The AI Personal Assistant Race (Breakdown)

Welcome to another edition of the best damn newsletter in AI.

As a reminder, we’ve opened up Reader Questions. Our mission is to make using AI accessible to every business, and a huge part of that is making sure you’re not stuck and that we continue answering diverse questions. So, submit your question here. We’ll review every single one and cover answers here in the newsletter.

Here's what we're covering today:

• How big tech companies are competing to be the worlds’ AI personal assistant

• Use ChatGPT to set clear, measurable goals

• Self-driving cars race against a Formula 1 driver for the first time

Let’s get to it! 👇

TODAY’S PERSPECTIVE

The AI Personal Assistant Race (Breakdown)

If you’re an Instagram user, chances are you’ve seen this new feature in your search bar: Meta AI. Meta AI functions like ChatGPT, and is currently the most powerful free AI chat tool on the market. 

We’re here to tell you — this feature is just a glimpse into a broader race among tech giants.

What race?

The race to be the worlds’ AI personal assistant. 

Today we’re going to explain why Google, Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, Apple and OpenAI are all in the same race.

And it comes down to following the money. 

Tech giant business model breakdown

Let’s take a look at each company’s business models and how that might incentivize certain actions:

Starting with Apple, who makes most of their revenue from devices, which incentivizes them to build great experiences. But the problem with great experiences is that improvements are often seen as incremental and less impactful for the end customer, meaning it’s difficult to see the direct ROI of innovation when you’re already ahead (which might be the best argument for an AI wearable startup having a chance). 

Ok, how about Google? They make most of their revenue from advertising (~75%), which incentivizes them to get you to spend more time on their products (so they can show you more ads). But going after the AI personal assistant market is direct cannibalism of their current revenue sources. If people rely on AI to give them answers instead of clicking on advertising links – they must tread carefully.

What about Microsoft and Amazon? Both are quite diversified. Microsoft makes meaningful revenue from cloud services, Microsoft office and devices. Amazon from ecommerce and cloud services. But the upside to being your personal AI assistant isn’t as meaningful in these categories as it is in advertising (we’ll explain in a second).

Meta? Ok, here’s where things get interesting. Meta makes an even higher %  of their revenue from advertising (~97%), but without the baggage of chat disrupting search that’s holding Google back. For Meta, it’s nearly all upside. Especially if using their AI assistant causes you to spend more time in their products.

And OpenAI makes it even more interesting. OpenAI, while not traditionally a commercial giant like Google or Meta, brings a unique angle to this race. ChatGPT directly competes for user attention and data, which are critical for training AI models AND for advertising business models. 

So who will win?

We expect this race will continue to see massive investment across the board given how potentially lucrative. The worlds’ AI personal assistant will be more personalized than everything we’ve ever seen. It won’t just have your data, it will understand you. It won’t just show you ads, it’ll be able to make purchasing decisions. It won’t just recommend content for you to watch, it’ll be able to make it. 

But we think Meta may end up being the surprise winner, largely because its strategies are directly aligning with the evolving needs of the worlds’ AI personal assistant. 

Stay observant, and be prepared:

Whether you’re a business owner, a content creator, a marketer, or want to be one of those in the future – you’ll want to position yourself to be early on whatever Meta’s AI ecosystem looks like – not just their AI models, but also their AI products.

Here's a closer look at some of the bigger things Meta's doing that you should be watching:

• Meta AI, integrated into search [link]

• AI influencers are starting to take over Instagram, and there’s no reason to believe Meta won’t help you generate them at some point [link]

• Mark Zuckerberg hinted at future plans to give content creators way to leverage AI to scale interactions with their audiences [mentioned on podcast]

• And of course Meta is already using AI to make it even easier for businesses to spend money on advertising – which we could write a whole edition on just the genius feedback loops they probably have in place to teach AI how to make the perfect ad. [link]

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Join Rachel at the Second Brain Summit!

Tiago Forte, author and creator of Building a Second Brain, just announced the first ever Second Brain Summit. Rachel will be giving two sessions on our research on AI Operations and we’d love to see you there! If you’re passionate about AI, knowledge management or living a more balanced and productive life — this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Between Tiago’s vision for the event, and the caliber of the speakers — tickets WILL go fast. On Tuesday, May 14 at 9am ET, everyone on the waitlist will get an email with the link to register, so everyone has an equal chance of getting a ticket.

If you’re interested, this is your chance to GET ON THE WAITLIST.

USE CASE

Set Clear, Measurable Goals with Goal Simplifier GPT

Still setting business goals the old-fashioned way?

Most people get goal setting all wrong.

They focus on vague, unmeasurable objectives.

Success in today's fast-paced world is about setting clear, actionable goals with a detailed plan for achievement.

Instead, try this:

1. Navigate to ChatGPT and select "Explore GPTs".

2. Click "+ Create" and configure your Goal Simplifier GPT.

3. Add a goal scorecard that includes a description of the problem, it’s impact, a list of actionable steps to take, and how you will measure the result.

4. Instruct the GPT to ask one question at

   a time until it has enough information to write a scorecard.

Or if you want, you can use ours for free: Goal Simplifier GPT.

LINKS

For your reading list 📚

Exploring the potential and pitfalls of AI in various sectors...

• Creators of Sora-powered short explain AI-generated video's strengths and limitations 

• Meta’s ‘set it and forget it’ AI ad tools are misfiring and blowing through cash

• Yelp has introduced an AI-powered chatbot called Yelp Assistant in its iOS app to help users find local service professionals

AI advancements in the world of coding and chatbots...

• GitHub Copilot can now help start a project with AI, not just complete it

• ChatGPT’s AI ‘memory’ can remember the preferences of paying customers

AI and autonomous vehicles: the road ahead...

• A wrestling match over who should control robotaxis is playing out in California

• The first-ever race between four self-driving cars and a Formula 1 driver just happened in Abu Dhabi

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Cheers,

🪄 The AI Exchange Team