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Over the next year, Roku predicts that 100% of the streaming audience will see ads. For growth marketers in 2026, CTV will remain an important “safe space” as AI creates widespread disruption in the search and social channels. Plus, easier access to self-serve CTV ad buying tools and targeting options will lead to a surge in locally-targeted streaming campaigns.
Read our guide to find out why growth marketers should make sure CTV is part of their 2026 media mix.
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 published with the intention of making AI news and technology more accessible to everyone.
THE FRONT PAGE
2025's Flashiest AI Medical Advances Vs. What's Actually Deployed
TLDR: 2025 brought AI-designed drugs nearing human trials, diagnostic systems that outperform physicians fourfold, and autonomous robots performing surgery. But the technology actually changing operating rooms right now tracks room temperature.
The Story:
This year delivered a parade of medical AI firsts. In June, Microsoft unveiled MAI-DxO, a diagnostic system that correctly identified 85% of complex cases from the New England Journal of Medicine. Experienced physicians working the same problems hit 20%. The following month, Isomorphic Labs announced it's preparing to dose humans with the first AI-designed cancer drugs, built on the Nobel Prize-winning AlphaFold system. At Johns Hopkins, an autonomous robot performed gallbladder surgery without human intervention, learning entirely from watching surgeon videos. The FDA has now cleared over 1,000 AI radiology devices, up from around 500 just two years ago. Transcontinental telesurgery even arrived, with a surgeon in Rome operating on a patient 8,000 kilometers away in Beijing via robotic arms and 5G networks.
But among all this, the tool getting the most traction? Thermal sensors mounted above operating room doors. Akara, an Irish startup, landed on Time's Best Inventions list for a system that uses heat signatures to track when patients enter, when cleaning finishes, and when rooms are actually ready. No cameras. No privacy concerns. American hospitals lose 2-4 hours of OR time daily to coordination failures, costing roughly $2 billion annually. Cedars-Sinai Los Angeles is already running pilots, with five more U.S. hospitals planned. Early results cut room turnover from 45 minutes to under 30.
Its Significance:
CEO Conor McGinn describes it as "air traffic control for hospitals." The framing matters. The flashiest AI advances require years of regulatory approval, clinical validation, and infrastructure investment before they reach patients. Microsoft's diagnostic orchestrator isn't approved for clinical use. Isomorphic's drugs haven't entered trials yet. Akara's thermal sensors work today, inside existing hospital systems, solving a problem no one glamorizes: knowing when Room 3 is available.
The nursing workforce that coordinates all this continues to shrink. Over 138,000 nurses have left since 2022, with 40% planning to exit by 2029. Nurses spend up to 40% of their time on record-keeping and coordination rather than patient care. Before AI can diagnose, design drugs, or operate autonomously, someone needs to know when the room is ready. That's the bottleneck getting solved first.
QUICK TAKES
The story: Nvidia is buying Groq, a startup that makes special AI chips, for $20 billion. This will be Nvidia's biggest purchase ever. Groq created chips called LPUs (language processing units) that can run AI models 10 times faster while using one-tenth the energy compared to regular chips. The company raised $750 million in September at a $6.9 billion value and now powers AI apps for over 2 million developers.
Your takeaway: Nvidia is already the dominant player in AI chips, and buying Groq removes one of its main competitors while adding faster, more efficient chip technology to its arsenal.
The story: The FBI says criminals are using AI to create fake voice and text messages that impersonate government officials, including White House staff and members of Congress. These scammers send AI-generated messages to trick people into sharing personal documents, sending money overseas, or giving up authentication codes. The scams often start with a text message and then ask victims to switch to encrypted apps like Signal or WhatsApp.
Your takeaway: AI makes it easier than ever for scammers to sound and write like real people, so the FBI is warning everyone to verify who's contacting them before sharing any personal information.
The story: Florida lawmakers filed legislation to create an AI Bill of Rights that would require companies to tell users when they're talking to AI instead of a human. The bill gives parents control over how kids use AI chatbots, lets them see their child's AI conversations, and blocks companies from offering therapy through AI. It also stops government agencies from using Chinese AI tools and prevents insurance companies from using AI as the only reason to deny claims.
Your takeaway: Florida is pushing for some of the strongest AI rules in the country, focusing on transparency and protecting children from potential harm.
The story: Google is testing a new "Lecture" format for NotebookLM that turns your study notes and documents into 30-minute audio lectures with a single narrator. Unlike the existing podcast-style feature with two hosts talking, this new mode explains concepts more like a real classroom teacher. Students will be able to pick the length and let it play while commuting or doing other activities. The company hinted at the feature in a December 22 tweet and it's expected to launch in 2026.
Your takeaway: Google is turning NotebookLM from a study helper into a full learning companion that can teach you your own material out loud, making it easier to review without actively reading everything.
TOOLS ON OUR RADAR
🤖 Manus
Freemium: Automate research, create presentations, build web apps, and handle complex tasks with AI agents that plan and execute multi-step workflows from a single prompt.🖼️ GIMP
Free and Open Source: Edit photos with professional-grade tools that rival Photoshop—supports layers, masks, filters, and all major image formats.📋 Trello
Freemium: Organize projects visually with drag-and-drop boards, lists, and cards—perfect for teams and solo users managing tasks and workflows.✍️ DocuSign
Freemium: Sign contracts and legal documents electronically in seconds—legally binding signatures that eliminate printing, scanning, and mailing paperwork.
TRENDING
AI Makes Reverse Engineering Easier, Threatening Trade Secrets – AI tools can now figure out how products work much faster than before, putting company secrets at risk and creating new legal questions about what counts as fair use.
MIT Researchers Make "Untrainable" Neural Networks Learn – Scientists found a way to help AI networks that were thought to be impossible to train actually learn effectively by giving them short-term guidance from other networks.
South Korean Moon Rover Features Expandable Wheels – Engineers built a lunar rover with special wheels made of flexible metal strips that can expand and contract, helping it squeeze through tight spaces and survive 100-meter drops on the moon.
China Reports Over 700 AI Models Completed Government Filing – More than 700 generative AI products have completed required paperwork with Chinese regulators as the country works to manage AI development.
TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini)
Opportunity Cost Visualizer: See what you're giving up with every choice by mapping alternative paths and their outcomes
Build me an interactive Opportunity Cost Visualizer as a React artifact that reveals what you sacrifice with each decision by showing the paths not taken.
The console should include these sections:
1. **Decision Input** - What are you choosing?
• Main decision description
• Decision type: Career, Investment, Time allocation, Education, Relationship, Major purchase
• Your current choice (what you're leaning toward)
• Resources at stake:
- Time commitment
- Money investment
- Energy/attention
- Other opportunities foreclosed
• Time horizon: Months, Years, Decade+
2. **Alternative Paths** - What else could you do?
• "What else could I do with these resources?" prompt
• Add 3-5 alternative options:
- Option name
- Same resources applied differently
- Brief description
• Quick examples generator:
- "With $50K you could: start business, invest in index funds, go to grad school, travel for a year"
- "With 20 hours/week you could: side project, fitness routine, new skill, quality time with family"
• "What am I not considering?" blind spot checker
3. **Branching Timeline** - Visual path comparison:
• Timeline showing multiple futures (1 year, 5 years, 10 years out)
• Each path branches from today:
- Your current choice path
- Alternative path 1
- Alternative path 2
- Alternative path 3
• Color-coded by category (career, wealth, skills, relationships, health)
• Click any future point to see details
• Zoom in/out on timeline
• "Where paths diverge most" highlights
4. **Outcome Estimator** - Project each path:
• For each alternative, estimate outcomes:
**Financial:**
- Net worth projection
- Income trajectory
- ROI calculation
**Skills/Career:**
- Capabilities gained
- Career capital built
- Market value change
**Personal:**
- Relationships affected
- Life satisfaction factors
- Health/energy level
**Opportunity:**
- Doors opened
- Doors closed
- Future optionality
• Probability weighting (how likely is this outcome?)
• Best/worst/realistic case per path
5. **Trade-Off Matrix** - What you gain vs. lose:
• Comparison table showing:
- Current choice gains/losses
- Alternative A gains/losses
- Alternative B gains/losses
• Visual heat map (green = gain, red = loss, yellow = neutral)
• Key trade-offs highlighted:
- "More money but less time"
- "More stability but less growth"
- "More freedom but less security"
• Which matters most to you? (values weighting)
6. **Regret Minimization Test** - Future perspective:
• "Imagine you're 80 years old looking back..."
• For each path, ask:
- Will you regret taking this path?
- Will you regret NOT taking this path?
- What will you wish you'd done?
• Regret probability scoring (1-10)
• "Which choice minimizes regret?" recommendation
• Bezos-style framework application
7. **Reversibility Calculator** - Can you undo this?
• Reversibility score for each option (1-10):
- 1 = Irreversible (permanent commitment)
- 10 = Easily reversible (can change course anytime)
• One-way door vs. two-way door analysis
• Exit costs if you change your mind
• "How long until you're locked in?"
• Risk tolerance matcher (high reversibility = safer bet)
8. **Hidden Costs Detector** - What you're not counting:
• Unobvious opportunity costs:
- Attention drain (mental bandwidth)
- Relationship strain (time away from family)
- Identity shift (who you become)
- Future flexibility (options foreclosed)
- Compound effects (small choices → big divergence)
• "What will this prevent you from doing?"
• Second-order consequences
• Lifestyle implications
9. **Scenario Comparison** - Side by side:
• Multi-dimensional comparison chart:
- Financial outcome
- Career growth
- Life satisfaction
- Skill development
- Relationship quality
- Health & energy
- Future flexibility
• Weight each dimension by importance
• Overall "best choice" score
• Sensitivity analysis (what if priorities change?)
• Export comparison report
10. **Decision Dashboard** - Final recommendation:
• Recommended path based on:
- Highest expected value
- Lowest regret probability
- Best values alignment
- Highest reversibility (if uncertain)
• "But consider..." alternative perspective
• Major risks for each path
• "Make decision by [date]" reminder
• "Search Similar Decisions" for case studies
Make it look like a strategic planning tool with:
• Branching timeline as centerpiece
• Multiple paths diverging from today
• Color-coded future scenarios
• Clean, analytical design
• Professional color scheme (blues, grays, green/red for outcomes)
• Path visualization with smooth curves
• Comparison tables and matrices
• Toggle between views (timeline, matrix, chart)
• "Paths not taken" visual metaphor
When I click "Search Similar Decisions," use web search to find case studies of people who chose different paths, long-term outcomes of similar decisions, and analysis of opportunity costs in comparable situations.What this does: Forces you to see the full cost of decisions by visualizing what you're giving up—showing alternative futures side-by-side, calculating what you sacrifice, testing for future regret, and revealing hidden opportunity costs you haven't considered.
What this looks like:
WHERE WE STAND
✅ AI Can Now: Impersonate senior government officials with fake voices and messages so realistic that the FBI had to issue a warning about scams.
❌ Still Can't: Be easily detected by the average person—there are no simple ways yet to tell if a voice message is real or AI-generated.
✅ AI Can Now: Train neural networks that scientists previously labeled as "untrainable" by using guidance from other networks.
❌ Still Can't: Learn effectively without this guidance technique—these networks would fail immediately when trained the old way.
✅ AI Can Now: Turn your study notes into 30-minute lecture-style audio lessons that explain concepts like a real teacher.
❌ Still Can't: Replace actually attending class or reading the material yourself—it's a study aid, not a full replacement, yet.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING/READING/WATCHING
Jon Hamm plays a man stuck in a remote cabin with another guy, and they pass time telling stories. Each story reveals a different Black Mirror technology: AI assistants made from human consciousness, dating apps that let you block people in real life, and a punishment worse than prison.
This is Black Mirror at its cruelest. The episode shows how technology can be weaponized, not just by evil corporations but by ordinary people being petty or vindictive. The twist ending reframes everything you've watched, and the final image is genuinely disturbing. It's a Christmas special in name only—this will ruin your holiday cheer.
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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