguish truth from fiction. This creates confusion and frustration, similar to the frog being unable to escape the changing water.

• Automation through AI is causing job market anxiety. With AI taking over many tasks, Gen Z faces an uncertain future with fewer job options. This uncertainty creates a sense of powerlessness, like the frog trapped in a pot with no way out.

The only other option I see is that this it’s not black or white. There’s a lot of optimism, but yet anxiety.

Either way, I think this is yet another shift in the way we think about work, and how new rules will need to be built.

Use Case: Analyze your data, create charts, and edit spreadsheets directly within ChatGPT-4o.

TLDR: Edit spreadsheets, tables, and charts directly in ChatGPT-4o by simply prompting it what to do with support interactions with files directly from GDrive and Microsoft OneDrive.

This functionality unlocks a range of basic data analysis tasks directly within ChatGPT-4o. Here's a glimpse of its potential:

• Uncover hidden insights: Analyze large datasets to identify trends, key statistics, and significant results.

• Streamline spreadsheet tasks: Edit spreadsheets with ease, including combining datasets, cleaning data, and creating pivot tables.

• Visualize your data: Generate, edit, and customize any type of chart to effectively represent your findings.

• Financial report generation: Prepare financial statements such as balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow reports directly within the platform.

It’s pretty impressive and empowering. Here’s one for you: back when I worked at a startup, I decided to take up Python to do some basic data science tasks, one of which was an analysis of User Retention of our customers. This too me several months because I was doing (much like this newsletter) the work at night, in my spare time. Now, you can do it with a click.

AI Skills: Everybody wants them…but who has them?

From a recent study by Microsoft:

Which reminded me of this:

Who really has AI Skills? Almost..no-one:

Here are the three main reasons why:

• Organizations adopt technology first and train employees later 80% of executives and 72% of IT practitioners agree their organization often invests in new technology without considering the training employees need to use it. Without a skill development strategy for their tech investments, organizations struggle to achieve their goals and drive customer value.

• Organizations believe they can outsource AI skills

  91% of executives are at least somewhat likely to replace or outsource talent to successfully deploy AI initiatives. But outsourcing is only a stopgap solution. Because AI is still relatively new, there’s a limited number of AI experts, and the ones available on the market may not possess the right skillset.

• Organizations encounter general upskilling challenges

  Even if organizations decide to upskill their employees, they often encounter barriers that prevent them from implementing successful skill development programs. The most common challenges they face? Finding the right training (42%), ensuring training is the right fit for the AI tool (49%), and procuring budget (48%).

Question of the week: Is AI going to make us smarter or dumber?

A dear friend of mine just asked me over the weekend. I had just posted the article on how 'AI may help us actually think better’ (spoiler: it drives me to write down my thoughts and to iterate) but she argues that we will get ‘spoiled’ by just having answers in front of us, limiting our capabilities to fail. What’s your take?