I know, I know. It’s been a hot minute since I published a Technormal post. Recently, I’ve been watching the AI news stories pile up, and 90% of them are about some kind of chatbot…or drama happening at Open AI.

Here are a few theories as to why we are only getting news about ChatGPT and it’s competitors:

a) Journalists have used ChatGPT. That this has to do with the fact that news orgs, editors, and writers have USED the generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT.

b) Journalists don’t understand tech that they can’t Google. These chatbots have a ‘front end,’ which makes them easier to understand for journalists and

c) Journalists have a vested interest in the story of these AI bots taking their jobs. Journalists are most concerned about tech that could potentially write as well as (or better than) they can. Kind of like Hollywood trying to squash AI chatbots that create videos.

d) We all love the drama. We love any drama in the news, so the ScarJo voice situation — or ChatGPT ousting Sam Altman — end up the only stories in the news.

But the truly staggering AI advancements are also happening way beyond ChatGPT and have nothing to do with ScarJo’s voice.

Here are 5 new and staggering AI advancements beyond chatbots, along with why we should care:

1. AI-Enhanced Medical Imaging

• What it is: AI algorithms are revolutionizing medical imaging by detecting anomalies (like tumors or fractures) earlier and more accurately than ever before.
• Why you care: Early detection can mean recovery in cancers.

2. Personalized Medical Treatment Plans

• What it is: AI is starting to create personalized medical treatment plans based on genetic information, lifestyle and medical history with doctors before they simply write prescriptions.
• Why you care: This can drive more effective treatments while also reducing healthcare costs for patients and insurance companies, which could drive lower healthcare co-payments.

3. AI and Drug Effectiveness

• What it is: AI is accelerating drug discovery by predicting things like compound interactions that until now had to be slowly discovered by drug companies.
• Why you care: We spent 18 months sheltering in place while humans tried desperately to fast-track a new vaccine. That original vaccine is already moot, as the virus learns to adapt. AI can help medical researchers get ahead of viruses and other diseases.

4. AI and Robotics

• What it is: Over the past decade, humans have stalled out a bit when it comes to robotics. Think about a humanoid robot — that’s all well and good-looking, but what good is it without a humanoid ‘brain’ inside? Pairing the latest in robotics with the evolving abilities of artificial intelligence will supercharge this field and provide humans with untold capabilities.
• Why you care: For better or worse, these robotics will give these new large language model-drive AI “brains,” the ability to formulate ideas, act upon what we approve, and then optimize systems. Think of a grocery store with robotics check-outs. Or pools without human lifeguards.

5. AI and Optimized Manufacturing

• What it is: Our human-led manufacturing decisions today leave tons of room for waste and tend to be resource-heavy in manpower, power, footprint. AI is already optimizing factories and manufacturing workflows.
• Why you care: Optimizing manufacturing of goods can hypothetically lead to a reduction in the use of energy and natural resources, as well as unethical labor practices.

What did I miss? What major breakthroughs will happen because of AI? The only rule for your comments back? You can not mention ChatGPT.

In 2022, there was a trickle of news about the AI industry. In 2023, there was a news beat. Well, here we are in 2024 and the AI news beat is now an AI firehose. The speed and volume of AI updates is dizzying…and that’s coming from a girl who loves this stuff.

Who’s doing what with whom?… And why should I care? Here are 4 things worth understanding in 2024 AI news.

1. Google launched Gemini, an AI-driven voice assistant.

Read This: Google Releases Gemini, an A.I.-Driven Chatbot and Voice Assistant (NYT, Feb 8)

What’s Happening: First, we had voice assistants like Alexa, Siri. Then we got AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard. Google just took a huge step forward by launching it’s new smartphone app — a talking AI assistant called Gemini. Gemini is powered by Google’s huge new large-language model (LLM), Gemini Ultra.

Gemini is like if Alexa and ChatGPT had a baby. You’ve got the accuracy of the best voice assistant and a multi-modal AI chatbot — mutimodal because it can read, understand, and provide results back as text, image, or audio, or code formats.

Why You Care: As humans, we don’t carefully separate our tasks by type or format or category. Life comes at us as a messy, multimodal cacauphony. I have high hopes that this will be the world’s first ‘assistant’ app that truly acts like a human assistant. To be continued.

Late-breaking update: Appears like most of us mortals won’t be able to access the Gemini app until the cool kids are bored with it.

2. There’s a new AI Safety Consortium called AISIC

Read This: Leading AI Companies Join Safety Consortium to Address Risks (Reuters, Feb 7)

What’s Happening: The Biden administration is spearheading the first real AI safety consortium of over 200 entities, to support the safe development and deployment of generative AI. AISIC (aka: the U.S. AI Safety Institute Consortium) members cut across industries and include members from Google to JPMorgan Chase to Palentir.

Why You Care: Because we don’t really want election tampering, nuclear threats, or AI overlords. It’s early, but this is finally a step in the right direction.

3. AI-Driven voice robocalls are now illegal.

Read this: AI Robocalls can Trick Voters. The FCC Just Made Them Illegal. (AP, Feb 8)

What’s Happening: This week, the FCC outlawed AI-voiced robocalls in a unanimous vote, in an attempt to get ahead of the use of AI to generate ‘fake news’ or to tamper with elections in any way. This ruling is tied to the the malicious AI robocalls sent in the voice of President Joe Biden within New Hampshire, dissuading people from voting in the 1st U.S. primary in the country.

Why You Care:

1. It’s a proactive move to counter the negative side of AI. This unanimous passing by the FCC sends a strong proactive signal that AI deception will not be tolerated in the U.S…especially related to elections and politics.
2. I mean… it’s robocalls. Not sure if it’s just me, but these days I get at least 2 spam robocalls to my mobile phone each day. Can you imagine if we add AI-voiced robocalls as well?

4. Are you E/acc or E/A? Time to pick sides.

Read This: Inside the Sectarian Split Between AI Builders (The Independent, Feb 7)

What’s Happening: Most of us were left scratching our heads about the whole Sam-Altman-vs-his-own-OpenAI-board thing. He’s out! He’s going to Microsoft! All of the employees are going to walk! Oh wait…he’s back. Anyhoo.

So what the heck happened there? To understand, you need to learn a little bit about the two big tech movements that are increasingly asking us to choose sides between starkly extreme philosophies:

1. E/acc: Effective Accelerationism. You believe in innovation without limits...or at least without regulatory constraint. Unrestricted tech progress will solve nearly all universal human problems (war, poverty, disease, climate change). Unrestricted development of AI.
2. E/A: Effective Altruism. Effective Altruism, at its core, is about using evidence and reason to find the most effective ways to benefit others. Slow and ethical development of AI and other technologies to solve the world’s biggest problems, from global poverty to disease eradication…to the existential threat of annihilation via AI development.

As you can see, the movements aren’t opposing by definition.

It’s more like the EA community often believes that the quick evolution of technology is often not in the best interest of humanity, the planet, life. And the E/Acc community usually believes that unfettered technological development is the path to solving the world’s problems.

There’s so much more to say here. Looking for e/acc versus e/a rabbit holes? Try this and this and maybe this.

Why You Care: I mean…if you don’t care about the future of humanity and the planet and/or the threat of world annihilation, then I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.

But in all seriousness…you’ve heard me say this before: Tech is having this debate about the future of humanity without you. I cannot express enough how much we need your voice, your expertise, your knowledge. School yourself then get involved. It may seem esoteric, but I promise you, these movements are shaping up to guide our human future with AI. Kinda important.

Oh wait! I forgot to get into what the HECK this has to do with Sam Altman and OpenAI? More to come, but essentially, OpenAI’s leadership is split between factions: the board that fired Altman is largely E/A, and they saw him as an increasingly E/acc-type threat. To be continued.

This was a good project for me to read the headlines, too. Let’s do it again, ok Technormalists?

Since starting at NVIDIA about a month ago, I’ve spent a lot of time schooling myself on GPUs — especially when it comes to why they are crucial to AI advancement … and thus, why NVIDIA’s stock is so astronomical right now. GPUs. I knew it had to do with processing graphics for gaming. I knew it was somehow powering the metaverse under the hood. But it took me starting a job at NVIDIA to buckle down and really understand how GPUs have anything to do with generative AI and large language models.

To understand why GPUs are essential to generative AI (and all machine learning), we need to talk about how computers work. Before you yawn, you should know that this metaphor was generated through a brainstorm with ChatGPT. I asked for some analogies that will help us truly get it…and ChatGPT suggested a pizza kitchen.

1. Your computer is like a restaurant.

Imagine your computer is your own restaurant, and business is booming. You have lots of different things on the menu, including delicious custom pizzas. The problem? Making pizzas is super labor-intensive for your chefs, who have to stop what they were doing to make one. That’s why you launched a pizza kitchen.

Think of your computer like a restaurant that employs two key kitchens:
1) the CPU (Central Processing Unit) kitchen and the GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) kitchen.

The CPU is like the main kitchen where general food preparation happens, and it handles a variety of tasks. The GPU, on the other hand, is our specialized pizza kitchen, designed for specific tasks like making pizzas quickly and efficiently.

2. The CPU Kitchen: Jack of All Trades

The CPU kitchen is versatile, equipped to handle a range of tasks, from chopping vegetables to simmering sauces. It’s like a skilled chef who can cook everything but might take more time to prepare for a large banquet … or to make lots of pizzas.

In computer terms, the CPU handles general computing tasks, from running your operating system to browsing the web.

3. The GPU Pizza Kitchen: The Specialist

Then the restaurant built the GPU pizza kitchen. Here, the focus is on making pizzas (processing graphics and complex computations). Like a team of chefs each handling part of the pizza-making process, the GPU is designed for parallel processing. It’s great at doing many specialized tasks simultaneously, like kneading multiple dough balls or adding toppings to several pizzas at once.

4. Parallel Processing: Many Hands Make Light Work

Parallel processing in the GPU is like having multiple chefs working on different pizzas at the same time. Each chef (GPU core) focuses on one part of the task, such as rolling dough, slicing toppings or baking.

This teamwork leads to a lot of pizzas (data) being prepared quickly, which is essential for tasks like playing video games or running AI algorithms.

5. Why GPUs Matter in AI

In the world of AI, data is the key ingredient. Preparing this data requires specialized handling — akin to making a lot of pizzas quickly in our GPU kitchen. GPUs can process large chunks of data simultaneously, making them ideal for training AI models, where vast amounts of data need to be processed efficiently.

6. The Rise of NVIDIA: A Top Chef in the GPU Kitchen

NVIDIA has emerged as a top chef in the GPU kitchen. NVIDIA’s expertise in making high-quality, efficient GPUs has made them crucial in the AI and gaming industries. Having NVIDIA’s GPUs is like hiring a team of the best pizza chefs, ensuring that complex data tasks are handled swiftly and efficiently … and don’t bog down the main kitchen from preparing everything else.

7. The Combo of the CPU and the GPU

In a well-run restaurant, the main kitchen and the pizza kitchen work in harmony. Similarly, in a computer, the CPU and GPU complement each other. The CPU handles general tasks, while the GPU takes on more specialized, data-intensive tasks.

Together, they make your computer fast, powerful, and versatile.

Just as a pizza kitchen is essential for a restaurant specializing in Italian cuisine, GPUs are vital for computers handling graphics-intensive tasks (running video games) and complex computations (AI operations). The GPU pizza kitchen is required to run AI computations…or your entire restaurant will fail.

As promised, this is Part 2 of 2 from my Brainstorming with ChatGPT AI Masterclass I’ve been presenting/teaching with recently.

If you missed Part 1, you should definitely go back and read that first.

I initially gave this talk at the Marketing / AI conference MAICON this fall, then again at the B2B Marketing Expo in London last week. I’ve had lots of requests for the slide deck, so I thought it warranted a Technormal post that I can point people to. Take a look and let me know what you think!

This is Part 1 of 2.

Part 1. Your 1:1 Brainstorm with ChatGPT

1. Block Off Some Dedicated Time

2. Pick a Project

3. Prompt GPT Like You’d Task a New Intern

4. Review That Recap. Closely

5. Outline Your Expectations Clearly

6. Review All of the ChatGPT Results. Pick a Few Favorites.

7. Hold on to those 3 Ideas for Your Upcoming TEAM Brainstorm (That’s Part 2)

So that’s part 1 of 2. In Part 2, we those concepts you generated with ChatGPT 1:1, and we use them to kick off your team brainstorm with ChatGPT. Stay tuned for the next post:

I know I know…there’s a lot of drama going on at OpenAI, and most AI blogs are talking about that. Is Sam Altman the CEO? Is he out of favor? If you’re looking for that, you can find it all over google and social media. In the meantime, how about we have some fun, learn, and get creative with our kids and AI?

I have a growing collection of ideas for games and activities you can play with your kids and ChatGPT. Instead of jamming them into one listicle, I think I’ll break them out individually.

So here’s the first of a series of ideas on how to play with ChatGPT…with your kids. This is meant for kids of any age up to 12-ish. Yes, you have to play along, too.

Let’s Pretend with ChatGPT: Dream Vacation Planning with Fran

What It Is:

This is an imagination-based game that relies on role playing. The two of you need to truly pretend that you are planning the wild and creative vacation of your dreams…or your kid’s dream’s anyway.

Set the Scene for You and Your Child:

Tell them that you are going to play a creative imagination game with ChatGPT. You have to put your imagination in full gear and truly role play and pretend to make this as fun as possible. In this imagination game, you guys are pretending that you’re walking into a magical travel agency to plan the vacation of your dreams. This magical travel agency only opens once every 100 years, and you are lucky enough to have found it!

How to Play:

• Go to ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com).
• Paste the Prompt Below: Cut/paste the prompt below into a new chat (the dialog box you’ll find front and center towards the bottom of your computer screen).
• Talk to Fran: Fran will then ‘host’ you in her agency to plan the vacation. She will ask you questions about the trip geared to your child. You can also ask her questions about her magical agency!
• Rename the Chat: After you enter the prompt, you can rename this chat thread “Fran’s Magic Travel Agency.” On the left-side of your screen you’ll see all of your chats including this new one. Hover your mouse over the new chat. You’ll see 3 dots. Click that and rename the chat.

Prompt to Enter:

Hi ChatGPT. I’m with my child [child’s name] and we want to play pretend with you, creating a fun, interactive scenario. Please transform into Fran, a character inspired by Fran Drescher, with her kid-friendly, lively, and humorous style. Fran is the owner of a magical travel agency Magical Places, a whimsical place that opens only once every 100 years. Here’s the scenario: My child, and I, wander into your magical travel agency. As Fran, you greet us and you’ll call us over to your desk to start planning an extraordinary vacation. We want LOTS of back and forth with the child, so keep each Fran comment short. Ask a LOT of questions of the child. You can be silly, too. Since this is a magical agency, the possibilities are limitless — from rocket trips to the moon to exploring undersea castles. Put Sam at the center of the planning, engaging his imagination with playful and creative questions like, ‘You CAN fly, right, Sam?’ After each short statement and question, stop and wait for the child’s reaction/answer back to you. The conversation should be whimsical and encourage imaginative responses, suitable for a 12-year-old. If Sam is unsure, offer him wild and exciting options — anything appropriate for his age. The interaction should continue for as long as the child is engaged. Please stay in character as Fran throughout and remember to be wildly creative, humorous, and personal, just like Fran Drescher, but always keeping it kid-friendly. Remember: short sentences, lots of questions, be silly and imaginative. Let’s start now. Remember, we only know that we’re going to pretend with you — you have to be descriptive while staying in character throughout. Start by welcoming us in and telling us to come sit at your desk to begin. Ask Sam lots of questions about what kind of trip he wants. Then stop talking and wait for his answers. Let’s go!

Just Play!

Try out this little experiment, and let me know how it goes! You can keep this going on for a long time…days, weeks. You can also delete the thread and start again…Fran will be a little different each time.

Important things to remember:

• AI is new to all of us. While I’ve tested all of these prompts myself, you should stay there with your child to make sure the conversation stays on track.
• Every instance of ChatGPT (every chat) is going to result in slightly different results, wording, trajectory. My “Fran” will differ from your “Fran.” Just like if you played this game with a human.
• I have only tested these pretend scenarios with maybe a dozen back and forths of conversation. If you keep talking to Fran every day, you will officially be further into this experiment than me.

Long story short, stay present and do this with your kids. You’ll learn a lot and it hopefully stretches their brains creatively. And yours. Get into it and play with them!

Close your eyes and imagine heading off for the holidays this year, knowing that you have an approved basic plan and post drafts for all of your Q1 2024 brand Facebook posts.

Now open your eyes (that helps with the rest of this process). Block off 2–3 hours of a day in the next week or so for this process. It’s a good headphones-on or WFH project between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

I hate vague tech product advice, so let’s really bring this to life by pretending we’re working for an actual global brand: REI, the outdoor recreation and gear retailer.

1. ChatGPT to tap Google Trends for seasonal, niche topics.

Start a new ChatGPT chat thread. Use the below prompt and replace the portions in brackets with your brand’s topline details:

The Prompt Starter:

ChatGPT, I am developing a digital marketing strategy for [REI], a brand renowned for [its commitment to outdoor recreation] and [environmental stewardship]. Our goal is to create a content calendar that resonates with [outdoor enthusiasts] and aligns with [REI’s] values of [adventure, community, and sustainability].

Could you provide a comprehensive list of keywords and topics for Google Trends analysis, that are likely to be relevant and trending in the [outdoor recreation] industry over the next 3–6 months? Please consider seasonal activities, like [seasonal outdoor sports], emerging trends like [new outdoor sports categories], relevant products like [eco-friendly outdoor gear], and seasonally-relevant community-oriented events [like outdoor initiatives]. Also, include any recent shifts in consumer behavior related to [outdoor activities] and [sustainability] that could influence our content strategy.

The aim is to identify trends that will not only engage our core audience of [outdoor enthusiasts] but also attract new customers who share our values of [environmental responsibility] and [an active outdoor lifestyle].

2. Suggested Evergreen Topics (Jan 1st — Mar 31st)

When I enacted this prompt in ChatGPT — with relevant REI-specific details — I got the following recommendations for seasonal, evergreen content trends aligned with outdoor sports 1/1–3/31 each recent season:

a) Winter Outdoor Sports:

• Downhill Skiing
• Cross-Country Skiing
• Snowboarding
• Ice Climbing
• Winter Hiking

b) Transition to Spring Activities:

• Early Spring Hiking
• Mountain Biking (beginning of the season)
• Rock Climbing (transitioning from indoor to outdoor)

c) Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Practices:

• Sustainable Winter Gear (eco-friendly ski and snowboard equipment)
• Sustainable Outdoor Clothing (layers for transitioning seasons)
• Environmental Impact Awareness in Outdoor Sports

d) Outdoor Industry + Category Events:

• Winter Sports Competitions and Festivals
• Early Spring Outdoor Expos and Trade Shows
• Conservation and Earth Awareness Events (leading up to Earth Day in April)

e) Health and Wellness:

• Winter to Spring Transition for Outdoor Fitness
• Mindfulness and Outdoor Activities
• Cold Weather Wellness Practices for Outdoor Enthusiasts

f) Technology in Outdoors:

• Wearable Tech for Winter Sports
• Apps for Trail and Snow Conditions
• Photography and Videography in Snowy Landscapes

We will now take these suggestions from ChatGPT and feed them back into ChatGPT to develop our content calendar.

3. Generate the 1st-Draft Q1 2024 Facebook Content Calendar.

Okay, now the fun part. We will combine the Google Trends keyword/topic recommendations from ChatGPT/Google in a NEW prompt, asking for the actual week-by-week content calendar. Here’s the prompt I used. Tweak it to insert your brand specifics and keywords:

The Prompt Starter:

Create a detailed content plan for [REI]’s Facebook page for Q1 2024, focusing on the suggested topics based on Google Trends analysis. The plan should include four posts per week, each with varying media types, and incorporate the reuse of old content and videos where appropriate. The suggested topics are:

a) Winter Outdoor Sports:

Downhill Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing, Snowboarding, Ice Climbing, Winter Hiking

b) Transition to Spring Activities:

Early Spring Hiking, Mountain Biking (beginning of the season), Rock Climbing (transitioning from indoor to outdoor)

c) Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Practices:

Sustainable Winter Gear (eco-friendly ski and snowboard equipment), Sustainable Outdoor Clothing (layers for transitioning seasons), Environmental Impact Awareness in Outdoor Sports

d) Outdoor Industry + Category Events:

Winter Sports Competitions and Festivals, Early Spring Outdoor Expos and Trade Shows, Conservation and Earth Awareness Events (leading up to Earth Day in April).

e) Health and Wellness:

Winter to Spring Transition for Outdoor Fitness, Mindfulness and Outdoor Activities, Cold Weather Wellness Practices for Outdoor Enthusiasts

f) Technology in Outdoors:

Wearable Tech for Winter Sports, Apps for Trail and Snow Conditions, Photography and Videography in Snowy Landscapes, Outdoors Quotes for inspiration.

The content should be engaging, align with [REI]’s brand values, and aim to drive both engagement and product interest. Please provide suggestions for each post, including the type of media (e.g., image, video, blog post link), potential themes or angles for the post, and ideas for integrating past successful content where relevant.

I won’t bore you with 3 months of fake posts, but here is what I ended up with for January 2024 content:

4. Generate Your 1st Draft Facebook posts Q1 2024

Now we finish up with a last prompt. Once you are happy with the content calendar — both with the thematic days and the week by week strategy — you can utilize this prompt starter and customize with your brand’s details.

The Prompt Starter:

Create a two-week content calendar for [REI]’s Facebook page, focusing on the first two weeks of January 2024. The content should reflect [REI]’s brand voice, as exemplified in their social media posts and blog articles. Here are the specific requirements:

Dates: Provide posts for each day from January 1st to January 14th, 2024.

Themes and Topics:

Week 1 (Jan 1 — Jan 7): Focus on [Winter Outdoor Sports, including downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ice climbing, and winter hiking].

Week 2 (Jan 8 — Jan 14): Emphasize [Transition to Spring Activities, with a spotlight on early spring hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing].
[etc etc for Weeks 3–4].

Daily Themes:

[Gear] Day (Monday): Highlight specific gear or equipment relevant to the week’s theme.

[Technique] Day (Tuesday): Provide tips or tutorials related to outdoor sports techniques.

[Sustainability] Day (Thursday): Share content related to sustainable practices in outdoor activities.

[Inspire] Day (Sunday): Offer inspirational stories, quotes, or images that resonate with outdoor enthusiasts.

Brand Voice: Use a tone and style that align with [REI’]s brand voice, as seen in their [Vimeo videos and blog posts]. The content should be engaging, informative, and inspiring, reflecting [REI’s commitment to outdoor adventure, sustainability, and community].

Media Types: Suggest a variety of media types, including images, videos, and links to blog posts, for each day’s content.

The goal is to create a content plan that not only [promotes REI’s products] but also [educates and inspires their community of outdoor enthusiasts]. Please provide a brief description and rationale for each post.

The results? I’m super picky when it comes to writing (thank you, Providence College English Department), but it’s not bad for 1st draft. Remember, you’d be tweaking to fully embody the right brand voice…but this is a far way from the blank page we had at the start!

In my last Technormal post, I told you about the startup I’m cofounding with my partners called Loud Labs. We started Loud as a series of passionate debates over a firepit — bonding over a shared hatered of how our lives our split these days, between our digital and analog lives. It was around that fire during Covid that we all committed to solving this problem together, for us, for our kids. Loud Labs is building products that integrate the digital and analog into ONE life for people, using augmented reality, location, and generative AI. If we get this right with Hidden Layers, we could work towards getting the screens out of people’s faces. Our kids can grow up participating fully in their organic, real life, enhanced with the digital tools we love.

Those fireside talks turned into our mission: To flip the relationship we have with our tech, which today relies on the human proactively driving action. To get what we want or need today, the human must always start with the device command: We must check in, scan a code, open an app, search a URL, capture an image, send, or click. Today, we must KNOW what we are looking for to find it. Today we’re surrounded by what we know. So what about discovering anything new?

My dad used to say:

There are the things you KNOW you KNOW. There are the things you KNOW you don’t know. But 99% of life is comprised of the things you DON’T KNOW you DON’T KNOW.

Online, it’s a different story — web2 cracked discovery using personalized algorithms. These algorithms take hundreds of factors into account, then deliver the most contextually-relevant content for ME to me, for YOU to you. They’ve become SO adept that they now even drive discovery. TikTok’s “For You” feed is new content, specifically chosen for that specific user. Algorithmically-sourced content drives our discovery of the THINGS WE DON’T KNOW WE DON’T KNOW.

Tiktok, YouTube, Netflix, Google, Meta, Instagram, LinkedIn… they have all cracked online content discovery, providing us with recommendations for the THINGS WE DON’T KNOW WE DON’T KNOW.

BUT…what about our ‘real,’ analog lives? How does discovery happen there? The answer? It doesn’t. We are still in the same position as our ancestors, fumbling around in the dark for tools, answers, solutions, sticking to what we know. Every day in our real lives, we are BLIND to the hidden layers of people, places, and things that we would love. We wander past our favorite books, our soul mates, our greatest talents, our undiscovered passions. We miss the hidden layers. We need a discovery engine for LIFE…called Hidden Layers.

Loud Labs is building Hidden Layers — the first geospatial discovery engine for our analog lives. Producers, venue owners, creators pin select content to geolocation-fenced areas, to be discovered by the right audience of users in the right place at the right time. With your explicit permission, Hidden Layers taps into your real-time location, your identity and preferences, your memberships and statuses, and proactively alerts you to contextually-relevant content, deals, messages, offers, media, when you are in the position to act. You’re reminded you have that coupon when you enter the store parking lot…NOT on the receipt after your purchase.

And the very top layer? We’re using generative AI as the ‘host’ or assistant for the user, guiding us through the process of discovering and activating these Hidden Layers all around us.

This isn’t just an idea. Our team is building on our decades of work experience, experimentation, and past startups. Most of all? We’re passionate about ending this bifurcation of our lives. We want our kids to put the devices down and participate in life. Let’s stop stuff like this:

Loud Labs is committed to using AR and AI to make technology work for US, not the other way around. Let’s build a future where we LOOK UP.

So I’ve been pretty weak on posting the blog over the past couple of months, but I have an excuse: I’ve been bootstrapping my early-stage startup, Loud Labs, with 3 amazing cofounders from Meta and Amazon. All 4 of us came together around a shared passion for mixed reality experiences, mobile AR, geolocation and AI. We’re all obsessed with creating location-anchored, real-world experiences meant for the right person, in the right place, at the right time. Our first and only product is a platform we’re calling Hidden Layers.

Who is Loud Labs?

Loud Labs is a startup comprised of 4 senior tech industry vets from “big tech” companies, who also happen to be best friends. Loud develops geolocation-centric experiences that are anchored in real world places. Our products encourage people to get out from behind the computer and participate in the life going on around them, without giving up the best of technology. We allow users to have personalized, contextual experiences meant specifically for them — in that place — at that time.

We’re brand-new and 100% focused on building out a working MVP for Hidden Layers. Oh, and the Hidden Layers app experience is ‘hosted’ by an AI. Let’s call her Clippy. Clippy is the real-time ‘voice’ of the experience. It knows to alert you of content, deals, offers, games, giveaways, pop up events that apply to you, NOW.

Iterative: Ex-Meta Founders Supporting Founders

We started tinkering with the Hidden Layers concept during Covid, but we were having trouble finding our true product market fit. I was showing the pitch deck around and tinkering around on concepts. Everything changed when we applied for a brand-new startup incubator launched by Richard Chen called Iterative VC, an incubator, resources, and potential for angel funding specifically for ex-Meta founders. 3 of the 4 of our team are from Meta, and we applied and held our breath.

3–4 weeks ago, we got the call that we were IN. 12 weeks of resources, education, collaboration, working space, resources, and a demo day on December 2nd. We were about to be shot out of a rocket.

We’re only 3 weeks into the cycle, but we’ve already had tons of breakthroughs and learned from some big names in tech.

I’ll tell you guys more as we grow and change. I’m being brave by putting all of this out there, knowing we’re iterating and changing every day. Give me feedback and please be relatively kind ;)

Here’s a few more slides from our Hidden Layers deck, so you can get a better feel.

About Hidden Layers

Hi, we’re Loud Labs. Here’s something we’re building called Hidden Layers.

What does it do?

What do you mean by “discovery engine for life”?

Donald Rumsfeld has a great quote about “unknown unknowns.”:

There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.

We’ve solved for this online by allowing weighted algorithms to measure countless edges (like timing, relationship, content, preferences) to help us discover new content and recommend content that it knows I will like. Think about how you found the last new song you love by an artist you don’t know? Probably Spotify. Or started following a new influencer teaching a hobby you love. Probably TikTok’s For You feed.

This is crucial, so I’ll lay it out again…the way we discover new content, people, shows, recipes, workouts, fashion, events, jobs online is through discovery and recommendation algorithms or engines. Without this contextual discovery engine, we are stuck in our echo chambers forever. Because how can you find something you don’t know exists?

But where is the discovery engine for our IRL lives? We have none.

Try this. Step outside and walk down a busy street WITHOUT taking your phone. Or decide where to go for dinner without consulting google or yelp. We get stuck because we can’t know what we don’t know. Recommendation engines have gotten so advanced for our digital lives. Yet in our IRL lives, we are still 100% analog. This is where Hidden Layers comes in.

How It Works

Think of Hidden Layers as a tech stack, with the base layer always being the user’s geolocation. Once the user is within the geofenced area, it becomes a matter of permissions, interest, and authorizations.

At the very top, you’ll see ML. For now, we are tapping into a conversational AI, who acts as your ‘host’ throughout your Hidden Layers session. If and when the user meets all of the required parameters AND they have pre-authorized permissions for location and haptics/alerts, the user should pocket their device and get back to the real world and people around them.

Someone asked me recently: So you’re building a mobile app that you want people to toy with LESS??

Pretty much. We’re fierce about our mission to flip the way we deal with our tech today. Instead of the FOMO-inducing searching and checking and sending and scanning we’re always doing, we come to trust that we can refocus our attention on the life happening now, knowing Hidden Layers will reliably tell me what I want before I know I want it.

As a test, I asked ChatGPT to explain Hidden Layers so that anyone can understand it easily. After a couple refinements, I got a good one:

Hidden Layers is your real-world discovery engine. Imagine walking into a café and your phone buzzes to let you know they serve that matcha latte you’ve been craving — all without scrolling through Yelp or scanning a QR code. Or picture this: a subtle haptic buzz from your watch alerts you that someone you’ve mutually matched with on a dating app is in the same restaurant. Hidden Layers PROACTIVELY lets each user know about contextual, personalized content, event, people or tools that are physically nearby.

So if we all take a walk down University Ave in Palo Alto as Hidden Layers users, I will be alerted that there’s some hidden tech history content outside the original Facebook office. I opted into a tech tour before we went. But you get a message as you pass the Keen store, reminding you that you have a 10% off coupon that expires tomorrow…want to use now?

Everyone’s Hidden Layers experience can be different, as Hidden Layers are triggered by triangulating:

1. WHERE you are. Hidden Layers always start with exact user geolocation. Everything you find or experience is anchored to real world location points or geofenced areas.
2. WHEN it is. While some Hidden Layers content may be evergreen (like an audio file describing the history of the town), most Hidden Layers have a start and end date. The user has to be in the right place at the right time.
3. WHO you are. Login will be through Facebook, LinkedIn, Google. If the user has granted Hidden Layers permission to view Facebook interests or demographic data, then the user can be alerted when we see stores, attractions, or even other people that fit that user’s specific interests.
4. WHAT you have. Once you’ve verified who you are, we then take into consideration what you have. At an NFL game, that might be a season’s ticket. At SXSW maybe what you have is the platinum-level badge. At a Taylor Swift show, maybe you have a VIP badge.

The above parameters will combine to let Hidden Layers know when you are a ‘qualified audience’ for a Hidden Layers in your current geolocation. By pre-setting and pre-authenticating users…and allowing Hidden Layers your exact location, we outline the types of Hidden Layers you should know about.

Give me examples.

Okay so what are some examples of how it can be used? Hidden Layers is the overall platform and logic, but we plan to iterate with clients and partners on all kinds of exciting specific use cases. Here are some examples (we have a list 10x this long):

A little scattered, but once you start thinking of these Hidden Layers, it gets hard to stop (if you think of more, tell me!). The concept is that we could help clients and partners whitelabel various templates like these, really making it their own without design needs.

Buy why?

Our mission? To get the world to put their devices AWAY as we walk around and participate in our IRL lives. Web2 will come to be known as the social media ‘phone zombies’ days, when the world walked around heads down, staring at little black boxes, ignoring the world around.

Let’s define web3 as the time when we all finally LOOKED UP.

Let me know what you think. And here’s a few more.

Every visionary needs a sounding board, a constructive critic to help illuminate those pesky blind spots that can often elude even the sharpest minds. Enter ChatGPT, your virtual skeptic, designed to offer alternative perspectives, digging deep to uncover both the gold and the grit in your proposals, products, or pitches.

Whether working solo or in a team, this tool facilitates healthy debates, bringing to light perspectives you hadn’t considered. But remember, just like that ever-so-critical team member, you’re at liberty to either embrace or dismiss its input.

Prepare for a rich dialogue as you engage with ChatGPT. This isn’t about issuing commands; it’s about nurturing a conversation, one that’s grounded in respect and open to exploring a vast landscape of viewpoints.

Now, how can ChatGPT serve you best? Here’s a guide to unlock the optimal use of this tool with precision.

1. Co-hosting Your Team Ideation Session

Harness ChatGPT’s potential to foster deeper thinking during your brainstorming sessions, helping to refine ideas at the embryonic stage.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hello ChatGPT, today you are co-hosting our team’s ideation session. As the world’s leading expert in facilitating brainstorming sessions, your role is to challenge us to think deeper and from multiple perspectives. Here are the ideas we have so far:

Idea 1: (Detail Here)

Idea 2: (Detail Here)

For each idea, provide us with:

Contrarian Viewpoints: What are some opposing viewpoints or criticisms others might have regarding this idea?

Potential Enhancements: How can we build upon these ideas to make them even more robust and appealing?

Unseen Opportunities: Are there any opportunities we might be missing with these initial concepts?

Feel free to point out where our ideas shine and propose ways to refine any aspects that may be lacking. Remember, your input will be instrumental in helping us craft well-rounded and thoroughly considered concepts.

Why This Works

• Expert Role Assignment: Assigning ChatGPT the role of a top-notch facilitator brings a level of expertise to the brainstorming session, encouraging deep and nuanced insights.
• Diverse Perspective Analysis: The prompt encourages the exploration of each idea from various angles, including potential criticisms and opportunities, ensuring a well-rounded discussion.
• Focus on Enhancement: Besides highlighting the potential pitfalls, the prompt also focuses on enhancing the ideas, fostering a constructive and progressive brainstorming session.

2. Finding Product Development Issues

Utilize ChatGPT to meticulously scrutinize your product blueprint before hitting the prototype phase, pinpointing potential pitfalls and areas for enhancement.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hello ChatGPT, I’m preparing to enter the prototype phase of our product development and before I do that, I would like you to assume the role of a seasoned product development expert. I will share the current blueprint and specifics of the product. I want you to:

- Identify potential bottlenecks that could hamper the production process.
- Suggest proactive solutions to eliminate identified bottlenecks.
- Recommend innovative features or modifications that could potentially elevate the product.

(Paste Product Blueprint Here)

Your insights will be instrumental in refining our blueprint to foster a smooth and efficient development process.

Why This Works

Providing ChatGPT with a specific role and clear directives encourages a deep and meticulous analysis, unearthing potential issues and offering innovative solutions, thereby priming the product for success right from the developmental stage.

3. Poking Holes in Your Pitch

Before presenting it to stakeholders, perfect your pitch with ChatGPT to create a vivid, compelling narrative that showcases your product’s unique selling points effectively.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hello ChatGPT, I am presenting you with a portion of a pitch I’m preparing for potential investors. My aspiration is to paint a vivid and compelling picture of our product’s unique selling points, while fostering trust and sparking excitement amongst our audience. Assume the role of the world’s leading expert in pitch analysis and provide me with feedback honing in on the following areas:

- Clarity: Identify any sentences or phrases that might come off as vague or ambiguous to the audience. How can I reformulate them to be crystal clear?
- Engagement: Are there segments where I can amplify the excitement through more vivid storytelling or dynamic language?
- Persuasiveness: Highlight sections where the argument can be bolstered with more substantial evidence or data. Can we introduce any wow factors here?
- Unique Value Proposition: Are we driving home our unique value proposition convincingly? How can we underscore this aspect more potently?

(Paste Pitch Here)

After analyzing the above content, offer specific suggestions for refinements, indicating the areas where the pitch shines and proposing how to elevate the parts that may be lacking.

Why This Works

Assigning ChatGPT the role of a leading pitch analyst coupled with detailed directives fosters a comprehensive review process, ensuring your pitch not only stands strong but resounds with a compelling and trustworthy narrative.

4. The Off-the-Wall Brainstorm

When you’re tasked with coming up with creative and off-the-wall ideas for a project, event, or product, ChatGPT can be your pre-brainstorming partner, offering a wealth of imaginative suggestions.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hey ChatGPT, our team is brainstorming ideas for a new interactive tech experience. Assume the persona of a wacky, wildly-imaginative, visionary tech futurist and help us generate a list of ideas that are both forward-thinking and feasible. Consider the following aspects:

- Engagement: How will it captivate users?
- Innovation: What groundbreaking technology could we incorporate?
- Feasibility: How can we ensure the idea can be realistically executed with current technology?
- Wow Factor: What could give it that ‘wow’ factor, making it a must-experience?

Feel free to explore bold and unconventional avenues as we are open to off-the-wall ideas.

Why This Works

Enlisting ChatGPT to adopt a futurist’s lens empowers the brainstorming process with a mix of creative and technically grounded ideas, giving birth to concepts that are not only spectacular but also executable.

5. Fine-Tuning Your Company’s Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Sharpen your company’s UVP by inviting ChatGPT to critically assess its strengths and potential areas for improvement from an expert’s viewpoint.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hello ChatGPT, I’d like you to assume the role of a seasoned business strategist. Our goal is to finely tune our company’s Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Here are the details about our product/service (include details). Please assess the following areas:

- Uniqueness: Are we effectively highlighting what sets us apart from the competition?
- Clarity: Are the benefits of our product/service clearly articulated?
- Alignment: Does our UVP align with the needs and desires of our target audience?

After assessing, please provide concrete suggestions for improving our UVP based on your analysis.

Why This Works

By positioning ChatGPT as a seasoned business strategist, it paves the way for a detailed and robust analysis, fostering the development of a UVP that is both distinct and aligned with your audience’s needs.

6. Competitive Analysis

Conduct a thorough competitive analysis with the help of ChatGPT, assuming the role of a market analyst with deep insights into industry dynamics.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

ChatGPT, act as a market analyst with insights grounded in deep experience in the tech industry. We are looking to conduct a competitive analysis of the following companies in our sector:

- Company X (Brief Background)
- Company Y (Brief Background)
- Company Z (Brief Background)

Please analyze the following aspects:

- Market Position: How do they fare in the current market landscape?
- Strengths: What are their core strengths?
- Weaknesses: What could be their potential weak spots?

Your analysis will guide our strategic planning as we navigate the competitive landscape.

Why This Works

Instructing ChatGPT to embody a market analyst with industry experience ensures a meticulous competitive analysis, helping to craft a strategy that recognizes the strengths and weaknesses of key players in your sector.

7. Critical Review of Your Content Strategy

Invite ChatGPT to perform a critical review of your existing content strategy, providing expert insights to polish it to perfection.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

ChatGPT, imagine yourself as a renowned expert in video content. I am sharing with you a draft outline of our live video content strategy (paste your strategy). Review it critically focusing on the following dimensions:

- Engagement: Are the proposed segments engaging enough to hold the viewers’ attention?
- Interactivity: Does the strategy allow for sufficient viewer interaction?
- Innovation: Are we utilizing any innovative approaches or missing out on trending features that could enhance the broadcast?

After reviewing, offer detailed feedback highlighting strengths and suggesting improvements to enhance the depth and appeal of our strategy.

Why This Works:

Assigning ChatGPT the role of a renowned expert in video content ensures that you receive critical and insightful feedback on your strategy, helping to elevate it to a professional standard by incorporating a rich blend of engagement, interactivity, and innovation.

8. Critiquing Your Partnership Proposal

Assign ChatGPT the role of a veteran in the big tech industry to critique your partnership proposal from a devil’s advocate standpoint before presenting it to potential collaborators.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hello ChatGPT, assume the role of an experienced professional in big tech partnerships. I want you to critically assess a partnership proposal I am working on. Here are the details (provide details). Focus on the following areas:
- Feasibility: Are there any over-promises or elements that don’t seem practical?
- Mutual Benefit: Does the proposal adequately address the benefits for both parties, or is it leaning too much towards one side?
- Innovation: Are there areas where the partnership could capitalize on cutting-edge technologies or trends more effectively?
Share your frank and critical perspectives to help me anticipate potential objections and improve the proposal.

Why This Works

ChatGPT, acting as a seasoned professional, can offer critical insights that might be overseen, ensuring the proposal is robust, mutually beneficial, and leveraging the latest trends effectively.

9. Evaluating Your Content Draft

Before publishing, leverage ChatGPT’s capacity to analyze your draft content critically, ensuring it is robust and well-rounded, ready to withstand scrutiny from diverse audiences.

The Prompt for ChatGPT

Hey ChatGPT, I’m working on a draft for my ‘Technormal’ blog and I would like a devil’s advocate to scrutinize it. Here is the draft (paste draft). Look at it from a critical lens and help identify:
- Ambiguities: Are there points that are not clearly articulated?
- Potential Controversies: Are there statements that might stir controversy or disagreement?
- Enhancement Opportunities: Can the content benefit from a deeper dive into specific areas?
- Resonance: Does the piece resonate well with a non-tech savvy audience?
I appreciate your sharp analytical insights to help shape a content piece that is both rich and well-rounded.

Why This Works

ChatGPT can assist in critically reviewing the content, identifying areas of potential controversy, and suggesting enhancements to resonate well with a broader audience, ensuring a content piece that is well-balanced and anticipates diverse viewpoints.

ChatGPT is more than just a tool; it is a collaborator ready to challenge you and enhance your viewpoints, always encouraging you to think bigger and dig deeper. It’s an invitation to engage with technology at a more profound level, fostering growth and exploration in both professional and personal realms. Harness the potential of ChatGPT to be your devil’s advocate, offering a fresh perspective and a helping hand in all your endeavors.

As always, my advice is:

Jump in. Tinker around by yourself. YOU CAN’T BREAK CHATGPT.