Justin's AI Newsletter

The most interesting content, news, and insights in AI each week.

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Hey friends 👋,

Welcome back to the first newsletter of 2024!

If you thought AI in 2023 was crazy, I've got a feeling that 2024 is going to take AI to a whole new level...

I've spent the past few weeks working hard to get ahead; Cassidy, my company, will be publicly launching in the next couple of weeks. Our team is expanding, and we're hiring more people. And, I have plenty of amazing content planned, so make sure to stay in the loop!

Alright, let's dive into my AI takeaways from the past 2 weeks…

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AI & WORK

🤑 The AI Arbitrage Fallacy

I've got bad news folks.

Currently, we're in a period of intense AI Arbitrage, but that isn't going to last forever. Let me explain.

Right now, early AI adopters will have the opportunity to run laps around the people who still haven't tested out any AI tools (yes, these people still exist). But that won't be the case forever.

Everyday, that arbitrage gap is decreasing as more and more people are testing out new AI tools and finding ways to utilize them in their work. Soon, the arbitrage gap will basically be gone, which means that everyone will be using AI tools and taking advantage of the benefits.

This means that leveraging AI tools won't be the reason you beat out your competitors because everyone else will be using them—but rather it means not using AI tools will be the reason you lose. Soon, you won't be able to get away with not using AI tools because your competitors are ALL USING THEM.

This is what I'm calling The AI Arbitrage Fallacy:

Let's break it down...

1. AI is Leveling the Playing Field, Not Creating Advantages: As AI tech becomes more accessible and ubiquitous, the initial competitive edge they offer diminishes. What starts as an arbitrage opportunity – gaining an advantage due to early adoption or superior implementation of AI – eventually levels out as these technologies become standard across industries.
2. AI as a Necessary Tool, Not a Guarantee of Success: The presence of AI in business processes like sales, customer service, etc., will soon be the norm rather than an exception. In this environment, the absence of AI could be detrimental, but its presence alone doesn’t guarantee business success. The critical factors for success will still include strategy, innovation, human insight, and other elements that AI cannot fully replicate.
3. The Temporary Nature of AI Arbitrage: The window for exploiting AI as an arbitrage opportunity is limited. Early adopters may experience significant gains, but as AI becomes more mainstream, the advantage diminishes. The focus then shifts from leveraging AI for an edge to using AI to stay relevant and competitive.

Just like the advent of the internet, which initially gave early adopters a significant advantage but eventually became a basic necessity for business operations, AI is on a similar trajectory. It’s not the presence of AI that will define success, but how it’s integrated and utilized within the broader business strategy.

If you've been delaying incorporating AI tools into your workflows, it's time to stop waiting—or else suffer the consequences...

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AI NEWS

😂 NYT Sues OpenAI and Microsoft

BREAKING NEWS:

The NYT is suing OpenAI and Microsoft for "billions", accusing them of

1. Using NYT articles to train their LLMs without permission
2. ChatGPT is "directly competing" with their content.

While the first part is true, OpenAI did train their LLMs on NYT's data, keep in mind the NYT represents ~0.0083% of the common crawl (common crawl is a copy of the internet to train data on).

However, Part 2 is more intriguing. In my opinion, it would be difficult to claim that ChatGPT is a direct competitor to the New York Times. This argument becomes a slippery slope; if it's considered a competitor to the NYT, would it also be a competitor to all online content in general?

It's been reported that OpenAI is offering publishers anywhere from $1M to $5M per year. While some big-name publishers like Alex Springer (they own Business Insider and Politico) and Associated Press have signed on, some publishers claim that's not enough.

My thoughts: This is a monumental case in AI. This case, which will likely end up in the Supreme Court, will set a precedent. If AI companies must license content feeds from news organizations and publishers for training data, it could save local journalism and publishing. This would provide a supportive business model and place a premium on accurate, high-value journalism, as AI systems compete for the most reliable training data.

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AI INNOVATIONS

😎 Microsoft adds a Copilot key to Windows PCs

Whoa! Microsoft is adding a new button to their keyboards dedicated to their Copilot AI assistant.

The Copilot key will be located to the right of the space bar and will open Windows Copilot to allow you to use natural language to modify your settings, launch apps, and perform general tasks.

You can expect to see the first PCs being announced at the big consumer electronics show (CES) next week in Las Vegas.

Why is this exciting?

This is the first time in 30 years Microsoft has changed the keyboard!

There's been a lot of talk around brand new AI hardware (Humane's AI Pin, OpenAI x Jony Ives, Rewind Pendant, etc.) but this is the first time we're seeing a remodeling of an old standard piece of equipment.

It makes me wonder what other big changes are coming to old hardware? Earlier this week, I predicted that by the end of 2024, Apple will be the biggest player in AI. Are we gonna see changes to Apple's hardware? Or completely new hardware?

Who knows, but I stand by my prediction.

2024 is the year of Apple. And it's the year of AI hardware.

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⭐ AI Quick Hits

1. 🤔 A text-to-game app just got launched. Start with text and build yourself a game. [Read here]​
2. The King of Rock and Roll is back from the dead. AI Elvis is coming to London. [Read here]​
3. OpenAI is launching their GPT store next week. Will this be huge or another plug-in store let-down, I'm not sure. [Read here]​
4. Is Google getting disrupted? Perplexity (AI search engine) just raised $73M and is now valued at $520M. [Read here]​
5. The Adobe-Figma merger isn't happening, but Figma doesn't care. They're making strides in AI x design. [Watch here]​

Stay tuned for more next week...

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Thanks for reading,

Justin

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P.S. Want more quick, hot AI takes?

Be sure to follow me on Twitter & LinkedIn! 🔥🤖