😺 GPT ‘bout to run your life

PLUS: The best combo of tools to learn any language...

Welcome, humans.

So y’all know about the pending U.S. TikTok ban, right? Turns out, a bunch of American “TikTok refugees” decided to join a different Chinese app called Xiaohongshu (aka “RedNote”). And my oh my, the memes from the Chinese users reacting to this influx of Americans are downright hilarious.

That one’s good, but this one about the “cat tax” is obvi our fave.

This real-time cultural exchange reminded us of a cool language learning app called Speak we learned about late last year. OpenAI invested $78M in it, FYI.

Research shows the best way to learn a language is through immersion—hearing it spoken and practicing real conversations. That's exactly what Speak offers with its AI tutor, which adapts to your skill level as you practice.

Now, combine Speak with VocAdapt (which lowers the “reading level” of a language in video and written content to your current understanding) and you’ve got a genuine workflow for learning a new language—no Duolingo required.

Do both of those, and soon enough, you’ll be able to understand ALL the ways Chinese users are making fun of you!

Here’s what you need to know about AI today:

OpenAI launched its first “agent” tool in ChatGPT.
Apple joined tech alliance against NVIDIA's AI chip control.
Biden fast-tracked AI data center construction.
Microsoft/OpenAI tried to dismiss the NYT lawsuit.

Advertise in The Neuron here.

ChatGPT just got a personal assistant (and soon, everything else will too)

Yesterday, OpenAI quietly released it’s first “agent-adjacent” feature: Tasks.

Tasks is basically a to-do list that can schedule future actions—think weekly news briefings, daily workout plans, or just reminding you to call Mom next Tuesday (available for Plus, Pro, and Teams users with broader access coming soon). Don’t give me that look—you know you forget too sometimes!

OpenAI isn't the only one making AI more... well, assistant-y. Late last year, Google launched Agentspace, a platform that lets companies build their own AI agents.

Unlike basic chatbots, these agents can search across your company's entire data ecosystem (email, docs, Jira—you name it), plus the internet in real-time. They're already rolling out specialized versions for retail, helping stores manage inventory and customer service through AI.

And don't forget Amazon—so far they've spent two years secretly rebuilding Alexa to be more ChatGPT-like. The holdup? Those pesky AI “hallucinations.”

Speaking of hallucinations (when AI confidently makes stuff up), here's where the industry stands as of December 2024:

From Vectara’s hallucination leaderboard

Google's Gemini Flash leads the pack with a 1.3% hallucination rate.
OpenAI's GPT-4 family follows close behind at 1.5-1.8%.
Interestingly, Claude was not on the list…what gives?

Now, these percentages might seem tiny, but even “small” error rates can cause big problems.

Take researcher Anj Simmons' recent findings: When asked about a mountain's height, GPT-4 was 99.3% likely to give the correct answer in isolation. But add some unrelated context? That accuracy plummeted to 32.1%.

This matters more than ever as AI moves from “chat companion” to “thing that runs your life.” Amazon's Alexa team knows this firsthand—the reason AlexaGPT is taking so long is because they're struggling to get hallucinations “close to zero” (while handling hundreds of third-party integrations at speed) before they launch it.

As one Amazon insider put it: when you're processing billions of requests weekly, even a tiny error rate means thousands of mistakes daily.

That’s why Anj Simmons thinks the biggest AI risk rn isn't superintelligent AI taking over—it's us rushing to integrate AI into critical systems before it's ready.

So while having ChatGPT remind you about meetings is great… maybe hold off on having it manage your medication schedule just yet.

FROM OUR PARTNERS

Here’s one AI tool we use every week at The Neuron.

Noah rambling… probably

A little well-kept secret for companies crushing it with AI is that only a handful of AI tools are actually worth using.

That’s why we—Noah & Grant—use ChatGPT and Claude, along with a killer product called Attention.

Here’s how it works:

We tell Attention exactly what to pay attention to in our meeting (goals, budget, etc).
Attention listens in to our call.
After, Attention outputs important insights, action items, and follow-up emails.

There are way, way more features, and it’s a must-have for all sales teams. (If you sell anything, literally drop what you’re doing and go book a demo with Attention ASAP).

Prompt Tip of the Day

Looking for better AI outputs? Creator Vicky Zhao says we're doing it wrong. Instead of prompting ChatGPT better, she recommends a 3-step workflow using Elicit (for research), NotebookLM, and Claude to find and digest academic research.

The result: turning vague advice like “improve communication” into detailed, research-backed action plans.

Treats To Try.

Humiris automatically mixes different AI models based on your specific needs—they’re offering free AI credits as part of their launch, so this is a great way to try out different AI models for free.
Pom scans any product's ingredients to instantly identify harmful substances and gives you a breakdown about each ingredient.
Reachy automates LinkedIn outreach by rotating between team members' accounts to safely message prospects + stores all data locally.
Blurdata scans your screenshots locally on your Mac and instantly redacts sensitive info without ever sending data to the cloud (downside = Mac only rn).
Shapen turns your regular photos into detailed 3D models in minutes - whether you're creating game characters, product designs, or objects for 3D printing.
Jumper lets you instantly search through your video footage for specific words, scenes, or dialogue—like having Ctrl+F for your video editing software.
MemenomeLM turns your PDFs into “brainrot videos” to help you study better (or go viral)—if you don’t know what that means, watch this hilarious demo.

See our top 51 AI Tools for Business here!

*This is sponsored content. Advertise in The Neuron here.

Around the Horn.

Veo2 is out of control, y’all!

Apple just joined a massive tech alliance (AMD, Intel, AWS, Google, Meta, and Microsoft) trying to break NVIDIA's AI monopoly.
Google had to train the NotebookLM hosts not to be annoyed when you use the new Interactive Mode to interrupt them and ask questions.
The Biden Administration issued an executive order to accelerate AI data center construction by making federal land available and streamlining permits.
Microsoft and OpenAI argued in court that The NYT's copyright lawsuit over AI training data was filed too late, while the Times warned AI could divert up to 50% of news traffic from publishers.

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Andy from Savannah, GA: Sitting by the fire in Savannah, GA (yes, it is cold enough here to require a fire, plus it's the holiday season!!), with the very Neuron-appropriate picture my kids picked on our Frame TV. :) Keep up the amazing work - your newsletter is my daily favorite.