Capitalogix

Ranking The Most Popular AI Tools

Last week, I shared some of the tools I've been using recently to help run my business and life. 

As we all know, several AI tools are taking the world by storm - notably ChatGPT, but others as well. 

It only took ChatGPT 5 days to reach a million users. But the whole AI tools market is growing at a surprising rate.

VisualCapitalist put together a nice infographic on the most popular AI tools of 2023. 

via VisualCapitalist.

I am familiar with some of the apps mentioned (such as Quillbot, Character.ai, or Hugging Face), but I don't use them. On the other hand, I had no prior knowledge of others (such as NovelAI, Janitor AI, and Civitai).  

It's remarkable how much of the market ChatGPT currently controls on its own. In 2023, it is estimated that ChatGPT attracted 14.6 billion visitors, or more than 60% of all AI tool visits.

With that said, it's a marathon, not a sprint. The "feel" of this AI market reminds me of the dot-com bubble times of the late 90s and early 2000s. Many products took the world by storm only to be overthrown by a more robust competitor. For example, consider how few early web browsers or search engines still exist. I suspect that will be true of many early leaders here, too.

It isn't sexy, but it is a safe bet that Google's Bard and Microsoft's Copilot will continue to grow because of investment, acquisition, and distribution.

Remember, new technologies lead to new products and new platforms ... and the current crop of these AI tools are still only at the beginning of their cycles. I anticipate that many innovative frontstage products like ChatGPT will gain greater importance and profitability (albeit with less prominence) as they move backstage to become the backbone or plumbing infrastructure of various other products and services.

The development of new technologies brings about the emergence of new products and platforms. 

AI capabilities and adoption are growing exponentially. It will be interesting to see what else stays on the list three years from now. 

Posts like these are helpful reminders to consider technology adoption and hype cycles.

It's only the beginning ... Onwards!

Some New AI Tools I've Been Hearing Good Things About

At the core of Capitalogix's existence is a commitment to systemization and automation. 

Consequently, I play with a lot of tools.  I think of this as research, discovery, and skill-building.  There is a place for that in my day or week.  However, few of those tools make it into my real work routine.

Here is a list of some of the tools that I recommend.  I'm not saying I use them regularly ... but in some cases, I should (it reminds me of some exercise equipment I have). 

Since the late 90's, I've been collecting tools to make my business more efficient and my life easier. 

It's a little embarrassing, but my most popular YouTube video is an explainer video on Dragon NaturallySpeaking from 13 years ago.  It was (and still is) dictation software, but from a time before your phone gave you that capability. 

Today, I have more tools than I know what to do with, but here are a few that keep coming up in conversations. 

Daily.AI - AI Newsletters

We've launched a new newsletter that is AI-curated by Daily.ai.  It matches the tone and style of my newsletters, gets good engagement, and (honestly) looks much better than what we put out.

Our handwritten newsletters still do better on some metrics - but it's a nice addition and a promising technology. 

For transparency, our handwritten newsletters get around 45% opens, and 10% click-throughs and our new AI newsletter is averaging around 38% opens but around 30% click-throughs.  Our normal newsletter isn't focused on links - which is why the click-through isn't as good. 

That said, Daily.AI is a great tool that creates compelling two-way communication with your audience way easier and cheaper (time, money, and effort) than something similar done manually.

This is an example of how people won't get replaced by AI ... people will get replaced by people who use AI better. 

Opus.pro - AI Video Repurposing 

Opus.pro takes your long-form video content and cuts it into short-form content that you can post as teasers to other channels like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, or Instagram Reels. 

For me, I tend to do more long-form content naturally.  I go on a podcast, speak at a conference, or to a mastermind group.  I end up with a 30-minute+ video that I don't have the time or interest in using.  This tool allows me to find the best parts quickly - and still allows editing to make it perfect. 

For someone interested in really pursuing video, it's not worth it.  If you're interested in being present online, and not worried about making it your career, this is a great tool to streamline and systematize your process. 

Type.AI 

Type.AI is an interesting AI-first document editing tool.  At its core, Type is a faster, better, and easier way to write.

A lot of people are using chat GPT for some editing.  Type is a good example of a next-generation tool that incorporates ChatGPT and other LLMs under the surface.  It is aware of what you are doing and lets you know what it can do. 

Type jumpstarts the creative process and banishes the blank page.  Underneath its gorgeous UI are powerful features for generating ideas, querying your document, experimenting with different models, and easily formatting your work.

The point is that with a tool like this, you don't have to be good at prompt engineering.  The tool does that for you – so you can focus on the writing.

GetVoila.AI 

Voilà is an all-in-one AI assistant in a browser extension.  That means it goes with you everywhere you go on the web and supercharges your browser by making it use ChatGPT to do what it does best without you having to do more than check what is available.

 

Voilà simplifies the process of working with the content of websites and URLs, making it easy to convert them into various types of content, summarize them, or extract key information.  For example, if I am watching a YouTube video, I can right-click and choose "Summarize" - it creates a short video summary from the transcript.  Or, while writing this sentence, a simple right-click lets me choose: Improve, Fix grammar, Make longer, Make shorter, Summarize, Simplify, Rephrase, or Translate.

 

This is more useful than I thought.  I use it well ... then forget about it.  When I use it again, I often find that it got better.  I think you will find that with a lot of the tools these days.

 Don't worry about how well you use tools like this.  It is enough that you get better at using tools like these to accomplish what you really want.

Explore a little.  Then, let me know what you found worth sharing.

Artificial Intelligence Meets "Woo-Woo"

As someone who has been in tech and Artificial Intelligence for over 30 years, my personality and thought processes are centered around facts and reason. 

With that said, I've always had a soft spot for "arts" over sciences. I appreciate meditation and mindfulness practices.  Unquestionably, I've found that technology helps me do that quicker, better, and with more certainty about the results.

I am fascinated by both Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Natural Language Processing. 

That's what made this conversation with Joshua Pellicer so great. 

Joshua has lots of experience using AI tools and techniques and getting the most from generative AI.

When I asked him what use cases he was most excited and optimistic about, he answered "Manifestation". 

That is not what I expected ... but it made sense after discussing it. Check it out. 

 

Manifestation doesn't cause the universe to hand your dreams to you on a golden platter. It does help you maintain a positive mindset and focus on what you want (instead of avoiding what you don't want). 

ChatGPT (and other similar tools, like Microsoft's Co-Pilot, Google's Bard, Anthropic's Claude, Perplexity, and Quora's Poe can help create a guide and an image to help you better ideate and actualize your dreams. 

AI is only as good as what you use it for ... I think this is an example of a clever and powerful use of generative AI. 

What do you think?

Why You Need Patents ...

I shared an article titled “Who’s The Most Innovative?” a few weeks ago.  That post alluded to the power of patents.  Here, we'll discuss the importance and value of intellectual property in more detail.

Historically, profitable companies often built or sold some tangible product. Consequently, the Titans of industry were automobile manufacturers, oil producers, landowners, etc.

However, over the past 20 years, the Titans have changed dramatically. Now, the leaders are in tech, intellectual property, and other intangible assets.

As business becomes more digital, you will see an increasing shift towards creating and protecting intellectual property.

When most people hear that, they probably think about patents.  So, let's start there.

A patent is property ... meaning it is an asset.  Technically, it is a legal right granted by the government to an inventor, giving them the exclusive right to make, use, sell, and import an invention for a limited period (typically 20 years from the filing date) in exchange for public disclosure of the invention. To obtain a patent, an inventor must apply and prove that their invention is new, non-obvious, and useful. In addition, the application process involves disclosing the details of the invention so that others can learn from it.

Patents and trademarks are a great way to build a moat between you and your competitors ... but they’re more than that. They help you create partnerships and an ecosystem. Ecosystems & communities have proven to be the difference between legacy businesses and flash-in-the-pans. It’s the difference between having a product and having a platform.

Patents add dimensionality and revenue streams.

Take Tesla. They’re not just in the business of making cars or pushing the proliferation of electronic vehicles. They’re creating a suite of capabilities that are patentable and licensable. In the future, they can license the self-driving capability (because why would someone build it when they can license it?). They can license the ability to update a car’s operating system over the Internet (or by their Starlink Satellite offering). They can also grow into a clean energy business. I’m sure there are other strategic byproducts I’m missing – but you get the idea.

As they develop these tools and create intellectual property, these same inventions can also become a weighing and measuring tool to find out where people are interested, and identify where people are spending time, money, and energy.  Here is a 60-second video that explains the concept.

 

Patents make the intangible, tangible.

They provide a concrete form to innovative concepts, enabling businesses to protect and capitalize on their intellectual property.

This mindset also creates the infrastructure for change and anticipating future needs, and ensures companies remain adaptable and positioned for long-term sustained growth.

Getting Started

When I help people understand how to move forward with AI, the first thing I ask them is “What’s your why?”. I ask that because as soon as you lose sight of why you built your business in the first place, you’re lost.  

After you understand yourself and your business, you have to understand the industry-wide ecosystems, and where the low-hanging fruit are.

If you know the low-hanging fruit, your problem statement, your value proposition, and your “why” you’re in a great place to move forward.

You can use that understanding to stack some easy wins and create bandwidth for larger endeavors.

The effort-to-impact ratio is a great way to think of how you get started. As you begin thinking about staking ground, you don’t want to do the flashy and cost-intensive stuff first. You want to keep a low profile and start to create walls that will help you in the future.  

You can use trade secrets, instead of patents, when you don't want to disclose what you do and how you do it.  A trade secret is any non-public information that provides a business with a competitive edge and is subject to reasonable steps taken by the business to keep it secret. The protection of trade secrets does not require registration or disclosure to the public. The information remains protected as long as it is kept secret and continues to provide a competitive advantage.

Other common forms of intellectual property are copyrights and trademarks.

You can also use your intellectual property as part of an attraction strategy to find potential partners or collaborators – creating what Dan Sullivan calls the “Freezone Frontier”.

Final Thoughts

In essence, patents are not just legal safeguards—they are strategic instruments that can shape the future trajectory of businesses. By embracing a holistic approach that combines legal protection, market intelligence, and strategic foresight, companies can harness the full potential of patents, unlocking new dimensions of success in an ever-evolving business landscape.

Workouts That Work with Dr. John Jaquish & The X3

As someone who (in a past life) was an "elite athlete," my mind often thinks my body is capable of more than it actually is. 

Well, it still is ... just less often and with a higher chance of hurting myself. 

It's taken a lot of adjustments to find what routines work for me. They can't just be low-impact or good for me ... they have to be fun, and they have to allow me to improve, not just maintain. 

I've found a couple of things that work for me, like the Carol AI Bike and HOTWORX. 

Another one of my favorites is the X3 bar by Dr. John Jaquish. It's a metal bar that attaches to various bands and allows you to do variable resistance training. It's more efficient and effective than weights because, instead of using the same amount of force through the entire rep, you're able to do more weight where you're strongest and less weight where you're weakest. 

He works with professional athletes, NBA teams, and more. 

I shot a video with him about why X3's variable resistance is a better way to exercise. Check it out. 

 

My son, Zach, is a holdout only because he prefers spending an hour in a gym. It's his meditation and his social hour all in one. I get it. I can't pretend I don't still enjoy going to the gym and lifting weights. But, I can recognize a lot of that is vanity and fun instead of prioritizing effectiveness and efficiency (getting more done in less time). 

Taking a "Less is More" approach flies in the face of "No Pain, No Gain."

The X3 is portable; it doesn't take a long time to set up or use; and I feel stronger when I use it consistently.  That means it is efficient and effective.  Surprisingly, it is also fun.  

The new X3 Force uses tracking & gamification to encourage use and progress.  That is important because, with any of these tools, you still need to consider the Head, Heart, and Feet of the matter.   It isn't enough to know what or how to do something.  You have to want to do the thing.  And then you have to actually do the thing.

I'm excited about this, because I think increasing longevity is a promising frontier, and I believe short effective workouts are fundamental to living healthier and longer. 

Hope that helps. 

How Long Do You Have Left?

We only have a limited time on this earth - and a lot of it is taken by frivolous activities. 

How much time do you think the average millennial spends on their phones ... or a baby-boomer sits in front of the TV?

The answer is a lot.

via dailyinfographic

Nine years in front of entertainment devices - another 10.5 years spent working.  You get the idea.

If you have goals you want to accomplish, aspirational travel, and lifestyle plans - this really puts the idea of finding and living your passion in perspective. 

Do you have the time to waste it?

VisualCapitalist put together a chart projecting longevity based on 2020 mortality rates.

 

via visualcapitalist
 

I turned 60 this July, so I only have 20 years left, according to this calculator.   I expect more!

There are some interesting statistical facts in this; for example, an average American baby boy can expect to live until 74 ... but if that boy turns 21, his life expectancy jumps to over 75. 

While these numbers seem pretty high, there are two things to consider. First, COVID heavily reduced these numbers because mortality rates went up. That likely won't continue (though it will likely continue to affect your insurance premiums and pension benefits). 

Also, remember that these numbers are based on 2020 averages, which likely differ from you (specifically considering your race, income, location, etc.). These numbers also don't take into account expected medical and technology advances, etc. 

Finally, I think Purpose is one of the most important catalysts of longevity. People often die when they retire ... not because they're done working, but because they're done striving. 

If you're not growing, you're dying!

The Beatles New Song ... And Where AI Art Fails

Have you listened to the new Beatles song?  It took almost 50 years and new technology to create.

How did this happen?  An AI system, made by Peter Jackson, uncoupled the vocals from the piano on a poor-quality tape demo from the 70s.  The result – a song that would have never seen the light of day was able to bring John Lennon back from the dead to release new music for a new generation. 

You can listen to it here.

 

via The Beatles

Was it a touching tribute and closure to an extraordinary legacy?  Does it qualify as AI "art"? 

We are seeing a surge in creativity due to the rise of generative AI. 

People are doing amazing things with AI ...  and it's making entrepreneurship accessible to a new group of people.

AI is exciting, but it is also scary.  I would argue that it is a net positive.  However, there are also clear drawbacks (and potential risks).  For example, there are the obvious ones like deepfakes, art being stolen and fed into models without consent, etc.  But, there's one that many aren't talking about...

It's a lack of nuance or understanding of art. 

Here is an example of using generative AI to improve a famous art piece.

 

@Soncharm

In my opinion, the creator completely missed the point when they tried to improve Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. 

The truth is that I don't know their intent or thought process.

However, Nighthawks is famous for a reason.  It shows a patron, presumably at a late-night diner, with a desolate urban streetscape outside.  To the right audience, it embodies the isolation of a 24-hour modern society and big cities, and the hidden changes of the 20th century.  It is a poignant composition and one of the most famous American art pieces. 

Lost in the power of Generative AI, this X (Twitter) user transformed the piece by running it through an art processor multiple times. 

First, he had AI parse the image and write a description of it.  Then, he had it regenerate the image from the description.  The setting became light.  He thought he could make it better, so he moved people outside.  He parses a description again and creates a new image again.  He did this several times. 

The result is what you see — a beautifully created composition lacking any depth. 

The AI did its job; the human did not. 

A better prompt or a more artful process would have had a better result. 

But is it art?

Once created, art is in the eye or mind of the perceiver.  So, should we care who or what creates it?

Here are some other questions worth pondering.  Is AI at its best when it's amplifying human intelligence - rather than replacing it?  Or ... is the goal simply to amplify intelligence?

The Universe often gives you increasingly painful chances to learn a lesson. 

What do you think we're supposed to take from this?

Who's The Most Innovative?

Innovation means a lot of different things. It changes based on where we are in history, the amount of time we're considering, and the scale. 

Language was an innovation, the piece of plastic on the edge of your shoelaces was an innovation (called the Aglet), changing time signatures in music was an innovation in history, and so is artificial intelligence. 

Defining and measuring innovation is difficult even in your business ... but the Global Innovation Index attempts to do it globally. It does so by measuring several factors, like:

• Knowledge and Technology Outputs -  patents & high-tech manufacturing
• Human Capital & Research -  number of researchers & global corporate R&D investment
• Business & Market Sophistication - knowledge-intensive employment & financing/VCs for startups
• Creative Output, Institutions, and Infrastructure - trademarks, access to resources, and policy

via visualcapitalist

By this metric, Switzerland and Sweden take the top two spots - followed by the U.S. and the U.K.

Honestly, the list surprised me some. Some names I expected to be on the list - or higher on the list - didn't crack the top ten. Though Switzerland and Sweden have dominated this list for many years. 

A topic I'm very passionate about right now is patents - and how valuable they can be to your business. Here's a previous article I wrote on the subject, but I'll revisit it soon with new ideas and distinctions. 

Skill Versus Luck: A Sustainable Competitive Advantage

In 2016, I wrote a variation of this article focused on trading ... but it's even more relevant today as I spend more time talking with entrepreneurs and AI enthusiasts. 

There are many lucky people in the business world.  Perhaps they made a good decision at the right time – and are now on top of the world.  There's nothing wrong with luck.  But, the goal is to make sure your success isn't predicated on it.  Why?  Because you might get lucky once, but it's unlikely you'll get lucky every time. 

Luck favors the prepared ... and those who understand the difference between skill and luck. 

First, let's talk about luck.  Think about a nationwide coin-flipping contest.  Initially, each citizen is paired up with another for a contest.  The winner goes on to the next round.  Think how many rounds you would need to win to be City Champion, State Champion, Regional Champion, etc. 

At the end, someone would have won many coin-flip contests.  Assuming they didn't cheat, they were lucky ... but does the winner have an edge?  If so, what could it be? 

If you followed the contest from beginning to end, I'm sure you could imagine the finalists doing articles or interviews about how their mindfulness practice gives them an edge ... Or, the law of attraction .... Or, how the power of prayer is the difference. 

Meanwhile, sometimes, the most straightforward rationale provides the best explanation.  Somebody had to win that contest – and luck was the reason.

 

Finding The Edge

Likewise, just because a product or business makes money doesn't prove it has an edge.  For example, at OpenAI's Developers Conference last week, they announced several new models and internally created tools that cannibalize or obsolete many tools or businesses built on their platform.  Meanwhile, they also announced several new models and tools that will help create new businesses.  But, the app developers who have been made redundant are out of luck. 

I saw the same thing with the rush of .com companies in the late '90s.  The ones that made it are now the underpinning of a new era, but they climbed out of a sea of failed businesses that might have even been better businesses - they were just unlucky (e.g., Betamax vs. VHS). 

Simply relying on whether something is profitable NOW means you have both the chance that you have an edge - and also that you got lucky.
 
If it isn't just a matter of winning, how do we know if we're skillful?  In trading, we would call this alpha.  We are searching for clues to help find systems with an edge ... or at least have an edge in certain market conditions.

Unfortunately, I can't give you the one rule to follow to identify skill vs. luck, but it's much easier to find the answer if you're asking yourself the question. 

Internally, we've built validation protocols to help filter lucky systems and systems that can't repeat their results on unseen data.  

It is exciting as we solve more of the bits and pieces of this puzzle.

What we have learned is that one of the secrets to long-term success is (unsurprisingly) adaptability. 

What that looks like for us is a library of systems ready to respond to any market condition - and a focus on improving our ability to dynamically select the systems that are "in-phase".  The secret isn't predicting the future, but responding faster - and more reliably - to changing environments. 

From a business perspective, this looks like being willing to adapt to and adopt new technologies without losing track of a bigger 'why' like we talked about in last week's article. 

A Practical Example

When we first wrote on this, one of Capitalogix's advisors wrote back to see if they understood the coin-flipping analogy.

The odds of flipping a coin and getting heads 25 times in a row is roughly 1-in-33 million. So if we have 33 million flippers and 100 get 25 heads in a row, statistically that is very improbable.  We can deduce that group of 100 is a combination of some lucky flippers, but also that some have a "flipping edge."  We may not be able to say which is which, but as a group our 100 will still consistently provide an edge in future flip-offs.

Well, that is correct.  If we were developing coin-flipping agents, that would be as far as we could go.  However, we are in luck because our trading "problem" has an extra dimension, which makes it possible to filter out some of the "lucky" trading systems.

Determining Which are the Best Systems.

There are several ways to determine whether a trading system has a persistent edge.  For example, we can look at the market returns during the trading period and compare and contrast that with trading results.

This is significant because many systems have either a long or short bias.  That means even if a system does not have an edge, it would be more likely to turn a profit when its bias aligns with the market. 

You can try to correct that bias using math and statistical magic to determine whether the system has a predictive edge. 

It Is a Lot Simpler Than It Sounds.

Imagine a system that picks trades based on a roulette spin.  Instead of numbers or colors, the wheel is filled with "Go Long" and "Go Short" selections.  As long as the choices are balanced, the system is random.  But what if the roulette wheel had more opportunities for "long" selections than "short" selections?

This random system would appear to be "in-phase" whenever the market is in an uptrend.  But does it have an edge? 

One Way To Calculate Whether You Have An Edge.

Let's say that you test a particular trading system on hourly bars of the S&P 500 Index from January 2000 until today. 

1. The first thing you need is the total net profit of the system for all its trades.  
2. The second thing you need to calculate is the percentage of time spent long and short during the test period.
3. Third, you need to generate a reasonably large population of entirely random entries and exits with the same percentage of long/short time as your back-tested results (this step can be done many times to create a range of results). 
4. Fourth, use statistical inference to calculate the average profit of these random entry tests for that same test period. 
5. Finally, subtract that amount from the total back-tested net profit from the first step.

According to the law of large numbers, in the case of the "roulette" system illustrated above, correcting for bias this way, the P&L of random systems would end up close to zero … while systems with real predictive power would be left with significant residual profits after the bias correction.

While the math isn't difficult … the process is still challenging because it takes significant resources to crunch that many numbers for hundreds of thousands of Bots. 

The good thing about RAM, CPU cycles, and disk space is that they keep getting cheaper and more powerful.

Conclusion

It is relatively easy to measure the wins and losses (and luck versus skill) of trading systems.  It can be complicated, but ultimately, it's just math.  The logic of the example also applies to adopting technology, starting a business, or transforming from a product-based to a platform-based business model, etc. 

In most situations, the secret is to figure out what data is incumbent to your industry as well as what data you're creating.  Figure out how to analyze it.  Figure out how to do that consistently, autonomously, and efficiently.  Then ... test. 

It's not sexy, and it's not complicated. 

We live in a ready, fire, aim era.  The speed of innovation is staggering, and the capital and energy needed to create an app or start a business is less than ever before ... and a bias for action is powerful. 

Luck and a bias for action will take you further than most - but it still won't take you far enough. 

So, I'll leave you with the question... 

If you're reading this, you've almost certainly been lucky ... but have you been skillful?

The Cost Of Thinking Linearly In Today's Age

Humans can’t do a lot of things.

Honestly, the fact that we’re at the top of the food chain is pretty miraculous. 

We’re slow, we’re weak, and we’re famously bad at understanding large numbers and exponential growth. 

Our brains are hardwired to think locally and linearly.

It’s a monumental task for us to fathom exponential growth … let alone its implications. 

Think how many companies have failed due to that inability … RadioShack didn’t foresee a future where shopping was done online.  Kodak didn’t think digital cameras would replace good ol’ film.  Blockbuster dismissed a future where people would want movies in their mailboxes because they were anchored to the belief that “part of the joy is seeing all your options!” They didn’t even make it long enough to see “Netflix and Chill” become a thing. 

 

via Diamandis

Human perception is linear.  Technological growth is exponential.

There are many examples.  Here is one Diamandis calls “The Kodak Moment.”

In 1996, Kodak was at the top of its game, with a market cap of over $28 billion and 140,000 employees.

Few people know that 20 years earlier, in 1976, Kodak had invented the digital camera.  It had the patents and the first-mover advantage.

But that first digital camera was a baby that only its inventor could love and appreciate.

That first camera took .01 megapixel photos, took 23 seconds to record the image to a tape drive, and only shot in black and white.

Not surprisingly, Kodak ignored the technology and its implications.

Fast forward to 2012, when Kodak filed for bankruptcy – disrupted by the very technology that they invented and subsequently ignored.

via Diamandis

Innovation is a reminder that you can’t be medium-obsessed.  Kodak’s goal was to preserve memories.  It wasn’t to sell film.  Blockbuster’s goal wasn’t to get people in their stores; it was to get movies in homes.  

Henry Ford famously said: “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Steve Jobs was famous for spending all his time with customers but never asking them what they wanted.

Two of our greatest innovators realized something that many never do.  Being conscientious of your consumers doesn’t necessarily mean listening to them.  It means thinking about and anticipating their wants and future needs.

Tech and AI are creating tectonic forces throughout industry and the world.  It is time to embrace and leverage what that makes possible.  History has many prior examples of Creative Destruction (and what gets left in the dust).

Opportunity or Chaos …  You get to decide.

Onward!