What I Learned Last Week #25
AI tips from AIMaker. OpenAI new models. Why AI adoption is low with engineers. The dark side of AI porn. Using AI agents to assist inbound sales, prepare for job interviews, or teach kids.
Last week, I went to Greece for a short vacation and had time to finish reading The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley. It’s a good book despite it being an account of what happened 25 years ago, but the reason I read it was to try to understand more how the PayPal mafia (and especially Musk, Thiel, and Sacks) got to have an important say in today’s politics.
But here are a few shorter reads worth your time:
AIMaker is a new Substack that I am devouring, by Wyndo. Many articles have made their way into my to-do list (as action items, not reading reminders).
OpenAI was all over the news last week, with open-source models, GPT-5, and the controversies around it. There are four different perspectives/articles that I found most interesting.
Following my last week’s post about AI adoption resistance in software development firms, a friend sent me an HBR article that has a good explanation of the phenomenon.
There is a dark side to porn, but an even darker and scarier one to AI porn, which goes where nobody has gone before.
An ex-Meta Product Manager shares his tips on building an AI copilot to help you with job interviews.
Do you already have an AI avatar to help you with your inbound sales process?
Anthropic suffers from client concentration: 30% of its revenue comes from these two companies…
AI is an incredible force in education (read below for tool examples and a 90-page free guide on how to use AI to teach from 1st to 12th grade).
Read on and enjoy the summer!
Breaking Through AI’s Productivity Ceiling
‘s Substack is my most important discovery of the last week. I could have filled this newsletter only with his articles. Completely non-technical, with a philosophical perspective but very pragmatic and practical, his reflections have already changed how I use AI. For example, this one helped me with a mind shift from just optimizing what I am already doing, to questioning my approach and thinking about what completely new things I could be doing. Take a look and let me know which of his concepts/articles has opened new perspectives for you as well. Read more and subscribe →
OpenAI Rolled Out Open-Source and GPT-5 Models In the Same Week
Unless you were on vacation in a very remote place, you’ve probably heard that OpenAI dropped two open-source models (for the first time in many years), AND GPT-5 in four flavors from Nano to Pro (offering a faster, smarter, and cheaper alternative to its previous models). Here is a clear list of what’s different and useful to you, besides all the technical mumbo-jumbo that you can find on OpenAI’s website... Read more →
Read the Updated GPT-5 Cookbook
Despite the messy launch, GPT-5 is a big step forward. This guide shares hands-on tips to control GPT-5’s eagerness to please, instruction following, and tool use. It's a 10-minute read, but you'll earn back that time within the first few days of using it. Only the Markdown tip is worth more than those 10 minutes. Read more →
GPT-5 Is a Big Deal According to Ethan Mollick
Ethan Mollick from Princeton is impressed with how GPT-5 gets shit done for you, from building interactive apps to drafting startup plans with killer marketing. It proactively suggests next steps, making AI use way less frustrating and way more powerful. That's one side of the story (and I noticed that choosing GPT-5 in Perplexity gets me extremely fast responses to business issues). Read more →
GPT-5 Is Not A Revolutionary Upgrade According to Venture Beat
OpenAI’s GPT-5 rollout has not solved AGI and is still far from it. On top of math errors, glitches in its key features, and withdrawing the 4o models, the users did not go 'wow'. The hype around GPT-5 meets a reality check... this should have been named GPT-4.6 if you asked me. Read more →
Why AI Coding Tools Struggle to Win Over Engineers
After last week's questions about AI adoption resistance in tech companies, a friend of mine sent me this HBR article. Research from a major tech company reveals that only 41% of engineers use their AI tool, with even lower rates among women and older developers. The main reason for this? Read more and find out →
The Dark Side of AI Porn
AI-generated porn is changing the addiction landscape. With surreal content that hooks users in new ways, mental health experts warn it's fueling compulsive behaviors and relationship struggles. The social implications are scary if this becomes mainstream. Read more →
How To Build an AI Copilot to Help With Job Interviews
Ex-Meta PM Ben Erez shares how to build an AI co-pilot that helps you prepare for product sense interviews. It's a good example of how AI agents can help you personally. And I can vouch for it, having built agents for some friends to help with company research and then with interview preparation & simulation. Read more →
AI Avatars Are Changing Sales Assist Teams
Adam Robinson replaced RB2B’s human sales-assist reps with an AI avatar answering common inbound questions. While it hasn’t radically changed sales metrics yet, the bot freed up staff time and surfaced valuable customer insights. Do your competitors already do this as well? Read more →
Two of Anthropic's Clients Make 30% of Its Revenues
Anthropic’s $5 billion revenue is coming from just two companies: Cursor and GitHub Copilot. If they switch to other coding models, the future won't look very bright for the Claude maker. GPT-5 introduces far lower pricing, threatening Anthropic’s higher-cost Claude AI. Most likely, this war will benefit us, the users. Read more →
AI Tools Changing Teaching & Learning
Last week, Google rolled out Guided Learning with multimedia-rich lessons, OpenAI debuted GPT-5 with smarter reasoning, and innovative tools like Amira Learning and NotebookLM transform reading and engagement. While the possibilities are endless, change is scary. If you work in education, what's your take on this? Read more →
Using AI to Teach Math
This free 90-page guide breaks down how AI can support math teachers at all grade levels. What I love about it is that it is packed with practical frameworks, tool directories, and real classroom examples. If you care about the future of teaching, this is a must-read. Read more and download →
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