Deep Takes AI #2

DeepTakes #2 discusses how the internet re-wired our brain and why AI tools are about to do it again. We also give you actionable examples of AI in action, and end with an actionable business idea leveraging AI tools.

Digital Amnesia

The Google Effect aka Digital Amnesia is a plague affecting Millennials and their Fortnite-playing, TikTok-dancing offspring. Digital Amnesia is the tendency to forget information that is easily searchable on the internet, namely Google.

Why waste valuable brain space when information is accessible with a few taps on our screens? Spend that compute power on something creative and value-creating rather than remembering the name of your second favorite donut shop.

Research is not definitive on the downstream effects of Digital Amnesia, but there is no question that we are more reliant on technology every day. Imagine trying to get back to your Airbnb without your phone, on vacation in a new city... sounds like a Gen Z horror flick!

It is obvious where this is going- as technology improves, our brains must adapt to leverage that technology, and AI is up next.

AI tools are the latest edition of the bicycle of the mind and how they will impact our brains, the value of various skills, and downstream effects are tough to predict.. but we wanted to share a few quick thoughts on how the AI revolution could make our Millennial brains outdated, giving the edge to those who grow up leveraging these tools in their formative years.

• Outsource brainstorming for anything from song lyric ideas to clever podcast introductions to chatbots like ChatGPT.

• Write structured content (including this newsletter) in a structured format and specific style as chatbots are trained on specific writers and optimized for platforms... taking your inputs and outputting content that is optimized for algo love.

• Writing speeches that we can customize and tweak.. you can stop worrying about that best man speech now.

• Writing code and even tying multiple cloud products together.

• Literally everything except truly creative original thoughts? This is getting a little scary.

Today it feels natural to rely on Google for information. It will soon feel natural to prompt a chatbot to write you a perfect email to close that big deal you are working on, just as it does to google "restaurants near me" today.

Keep that brain malleable!

AI in Action

• Podcast from Casey Newton and Kevin Roose with thought-provoking questions on the implications of highly-effective chatbots.

• Beautiful UI/UX creation from MidJourney by Javi Lopez. Icon packs and website graphic design seem likely to be under pricing pressure near-term and a smaller number of individuals will get rich creating AI content at scale.

• Write an angry letter to Elon Musk (or to the elephants stampeding in your neighbor's apartment upstairs).

• Generate perfect prompts for AI art tools.

• Create a playlist instantly that fits the vibe juuust right.

AI-Generated Startup of the Week

Free idea of the week (please do this one, I want to gift it): FaiRYTaiLS.ai

What kid hasn't imagined being the hero in their very own fairytale?

• Last week we highlighted a short story written with ChatGPT. This week, we're turning it into a business.

• Set up a website that enables consumers to choose a few variables in the story in a mad libs format to create the fairytale of their dreams (princess, superhero, viking, etc.).

• Gather some information to customize the story, such as name and photos.

• Use custom AI chatbot templates to spit out a custom fairytale of 10-15 pages, with custom imagery from MidJourney.

• Upsell the consumer a re-roll on their story or different endings, and sell digital or even physical copies of their fairytale.

• The real hard work here is linking it all together with a slick UI and creating the perfect prompts to drive consistent output, but once it is set up you've built an automated storybook creator that could be highly viral and giftable.

• Reminds us of Neal Stephenson's Young Lady's Illustrated Primer.

AI-Generated Tweet of the Week

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