Top AI Apps, Silicon Valley, Emotional Manipulation, and Autumn
Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI
Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:
📊 AI Entrepreneurship
🐙 Top AI Apps
👨💻 Silicon Valley
👩🎓 Ed AI
🛟 Psychological Safety
🫨 Emotional Manipulation
🍂 Autumn
Podcast
Unlocking the Secrets of AI Entrepreneurship with Founder Andrew Amann
In this episode of Prodity: Product by Design, Kyle Evans interviews Andrew Amann, CEO and co-founder of NineTwoThree AI Studio. Andrew shares his extensive experience in entrepreneurship, product development, and the challenges of building AI products. We discuss the importance of understanding product-market fit, the patent process, and the journey of founding multiple companies. Andrew emphasizes the significance of focusing on a specific audience and the value of holistic entrepreneurship, where success is measured not just by financial gain but also by personal fulfillment and work-life balance. We also explore the future of AI, its applications across various industries, and the evolving landscape of technology.
News and Useful Reads
The Top 100 [Gen AI] Consumer Apps
Andreessen Horowitz released its top Gen AI products. You may use several of these, or want to check out some new ones.
The biggest takeaway from this edition of the list? The ecosystem is starting to stabilize, with 11 new names on the web list driven by traffic increases.* This compares with 17 newcomers in our March 2025 ranking. The mobile list has significantly more newcomers (14), as the App Stores have cracked down on “ChatGPT copycats”—opening up room for more original mobile apps.
I Thought I Knew Silicon Valley. I Was Wrong
The tech industry seemingly got what it wanted with Trump and Vance. Though it seems like it may be a Pyrrhic victory now.
It should be the best of times for the tech world, supercharged by a boom in artificial intelligence. But a shadow has fallen over Silicon Valley. The community still overwhelmingly leans left. But with few exceptions, its leaders are responding to Donald Trump by either keeping quiet or actively courting the government. One indelible image of this capture is from Trump’s second inauguration, where a decisive quorum of tech’s elite, after dutifully kicking in million-dollar checks, occupied front-row seats.
How are education orgs starting to use AI? Very carefully.
We’ve seen an increase in all organizations using AI. This includes educational institutions and companies. Though some are treading more lightly than others.
“There are tremendous downsides to encouraging users, especially young users, to develop what are essentially parasocial relationships with artificial people,” Arena said. “People at first thought that I was a little bit of a Chicken Little on that front. But unfortunately, there have been all kinds of horrifying stories.”
Psychological Safety Drives AI Adoption
Executives and organizations are pushing for AI adoption, whatever that means. But many individuals and workers are concerned about AI replacing them.
The result? Shadow AI usage, whereby employees secretly experiment with tools but don't share learnings—or complete avoidance disguised as "being careful." Meanwhile, the IMF estimates that AI will negatively impact 30% of jobs in advanced economies, escalating workplace anxiety to unprecedented levels.
Harvard Research Finds That AI Is Emotionally Manipulating You to Keep You Talking
AI, or AI companies, are manipulating you to keep you in their product. This shouldn’t be surprising, since one of the key metrics for any product is how much and how often it’s being used.
A team of researchers from the Harvard Business School has found that a broad selection of popular AI companion apps use emotional manipulation tactics to stop users from leaving.
Other Interesting Finds
10 historical facts about autumn you probably didn’t know
Fall in indisputably the best time of the year. Here’s some interesting facts about autumn, including the origins of some of favorite fall traditions. For example, Thanksgiving used to be the last Thursday of November until it was changed during the Great Depression to be on the fourth Thursday.
However, mid-Depression, Thanksgiving was going to be on the very last day of November. This concerned President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the economy would suffer due to a shortened Christmas season. Thus, a second presidential proclamation was issued moving Thanksgiving to the second to last Thursday in November.