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The Future of Shopping? AI + Actual Humans.
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Human sources like reviews and creators rank higher in trust than AI recommendations
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Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, it’s being amplified by it.
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
Apple Just Admitted Google's AI Is Better Than Its Own
TLDR: Apple is partnering with Google to power the next generation of Siri and Apple Intelligence features, paying an estimated $1 billion annually for access to Gemini technology.
The Story:
Apple and Google announced a multi-year deal yesterday that puts Google's Gemini AI models at the foundation of Apple's AI strategy. The agreement gives Apple access to a 1.2 trillion parameter model, eight times larger than what Apple currently uses for Apple Intelligence. Apple says it chose Google after "careful evaluation" that included testing options from OpenAI and Anthropic, ultimately deciding Anthropic's fees were too high. The upgraded Siri is expected to arrive this spring with iOS 26.4. Apple's existing deal with OpenAI's ChatGPT remains unchanged for now, though analysts say Gemini will become the "default intelligence layer" while ChatGPT handles specialized queries.
Its Significance:
Apple acquired Siri in 2010 for over $200 million, becoming the first major tech company to put a voice assistant on a smartphone. Fifteen years later, the company is admitting it can't fix Siri on its own. Even co-founder Steve Wozniak has been vocal about the decline, calling Siri "poo-poo" and noting it was "pretty incredible" before Apple bought it but got worse afterward. For Google, this deal is a coup: Gemini now powers both Android and iOS, reaching over 2 billion active Apple devices. The announcement briefly pushed Alphabet's market cap above $4 trillion for the first time, surpassing Apple. Privacy remains Apple's selling point: all processing still happens on-device or through Apple's Private Cloud Compute, with no user data going to Google.
QUICK TAKES
The story: OpenAI acquired Torch, a startup that pulls scattered medical records into one place, just days after launching ChatGPT Health. The deal brings Torch's team and tech into OpenAI's new health features, which let users connect lab results and wellness apps to the chatbot.
Your takeaway: OpenAI is betting big on healthcare as the next frontier for AI assistants. If ChatGPT becomes the place people go to understand their medical data, that's a lot of trust (and user retention) up for grabs. We covered Open AIs 4A into healthcare here 40 Million People Ask ChatGPT for Health Advice Daily. Now OpenAI Wants Their Medical Files and expect most AI companies to follow suit.
The story: Anthropic cut off tools like OpenCode that let developers use their $100-200/month Claude subscriptions in external coding environments. The company says these "harnesses" violated terms of service and created technical problems it couldn't diagnose.
Your takeaway: Developers who were running heavy automation on flat-rate subscriptions now have to pay API prices or use Claude Code directly. The backlash was swift, but Anthropic is clearly protecting its pricing tiers ahead of what could be an IPO year.
The story: Anthropic released Cowork, a new feature that brings Claude Code's capabilities to everyday tasks. Users give Claude access to a folder on their computer, and it can organize files, create spreadsheets from screenshots, or draft reports from scattered notes.
Your takeaway: This is Anthropic's play to make AI assistants useful beyond chat. If it works well, the line between "asking for help" and "delegating work" gets a lot blurrier.
The story: Andrew Dai (14 years at Google DeepMind) and Yinfei Yang (Apple research) founded Elorian to build AI models that truly understand images and video, not just process text with vision tacked on. They're raising $50 million from Striker Venture Partners.
Your takeaway: The founders think current AI models are fundamentally limited at visual reasoning. If they're right, Elorian could carve out a real niche. If the big labs close the gap through scale, that window shuts fast.
TOOLS ON OUR RADAR
🤖 Plus AI Paid: Add AI presentation powers directly inside Google Slides and PowerPoint—no new tool to learn, just smarter slides in the apps you already use.
📋 Taskade Freemium: Manage projects with AI-powered task automation and real-time team collaboration—your workflow just got smarter.
🎙️ Trint Paid: Transcribe meetings and interviews in 30+ languages with auto-detection, then translate instantly to 70+ languages—trusted by AFP and PBS NewsHour.
💬 SimpleX Chat Free and Open Source: Chat without revealing your identity—no phone numbers, no usernames, no user IDs—just pure end-to-end encrypted private messaging.
TRENDING
Nvidia and Lilly Launch $1B AI Drug Discovery Lab - The companies will invest up to $1 billion over five years in a San Francisco lab combining Lilly's drug expertise with Nvidia's AI chips to speed up medicine development.
Anthropic Adds Healthcare Tools to Claude - Claude can now connect to Medicare coverage databases, medical coding systems, and provider registries. US subscribers can also link their lab results and health records.
Spain Moves to Curb AI Deepfakes - Spain's cabinet approved a bill setting 16 as the minimum age to consent to image use and limiting reuse of photos for AI-generated content without permission.
Anthropic Launches Cowork for Non-Coders - Cowork lets Claude access folders on your computer to organize files, create spreadsheets from screenshots, or draft reports from scattered notes.
TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini)
Life Satisfaction Dashboard: Rate every dimension of your life, spot imbalances, and track your fulfillment over time
Build a fully functional Life Satisfaction Dashboard as an interactive React app. Render the working application immediately - no code display.
**My current life stage**: [Career building, parenting, retirement, transition, etc.]
**Biggest concern right now**: [What feels most off-balance]
Create these sections:
1. **Life Wheel Assessment**
• Rate each dimension 1-10:
- Career/Work (fulfillment, growth, purpose)
- Finances (security, freedom, goals)
- Health (physical energy, fitness, sleep)
- Relationships (partner, family, friends)
- Fun & Recreation (hobbies, adventure, play)
- Personal Growth (learning, spirituality, mindset)
- Physical Environment (home, workspace, surroundings)
- Contribution (impact, giving back, community)
• Interactive wheel visualization showing your scores
• "Calculate Satisfaction" button
• Overall life score average
2. **Wellness Wheel Visualization**
• Circular wheel divided into 8 segments
• Each segment fills based on your rating
• Perfectly balanced = full circle
• Imbalanced = uneven, jagged shape
• Color gradient (red for low, green for high)
• Hover for dimension details
• Visual gap identification
3. **Imbalance Alerts**
• Dimensions below 5 flagged in red
• Biggest gaps highlighted:
"Your lowest: [X] at [score]"
"Largest drop from ideal: [Y]"
• Balance ratio (highest vs lowest spread)
• "Neglected areas" callout
• Comparison to your ideal scores
4. **Dimension Deep Dives**
• Click any dimension to expand:
- What's working well?
- What's dragging the score down?
- One thing that would raise it 1 point?
- Barriers to improvement
• Sub-ratings within each dimension
• Specific action suggestions
• Resources for improvement
• "Search Life Balance Tips" button
5. **Trend Tracker**
• Log scores monthly or quarterly
• Line graph showing each dimension over time
• Spot improvements and declines
• "What changed?" reflection prompts
• Seasonal patterns (holiday dips, summer highs)
• Overall trajectory: improving, stable, declining?
6. **Priority Planner**
• Based on your scores, suggest focus areas
• "If you improve [X], it may lift [Y] too"
• Connection map between dimensions:
- Health → Energy → Career performance
- Relationships → Happiness → Everything
• Pick 1-2 dimensions to focus on this quarter
• Set specific goals for chosen areas
7. **Quarterly Review Prompts**
• Reflection questions:
- What am I most proud of this quarter?
- What drained me most?
- What do I want more of?
- What do I want less of?
- What would make next quarter a 10?
• Save reflections with date
• Review past reflections
• "Schedule Next Review" reminder
Design specs:
- Wellness wheel as centerpiece (circular, segmented)
- Soft, calming palette (sage green, warm beige, soft coral, sky blue)
- Organic, rounded shapes throughout
- Gradient fills showing satisfaction levels
- Clean dashboard cards for each insight
- Smooth animations as wheel fills
- Journal-style reflection sections
- Progress rings and trend sparklines
- Mindfulness app aesthetic
- Breathing room with whitespace
When "Search Life Balance Tips" is clicked, use web search to find life satisfaction research and evidence-based wellbeing strategies.What this does: Gives you an honest snapshot of how fulfilled you are across all life dimensions. The wellness wheel reveals imbalances you might be ignoring, tracks your satisfaction over time, and helps you prioritize where to focus your energy for maximum life improvement.
What this looks like:
WHERE WE STAND(based on today’s Quick Takes and Trending news)
✅ AI Can Now: Pull your scattered medical records from dozens of providers into a single view that a chatbot can reference when you ask health questions.
❌ Still Can't: Replace the judgment call of whether that lab result actually matters for your specific situation, which is why both OpenAI and Anthropic stress these tools aren't for diagnosis.
✅ AI Can Now: Access your local files and work through multi-step tasks like organizing downloads or turning screenshots into spreadsheets without constant back-and-forth.
❌ Still Can't: Guarantee it won't misinterpret instructions when given destructive permissions. Anthropic warns users to be careful with delete access since there's always some chance of misunderstanding.
FROM THE WEB
RECOMMENDED LISTENING/READING/WATCHING
Thirty years after the original, a new blade runner named K discovers evidence that replicants can reproduce. His investigation leads him to Rick Deckard and forces him to question his own identity and purpose.
Denis Villeneuve made a sequel that honors the original while telling its own story. The film is gorgeous—every frame could be a painting—and it takes its time. Ryan Gosling plays K as quiet and haunted, and Harrison Ford brings real weight to an older, isolated Deckard. The film asks what makes someone real and whether artificial beings can have meaning in their lives. It's slow, but that deliberate pacing serves the story. The stunning visuals in this one make it worth keeping a copy of the Blu-ray 4K Ultra for your collection.
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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