Duolingo drama

You don’t need to master AI. You just need to know where to look and what to ignore.​

Read time: 3 mins

Hi Reader,

Put together a few updates and tools.

I think they matter because the noise is only getting louder, and knowing what’s worth your time is half the battle.
Most people either overthink it or outsource their thinking completely.

From the experts

“We spend an average of only 47 seconds on any screen before shifting our attention.” – Gloria Mark, researcher (2023)

“Multitasking is merely the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time.” – Steve Uzzell, photographer (2008)

“There is more to life than increasing its speed.” – Mahatma Gandhi

AI for learning and not learning

Two things caught my eye this week.

Duolingo has admitted going all-in for AI. For me, it has been the GOAT learning app for over 10 years. I still remember learning the cat eats rice and "la" pizza makes it a woman. I stole ideas from their games and notification push strategy when I worked on an app product.

I even applied to work there. Dodged that bullet, maybe. The CEO posted on LinkedIn that they're going "AI-first", with a letter that has all the signs that it was written by the intern using ChatGPT.

Once masters of social media, they’re now getting roasted in their own comments.

That brings me to the second thing that caught my eye.

If, like me (or similar), you're a 36-year-old who grew up in the western world, there's a good chance you've got more than 10 years of experience with social media of some sort (remember MySpace?) and emerging consumer technology. There's a good chance you've used ChatGPT since day (or month, or year) one. And there's a good chance you can see when someone has used it poorly, or well.

You don’t need to buy someone’s dodgy course to learn how to use it well. OpenAI has launched its own Academy. It’s free, and aimed at real users: teachers, students, job-seekers, small teams. You’ll find tutorials, hands-on exercises, case studies. Everything is free and it is designed to be practical.

Escape the algorithm

Video: Stanford's Jeremy Utley reveals that "most people are not fully utilizing AI's potential" in 13 minutes.​

Organisation: Common Sense. Dedicated to improving the lives of kids and families by providing the trustworthy information, education, and independent voice they need to thrive. They chose their name well.

AI creation: A YouTuber named Mr. Abu Joe uploaded a 1 gorilla vs 100 men music video… made entirely with AI using Midjourney and Higgsfield. Insane.

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AI tool: What really sets Higgsfield apart is the way it gives users real control over camera motion.

Talk + afterwork: Juuuust in case you're near Manresa on Thursday, TICBages invited me to give a talk and then they'll put their card behind the bar. Details here.​

If you got this far,

you're part of 71% of subscribers, so thank you, Reader.

I learned my fair share last week when I delivered a workshop at the local uni. "The person who learns the most in a classroom is the teacher", right? It's hard to keep up with all of the AI updates. The good thing: it’s easier than ever to find solid info and try the tools yourself. That’s how we build our own opinions and spot the bullshit.

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See you in two weeks.

​Peace,

Has

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