Issue #107 | Subscribe

Warm winter sunset. By Yar Dmitriev.

I experienced a mixed dose of terror and optimism last week.

Terrified that Sora, a new AI model by OpenAI, can now generate almost realistic videos that can easily pass as actual footage at a glance.

Optimistic because there is and still will be a human element involved in the process of operating these wild AI tools:

Instead of seeing AI replacing humans, what if we saw these technological advancements as AI empowering humans to do their best work?

Lately, I've been using DALL•E 3 to add a complementary skill that was time-consuming and difficult for me to pick up.

I've wanted to include well-crafted illustrations in my blog posts to help readers visualise my point clearly.

Given the time it takes to draw one illustration with even the basic finishing, I never pursued this path before.

But now, I can generate fitting illustrations that go well with my blog posts in a matter of minutes by shouting a few commands, like this one:

This small illustration highlights the anxious situation I was talking about in one of my recent blog posts and leaves a lasting impression on the reader. And it took me five minutes to generate this and put it into a round cut-out frame.

So, while AI can write exam-passing essays, it'll never write with the same emotion, stories, and depth as me since it has never experienced these real moments that I experienced. On the other hand, I can use AI to enrich my stories further and craft them better than I could previously.

It's wild times ahead, both positively and negatively. Depends on how you take it.

Now, let's move on to the rest of this newsletter issue:

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Your Next Read

Million Dollar Weekend

Get on a weekend of hacking up a potential million-dollar business with Noah Kagan. Noah shares tips on how to get started and come up with ideas and more in this short book.

Business

Apps & Services

Dexa

AI-assisted searchable knowledge from podcasts

Access a treasure trove of knowledge from good podcasts in an AI-assisted chat interface. You can also mention a specific person like Andrew Huberman to get answers from his podcast episodes. Available on the Web for free.
Laluta

Create an interactable journal

This is how AI-powered journaling should be. Keep adding random thoughts, recordings, and images in a chat-like interface and then ask questions about yourself, such as "What makes me happy?" Available on iOS and is free to start.
NearbyWiki

Find interesting places near you

I will be using this app during my next holiday planning. Give this app a location, and it shows up interesting places such as historical monuments, buildings and more on a map. Available on the Web for free.

Handy Shortcut

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Shift

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Increase the font size of the selected text in Google Docs.
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Interesting Reads

How to Read Every Day

7 min read

Longform

I've been regularly reading blog posts and books for ages. This blog post is a peek into my process of setting the right intentions, building up a reading list and making time for a reading session every day.
How Far Can Running Take You After a Decade of Addiction?

28 min read

It's a long read, but what an incredible story of how Mitch Ammons left his days of being a drug addict behind to become a runner who'd qualify for the Olympic trials.
You Need a Beautiful and Painful Reckoning

14 min read

This blog post will pair well with my writing about making reading a habit. The Harajuku moment for me, when I got my reading on track, was that I was losing my creative touch.
The Best Advice We Got in 2023

8 min read

A short collection of genuinely good advice that'll help you enhance yourself and your relationships this year. This one's my favourite: “Use more words to describe your emotions.”

Videos

I started using this new journaling technique this week and like it so far.

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