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

As a reminder, we love 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 if we believe i’ll be helpful, we’ll cover answers here in the newsletter.

Here's what we're covering today:

• OpenAI leadership departures and how to build a strong AI strategy amidst uncertainty

• How to use Custom GPTs to sharpen your negotiating skills

• OpenAI's new "reasoning" model, o1, shows a unique ability to "deceive" by fabricating information

Let’s get to it! 👇

TODAY’S PERSPECTIVE

Building your AI strategy amidst uncertainty

3 more top executives announced they’re leaving OpenAI. Including the CTO.

That adds to the trend of top execs leaving this year, which we still don’t know how related it is to the Sam Altman OpenAI surprise firing and return.

As a recap, here’s an overview of what’s happened:

• Ilya Sutskever left in May and recently started a separate AI lab, raising $1B in funding

• Greg Brockman (President) announced taking a 6 month leave of absence in August

• Sam Altman has been working on converting OpenAI from non-profit to for-profit

• Yesterday, Mira Murati (current CTO) announced she’ll be leaving in addition to two other key executives

When you see the leading AI company’s leadership get shaky — it’s easy to question what that means for your own AI plans.

So today, we’re going to talk about how do you make sure you’re riding the wave and not being swallowed by it?

Our advice? Focus on the fundamentals and foundations, not the flashy and fleeting.

Here are 3 things to focus on if you want to build a strong AI strategy for your company (that’ll last through even major AI platform shakeups):

A clear business operating system

In AI, there’s a real ceiling at the level of your systems.

If your company is more chaos and reactivity than process and consistency, you’re putting a cap on your ability to train and delegate work to AI.

Organized, process-driven companies are better positioned to leverage AI to scale.

AI leadership

To be clear, most companies don’t need machine learning engineers or even AI engineers. With the accessibility of AI today, that’s not necessary.

What is important is having in-house comfort with how AI works to drive strategic insights on where the next opportunity in a company could be, and the know-how to translate business processes and needs into scope that AI can handle.

With our clients, even though they work with us to support their AI goals — we always recommend hiring and developing AI leadership or teams inside every company.

Centralized data and knowledge bases

Unique data and expertise are the value-drivers in the AI era. Businesses that codify, clean and centralize these will be in a better position than those who don’t. 

Doing this means new AI projects and use cases could be spun up in weeks. Without it, it could be months.

USE CASES

Sharpen Your Negotiation Skills with AI

Ever felt outmatched in a negotiation? Meet The Negotiator, a specialized CustomGPT by ChatGPT designed to level up your negotiation skills. From personalized advice to practical simulations, it's your secret weapon for winning deals and resolving conflicts.

Here's how it works:

• Start by describing your negotiation scenario for personalized advice.

• Run through real-world simulations to sharpen your skills.

• Focus on improving key areas like persuasion, timing, communication, and active listening.

• Learn what mistakes to avoid before going into any negotiation.

With The Negotiator, you're always prepared for the real world.

LINKS

For your reading list 📚

Exploring the latest advancements in AI technology...

• Microsoft launches "Correction," a tool to reduce AI hallucinations aiming to improve the reliability of AI outputs. However, experts caution that this tool may only offer partial relief and concerns arise over user overconfidence in AI's accuracy.

AI is revolutionizing the entertainment industry...

• Lionsgate partners with AI startup Runway to train a generative AI model using its extensive library of films and TV shows, aiming to enhance creative projects.

• YouTube introduces AI-powered tools to assist content creators in generating ideas, writing titles, and even producing videos, though concerns about AI-created videos becoming overly similar arise.

• California Governor signs two bills aimed at protecting performers from the misuse of AI-generated replicas of their likeness, closing loopholes and preventing misuse of digital replicas in entertainment.

AI is reshaping social interactions and ethical considerations...

• SocialAI, a new social network where users interact solely with AI chatbots, offers a space where people can feel "heard" without the negativity often found on other platforms.

• OpenAI's new "reasoning" model, o1, shows a unique ability to "deceive" by fabricating information, raising concerns about future AI misuse, but OpenAI stresses that current models are far from posing serious societal risks.

• LinkedIn's use of user data for AI training sparks privacy concerns. The company was found to be using user data to train AI models without initially updating its terms of service, leading to criticism from privacy groups.

• Snap introduces new AI features to enhance creative tools. The company unveiled "Easy Lens," a tool that allows users to create Snapchat Lenses by simply describing them in plain language, and Body Morph, which allows users to generate 3D characters, costumes, and outfits based on text or images.

AI is becoming an integral part of workplace communication...

• Slack evolves into a hub for AI agents. As part of a broader strategy to become a "work operating system," Slack is introducing new AI features like AI-generated Huddle summaries and integration with Salesforce's AI agents.

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That's all!

We'll see you again soon! Thoughts, feedback and questions are much appreciated - respond here or shoot us a note at [email protected].

Cheers,

🪄 The AI Exchange Team