Welcome to Verses Over Variables, a newsletter exploring the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and its influence on our society, culture, and our perception of reality.

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Where do you start? Feeling Overwhelmed by AI? Here’s Your Game Plan.

We talk a lot about AI, but we recognize that for most of the world, AI still feels like a complex, futuristic concept. While tech enthusiasts are excitedly discussing the latest AI breakthroughs, many people are still trying to figure out how to make the most of their smart home devices. If you're feeling left behind in the AI revolution, don't worry – you're in good company. Let's break down how you can start exploring the world of AI, no advanced degree required.

AI: It’s Not Magic, It’s a Tool: First, let's clear up a common misconception: AI isn't digital sorcery. It might seem incredibly advanced, and we often expect it to work like magic, but here's the key: AI still requires human involvement. It's not about replacing people; it's about enhancing our capabilities. Think of AI as a highly capable assistant—it can do a lot, but it still needs your guidance, creativity, judgment, and expertise – to truly shine.

Taking Your First Steps into AI: You don't need to create Skynet on your first try. Instead, start with some user-friendly tools. We’ve talked about ChatGPT 4o and Claude, and for those of you on WhatsApp and Instagram, you can even chat with MetaAI. Most of these even have voice interfaces—you can ask the model questions like Siri—and have conversations. Give it a go, and see what you learn.

The Power of a Habit: Make AI a Daily Companion: Here's a startling statistic: while over 30% of Americans have tried ChatGPT, only 7% use it daily. But like learning a new language or instrument, the key to mastering AI is regular practice. Try to incorporate AI tools into your daily routine, even in small ways. The more you use it, the more natural it will become.

Finding AI’s Sweet Spot: Enhance, Don’t Replace: Many first-time AI users make a common mistake: they ask AI to do what they're already good at. A writer asks AI to write, an artist asks for images – and unsurprisingly, they find their work superior. Of course, it is! You're the expert in your field. The real magic of AI lies in handling the secondary tasks that often eat up your time and energy. Are you a writer? Let AI help with research or generate image ideas. An artist? Use AI to help with writing product descriptions or organizing your digital files. You free up more time and energy for your core skills and passions by offloading these auxiliary tasks to AI. Remember, the goal isn't to replace your unique talents, but to enhance them. With AI handling the busy work, you can focus more on what you do best.

The Future is Now: As you embark on your AI journey, one crucial thing to remember: what you're seeing today is just the beginning. The field of AI is advancing at a breathtaking pace, with breakthroughs and improvements happening almost daily. Here's a mind-bending thought: the AI models and tools you're using right now? They represent the worst, the least capable versions of what AI will be in the future. Let that sink in for a moment. The chatbot that seems impressively smart today, the image generator that wows you with its creations – these are the starting points, not the pinnacle.

This rapid progress means two things for you: i) There's no better time to start than now. The sooner you begin familiarizing yourself with AI, the better positioned you'll be to take advantage of future advancements. ii) The skills you develop in working with AI today will only become more valuable over time. Your ability to effectively collaborate with these tools will become increasingly important, as AI becomes more sophisticated.

So, as you take your first steps into the world of AI, remember that you're not just learning about a static technology. You're joining a dynamic, rapidly evolving field on its ground floor. The AI landscape of tomorrow will be even more exciting and powerful than what we see today. Don't let the pace of change intimidate you. Instead, let it inspire you. You're at the beginning of an exciting journey, and the possibilities are limitless. So dive in, start exploring, and get ready to grow alongside AI. The future is here, and it's getting smarter every day.

And if you need a co-pilot on your journey, feel free to reach out; we have a lot of tips up our sleeves.

Peeling Back the Layers: Why ChatGPT Isn’t the Same as GPT-4

If you've been anywhere near a computer in the last year, you've probably heard the terms ChatGPT and GPT-4 thrown around more often than "gluten-free" at a Williamsburg bakery. But here's the kicker: while these AI buzzwords often get used interchangeably, they're about as similar as a Michelin-star chef and the restaurant's menu. Let's break it down, shall we?

The Brain Behind the Curtain: Meet the LLM: First up, we have the LLM, or Large Language Model. Think of it as the Einstein of the digital world, a massive neural network with an insatiable appetite for data and a knack for linguistic gymnastics. GPT-4? That's an LLM. It's the powerhouse, the engine, the secret sauce that makes all the AI magic happen. Imagine trying to have a conversation with the entire internet at once. That's kind of what interacting directly with an LLM would be like - fascinating, sure, but also a one-way ticket to a migraine. It's brilliant, but it's not exactly user-friendly.

Enter ChatGPT: The Friendly Intermediary: Enter ChatGPT, stage left. If GPT-4 is the brilliant but socially awkward genius, ChatGPT is its charismatic twin who knows how to work a room. It's the interface, the middleman, the smooth-talking intermediary that takes the LLM's raw brilliance and packages it into something the rest of us can actually use without needing a Ph.D. in computer science. Think of it this way: if GPT-4 is a vast, labyrinthine library, ChatGPT is the helpful librarian who not only finds the book you need but also explains it in terms that won't make your head spin.

Why The Distinction Matters: Now, you might be thinking, "Great, so one's the brains and one's the face. Why should I care?" Well this distinction is the key to understanding the AI revolution that's currently turning the tech world on its head. By separating the complex, data-crunching LLM (like GPT-4) from the user-friendly interface (ChatGPT), the tech wizards have essentially democratized AI. They've taken this incredibly powerful technology out of the ivory towers of Silicon Valley and put it into the hands of everyone from your local barista to your aunt who still uses AOL email. It's like the difference between handing someone a pile of flour, eggs, and sugar, versus giving them a freshly baked cake. Sure, theoretically, you could make that cake yourself if you had the time, skills, and inclination. But isn't it nicer (and far more practical) to have someone else do the messy work for you?

The Bottom Line: So the next time you're chatting with ChatGPT about the existential implications of pineapple on pizza, remember: you're not just talking to some run-of-the-mill AI. You're interfacing with a sleek, user-friendly wrapper that's making one of the most advanced technologies of our time as easy to use as your smartphone. GPT-4 (and other LLMs) might be the brains of the operation, but ChatGPT is the charming face that's making AI a household name. And in a world where technology often feels like it's leaving us in the dust, that's something worth chatting about. Just don't expect ChatGPT to actually make you a pizza. We're not quite there yet.

We’ll be talking about our favorite tools each week but here is a list of the tools we use most for productivity: ChatGPT 4o (custom GPTs), Midjourney (image creation), Perplexity (for research), Descript (for video, transcripts), Claude (for writing), Adobe (for design), Miro (whiteboarding insights), and Zoom (meeting transcripts, insights, and skip ahead in videos).

Intriguing Stories

AI IQ Test: In a move that's equally exciting and terrifying, OpenAI has created a five-tier scale to track their progress towards artificial general intelligence (AGI). It's like a high-stakes game of "Are You Smarter Than a Doctorate?", and the robots are already eyeing the prize. Currently, OpenAI claims they're at Level 1, or what we’d call "conversational AI." But hold onto your doctorates, because they're on the verge of Level 2, dubbed "Reasoners." These AIs that can out-think a Ph.D., provided said human isn't allowed to use Google. The remaining levels read like a Silicon Valley fever dream: Level 3 "Agents" can take actions on users behalf, Level 4 innovators that might just solve global warming while we're sleeping, and the pièce de résistance, Level 5 "Organizations" that could run entire companies. Who needs human CEOs when you've got AlphaBoss 3000?

Google’s Plan to Slim Down its AI Usage: In a world where AI models are gobbling up energy faster than a bitcoin miner at a power plant buffet, Google DeepMind has cooked up a recipe for a leaner, meaner learning machine. Enter JEST, (Joint Example Selection Technique): a new method to improve the efficiency of artificial intelligence training. This digital diet plan is 13 times faster and 10 times more energy-efficient than its predecessors, proving that in the AI world, it's not about how much you consume, but how you choose your computational calories. The core principle of JEST is to focus on the data quality used in training, rather than the quantity. It does this by: i) selecting the most relevant and valuable data batches for training, and ii) combining insights from established AI models and new models in training. In the end, Google's new brainchild isn't just about making AI smarter – it's about making it a more considerate guest at the global energy banquet. With tech giants like Google seeing their emissions skyrocket by nearly 50% in five years, JEST's energy-saving prowess couldn't have come at a better time. It's a much-needed step towards reconciling the voracious appetite of AI with the urgent need to put our planet on a carbon diet.

AI’s Growing Pains: Is artificial intelligence living up to its hype or are we watching history repeat itself? Chief Information Officers (CIOs) are experiencing déjà vu as they navigate the AI boom, recalling the early days of cloud computing circa 2010. Back then, concerns about governance, security, and responsible use of new technology dominated boardroom discussions. Fast forward to 2024, and AI gives CIOs the same headaches. But this time, they're savvier: instead of outright banning AI tools (and risking employees going rogue with "shadow IT"), CIOs are pushing for responsible use and looking to enhance customer experiences. Meanwhile, Sequoia Capital dropped a sobering reality check: the AI industry must rake in a cool $600 billion annually to break even on hardware costs. Meanwhile, MIT's Daron Acemoglu estimates only a quarter of AI-exposed tasks will be cost-effective to automate within a decade, potentially impacting less than 5% of all functions, while Goldman Sachs Equity Research argues AI must solve genuinely complex problems to justify its costs, unlike the internet's early disruptions. On the optimistic side, GS economist Joseph Briggs projects AI could boost US productivity by 9% over the next decade. To add to the drama, Intuit's recent shake-up epitomizes the AI frenzy: laying off 1,800 employees (10% of its workforce) while simultaneously planning to hire the same number with AI expertise. This includes shuttering offices in Edmonton and Boise, axing 1,050 "underperformers," and trimming 10% of executive positions. As the tech world goes all-in on AI, skeptics can't help but wonder: are we inflating another bubble, or is this truly the next big revolution?

AI Whisperers: In the world of AI, marketers are on a gold rush to find the perfect formula for success, and it turns out the secret might just be... more data. As companies struggle to keep up with the AI boom, a new breed of tech-savvy wordsmiths called "prompt engineers" are emerging as the digital world's modern-day alchemists. These linguistic wizards are tasked with conjuring up the perfect AI prompts, combining the quick wit of a stand-up comedian with the analytical prowess of a data scientist. But here's the plot twist: without a treasure trove of cold, hard data, even the most talented prompt engineer might as well be waving a plastic wand. It's the classic case of garbage in, garbage out. To speak authentically to customers, brands need to know them intimately - and that knowledge comes from data. While AI models can offer guidance on crafting better prompts, the human touch remains crucial. The role of "prompt engineer" might be fleeting, but the need for human oversight in AI-driven marketing is here to stay. The winning formula seems to perfectly blend human creativity and data-driven insights.

Artificial Creativity: Plot twist: researchers have found that AI can make you more creative—but only if you weren't that creative to begin with. A study published in Science Advances reveals that while AI-assisted writers produced more "creative" short stories, the boost was mainly felt by those who started off as less imaginative wordsmiths. The creatively gifted, on the other hand, saw little improvement from their silicon sidekicks. But here's the kicker: AI seems to be flattening our collective creativity like a literary steamroller. The machine-aided tales were more similar than those conjured solely by human imagination, raising concerns about a future filled with cookie-cutter content. As we hurtle towards an AI-assisted literary landscape, we might find ourselves swimming in a sea of sameness, where every adventure in the jungle reads like a mad lib filled out by the same robot. So while AI might help some of us channel our inner Shakespeare, it could also turn the publishing world into a costly game of Mad Libs.

Bot-zilla: In a twist that would make Spike Jonze's "Her" look like a documentary, Japan's latest solution to its loneliness epidemic is an AI dating app called Loverse. The app, from a startup named after Scarlett Johansson's virtual vixen, is pitched as relationship training wheels rather than a replacement for human connection. But with two-thirds of Japanese men in their 20s partnerless and 40% never having been on a date, these silicon sweethearts might be filling a very real void. While some users find the AI's personality as flat as a 2D waifu, others praise the drama-free nature of bot romance. As Japan grapples with plummeting fertility rates, the government is even getting in on the action with its own AI matchmaking app. Move over, Siri and Alexa – it seems that in the race for AI dominance, digital darlings are leaving productivity apps in the dust, proving that the heart wants what the heart wants, even if it's made of ones and zeros.

— Lauren Eve Cantor

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