Edition #5: One More Thing in AI

Date: 30-Sep-2023

Dear reader,

Welcome to the latest edition of the “One More Thing in AI newsletter.  For Startup founders and Business Leaders like you who want to get smarter on AI in less than 5 minutes. Thank you for making this newsletter one of the fastest to cross 1000+ subscribers!

I hope you enjoy this edition. As usual, I'd like to hear your feedback for improvements.

Best regards,

Renjit

In this Edition

🎉 Market Map: Your One-page Guide to Generative AI

🔥 Must Read: The Cambrian Explosion of Generative AI by Sequoia Capital

🌐 Meta's New Frontier: AI Takes Center Stage. Playing Catch-up?

💳 SlopeGPT: Risky Payments? Here comes the AI-powered Risk Model

📹 AI Tool Review: Lights, Camera, AI: Guidde's Onboarding Videos

💬 Swipe Right on Meeno: The Future of AI Companionship

📸 ChatGPT goes multimodal! Why you should care.

🛠️ Startup GPT: Convert your team’s whiteboarding session into code!

Please have a look at the bottom of the newsletter for sponsorship opportunities to reach over 1000+ business and startup professionals.

Market Map

Your Guide to Generative AI

Why is this mapping important?

If you can’t classify a topic, you can’t understand it! You also get to see the options available in a particular area. It is not just about Open AI; there are others in the field.

For Startups, this gives you an idea of the competitive space that they play in. For Enterprises, this opens up the optionality of AI-powered software suppliers.

For a closer look at the market map, see the section- Deeper Dive at the bottom of this newsletter.

Must Read

The Cambrian Explosion of Generative AI

Sequoia Capital has many blog posts, and the “Generative AI, Act Two” post is worth reading.
The article likens the rise of generative AI to a Cambrian explosion of innovation fueled by decades of technological advancements. This is not a spontaneous event but the culmination of decades of technological advances, from Moore's Law to the rise of mobile and cloud computing. Here is a power summary:

The Hype and the Reality 🎭
The initial excitement around generative AI is like that of a gold rush. Companies quickly labeled themselves "AI copilots," reminiscent of the dot-com bubble. However, this has led to an unsustainable frenzy of fundraising and talent wars.

🔍 Scrutiny and Skepticism: As with any disruptive technology, questions have been raised about its practical utility and ethical implications. This skepticism is reminiscent of the early days of the internet, where critics questioned its long-term impact, often drawing premature conclusions.

Financial Milestones 💰
Despite the criticisms, generative AI has already surpassed SaaS in its early revenue, crossing the $1 billion mark from startups alone. 

The Next Act: Customer-Centric Solutions 🎬: The industry is transitioning from "Act 1" to "Act 2," focusing more on solving human problems end-to-end. If "Act 1" was about designing a new electric car, "Act 2" is about building the entire ecosystem around it—charging stations, long-range batteries, etc. You can see these ecosystems on the market map above.

Companies to Watch 👀
Companies like Harvey, Glean, and Character.ai are entering this "Act 2," offering more comprehensive solutions for entire customer segments.

Competitive Landscape 🌐
The article concludes that the real competitive advantage lies in workflows and user networks, not just data. It's not just about who has the most oil (data) but who has the best refinery (workflows).

So, if you're a senior leader pondering about the future of AI in your industry, this post serves as a comprehensive "State of the Union" address. To read the post, see Deeper Dive at the bottom of the newsletter.

Big Tech

Meta's New Frontier: AI Takes Center Stage

Please have a look at the bottom of the newsletter for sponsorship opportunities to reach over 1000+ business and startup professionals.

B2B Payments

Risky Business? Here comes the GPT-4 Powered Risk Model

Artificial intelligence-powered business-to-business payments platform startup Slope Inc. announced that it has raised $30 million in new funding to fuel product development and expansion.

Imagine a world where payments are processed instantly and securely without the risk of fraud or chargebacks. This is the vision of Slope, a B2B fintech AI company. Slope is developing a new payment risk model powered by GPT-4.

How does SlopeGPT work?

• SlopeGPT ingests raw transaction data and uses GPT-4 to transform it into embeddings. Embeddings are numerical representations of text or data that can be used to identify patterns and relationships.

• SlopeGPT then clusters the embeddings at the customer level to determine which cash flow component they comprise (e.g., sales, payroll, etc.).

• Once the embeddings are clustered, SlopeGPT uses GPT-4 to generate additional features such as seasonality, sales trends, and other relevant information.

• These features are then joined with other risk features, such as customer history and industry data. The combined elements are then passed into a machine learning model to predict the risk of fraud or chargebacks.

The key is that SlopeGPT wasn't explicitly programmed with fraud rules. Instead, it was trained on tons of transaction data and learned to recognize red flags independently. This gives it much more flexibility to find new patterns and anomalies.

And the results so far are promising. SlopeGPT has reduced false positives by 60% compared to other models. That means fewer declined transactions and happier customers for B2B companies. I, for one, am delighted to see Gen AI applications in B2B Fintech.

AI Tool Review 

🎬 Guidde: The Magic Wand for Video Documentation

🧠 AI-Powered Simplicity

Think of Guidde as the spellbook that turns complex workflows into simple, step-by-step videos.

🛠 How It Works

1. Magic Capture: Click capture from the browser extension, and voila! Your workflow is recorded.

2. AI-Generated Storyline: It's like having a scriptwriter who instantly crafts a narrative for your workflow.

3. Voiceover Choices: Choose from over 100 different voices and languages to add that personal touch, akin to selecting the right paint for your masterpiece.

4. Editorial Freedom: There is no need for a pro designer; the platform offers intuitive editing tools.

5. Smart Sharing: Sharing your "guiddes" is as easy as waving a magic wand. Share via a link or embed it in your organization's platform.

📊 The Bottom Line

Guidde is a solution that simplifies complex business processes into digestible, shareable content. The versatile platform is valuable for companies looking to enhance their documentation and training methods.

Here is the link to test Guidde out: Link.

Swipe Right on Meeno

Future of AI Companionship

🌱 Genesis of Meeno

Save GenZs from a loneliness epidemic; that's precisely what Meeno, a startup founded by former Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg, aims to do. With a fresh injection of $3.9 million in seed funding led by Sequoia, Meeno is set to launch its AI-powered chatbot on the App Store this December.

🎯 What Sets Meeno Apart?

You know how some mentors "get you"? Meeno wants to be that mentor but in AI form. Unlike other chatbot companions, Meeno positions itself as a "personal mentor," steering clear of being labeled as a virtual girlfriend or boyfriend. Think of it as a wise friend who keeps getting wiser as they learn more about your preferences.

📊 Data-Driven Personalization

The company collects user data like age, ethnicity, and sexual orientation to offer more personalized and unbiased conversations. It's like having a mentor who understands your cultural background. Customers must be aware of data privacy and security issues this might cause.

🚀 The Road Ahead

Meeno's approach aligns with growing user expectations for meaningful interactions. As it addresses the loneliness prevalent among Gen Z, the company enters a market with significant potential but must proceed cautiously to ensure responsible AI use.

Chat GPT

Going Multimodal

Let's dive into the latest advancements in ChatGPT, as announced by OpenAI. There are two significant updates: voice and image capabilities.

🎙️ Voice Capabilities: Now, you can speak to ChatGPT and get a well-informed response. A new text-to-speech model powers the voice feature and even offers a choice of five different voices. It's like having a Siri or Alexa, but one that can delve into complex topics with you. And let’s face it: Siri and Alexa do not work as well as we would like.

📸 Image Understanding: Picture this—you're in your kitchen, wondering what to cook for dinner. Snap a photo of your fridge's contents, and ChatGPT can suggest a recipe. This feature is not just limited to food; it can analyze various images, from landmarks to complex work-related graphs. Check this video out to see how this feature could work for fixing a bike.

🌍 Broader Applications: The technology is already finding applications in other platforms. For example, Spotify uses this voice technology to translate podcasts, expanding its reach to non-English-speaking audiences.

These new features are designed to make ChatGPT a more versatile and intuitive assistant. It's like having a Swiss Army knife in your pocket but for information and tasks. 

To read the announcement on Open AI’s website, see Deeper Dive at the bottom of the newsletter.

StartupGPT

Convert your whiteboarding session into code!

Deeper dive

1. [Sequoia Capital's Insight on Generative AI's Next Phase]

2. [Facebook's New AI-Powered Assistants and Creative Tools]

3. [Guidde: The Future of AI-Powered Video Onboarding]

4. [SlopeGPT: The First GPT-4 Powered Payments Risk Model]

5. [Meeno: Securing $3.9M Investment from Sequoia for AI Chatbot]

6. [OpenAI's ChatGPT Now with Vision, Audio, and Speech Capabilities]

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