AI & I

The next big idea is hiding in plain sight. It’s right here, scattered across the internet in incoherent fragments. Steph Smith, my guest for this episode, knows how to connect the dots. Steph Smith is a prolific online creator, host of the a16Z podcast, author of a book about building a successful blog called Doing Content Right, and creator of Internet Pipes, a toolkit to surface useful insights on the internet. I sat down with Steph to explore the internet through her eyes. I discover the method behind her uncanny knack of spotting emerging trends. Steph also reveals the internet’s most underrated advantage: validating business ideas cheaply and quickly. As we talk, I pitch Steph two businesses, and we use an arsenal of tools and strategies to vet them live on the show. This episode is a must-watch for anyone who spends time online and wants to create useful, fun things. Here’s a taste:If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Steph Smith: https://twitter.com/stephsmithioInternet Pipes: https://internetpipes.com/ Doing Content Right: https://doingcontentright.com/#features Steph's database of untranslatable words: https://eunoia.world/ Neal Agarwal: http://neal.funKeywords Everywhere: https://keywordseverywhere.com/ Reddit tools: https://anvaka.github.io/sayit/?query=, https://gummysearch.com/ SEO tools for market analysis: https://www.similarweb.com/,  https://www.junglescout.com/, https://answerthepublic.com/ 

You can make a video game without writing a single line of code. Logan Kilpatrick uses ChatGPT to show me how.Logan is OpenAI’s first developer relations and advocacy hire. A big part of Logan’s job is supporting the community of builders using ChatGPT, DALL-E, and the OpenAI API. He’s also deeply invested in growing this community, convinced that AI tools can enable more people to build. To prove this point, Logan and I build a video game live on the show. We use GPT Builder and ChatGPT to create Allocator, a text-based strategy game where players step into the shoes of a historical U.S. president and are tasked with managing the government’s budget. We have an awesome time iterating it all the way from rough idea to functional video game in less than one hour—without any coding.  This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to bring their creative ideas to life.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more?Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Our video game, Allocator: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-oooxUbOkj-allocator

Dr. Gena Gorlin (https://twitter.com/Gena_I_Gorlin) is a clinical psychologist at UT Austin whose goal is to raise the ceiling on human potential. I sat down with her to discuss how ChatGPT has become a key tool in her quest for radical self-betterment.In this episode, she feeds ChatGPT a list of her old journal entries, and it conducts the most thorough and insightful annual review and goal-setting session you’ve ever seen. We watch as ChatGPT writes a year-by-year personal biography of her life, helps her set goals for 2024, and points out blindspots she might’ve missed.It’s a mind-bending example of how ChatGPT can unlock your potential.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want more?Dan is running a course with Dr. Gorlin called Maximize Your Mind With ChatGPT. It’s a four-week cohort-based course marrying the cutting edge of AI with the best of what psychology knows about how to reach your potential. Learn more: https://maxyourmind.xyzWant even more?Sign up for Dan’s newsletter Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Links to resources mentioned in the episode:Gena’s newsletter: https://builders.genagorlin.com/ In Defense of Radical Self-Betterment: https://every.to/p/in-defense-of-radical-self-betterment How to Use ChatGPT for Psychological Growth: https://every.to/p/how-to-use-chatgpt-for-psychological-growth 

Tyler Cowen is an economist who has been thinking about the impact of technology on life, work, and the economy for the past decade. He is a prolific writer behind the leading economic blog Marginal Revolution, a professor of economics at George Mason University, and the author of 17 books. In this episode, I dive deep with him on how ChatGPT will change the economy, and how he uses it in his own life.We explore Tyler’s predictions about how AI will impact the economy, distilling decades of contemplation into insights. We watch him interact with ChatGPT and learn how he uses it as a universal translator when he travels, a reading companion, and a research tool. We also see him use Perplexity, and walk through how he fits the two tools together in his workflow.  This is a must-watch for anyone who wants insights on adapting to the future of work. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share. And sign up for Every to get our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT.To hear more from Dan Shipper:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Register for his course, Maximize Your Mind With ChatGPT: https://www.maxyourmind.xyz/ 

David Perell is one of the best known internet writers of his generation. He’s amassed almost a half million followers on X, hosts the popular podcast How I Write, and founded Write of Passage, which has taught thousands of students how to be digital writers.We go deep on using ChatGPT to: Doing deep reading of old booksFinding anecdotes that spreadBetter understanding your tasteFinding your heroesUnderstanding your blind spots as a leaderUnpacking the strategy of your businessIf you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share. Timestamps:Intro 00:53Finding and understanding his heroes 13:42Understanding his personality and leadership style 19:14Who does David work well with? 25:53Workshopping the New York Times’s business strategy 36:52Why ChatGPT is incredible at diversity, accessibility, and speed 52:54Bringing old books like Moby Dick to life with DALL-E 58:50Using ChatGPT for deep textual analysis 1:06:29ChatGPT for writing anecdotes that spread 1:21:04Conversations with ChatGPT as food and drink for the soul 1:25:55

This show might be a first in the history of podcasts:Researcher ⁠Geoffrey Litt⁠ and I built an app together using ChatGPTapp and Replit in under 60 minutes—while we talked.We wanted to show how AI and ChatGPT change who gets to build software and how they usher in a world where everyone can ⁠modify⁠ and ⁠remix⁠ the apps they use every day.So we did it live, and ChatGPT delivered a working prototype at the end of the episode.It was a tiny glimpse of the future—and it pushes the boundaries of what a show can be. It honestly left me speechless and it'll change the way you think about software. If it does, make sure to subscribe, share, and leave us a review!

Sometimes ChatGPT is a copilot, sitting beside you, taking directions, and guiding you as you fly through your work. At other times, it’s a subordinate. It’s not just an assistant or a companion, but a trusted deputy, someone—or something—that’ll heed instructions and complete tasks.This is how our guest, Nathan Labenz, thinks about ChatGPT. In this episode, Labenz—the founder of the AI video company Waymark and the host of his own podcast called The Cognitive Revolution—uses ChatGPT to write complex code in languages he’s unfamiliar with, saving days worth of time in the process.Just like machines replaced muscles during the Industrial Revolution, AI will one day replace brainpower. Maybe with ChatGPT, we can offload some of the drudgery of everyday work and focus on work that’s actually important.

TL;DR: Today we’re releasing a new episode of our podcast How Do You Use ChatGPT? I go in-depth with Notion research engineer Linus Lee on how he uses ChatGPT and Notion AI to maximize creative control. Watch on X, YouTube, or Spotify.You might think that being an AI researcher would mostly involve solving complicated programming problems and thinking through mathematical equations. Instead, a big part of the job is rewriting parts of your prompts in ALL CAPS in order to make sure the AI model you’re working with follows your directions. “All caps works!” Linus Lee told me in this interview. “If you look at OpenAI's system prompts for a lot of their tools, all caps works.”Linus is a research engineer at Notion who works on its AI team, prototyping new experiences, like a Q&A chatbot. He is a deep thinker who is obsessed with building AI that enables human creativity and agency. He came on the show to talk about how AI might augment our thinking, how he thinks about prompting to get the best results, and how he uses ChatGPT and Notion AI in his work and life.I first interviewed him a year ago, when he showed off dozens of AI prototypes he’d been building to try to understand the future of this technology. Our latest interview is a mixture of theory and practice. Linus talks about how the tools we use shape the work we can create and what the future of AI-driven interfaces might be. We watch him demo personal tools he’s built, like an AI chatbot that he communicates with over iMessage. And we peek over his shoulder to see his chats with ChatGPT to understand how he talks to it to get the best results.Here’s a taste of what we talk about. Read on for more analysis from me at the bottom.Using AI to maximize agency. Linus talks a lot about the ways our tools shape our agency as thinkers and creatives—and how AI might be used to enhance rather than reduce our agency.AI as a “thought calculator.” Linus borrows a phrase from the popular tech blogger Simon Willison to illustrate dueling points of view on the ultimate goal of AI: is it meant to be a simulacrum of humans or a “thought calculator,” a way to enhance human imagination and creativity?Personal prototypes he’s built. Linus regularly experiments with AI on the weekend. He shows us a chatbot he built that works over iMessage, and a new interface for image generators that gives him much better control over their output.Better prompting. We go over simple yet powerful techniques for getting the best answer out of AI models—like starting with general queries first, and repeatedly asking the model to answer the same question. Using AI for vibe checks. AI is great for reflecting the vibes of books, people, places—and even files on your computer. Linus talks about how he uses ChatGPT to get quick vibe checks that allow him to make decisions. Book recommendations. We pit ChatGPT head-to-head against Notion AI to see which can best capture our reading taste. And just when ChatGPT seems like it’s coming out on top, Linus makes a convincing case for Notion AI’s special skill set as an organizational tool that already knows how its users work. What do you use ChatGPT for? Have you found any interesting or surprising use cases? We want to hear from you—and we might even interview you. Reply here to talk to me!Miss an episode? Catch up on my recent conversations with writer Nat Eliason and Gumroad CEO Sahil Lavingia and learn how they use ChatGPT.

In this engaging conversation, Nat Eliason, a versatile author, crypto trader, and marketer, shares his innovative use of ChatGPT. He reveals how it helps him identify his writing taste, discover inspiring books, and generate story outlines for his sci-fi novel. Nat also discusses fun applications, such as resolving bar bets and summarizing the news—proving that this AI tool is not only a creative ally but also a culinary assistant. He emphasizes the importance of blending AI capabilities with personal creativity, transforming how we write and discover literature.

Sahil Lavingia, co-founder and CEO of Gumroad, shares his innovative use of ChatGPT for real estate research. He discusses leveraging AI to streamline the buying process of a New York City building to enhance Gumroad’s community space. Lavingia reveals how ChatGPT refines his research techniques, improves decision-making, and supports creativity in writing. He emphasizes the balance between AI insights and human expertise in navigating real estate challenges, showcasing practical strategies for integrating AI into business operations.