A robot that cleans, Google's Bard, and Web3 Heartbreak

Disclaimer: Text in italics has been written by AI.

Everytime I’m about to release a newsletter, and check for updates - it’s as if my newsletter is 8 months out of date. If you’re finding this useful, great. It’s not free. We have an unspoken agreement which is to share this newsletter with your friends. Your colleagues. Your kids. Sharing is caring and is what keeps me going from week to week.

This week we’re covering:

• 💸 ChatGPT Fund - AI vs S&P 500

• 🤖 Google Releases Bard, a direct competitor to ChatGPT

• 🎼 Turn ideas into Music

• 🦾 The TidyBot: A robot cleaner by Princeton University

• 🍁 Web3 News: Bad news for Canada

• 🛠️ Founders Toolbox: 3 tools to help you rule the world

• 📷 A destination you should probably travel to once you leave your screen brought to you by an image that is not AI

Estimated read time: 8-10 minutes

Earlier this month, CNN released an article that “Analysts” have setup a dummy portfolio of a bunch of stocks which were selected by ChatGPT and that it has been out performing the S&P 500. The results from March 6 to April were that the dummy portfolio had a gain of 4.9% vs the S&P 500 had a loss of 0.8%. This is too small a timeframe to know if anything works. Also, wouldn’t it be cool if someone put their money where their mouth is?

Enter: The ChatGPT Fund. A group has put together $50k of their own money to challenge this idea. In addition, they have opened up investing to the public as well - to date there is now $4.8m $5.5m $6.2m $7.1m in the fund (🤯) invested by more than 12,000 people. It's only been three days so we’ll be following this one closely. Regardless of the outcome, they’ve garnered 105k twitter followers and a substantial email list in a very short amount of time. In other words, $50,000 for a twitter account with 105k followers all interested in AI money management is a steal of a deal.

Google had it’s yearly I/O event where they annouce projects that they (hope to) release every year. Here it is in a nutshell: (I dare to take a shot everytime Sundar Pichai says AI)

@verge

Pretty sure Google is focusing on AI at this year’s I/O. #google #googleio #ai #tech #technews #techtok

Enter Bard - a poet, traditionally one reciting epics and associated with a particular oral tradition.

Google had their annual IO event last week where they talk through upcoming releases on their product stack. From software to hardware, we got a glimpse of what’s in store. The most notable piece of software is their AI chatbot (a response to ChatGPT). Bard (I think it’s a terrible name), was released the day of the event to 180 countries (RIP Canada)

What’s so good about Bard? To be frank, there’s alot of pro’s and con’s to both but here I let Bard do the talking itself. I asked Bard to tell me 5 differences:

Bard is more informative than ChatGPT. Bard is like a Wikipedia article that can answer any question you throw at it. ChatGPT is more like a cocktail party guest who can only talk about the weather and their latest vacation.

Bard is more creative than ChatGPT. Bard can write poems, stories, and code. ChatGPT can only write emails and tweets.

Bard is more helpful than ChatGPT. Bard can help you with your homework, research, and even write your resume. ChatGPT can only help you with your shopping and ordering food.

Bard is more polite than ChatGPT. Bard will never call you names or make fun of you. ChatGPT is more like a frat boy who thinks it's funny to make people feel uncomfortable.

Bard is more fun to talk to than ChatGPT. Bard can hold a conversation on any topic and is always up for a good laugh. ChatGPT is more like a brick wall that just repeats the same thing over and over again.

Shots fired. Some of these aren’t true. ChatGPT can definitely write code, stories, help you with homework etc… The biggest differentiator is that ChatGPT’s training models end in 2021 where as Bard is straight up connected to the internet. You can get a good glimpse of this if you ask each of them what is the current day (ChatGPT thinks its April of 2021).

One key differentiator I’d like to point out is the analysis of SEO. We all have been googling stuff for more than a decade, and some have a slight idea as to what makes certain content show up on the first page vs the second. Now, you can ask bard to do an analysis on your websites SEO.

MusicLM (by Google) is a concept that Google is working on. In a few words, imagine you can hum a tune into the mic and the software will spit back a full blown segment with a saxophone trumpet and drums. Crazy? Well, see for yourself (starts at 0:25).

Google's ability to turn ideas into music is a game-changer for the music industry. This technology has the potential to make music more creative, innovative, and accessible than ever before.

For one, it lowers the barrier to entry for aspiring musicians. In the past, you needed to be a skilled musician with access to expensive equipment to make music. But now, anyone with an idea can create music with the help of Google's technology.

This technology also opens up new opportunities for collaboration and experimentation. In the past, musicians were limited to collaborating with people who lived in the same place or who were part of the same scene. But now, musicians can collaborate with anyone in the world, regardless of their location or genre.

This technology also has the potential to create new forms of music that have never been heard before. With the help of artificial intelligence, musicians can create music that is more complex, nuanced, and emotionally resonant than anything that has come before.

Imagine a Roomba, but with a robotic arm. That would be nice wouldn’t it? A cleaning lady that doesn’t judge.

Well, our Silicon Valley overlords have generously funded another dystopian AI “breakthrough” to unleash upon humanity. Behold TidyBot, a mobile manipulator housed in soulless metal and silicon, designed to infiltrate your home under the disguise of being helpful. TidyBot's dark purpose: to memorize the chaotic debris field you call a living space.

How does TidyBot achieve its sinister goal? Through large language models, a dubious AI technology which provides TidyBot an unsettling ability to understand natural, human language. By conversing with TidyBot a few times, it can summarize how you prefer your messed organization habits. TidyBot then grimly gets to work tidying up, sorting through the sad wreckage of your life with 91.2% accuracy for maximum psychological impact.

Even when faced with unseen household objects, TidyBot’s accuracy remains a disturbing yet relentless 85%.

The researchers from Princeton and Columbia claim TidyBot proves that AI butlers are the solution to humanity’s perpetual messiness (paraphrasing). A more apt conclusion is that we have successfully engineered our robot replacement - an AI indifferent to humanity’s perpetual uselessness. How long before these numb bots of intelligence label us as just more clutter to be efficiently dealt with? Yeah, it’s a good thing robots don’t judge.

Wrapping this up, this is an example of what LLM’s enable pre-existing tech to accomplish. Combining LLM’s with object recognition is where we’re really going to be seeing incredible breakthroughs this year.

Now here’s the TidyBot Kobe’ing some trash.

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has pulled out of Canada. This is a major blow to the Canadian cryptocurrency industry, and it's a sign of the growing regulatory scrutiny of the cryptocurrency space.

Binance cited new regulations from the Canadian Securities Administrators as the reason for its decision. The CSA has been cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges in recent months, and it's clear that Binance didn't want to comply with the new rules. I don’t see this as a coincidence but more of a strategic move from the CSA and/or Canadian Government. Just recently, there have been lots of talks of the CBDC (Central bank digital currency). Canada is exploring their own digital currency - and it is possible that Binance withdrew from Canada because it was concerned about the regulatory uncertainty surrounding stablecoins and CBDCs. The Canadian government has not yet issued any regulations for stablecoins or CBDCs, and it is unclear how they will be regulated in the future.

Whatever happens, the withdrawal of Binance is a huge setback for the Canadian cryptocurrency industry.

Founders’ Toolbox: A Spotlight

Every week, I play with dozens and dozens of new tools and I’ll derive a few that are worthy of your experimentation.

• Create video documentation with AI (great for making explainer videos) https://www.guidde.com/

• AI Navigator for your network (Beta) - https://clay.earth/nexus

  • what Nexus is proposing is incredible, they will host a database of everyone in your network which would make it easy for conversation topics, booking meetings at restaurants, and getting gifts

• Thinking about Video + Podcasting? Try Descript (It’s what I’m currently using to edit podcast style videos) - https://www.descript.com/

  • One amazing feature is the ability to edit your videos in the style of a Google Doc (text editor)

The Renegade Explorer

As some of you may know, I embarked on a backpacking journey across the globe in 2022/2023, and I've been lucky enough to explore some amazing off-the-beaten-path locations along the way. As we all know, life can be overwhelming at times, and it's important to take a break and nurture our sense of curiosity. Each week I feature a breathtaking destination alongside some beautiful photography that will inspire your next adventure.

This week's dazzling jewel is an entrancing fusion of majestic karst mountains and lush, emerald rice paddies converging on tranquil rivers of mesmerizing azure. From the pinnacle of the tallest hike, one can see the other side of the landscape which reveals the ageless beauty of ancestral temples, nestled amongst the serene labyrinths of waterways, and the captivating sight of cascading waterfalls carving their paths through the verdant valleys.

This is an explorer's paradise, where serpentine paths wind their way through ancient caves, offering grand, breathtaking panoramas of a vibrant ecosystem teeming with life. The rivers, like mirrors to the sky, reflect the joyous dance of the local birdlife above, creating a scene straight out of a painter's dream.

The terraced rice fields, painted in fifty shades of green, give way to the rustic charm of the local villages, dotted with traditional stilt houses and the ever-smiling faces of the hospitable local people. The echoing sounds of local life, the chants from the temples, and the rhythm of the river provide a symphony that harmonizes perfectly with this picture-perfect landscape.

From this high vantage point, the landscape truly reveals itself as a realm where nature, history, and culture intertwine to create an enchanting tapestry of experiences that beg to be explored, and stories that yearn to be told.

20°13'45.6"N 105°56'03.5"E