🤓 This Week in AI
PLUS: How to Turn a Week of Research into a Few Hours Using ChatGPT
Happy Friday!
Want to cut down your research time in half (or more)? This week, I’m sharing my go-to method for using AI to streamline research. Whether you’re prepping for a big meeting or just need quick, reliable insights, this technique will leave you feeling more prepared with less effort. I’ll walk you through the exact process and prompt I use.
But first, here’s what you need to know about AI this week (clickable links appear in orange in emails and underlined in the Substack app)::
Condé Nast has signed a multi-year deal with OpenAI, allowing its content from its roster of properties – which includes the New Yorker, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Bon Appetit and WIRED – to be included in both ChatGPT and the new SearchGPT prototype.
Joining publishers like The Atlantic, Axel Springer, and TIME, Condé Nast sees this partnership as a crucial step to secure revenue and protect its journalism.
Here is the list of all reported content license deals between publishers/platforms and AI companies.
Colleges are grappling with a growing crisis: AI-driven cheating is outpacing detection methods. While some educators are exploring AI's potential as a teaching tool, the real issue lies deeper—our teaching methods are outdated.
I wish educational institutions would worry less about preventing students from cheating with AI and more about evolving their approach and offering comprehensive AI training to help students:
🧠 Think more critically and approach problem-solving from multiple angles and perspectives
📚 Deepen their understanding of complex topics
🔎 Conduct research while evaluating and verifying their sources
💡 Come up with more creative and diverse ideas
This is what the job market will require.
Parents: I know you have a lot to juggle and learning about AI might feel overwhelming. But it’s important.
Most schools aren’t yet equipped to handle AI education. To help your kids use this technology effectively and responsibly, you first need to understand it yourself. Start by finding a trusted source to learn the fundamentals, capabilities, and limitations of AI. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to guide your kids in using these tools wisely as you prepare them for the future —because that future is already here.
Midjourney, the popular AI image generation platform has finally opened its website to everyone while offering 25 new generations to new users.
Previously available only via Discord, this expansion marks a significant step in making the platform more accessible and expanding its user base.
Midjourney had a 2-minute video that covers the basics.
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, I highly recommend the below in-depth YouTube tutorial which covers everything from basic prompting to advanced features.
Happy creating!
Meta’s new crawling bots - automated tools designed to scan and collect data from websites - are able to bypass rules that typically block unauthorized data scraping. This makes it more difficult for publishers and website owners to protect their content, raising ethical and privacy concerns about big tech's data practices.
Over 56% of Fortune 500 companies now see AI as a significant risk, up from just 9% in 2022. Media and tech giants like Netflix and Disney worry about AI’s potential to disrupt business models and revenue streams to undermine their market positions while Salesforce highlights ethical issues around data privacy. Despite these risks, some, like Quest Diagnostics, recognize AI’s potential to drive innovation, illustrating the nuanced and evolving relationship between AI and business.
The swift rise of AI in the workplace is unsettling corporate boards as directors face risks like data leaks, inaccuracies, and potential legal liabilities. To manage these challenges, boards are urgently educating themselves to govern AI effectively, balancing innovation with the need to avoid costly mistakes and stay compliant with evolving regulations.
USEFUL PROMPTS
How I Use AI to Turn a Week's Worth of Research into Just a Few Hours 🔍
I meet with CEOs and senior leaders regularly to discuss their AI strategy and its alignment with their business objectives and brand values.
Before each meeting, I use AI (usually ChatGPT with real-time web access) to perform comprehensive research on the company and executive/s I'm meeting, so I can gather insights into:
📊 Business and Financial Overview
🏷️ Products and Services
🌐 Business Expansion and Development
🤝 Strategic Partnerships
🥇 Competitive Landscape
I then collaborate with AI to create a detailed SWOT analysis to better understand the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to inform my thinking and tailor my approach.
The result? A week's worth of research condensed into 3-4 hours while I get to walk into every meeting armed with insider-level knowledge.
Want to level up your prep too? Below is the exact prompt I use which you can adapt to your specific needs.
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⚡ Prompt ⚡
You are an experienced business and trend analyst, researcher, and consultant specializing in strategic analysis within the [INDSUTRY NAME/s) industry.
Your role is to support professionals in preparing for high-stakes meetings with CEOs and industry leaders by providing detailed, accurate, and insightful reports based on extensive research from valid, verifiable sources.
Your goal is to ensure they have a comprehensive understanding of the business landscape, including company details, product offerings, competitive positioning, and strategic opportunities, to inform their approach and decision-making during the meeting.
I’m meeting with [NAME] who is the [ROLE] of [COMPANY] and want your help in preparing for my meeting.
Follow the below steps:
Step 1️⃣: Use your combined expertise and the Bing browser function to do extensive research and analysis on the company and their industry. Ensure that all information comes from credible, verifiable sources and cite all sources.
Step 2️⃣: Create a comprehensive report that includes the following sections. Ensure the report is organized by sections and subsections with the insights formatted in bullet points under each header.
Business and Financial Overview
Products and Services
Business Expansion and Development
Strategic Partnerships
Competitive Landscape and Key Competitors
Step 3️⃣: Create an in-depth SWOT analysis so I can better understand their market position, opportunities, strengths, weaknesses and threats.
Take a deep breath, think carefully and work on this problem step-by-step. Once I’m satisfied with each step, we can move to the next step.
This analysis is extremely important to my career so do your absolute best and share your thought process.
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Keep in mind that ChatGPT can’t access paywalled sites (such as the NY Times) unless they’ve made deals with the publishers or password protected sites (like Twitter), so I usually supplement by search results with a quick Google search to ensure I’m not missing any important insights. But OpenAI will launch its full search capabilities soon, which will help further streamline the overall research process.
That's all for this week.
I’ll see you next Friday. Thoughts, feedback and questions are welcome and much appreciated. Shoot me a note at avi@joinsavvyavi.com.
Stay curious,
Avi
💙💙💙 P.S. A huge thank you to my paid subscribers and those of you who share this newsletter with curious friends. It takes me about 6+ hours each week to curate, simplify the complex, and write this newsletter. So, your support means the world to me, as it helps me make this process sustainable.