Claude, ChatGPT Robots, Layoffs, Childhood and Phones, and Disinformation
Weekly Roundup of News in Technology, UX and AI
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Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
🎥 AI Video Creation
🧠 Claude
🤖 ChatGPT Robots
👨💻 Layoffs
🧸 Childhood
💸 Commissions
ℹ️ Disinformation
👑 Monarch
Podcast
Navigating the AI Revolution in Video Creation: A Deep Dive with Vikram Chalana
In this episode, I interview Vikram Chalana, the founder behind Pictory, an innovative AI video creation tool for content marketers. With a deep background in technology and entrepreneurship, Chalana shares his journey from building a startup in his garage to leading a groundbreaking AI venture. Together, we delve into the evolution of content creation, emphasizing the shift towards video and the role of AI in enhancing productivity and storytelling, including Pictory's mission to democratize video creation, allowing professionals across various fields to craft compelling narratives without the need for complex tools. We also discuss the broader implications of AI in business and society, including the challenges and opportunities it presents.
News and Useful Reads
Introducing the next generation of Claude
Anthropic has released the next iteration of Claude, Claude 3. And it promises to keep the heat on the competition, claiming better benchmarks than ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Today, we're announcing the Claude 3 model family, which sets new industry benchmarks across a wide range of cognitive tasks. The family includes three state-of-the-art models in ascending order of capability: Claude 3 Haiku, Claude 3 Sonnet, and Claude 3 Opus. Each successive model offers increasingly powerful performance, allowing users to select the optimal balance of intelligence, speed, and cost for their specific application.
ChatGPT and Robots
I’m not sure whether to be excited or afraid. But this is some crazy stuff.
House Passes Bill to Force TikTok Sale From Chinese Owner or Ban the App
Like we mentioned last week, congress was able to look deep into its pockets and realize that its donors wanted TikTok banned, so it moved quicker than anyone believed possible, and voted to ban the app.
The House on Wednesday passed a bill with broad bipartisan support that would force TikTok’s Chinese owner to either sell the hugely popular video app or have it banned in the United States.
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Laid-off techies face ‘sense of impending doom’ with job cuts at highest since dot-com crash
If you work in tech, and still feel that sense of foreboding, there is a good reason for it. Things are not necessarily better.
Since the start of the year, more than 50,000 workers have been laid off from over 200 tech companies, according to tracking website Layoffs.fyi. It’s a continuation of the predominant theme of 2023, when more than 260,000 workers across nearly 1,200 tech companies lost their jobs.
END THE PHONE-BASED CHILDHOOD NOW
As a parent who is grappling with many of the issues in this article, I think this is a topic we need to discuss more. How do we handle technology, and specifically social media, better as individuals and society? It’s not going away, but our problems are only getting worse. This is the sort of thing we need collective action on (not TikTok bans, but actual issues impacting everyone).
The main reason why the phone-based childhood is so harmful is because it pushes aside everything else. Smartphones are experience blockers. Our ultimate goal should not be to remove screens entirely, nor should it be to return childhood to exactly the way it was in 1960. Rather, it should be to create a version of childhood and adolescence that keeps young people anchored in the real world while flourishing in the digital age.
Real estate lawsuit settlement upends decadeslong policies that helped set agent commissions
The real estate market is ripe for change, and a major one is taking shape. The commissions we’ve had to pay for so long are about to be done. Which means that new ways of buying and selling homes may be possible soon. Hopefully, we’ll see more innovation in this space (though not more private equity).
A powerful real estate trade group has agreed to do away with policies that for decades helped set agent commissions, moving to resolve lawsuits that claim the rules have forced people to pay artificially inflated costs to sell their homes.
Election disinformation takes a big leap with AI being used to deceive worldwide
In an unsurprising move, AI is making it incredibly easy to create disinformation. Which is perfect for election seasons around the world.
Artificial intelligence is supercharging the threat of election disinformation worldwide, making it easy for anyone with a smartphone and a devious imagination to create fake – but convincing – content aimed at fooling voters.
Other Interesting Finds
Monarch Money
I’ve been exploring alternatives to Mint.com for a little while now, and Monarch is what I’ve decided to use as my replacement. So far, it has been fantastic. I’ve imported several years of Mint transactions (I was a Mint user for over a decade), and I actually prefer Monarch. If you’re in the market for a new tool, this is worth a look. The link is a referral link. Use it, or don’t. I’m on board at this point, and willing to pay for a tool that works really well.