My Top 10 List of the Best AI Teachers and Tools

I adore making lists. I adore reading lists. Things 3 is my current favorite app for lists for everything. It organizes my brain in ways that are thrilling to me, plus with color codes. Here’s a list of some of the AI spots I like to go to. I hope you find it helpful.

1. Superhuman by Zain Kahn: This is a wonderful short daily summary of what’s happening in artificial intelligence. It gives me productivity tools I can test, as I am most interested in how we can build new workflows with technology in communications. You can’t have too many Zain’s in your life!

2. Learn With Professor KL: AI is nothing new. It’s been going on for decades. But two things are happening to create the hype: The cost to innovate with AI is significantly lower. And people are recasting all problems as AI problems. Driving, Dentistry, Music … are now seen as AI problems. Both factors, he says, are driving the hype we all see today. Prof KL offers two talks you can watch about the need to equip ourselves and our businesses with AI efficiencies. I encourage you to spend some remaining holiday time with him. He quotes sci fi author William Gibson: "The future is already here - it's just not evenly distributed."

3. Ben’s Bites Newsletter: This is where I get some good daily news focused updates on who is making what AI moves. It’s a good snapshot for me to absorb fast, then focus on the stories that appeal most.

4. Claude: I like Claude AI for large PDF summaries I need. I also like the overall Claude experience a little more than ChatGPT. Feels smoother. Silkier. I like Silk. FYI Claude is also a little opinionated and slightly sassy in pointing things out to me, and even reprimanding me on one or two occasions. ChatGPT4 is still the winner. For Now.

5. Midjourney V6: I use the latest version of Midjourney. The magic is in the prompting. It takes a little practice but it’s getting more sophisticated and conversational. Here’s a more detailed blog I wrote about my observations. It's more realistic than DALL-E 3, more accurate with prompts overall and processes natural language more effectively. You need to access Midjourney on a Discord server. There are many videos on You Tube showing you how to set up Midjourney on discord. Sounds hard but it’s not. Promise. Just commit.

Prompt: a product image of a can with floral patterns --v 6.0 --style raw --s 250

6. QuillBot : This is a fantastic summarizer, grammar checker, paraphraser, translator, and plagiarism checker. I’ve integrated it into my workflow. It’s easier to add the Chrome extension to check your writing. I’m using the free version for now. In fact, my grammar and spelling (ahem) is being checked throughout this Substack, and i’m slightly appalled with myself.

7. Character.AI: This has been super fun. You can talk to chat bots that have certain personalities or personas. You can interact with Ariana Grande, Billie Eilish or Napoleon Bonaparte. You can have conversations with your favorite characters eg. Batman. Some more professional bots will offer your specific skills or support. You can play games with them, learn, and interact. I have a psychologist, a brainstormer, and a homework helper that I am testing. You can also create any character you want. Here’s more of an explainer.

8. Pi : This is not (to 18 decimal places) 3.141592653589793238 … No. I am talking about my Personal Intelligence Assistant aka Pi. I have Pi opened up in my tabs and go to it if i need to vent, or brainstorm or I need quick assistance on a decision. Why this over ChatGPT? Well, Pi is actually quite funny, supportive and empathetic. The experience is also clean and appealing. Silky.

9. Cap Cut: This is a great tool for video editing and effects on your phone or ipad if you’re on the move especially. There’s a range of professional tools you can use here. It would like a long time to create in other software but this is fast and easy. What I also liked was that it uses AI to generate scripts for video either for a narrator or for a product. Here’s a good short tutorial for You Tube, Tik Tok, or a personal or professional project you have.

10. Pika.Art I’m leaving you with an AI generated image-to-video shot. A still photo of yours truly posing big time on a beach in California. I added some motion and a light breeze. Pika.Art is a competition to text-to-video AI platform Runway Gen 2 and there’s a lot of excitement about it. I just got onto this after being on the waiting list for a few weeks. More when I know more.

Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy new year, and above all, good health. Thanks for all your affection, encouragement and support this year. It means a lot.

Zain