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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 published with the intention of making AI news and technology more accessible to everyone.
THE FRONT PAGE
Pentagon's First Enterprise-Wide AI Tool? It's Google Gemini
TLDR: The Pentagon launched GenAI.mil, a new platform that gives 3 million military personnel, civilians, and contractors access to Google's Gemini AI—marking the first mass deployment of commercial generative AI across the entire Defense Department.
The Story: By week's end, every Pentagon employee will have AI on their desktop for the first time. The platform, announced Tuesday by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, uses Google Cloud's Gemini for Government to help users conduct research, format documents, and analyze video and imagery. Pentagon CTO Emil Michael called it "revolutionary" after five years of the department having "very little to show" in AI deployment. The system is currently limited to unclassified work and secured at Impact Level 5 (IL-5), with Google confirming no Pentagon data will train its public models. Other frontier AI models from Anthropic, xAI, and OpenAI—all of which have Pentagon contracts—are expected to join the platform soon, and Michael plans to expand into classified data.
Its Significance: This represents a notable shift for Google, which in 2018 faced an internal revolt when 3,100 employees signed a letter protesting its Project Maven work on drone footage analysis. The company has since positioned itself as a willing partner for defense applications, and this $200 million contract puts Gemini at the center of the Pentagon's AI ambitions. For the military, the goal is to move fast—Michael said he expects AI to "proliferate throughout the entire Department of Defense" in "weeks to months, not years." The urgency stems partly from competition with China, whose military-civil fusion strategy has successfully integrated civilian tech companies and research institutions into defense procurement, creating an ecosystem where commercial AI development feeds directly into military capabilities.
QUICK TAKES
The story: Adobe integrated Photoshop, Adobe Express, and Acrobat directly into ChatGPT, allowing 800 million weekly users to edit photos, create designs, and manage PDFs using natural language. Users can describe edits like "blur the background" or "make this brighter," and the AI will handle it. The features are free on desktop, web, and iOS, with Android support coming soon.
Your takeaway: You no longer need to know how to use Photoshop to edit photos professionally — just describe what you want in plain English, and the AI figures out the rest.
The story: Google released fully managed MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers that let AI agents easily connect to Google services like Maps, BigQuery, Compute Engine, and Kubernetes Engine. Instead of developers spending weeks building custom connectors, they can now paste in a URL to a managed endpoint. The servers are protected by Google Cloud's security systems to guard against threats like prompt injection and unauthorized access.
Your takeaway: Google is positioning itself as the go-to infrastructure for AI agents, making it simpler for developers to build apps that can actually do things in the real world beyond just chatting.
The story: The Linux Foundation launched the Agentic AI Foundation (AAIF) to create shared standards for AI agents. Anthropic donated MCP (Model Context Protocol), Block contributed its open-source agent framework Goose, and OpenAI brought AGENTS.md. Other members include AWS, Bloomberg, Cloudflare, and Google. The goal is to prevent AI agent technology from splintering into incompatible systems controlled by different companies.
Your takeaway: Major AI companies are agreeing to work together on basic standards, which could mean AI agents from different companies will work together more smoothly — similar to how websites all work on any browser.
The story: Really Simple Licensing (RSL) 1.0 has launched as the first official standard for how websites can set licensing terms for AI crawlers. New supporters include The Associated Press, Vox Media, USA Today, BuzzFeed, Stack Overflow, and The Guardian. Infrastructure giants Cloudflare, Akamai, and the IAB Tech Lab also joined. The standard lets publishers set rules for how AI companies can use their content, including pay-per-crawl and pay-per-inference options.
Your takeaway: Publishers now have a formal way to tell AI companies "pay up or stay out," giving content creators real leverage in negotiations with tech giants training on their work.
TOOLS ON OUR RADAR
📅 Reclaim.ai
Freemium: Let AI automatically schedule your tasks, habits, and focus time around meetings—your calendar adapts in real-time as priorities change.🖼️ Pixlr
Freemium: Edit photos, remove backgrounds, and generate AI images right in your browser—no downloads or design skills needed.🎥 tl;dv
Freemium: Record and transcribe your Zoom, Meet, or Teams calls automatically—get AI summaries with action items you can share in seconds.✍️ Copy.ai
Freemium: Generate marketing copy, emails, product descriptions, and social posts instantly using 90+ templates tailored to your brand voice.
TRENDING
McDonald's Pulls AI Christmas Ad After Major Backlash — McDonald's Netherlands released a fully AI-generated Christmas commercial that viewers widely criticized for looking "uncanny" and having a cynical message. The company disabled comments and then pulled the video entirely from YouTube.
Figma Adds AI-Powered Object Removal and Image Expansion — The design tool Figma now lets users remove, isolate, and move objects in images using AI. Users can also expand images to fill different formats. The features eliminate the need to export images to other editing tools.
OpenAI Launches First Certification Courses — OpenAI introduced "AI Foundations" and "ChatGPT Foundations for Teachers" as part of its goal to certify 10 million Americans by 2030. The courses teach hands-on AI skills directly inside ChatGPT, with pilot programs at Walmart, John Deere, and major universities.
Tiny Robot Flies as Fast as a Bumblebee — MIT engineers built a microrobot smaller than a paperclip that can fly 450% faster than previous versions and do 10 somersaults in 11 seconds. The tiny bots could eventually help search for survivors in disaster areas.
Peer Review of DeepSeek Still Leaves Questions — Scientists examined how Chinese AI company DeepSeek trained its cost-efficient models but found that how the AI actually solves problems remains unclear. Researchers warn against assuming the AI "reasons" like humans just because it gets correct answers.
TRY THIS PROMPT (copy and paste into Claude or Gemini)
Energy Audit Tracker: Map your daily energy patterns and optimize your schedule around when you're actually at your best
Build me an interactive Energy Audit Tracker as a React artifact that tracks energy levels throughout the day to reveal patterns and optimize how you spend your time.
The console should include these sections:
1. **Quick Log Entry** - Simple check-in interface:
• Time selector (current time auto-filled)
• Energy level slider (1-10 scale): Drained → Peak Energy
• Activity dropdown with common categories:
- Deep Work
- Meetings
- Email/Admin
- Creative Work
- Exercise
- Meals
- Social Time
- Breaks/Rest
- Commute
- Personal Care
• Optional notes field (what affected your energy?)
• "Log Entry" button with satisfying animation
• "Quick repeat" for logging similar activities
2. **Live Energy Timeline** - Visual daily view:
• Hour-by-hour timeline (6am-midnight or custom range)
• Energy levels displayed as a color-coded line graph:
- Red/orange: Low energy (1-3)
- Yellow: Medium energy (4-6)
- Green: High energy (7-10)
• Activity blocks below timeline showing what you did
• "Energy dips" marked with ⚠️ icon
• "Peak windows" highlighted with ⭐ icon
• Today vs. yesterday comparison overlay (toggle)
• Add entry by clicking any time on timeline
3. **Weekly Pattern Analyzer** - Calendar heatmap:
• 7-day calendar grid showing energy by hour
• Each day divided into hourly blocks
• Color intensity showing energy levels (heatmap visualization)
• Click any block to see activities during that time
• Best day of week indicator
• Worst day of week warning
• Identify consistent patterns:
- Morning person vs. night owl
- Post-lunch slump
- Second wind times
- Weekend vs. weekday differences
4. **Energy Insights Dashboard** - Analytics panel:
• Average energy by time of day (bar chart)
• Activity impact analysis:
- Which activities boost energy?
- Which activities drain energy?
- Energy cost per activity type
• Recovery time needed after draining activities
• Optimal scheduling suggestions:
- "Schedule deep work between 9-11am (your peak)"
- "Avoid important meetings at 3pm (consistent low)"
- "Take breaks before hitting 3/10 energy"
• Energy trends over weeks (getting better/worse?)
5. **Schedule Optimizer** - Smart recommendations:
• "Build Ideal Schedule" generator
• Drag activities to optimal time slots based on:
- Your energy patterns
- Activity energy requirements
- Recovery time needs
• Color-coded daily schedule template:
- Green blocks: High-focus work during peak energy
- Yellow blocks: Moderate tasks during medium energy
- Blue blocks: Rest/recovery during low energy
• Export optimized schedule to calendar
• "Reality check" showing if current schedule aligns with energy
6. **Energy Boosters Library** - Action database:
• Quick reference of energy management tactics:
- Natural energy boosters (walk, cold water, sunlight, music)
- Strategic breaks (power naps, stretching, meditation)
- Nutrition timing (when to eat for sustained energy)
- Caffeine optimization (timing and limits)
• "Search Energy Science" button for research
• Track which boosters you've tried and their effectiveness
• Personal notes on what works for you
7. **Goals & Streaks** - Motivation system:
• Logging streak counter (days in a row)
• Weekly goal: Log energy X times per day
• Insights unlocked as you collect more data:
- 7 days: Basic patterns
- 14 days: Reliable trends
- 30 days: Deep understanding
• Progress bar toward next insight level
• Celebration animations for milestones
Make it look like a modern wellness tracker with:
• Calendar-centric layout with timeline emphasis
• Clean, health-focused aesthetic
• Color-coded energy visualization (red→yellow→green gradient)
• Smooth, flowing line graphs
• Card-based insights with icons
• Calming color palette (soft greens, blues, warm neutrals)
• Clear data visualization with minimal clutter
• Touch-friendly interface for mobile
• Gentle animations and transitions
• Progress indicators and achievement badges
When I click "Search Energy Science," use web search to find research on circadian rhythms, ultradian cycles, energy management techniques, and chronobiology studies on optimal performance timing.What this does: Helps you discover your unique energy patterns by tracking levels throughout the day—revealing when you're naturally at your best and worst so you can schedule high-focus work during peak hours and stop fighting against your biology.
What this looks like:
WHERE WE STAND (based on today’s stories)
✅ AI Can Now: Edit photos professionally just by describing what you want in plain English, no design skills needed.
❌ Still Can't: Create long video content that looks natural to human viewers — AI-generated ads still trigger an "uncanny valley" response.
✅ AI Can Now: Connect directly to business tools like maps, databases, and cloud services to take real-world actions.
❌ Still Can't: Be trusted without explicit security guardrails — companies are building "firewalls" specifically to protect against AI agent threats.
✅ AI Can Now: Score as well as humans on complex math and coding tests at a fraction of the training cost.
❌ Still Can't: Explain how it actually solves problems — researchers still don't know if AI is reasoning or just memorizing patterns.
FROM THE WEB
Your eyes see something → signal travels to brain → brain processes → brain decides → signal travels to foot → foot moves to brake. That chain takes time humans literally cannot reduce. The computer skips most of that loop entirely. A harder question has always been what the system decides to react to. A system that reacts in 67ms to the wrong thing (or fails to recognize something unusual) is still dangerous.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING/READING/WATCHING
BOOK(and talk above): Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom (2014)
Nick Bostrom asks what happens if we create an AI smarter than humans and can't control it. He walks through different scenarios for how superintelligent AI might emerge, how it might behave, and what we could possibly do to ensure it doesn't wipe us out.
This isn't light reading. Bostrom is thorough, sometimes exhaustingly so, working through every angle of the problem. But he makes a convincing case that this is the most important question humanity faces. Even if you don't buy all his arguments, the book forces you to think seriously about what happens when we're no longer the smartest thing on the planet. It's the book that convinced Elon Musk and Sam Altman that AI safety actually matters.
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
By the way, this is the link if you liked the content and want to share with a friend.
