Hey friends!
Hope you all had a great week. There’s a lot to unpack this week. But before we dive in, let me share something important.
One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten was: “If you want better answers, you have to ask better questions.” It’s one of those universal truths that applies to everything – sports, business, writing, interviews, everything. And it’s fascinating how perfectly this applies to all these AI tools.
Think about it like this: twenty years ago, everyone got Google, but the people who really learned how to search had a massive advantage. The same thing is happening with AI, but the gap is even bigger.
Here’s what matters:
- Basic prompting gets basic results, even from the best AI
- Expert users are getting 2-10x more value from the same tools
- Most people are using AI like a calculator when it’s actually a supercomputer
Two Platform Launches You Should Know AboutFirst up
Google AI Studio, and this one genuinely blew my mind. Let me share what happened when I tried it:
I turned on my camera and started a casual conversation with it. I asked it what I was doing. It told me I was “sitting on the couch.” I held up two fingers, asked how many – it said “two.” Added two more fingers – “four.” Then I picked up my water bottle and started drinking – it immediately noted that. It felt less like testing software and more like chatting with a friend who happens to be really observant.
But here’s the feature that’s going to change how we work: You can share your screen with it and get feedback on literally anything. I mean anything – your presentations, website designs, marketing materials, spreadsheets. It’s like having a consultant who can analyze everything in real-time.
For those of you running businesses or creating content, think about what this means. Need quick feedback on a pitch deck? Want to optimize your website? Looking for real-time presentation coaching? It’s all there, and it feels surprisingly natural.
Then there’s Grok 3, Elon’s latest AI model. Elon’s xAI team has built something that feels less like a traditional AI and more like a brilliant friend with a sense of humor.
A few things caught my attention:
First, there’s this “Think” mode that breaks down complex problems step by step, showing you its reasoning process. Whether you’re coding, solving complex problems, or just need deep analysis, it actually shows you how it got to the answer.
It can handle both text and images – you can throw a photo at it for analysis or even ask it to generate new variations. Plus, it pulls real-time data from the web and social media, so you’re always working with current information.
You can access it through X Premium Plus, and I’m hearing there’s a “SuperGrok” plan coming soon with even more features.
Here’s what I’ve learned using these tools:
The key isn’t about knowing the perfect prompts or technical tricks – it’s about having real conversations. Talk to these tools like they’re your really smart friend who wants to help. If you’re stuck, say you’re stuck. If you don’t understand something, ask for clarification. If you need a different approach, just say so.
I’ve seen people try to “outsmart” the AI with complex prompts when they could have just said, “Hey, I’m not sure how to tackle this. Can you help me think it through?” That simple, direct approach often works better than any fancy prompt engineering.
The Future of Video is Here
Remember when Snapchat filters fundamentally shifted how an entire generation thought about self-expression. Well, something similar is on the horizon with AI video.
Pika just launched Pikaswaps, and it’s pretty darn cool. With over 12 million users already, they’ve released an iOS app that lets you transform any video or photo in ways that make Snapchat filters look primitive. You can turn static images into dynamic videos, add surreal elements to real footage, or create entirely new scenes from simple text descriptions.
Check out this video:
Google’s jumping in too – they just opened up their Veo 2 video generator for creators to build custom background filters. Between these tools, we’re entering a new era of video creation where imagination is the only real limit.
Fair warning though: as these tools become more widespread, the line between real and generated content gets blurrier by the day. It’s both exciting and something we all need to keep in mind.
The NBA’s Robot Revolution
The NBA just showed off their new lineup of AI-powered assistants, and it’s wild:
- A.B.E.: An automated rebounder that Steph Curry is already using in practice
- M.I.M.I.C.: Robots that run offensive and defensive plays
- K.I.T.: A robot focused on player wellbeing and motivation
- B.E.B.E.: Handles equipment management and basic tasks
But here’s the really interesting part – while everyone’s waiting for general AI that can do everything, these specialized robots are quietly revolutionizing specific tasks. It’s not about replacing humans; it’s about enhancing what we can do.
Watch this:
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The Home Robot Revolution
Figure just introduced something called Helix – an AI system that lets robots understand voice commands and handle objects they’ve never seen before. This is huge because it solves one of the biggest challenges in robotics: dealing with new situations.
Think about your home – every drawer, cabinet, and surface has different items in different positions. Getting robots to handle that chaos has been nearly impossible… until now.
Mike’s Time to Nerd Out
So it’s time to replace my hot water tanks, and yeah, one started leaking (because who doesn’t love some casual water damage?). By the way – how dumb it is that here in Texas, they install these massive 50-gallon tanks in the attic? Who thought that was a good idea?
Anyway, instead of going down the usual Google rabbit hole of sponsored listings and questionable review sites, I decided to try something different – I asked Grok 3 for help.
What happened next was cool. Instead of endless “Best Water Heaters 2025!” articles, the AI pulled together real engineering specs, efficiency data, and Texas-specific installation requirements. A few minutes later, I had one clear recommendation, backed by actual technical reasoning. No marketing fluff, just expertise.
It made me think – we’re witnessing a massive shift in how people make purchase decisions. These AI models don’t care about SEO tricks or paid placements – they care about technical accuracy and real expertise. We’re moving from “who paid the most to be seen” to “who actually knows their stuff.”
For those building businesses, this is huge. The next 24 months will see billions in purchase decisions guided by AI recommendations. The winners won’t be the ones with the biggest marketing budgets – they’ll be the ones who create genuinely valuable, technically sound content.
Think about your industry. What deep knowledge do you have that could help others make better decisions? That’s where the real opportunity lies – because for once, being the best at what you do matters more than gaming the system.Until next week,
Mike
P.S – Oliver’s surgery was a success. Now it’s 10 weeks of rehab for him.
P.P.S. I believe in real networks – not the LinkedIn kind, but an actual tribe of remarkable people who help each other win. If you know someone who would genuinely add value to our group and that would benefit from these emails, send them here to join:
