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Beginners in AI
Good morning and thank you for joining us again!
Welcome to this daily edition of Beginners in AI, where we explore the latest trends, tools, and news in the world of AI and the tech that surrounds it. Like all editions, this is human curated and edited, and published with the intention of making AI news and technology more accessible to everyone.
THE FRONT PAGE
YouTube CEO Declares War on AI Slop, After Google Helped Encourage It
TLDR: YouTube CEO Neal Mohan says fighting "AI slop" is a top priority for 2026, months after Google pushed creators to use its own AI video tools.
The Story:
In his annual letter published today, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan acknowledged that low-quality AI content has become a serious problem for the platform. "It's becoming harder to detect what's real and what's AI-generated," Mohan wrote, listing the fight against "AI slop" as one of his four priorities for 2026. The admission follows research from Kapwing showing that 21% of videos recommended to new YouTube users are now AI-generated junk, with just 278 AI slop channels collectively earning an estimated $117 million annually. YouTube plans to combat the flood by "building on established systems" that fight spam and clickbait.
Its Significance:
Google spent much of the last year encouraging creators to use its AI video tools like Veo and Dream Screen, so the pivot to fighting AI content carries some irony. But the bigger question is enforcement. YouTube's AI-powered moderation systems terminated roughly 12 million channels in 2025, with some legitimate creators reporting appeals rejected within minutes and channels restored only after complaints went viral on social media. It's not just YouTube: Instagram users have reported similar issues with unexplained account bans and limited recourse. As platforms increasingly rely on automated systems to police AI-generated content, human creators are getting caught in the crossfire, being simultaneously encouraged and punished for using AI tools.
QUICK TAKES
The story: OpenAI is using AI to guess whether ChatGPT users are under 18 by looking at when they're active, how long they've had an account, and usage patterns. If the system thinks you're a minor, it'll automatically block sensitive content like violence and self-harm topics.
Your takeaway: This is prep work for ChatGPT's upcoming "adult mode" with explicit content. If the age detector gets it wrong and flags you as a teen, you'll need to submit a selfie to prove otherwise.
The story: OpenAI's global affairs chief said at Davos that the company is "on track" to reveal its first hardware device in the second half of 2026. Early reports suggest it could be a screenless, audio-focused wearable designed with former Apple design chief Jony Ive.
Your takeaway: Sam Altman has openly predicted a head-to-head rivalry with Apple. If OpenAI can pull off a device that makes screens feel outdated, it could reshape how people interact with AI daily.
The story: DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis told a Davos audience that Google doesn't have "any plans" to put ads in Gemini. He noted that OpenAI's recent move to test ads "so early" was "interesting," adding "maybe they feel they need to make more revenue."
Your takeaway: Google is drawing a clear line against its competitor. While OpenAI needs ad revenue to fund free access for 800 million users, Google can afford to keep Gemini ad-free thanks to its existing ad empire.
TOOLS ON OUR RADAR
📊 Umami Free and Open Source: Track website visitors with beautiful, privacy-focused analytics that load fast and respect user privacy.
🚫 Opal Paid: Break your phone addiction with an iOS app that analyzes your screen time and blocks distracting apps.
🤖 Anakin.ai Freemium: Build custom AI tools without code using a visual platform that connects to multiple models.
📝 Docmost Freemium: Build team wikis and knowledge bases—open-source Notion alternative you can self-host.
TRENDING
LTX Studio Launches Audio-to-Video Generation - Lightricks partnered with ElevenLabs to let creators generate video from audio files. Instead of adding sound to video, the audio controls the timing, motion, and performance from the first frame.
Adobe Adds AI Object Masking to Premiere Pro - Video editors can now hover and click to create precise masks around complex moving objects. Adobe says the new shape masks track up to 20x faster than before.
Acrobat Now Turns Documents Into Podcasts - Adobe's new feature lets you pull notes, reports, and transcripts into a workspace and ask AI to turn them into a podcast-style audio summary.
Google Gives $2M to Sundance for AI Film Education - Google.org is funding Sundance Institute to train over 100,000 filmmakers in AI skills. The program will partner with The Gotham and Film Independent to build free online courses.
Tesla Revives Dojo3 Chip for Space-Based AI - Elon Musk announced Tesla is restarting its abandoned Dojo3 AI chip project, but this time for "space-based AI compute" rather than training self-driving models on Earth.
TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini)
Raise Request Builder: Build an airtight case for more money with evidence collection, counter-argument prep, and your closing statement
Build a fully functional Raise Request Builder as an interactive React app. Render the working application immediately - no code display.
**My current role**: [Job title and company type]
**Current salary**: [What you make now]
**Target raise**: [What you want, or "not sure"]
Create these sections:
1. **Case File Overview**
• Current vs. target compensation
• Percentage increase requested
• Case strength meter (builds as you add evidence)
• "Search Salary Data for [Role]" button
2. **Evidence Locker**
• Add proof in categories:
- Accomplishments (what you delivered)
- Revenue impact (money made/saved)
- Responsibilities added (scope creep absorbed)
- Skills gained
- Positive feedback received
• Rate each: Strong / Medium / Weak
• "Your strongest evidence" highlight
3. **Accomplishment Quantifier**
• Turn vague wins into numbers:
Before: "Helped with the project"
After: "Led 3-person team to deliver $50K project 2 weeks early"
• Formula: [Action] + [Scope] + [Result] + [Number]
• Before/after rewrites for each
4. **Objection Prep**
• Counter-responses for common pushback:
- "Budget is tight" → [your response]
- "You haven't been here long enough" → [your response]
- "Let's revisit in 6 months" → [your response]
• "If they say X, you say Y" cards
5. **Timing Advisor**
• Best times: After big wins, during review cycles
• Worst times: During layoffs, Monday AM, Friday PM
• "Is now right?" verdict
6. **Closing Statement Generator**
• Your full script:
- Opening line
- Your specific ask
- Top 3 evidence points
- Confident close
• Practice timer (under 3 minutes)
• Copy button
7. **Outcome Planner**
• Prepare for: Yes / Counter-offer / Delay / No
• Next steps for each scenario
• Know your walk-away point
Design specs:
- Courtroom/legal case aesthetic
- Manila folders and evidence tags
- Dark wood and brass accents
- "EXHIBIT A" style labels
- Legal pad yellow for notes
- Case file tabs for navigation
- Gavel and scales imagery
- Serious but approachable
When "Search Salary Data" is clicked, use web search to find current market rates for the role.What this does: Treats your raise request like a legal case. Builds your evidence file, quantifies accomplishments, prepares counter-arguments for objections, and generates a confident script. Walk in prepared, walk out paid.
What this looks like:
WHERE WE STAND(based on today’s news)
✅ AI Can Now: Guess your age by watching how you use a chatbot, including what time of day you're active and what topics you discuss, without ever asking for ID.
❌ Still Can't: Tell the difference between a night-owl adult and a teenager using the app after school. If flagged wrong, you'll need to hand over a selfie to a third-party company.
✅ AI Can Now: Generate video where audio is the control layer. Voice cadence sets pacing, musical energy drives motion, and scene changes happen where the sound demands them.
❌ Still Can't: Run sophisticated video generation locally without serious hardware. LTX-2's audio-to-video feature still needs optimized NVIDIA GPUs, and most consumer laptops can't handle it.
FROM THE WEB
RECOMMENDED LISTENING/READING/WATCHING
It's 2054 in the Central Georgia Metropolis (formerly Atlanta), and most people never leave their homes. Instead, they control lifelike android "surrogates" that go to work, run errands, and interact with the world while the real humans stay safely plugged in at home. Detective Harvey Greer investigates when someone starts destroying surrogates, and the case forces him to confront how dependent society has become on living life through machines. Venditti was inspired to write this after reading about people who lost jobs and marriages to internet addiction, and he wondered: what if you could send your online persona into the real world so you never had to be yourself again?
Thank you for reading. We’re all beginners in something. With that in mind, your questions and feedback are always welcome and I read every single email!
-James
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