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  • Can AI help us talk to bonobo monkeys? Plus: ElevenLabs reinvents audio storytelling

Can AI help us talk to bonobo monkeys? Plus: ElevenLabs reinvents audio storytelling

More: Chrome Gets Smarter, McKinsey’s AI Agent playbook

Author

Renjit Philip
September 21, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 14 minutes

In partnership with

"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”

Seneca

Date: 21-Sept-2025

Hey AI enthusiast,

And just when you think you’ve seen it all…there’s always One More Thing in AI.

In this edition:

Also: introducing you to our podcast edition for those of you who want to listen to it on the go. Check it out on your favorite platforms:

I hope you enjoy this edition!

Best,

Renjit

PS: If you want to check out how to implement AI in your Insurance broking business and get more revenue with the same number of employees, book time here:

Google Chrome gets a big AI Upgrade

Google just announced the largest upgrade in Chrome’s history- and it’s all about AI.

Gemini Comes to Chrome

• Summarize pages, compare across tabs, and recall sites you visited earlier.
• Turn multiple travel tabs into a single itinerary. This will be useful for those multi-hop trips!
• Ask questions about the page you’re on and get an AI Overview with follow-ups.

• Access Calendar, YouTube, and Maps directly inside Chrome.
• Schedule meetings, jump to exact video moments, or pull location details- no tab switching needed. This is really for those who use the Google Suite

Smarter Search

• AI Mode in the Omnibox: Ask layered questions, carry conversations forward, and get AI-generated prompts.
• Rollout starts on desktop (Mac & Windows, English, U.S.), with mobile and Workspace support next.


Built-in Security with Gemini Nano

• Enhanced Protection now detects scams like fake tech-support popups or virus warnings.
• On-device scam filter stops tricks before they happen.
• Chrome also blocks spammy notifications; already cutting ~3B daily on Android. This is very useful, especially if you own an Android device in a market like India, where the phones are subsidized in return for an insane number of ads!

Password Agent

• Fix compromised passwords in one click on supported sites (Spotify, Coursera, Duolingo, H&M).

Coming Soon: Agentic Actions

• Ask Chrome to book tasks or shop online for you.
• Example: “Add groceries to Instacart,” and Gemini will navigate the site, fill the cart, and show you results before you confirm.

🌍 So what? Well, the Browser Wars Are On in full swing

• The Browser Company: Transitioned Arc → Dia with AI-first features.
• Perplexity: Launched Comet, blending search and browsing. We wrote about this in a previous edition.
• OpenAI: Rumored to be working on its own AI browser. In any case, it has search functionality built-in

The race is clear: the browser is becoming the new AI battleground.

Turn AI Into Your Income Stream

The AI economy is booming, and smart entrepreneurs are already profiting. Subscribe to Mindstream and get instant access to 200+ proven strategies to monetize AI tools like ChatGPT, Midjourney, and more. From content creation to automation services, discover actionable ways to build your AI-powered income. No coding required, just practical strategies that work.

🤖 What happens when your AI wants to buy something for you online? Google’s Agent Payments Protocol provides the answer


Today, payment systems are built for humans clicking “buy.”

But AI helpers can now browse, compare, and even negotiate. That raises tough questions:

How does a store know you gave permission?
What if the AI misunderstands?
Who’s liable if things go wrong?

Enter Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2); a secure framework that lets AI shop on your behalf with trust.

✅ You stay in control: your AI only shares what you approve.
✅ Digital receipts prove exactly what was agreed.
✅ Clear responsibility if something breaks (we know this will happen!).
✅ Future-proof for new payment types and autonomous agents.

We need to give customers the confidence to empower AI Agents with their credit card info. Let me be honest, I don't have the confidence to give over purchase tasks to an AI agent, at the moment, so this kind of a protocol is needed to drive adoption.

Example: tell your AI “Buy that galaxy green jacket if it’s under $75.”
AP2 gives it a signed “intent mandate” so it can safely act, even while you sleep.

This could redefine e-commerce: AI agents transacting directly with stores, backed by digital proof. It could snag those low cost flights for you, while you sleep!

AP2 is open-sourced by Google. The future of AI-powered commerce just got a payment rail (sorry, payment purists!).

We made a short deck to explain the details- link to the post on LinkedIn >> link

Voice AI Security That Impacts Your Bottom Line

Learn how enterprise IT and ops leaders are using compliance to unlock Voice AI scale—deploying faster, reducing risk, and accelerating procurement.

This guide shows why HIPAA, GDPR, and SOC 2 are now deal-makers, not blockers. From securing PHI to routing across 100+ sites, see how security-first platforms reduce friction and enable real-world rollout across healthcare, insurance, and more.

Hard lessons learnt from implementing AI Agents.

I read a report out from McKinsey on AI Agents and here are my quick takeaways:

💡 AI agents won’t replace humans. Atleast till we have AGI /ASI!
But they will change what humans do.

As agentic AI reshapes business workflows, the number of people in a process may shrink, but their role becomes even more critical.

Success depends on Human-Agent Collaborative Design and not humans or agents, but humans with agents. Humans need to be and will be in the loop. Beter design for it upfront.

Here’s what that looks like:

Oversight & Accuracy
AI can’t fully grasp jurisdictional nuances or policy interpretation. Humans must validate, correct, and guide. Especially true in the regulated space like insurance based on projects that we are seeing at Futureu Strategy Group.

Edge Cases & Exceptions
Agents handle the routine. Humans step in for the messy, non-deterministic cases. Again, please design for this from the get go!

🌀 Learning Loops
Every human correction teaches the system. Continuous feedback = smarter, more aligned agents.

Workflow Redesign
It’s not just “add an agent.” Entire workflows must be reimagined so people and agents complement each other.

🤝 Trust & Adoption
No trust = no adoption. Explanations, transparency, and the why behind recommendations are essential.

So what? The future isn’t “humans vs AI.”

It’s humans + AI agents, co-designing workflows that are faster, smarter, and more reliable.

Business leaders who get this right won’t just deploy AI; they’ll redesign work itself.

Link to my LinkedIn post with the MckInsey report attached.

🐋 Can AI Help Us Talk to Animals?

AI isn’t just transforming how humans work and learn- it’s now being used to decode the languages of other species.

What Scientists Are Discovering

• Primate speech complexity: Bonobos and chimpanzees combine calls in ways once thought unique to humans. These combinations show early signs of “compositionality”; building meaning from smaller sounds.
• Bird and whale parallels: Japanese tits, sperm whales, and other species demonstrate patterns resembling syntax and phonetics, including whale “vowels” and diphthongs.
• Building blocks of language: Evidence is growing that animals use non-trivial combinations of calls, similar to idioms or modifiers in human speech.



How AI Is Helping

• Pattern detection: Tools like those from the Earth Species Project use AI to pick up subtle patterns in huge datasets of animal sounds.
• Generative models: Researchers train AI to mimic whale codas, testing hypotheses about how meaning is structured.
• Communication potential: AI may allow not only listening to but eventually “talking back” to animals in ways they understand.

Limits and Open Questions

• Human uniqueness: Features like displacement (talking about past/future), productivity (creating new expressions), and duality (small units building larger ones) are still not convincingly found in animals.
• Complex thought vs. communication: Some argue language requires thought, others say it’s just one form of communication. The answer shapes whether animal signals qualify as true “language.”
• Grammar and recursion: Early evidence exists (e.g., crows showing recursion skills), but no clear proof that animals use these in wild communication.

Why It Matters

AI could transform our understanding of animal intelligence and relationships. While we may not yet hold conversations with whales or apes, each discovery narrows the gap between human and non-human communication- raising profound questions about language, thought, and our place in nature.

🎙️ ElevenLabs Studio 3.0: A Big Leap in AI Audio & Video

ElevenLabs just rolled out Studio 3.0, and it’s packed with features designed for creators, podcasters, and video producers. Here’s what’s new:


📝 Instant Script Sync

Upload a clip with speech, and your script appears instantly in the editor. Made a mistake? Just edit the text: the tool re-generates the line in your own voice. No re-recording needed.

🎶 Contextual Soundtracks

Forget hunting for the perfect background track. Upload your video, and Eleven’s Music model automatically generates a soundtrack that fits the mood and context.

📚 Immersive Storytelling

Authors and podcasters can now blend AI voices with real performances. Layer in ambient soundscapes or custom music for richer, more engaging audio experiences. Being a podcaster myself, I understand the value of this!

🤝 Multiplayer Collaboration

Feedback is no longer lost in email threads.Share a feedback URL, and teammates can leave time-stamped comments directly on the timeline.

🌐 Google Gemini App: What’s New

Google has been quietly rolling out major updates to the Gemini app over the past few weeks, making it more creative, collaborative, and useful across devices.

🎨 Smarter Image Editing

Change backgrounds, combine creative elements, and make specific edits instantly. The new tools open up endless possibilities for creators.

👀 Real-Time Visual Guidance

Point your camera at a project, and Gemini will highlight exactly what to do — from home repairs to art projects. This feature is coming soon to Android and iOS.

🤝 Share Your Gems

Custom Gems (your AI workflows) can now be shared with others. Perfect for planning meals, parties, or team projects; collaboration made simple.

🖥️ AI While You Browse

Gemini is coming to Chrome desktop users in the U.S. You’ll be able to summarize pages, clarify concepts, and get answers based on the context of your open tabs.

Gemini is steadily evolving from a personal AI assistant into a collaborative, multi-modal workspace. This is a smart move given the proliferation of Android devices; that will certainly drive Gemini downloads.

👉 More details here: Google Gemini App

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