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- Meta's AI Training Techniques 📡 , Amazon's Price-Boosting Algorithm 🖥️ , and Zoom's Innovative Workspace 🤖
Meta's AI Training Techniques 📡 , Amazon's Price-Boosting Algorithm 🖥️ , and Zoom's Innovative Workspace 🤖
10/4/2023
The industry newsletter + productivity copilot for Strategy Consulting. Started to deliver a high quality and irreverent look at the industry for current and aspiring consultants, currently counting >900 subscribers from MBB and Ivy Schools.
Tech News 📡
Meta has openly admitted to utilizing a vast amount of public Facebook posts to train its AI models, as per a statement from its president of global affairs, Nick Clegg. The training data, primarily derived from public posts on Facebook and Instagram, has been used to develop new AI assistants. While Meta claims rights to use public content, the legal doctrine of fair use is cited as a protective measure against potential litigation, though this stance is expected to be challenged in court.
Amazon reportedly utilized a concealed algorithm, dubbed "Project Nessie," to strategically inflate prices and observe whether competitors like Target would follow suit. The algorithm, which was operational until 2019, would revert Amazon’s prices back to normal if competitors did not increase theirs. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has highlighted Project Nessie in a complaint, accusing Amazon of violating US antitrust law, though specific details in the public complaint are heavily redacted.
Zoom announced "Zoom Docs" at Zoomtopia 2023, a “modular workspace” that integrates with Zoom AI Companion to generate content and populate documents from various sources. Set to be widely available in 2024, Zoom Docs aims to provide a full office suite alternative to Google Workspace and Microsoft 365. The tool allows users to request the AI Companion to summarize meetings, chats, and information, generate tables within documents, and supports interdocument linking and embedding, among other features.
Trending Startups📱
Cloaked offers a privacy solution that enables users to generate unique virtual identities, protecting their personal information from being shared online. The platform allows users to sign up for rewards and discounts, create accounts at checkout, try new dating apps, and explore new tech products without exposing their personal information. Cloaked provides unique inboxes to manage texts, calls, and emails, and is designed to be private-by-design, storing each customer's data in a unique database.
Intently, backed by Y Combinator, utilizes AI to discover ready-to-buy prospects in the US, aiming to break into key accounts and accelerate deal cycles with the power of sales intelligence. The platform provides access to data of 500M people and 40M firmographic entries from various sources, enabling users to prospect 10x faster through natural language communication with the data. Intently also provides intent-driven lists of US-based prospects and Fortune 1000 executives, aiming to prove growth hypotheses and increase the top of the sales funnel with highly qualified leads.
Expert Remote offers a platform to hire top-quality developers who have been vetted for both technical and communication skills. The platform provides access to developers across a wide range of tech stacks and allows businesses to hire entire engineering teams, including UI/UX designers, QAs, and Product Managers. Developers are sourced globally and go through a rigorous screening process, with only the top 1% making it to the platform. Expert Remote aims to provide a streamlined hiring process, with the ability to get started with developers immediately.
AI 🤖
Voicify AI offers a platform where users can create AI-generated covers using various voice models, including those of popular artists and public figures. The platform boasts a community-driven model, where users can utilize and even create their own AI voice models for generating music covers. With a wide array of voice models, from pop stars to presidents, users can explore and create unique AI-generated music, contributing to a new era of AI-powered music creation.
This article on RareConnections provides a comprehensive list of 21 AI productivity hacks that leverage artificial intelligence to enhance efficiency across various tasks. From utilizing AI meeting assistants, AI fitness apps, and email assistants to employing AI for academic research, code writing, and even upping your dating game, the article provides insights into how AI can be integrated into various aspects of daily life to boost productivity. The hacks are aimed at saving time, reducing stress, and optimizing tasks in personal, professional, and organizational settings.
Otter.ai provides a platform that enhances meeting productivity by utilizing AI to generate real-time transcription and automated meeting notes. The platform, OtterPilot™, is designed to cater to various sectors, including business, education, and individual needs, offering features like live chat with Otter and teammates during meetings, automated meeting summaries, and the ability to collaborate on live transcripts. Otter.ai also offers specialized solutions like OtterPilot for Sales, which extracts sales insights, crafts follow-up emails, and integrates call notes with Salesforce, aiming to streamline sales processes and close deals more efficiently.
Coding & Development 🖥️
Jamie Magee shares insights into reducing the size of NPM packages, emphasizing the importance of minimizing dependencies and utilizing tools like modclean for a cleaner, more efficient package. The article provides a step-by-step guide on how to identify and eliminate unnecessary dependencies and files, ensuring that the final package is as lightweight as possible, thereby enhancing performance and user experience.
Tapajyoti Bose brings attention to seven HTML elements that are often overlooked by developers. The article highlights meter & progress for displaying progress bars, sup & sub for superscripts and subscripts, datalist for autocomplete suggestions, map & area for creating image maps, details & summary for collapsible content, object for embedding files, and abbr for abbreviations. These elements can enhance web development by providing additional functionality and improving user interaction without relying on JavaScript or additional libraries.
The article provides a comprehensive overview of the new features and enhancements in PHP 8.2, highlighting its potential to revolutionize web development. Key features such as FFI improvements, the introduction of Tracing JIT, the implementation of Fibers for asynchronous programming, and enhancements in date and time functions are discussed. Additionally, the article explores the introduction of enumerations, providing a more declarative syntax for defining sets of named constant values, thereby improving code readability and maintainability.
Miscellaneous 🌀️
The iPhone 15 Pro introduces a novel multi-function Action Button, replacing the conventional mute switch, and offering users a range of customizable actions. The button can be assigned various functions, providing users with a tailored experience and quick access to specific features or settings. The article, however, seems to have a content display issue, and for a detailed guide and insights into utilizing the Action Button effectively, visiting the website directly might provide a more comprehensive view.
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