AI's rapid evolution: 21 months of progress

Welcome, Aioli enthusiast

"The future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed." In mere months, we've witnessed AI leap from academic curiosity to practical tool, revolutionizing work and daily life for some, while others are just beginning to explore its potential. As this rapid evolution continues, Gibson's words ring truer than ever.

Aioli is renewing its commitment to help distribute that future more evenly. Each week, we'll bring you essential AI tools, news, and insights to keep you at the forefront of this revolution.

In today’s spread:

• 🧹 Automatically organize your desktop and downloads files

• ⏩️ AI progress: A 21-month comparison

• 🤳 The legalities of social media influence

• 🗓️ Create multiple calendar events with AI

• 📰 This week’s AI news to know
  
  Read time: 7 minutes

MEG’S TOOL PICK OF THE WEEK

📂 Organize Your Computer’s Files Automatically–With AI

Every once in a while I come across an AI tool that blows me away — this is how I felt after trying Sparkle, a Mac app that was released just last week. I feel like I just hired a house cleaner, but for the dumpster fire that was my Desktop and Downloads folders.

Instead of trying to explain it myself, here’s the whole spiel straight from them (not sponsored! I just genuinely love this tool):

“We built Sparkle because being organized isn't just about cleanliness—it’s about focus. Our messy Desktop, Downloads, and Documents folders were giving us anxiety, and it was impossible to find what we needed quickly. 

Organizing thousands of files from the past many years was a non-starter, and we knew these folders would just get messy all over again. So we built Sparkle, and it’s been keeping our computers organized ever since.

At this point, if you’ve selected one or all of your Documents, Desktop, or Downloads folders in Sparkle, it is currently organizing your computer and will continue to do so indefinitely.”

AI ZEITGEIST

📖 Change Blindness

AI has been a prominent topic in recent news and conversations over the past couple of years, but just how far have we come from the time ChatGPT was released in November 2022? Ethan Mollick, a leading voice in AI who explores its implications in work, education, and life, highlights the rapid pace of innovation and progress in this field with some before-and-after demos.

The progress we've seen in AI over the past 21 months is truly astonishing. Even if you don't have time to read all the details, I recommend at least checking out the improvements in image and video generation quality.

This serves as a reminder to periodically revisit AI tools and use cases to see how they've evolved and improved. Personally, while I'm not yet comfortable using AI-generated images or videos for professional purposes, I can see that changing soon after viewing this progress. Success in adopting AI often comes from maintaining an open mind and a curiosity-driven approach, being willing to reassess our stance as the technology advances.

 🪪 A Win for Consumers Against Generative AI

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken a stand against deceptive AI practices:

- It's now illegal to use bots to inflate follower counts or create fake product reviews.

- This regulation, effective October 2024, addresses growing concerns about AI-generated content in marketing.

- Amazon's 2022 lawsuit against Facebook group administrators for fake review brokering highlighted the need for such measures.

As AI capabilities expand, we can expect more regulations to emerge, balancing innovation with ethical concerns.

LOW HANGING FRUIT

🗓️ How to Create Calendar Entries from an Image Using AI

Ever wished you could instantly create multiple calendar entries from a single image? Here's how to leverage AI for efficient scheduling:

1. Obtain the Image

   • Get a picture of your schedule that lists out dates and outline your dates in a color, like the green shown in the image above.

2. Use Claude 3.5 to Identify Dates

   • Upload the image to Claude 3.5 Sonnet.

   • Prompt: "List the dates that are outlined in green".

   • Claude will provide a list of dates.

3. Generate ICS File

   • Prompt Claude: "Create a calendar ics file that creates an appointment on each of those dates at [specific time] [time zone]. The appointment title will be [title]."

   • Claude will generate the ICS file content.

4. Save the ICS File

   • Copy the ICS content provided by Claude.

   • Paste it into a new text file.

   • Save the file with a .ics extension (e.g., "appointments.ics").

5. Import to Calendar

   • Go to your calendar application (e.g., Google Calendar).

   • Find the import option (in Google Calendar: go to Settings > Import/Export).

   • Select and import the .ics file you created.

6. Verify Appointments

   • Check your calendar to ensure all appointments were imported correctly.

Tips:

• Claude can adjust for time zones and Daylight Saving Time.

• If using Google Calendar, access calendar.google.com for importing.

• This method can save time when dealing with multiple appointments.

• If Claude doesn't generate the ICS file, you can ask it to "Just show me the content of the .ics file" as an alternative.

Credit: Greg Wilson

QUICK BITES

🤖 The FCC proposed new regulations requiring AI-generated voice calls to disclose the use of artificial intelligence

🗳️ A man in Wyoming wants to have ChatGPT run for mayor

🤯 Tangible returns on implementing AI for Amazon: 260m saved by replacing developer work with AI (or 4500 years of developer work)

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Speaking of news, a word from this week’s Aioli sponsor, 1440:

News for humans, by humans.

• Today's news.

• Edited to be unbiased as humanly possible.

• Every morning, we triple-check headlines, stories, and sources for bias.

• All by hand with no algorithms.

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UNTIL NEXT WEEK!

Thanks for reading. Your curiosity fuels this journey.

Meg 👩🏻‍💻

p.s. if you want to sign up for this newsletter or share it with a friend or colleague, you can do so here. For questions and feedback, email me at [email protected]