Four new AI tools caught my attention recently for solving specific problems well. They're free to try, quick to learn, and point toward where AI is heading.

1. Lovart 🧑‍🎨

Create a brand kit or marketing campaign with an AI design agent

Lovart’s conversational interface allows you to generate posters, social posts, branding kits, storyboards — even packaging. Unlike other image generation tools, you can generate dozens of images from a single prompt, then iterate on the results in a chat dialogue. You can also edit the images. I used an eraser to remove stray text in a promo poster. See more examples.

Pricing: Free (limited use), or $15–$26/month billed annually for additional usage and pro models.

2. Little Language Lessons 🎯

Brush up on French, Spanish, or other languages

Polish your linguistic skills in three different ways using Google’s Little Language Lessons. Unlike Duolingo, Babbel, and other subscription language-learning systems, this is completely free. It’s just for micro-learning — picking up some words, phrases and grammar, not for developing full fluency.

* Tiny Lessons: Pick from a long list of languages and type in a scenario — like hosting a meeting or going to a concert. Learn related words & phrases.

* Slang Hang: Catch up on popular new chit-chat by watching a conversation thread between native speakers. While listening, you’ll see the translation.

* Word Cam: Snap a picture to get translations of objects in the image, along with related phrases. Tip: use this app on a mobile device — it’ll be handier for capturing images than your computer’s Webcam.

Another useful Google service: Learn About. Get tips on learning any language — or learn about whatever fascinates you.

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3. Gemini Scheduled Actions 🗓️

Set up simple AI automations

Scheduled actions are an emerging format where AI assistants send you personalized updates. You design the task and choose its frequency. ChatGPT Tasks, Perplexity Tasks, and Gemini’s Scheduled Actions are three I’ve been testing. Get notified when a task is completed by email, push notification, or within the app. Here are a few examples:

* Generate a summary of headlines on your niche topic. I get positive news memos to counter the weight of news negativity. Ask for one-sentence takeaways, source links, specific sub-topics, or whatever else interests you.

* Get weather-related wardrobe suggestions. Create morning weather updates with outfit ideas based on a list of wardrobe items you provide for personalized guidance.

* Plan a creative spark moment: Get a daily — or weekly — prompt for a creative activity: writing, drawing, journaling, cooking, or whatever you love.

* Catch up on your favorite teams, shows, or bands. Request updates on your favorite artists or athletes. Unlike services like Google Alerts, these AI actions let you use natural language to detail your personal interests.

* Explore new restaurants to try. Ask for a weekly summary of new nearby eateries, cafes or dessert spots, with whatever criteria matters to you most.

4. MyLens 📍

Create an infographic from a link, YouTube video, or text

Creating infographics can be complicated and time-consuming. I’ve been experimenting with MyLens to convert raw material into visuals.

How it works: Paste in text or upload a PDF, image, or CSV/Excel file. Or add a link to a site, article, or YouTube video.

I pasted a link to my recent Craft post, asked the system to choose a visual, and got the board below. 👇

When editing, I clicked on cards to expand them or dig deeper into specific points. That yielded this mind map.

I also shared a link to my video reflecting on writing this newsletter for 5 years. MyLens responded with this visual overview.

* What you can make: Generate timelines, flow charts, tables, or quadrant diagrams. Or upload data to create line, bar or donut charts.

* 📺 Watch MyLens’s one-minute demo video to see it in action.

* Pricing: Free to create 3 non-editable, public infographics (“stories”) a day, or $9/month billed annually for 300 monthly editable creations.

* Alternatives: I’ve covered Napkin.ai, Venngage, and apps for creating timelines.

Reader survey summary

Thanks to the hundreds of you who completed my recent reader survey. In addition to reading every single submission, I tasked Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT with generating detailed summaries to help me continue to improve the newsletter based on your feedback. I’ll be replying to respondents with free bonus resources and follow-ups based on their responses. Thanks, Jeremy

Catch up on last week’s post:

What’s in your toolkit? Share your top new tools in a comment below or in this short form.

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