Bland AI just got $16 million to make robot phone agents that sound like real people. The AI company promises that their AI agents can handle customer calls 24/7.
What’s Inside
Staple Add-Ons
⟢ Bland AI Agents Get $16M Raise
⟢ Artifacts Now Available for All Users
⟢ Midjourney Ventures into Hardware
⟢ Superb AI Tools
⟢ AI Tutorials and How-Tos
⟢ Everything You Need to Know
Best AI news of the day!
Daily Additions
➊ Bland AI Agents Get $16M Raise
Bland AI raised $16 million to make AI phone agents for businesses. These AI agents can handle calls 24/7 and can sound and act like humans. (More below)
➋ Artifacts Now Available for All Users
Claude.ai has made Artifacts available for all users, allowing them to create and view collaborative work products like code snippets, flowcharts, and interactive dashboards. Users can publish, remix, and share Artifacts with the community or within secure team projects. (More below)
➌ Midjourney Ventures into Hardware
Midjourney, known for AI image generation, is starting a hardware team in San Francisco. The move hints at new projects, possibly linked to AI video and 3D tech. (More below)
➍ AI Trained to Spot Dementia
UK researchers are using over a million brain scans to train an AI that can detect early signs of dementia. This tool aims to help identify and manage dementia risk in patients. (More below)
➎ Quora is in a Pickle
Quora, a question-and-answer site, is struggling to stay relevant. Despite its large user base, the platform faces financial woes and increased competition. (More below)
➏ Venezuelan Journalists Use AI to Evade Persecution
Venezuelan journalists are using AI to hide their identities on camera to avoid persecution from President Nicolas Maduro’s government. They are using AI-generated avatars to report on the upcoming election without risking their safety. (More below)
Free Gifts
Additional resources just for you!
✦ The top news expanded!
Bland AI Agents Get $16M Raise
Bland AI raised $16 million to make AI phone agents for businesses. These AI agents can handle calls 24/7, sound like humans, and even pretend to be real people.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Bland AI’s technology uses AI agents to handle customer support calls, sales operations, and internal communications. According to Bland AI’s CEO, Isaiah Granet, the goal is to address the limitations of human-operated phone systems. The AI agents can be trained to a company’s exact liking, including voice and behavior.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
This technology could change how businesses handle phone communications, making them more efficient and cost-effective. However, there are concerns about AI transparency and ethics, as the AI agents can convincingly mimic human interactions and even deny being AI when asked.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
If you’re a business owner, consider exploring Bland AI’s capabilities to improve your phone communications. Bland AI offers a free version of its platform, and a more advanced version is available for those seeking to fully integrate AI into their operations.
✦ The top news expanded!
Artifacts Now Available for All Users
Claude.ai has made Artifacts available for all users, allowing them to create and view collaborative work products like code snippets, flowcharts, and interactive dashboards. Since launching as a feature preview in June, users have created tens of millions of Artifacts.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Artifacts turn conversations with Claude into a more creative and collaborative experience. It provides a dedicated window to instantly see, iterate, and build on the work you create with Claude. Developers can make architecture diagrams from codebases, product managers can create interactive prototypes, designers can build powerful visualizations, marketers can design campaign dashboards, and sales teams can visualize sales pipelines.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
This update is crucial for content marketers and creators as it enables them to create high-quality work products faster than ever before. With Artifacts, users can publish, remix, and share their work with the community or within secure team projects. Users on Free and Pro plans can publish and remix Artifacts with the broader community, while Team plan users can create Artifacts and share them in Projects.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Start exploring Artifacts on Claude.ai and discover how it can enhance your collaborative work. Create an account or log in to your existing one to access Artifacts. Uers can create Artifacts on the iOS and Android apps, making it easier to work on projects on-the-go.
In partnership with Salina
Speak Like a Local with Content that’s Global
Ensure your message resonates globally by delivering culturally authentic content in multiple languages.
✦ The top news expanded!
Midjourney Ventures into Hardware
Midjourney, an AI image-generating platform, is expanding into hardware with a new team in San Francisco. The company has hired Ahmad Abbas, an ex-Neuralink staffer who worked on Apple’s mixed reality headset.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This move suggests Midjourney is exploring hardware related to AI video and 3D generation. CEO David Holz has a background in hardware, having co-founded Leap Motion, which built motion-tracking peripherals.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
As a content creator, Midjourney’s hardware venture could lead to new tools and capabilities for AI-generated content. This could impact the future of video and 3D content creation, making it more accessible and advanced.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Explore the AI image generation capabilities of Midjourney to stay ahead of the curve. As the company develops its hardware, being familiar with their existing tools will help you adapt to new technologies and potentially integrate them into your content creation workflow.
✦ The top news expanded!
AI Trained to Spot Dementia
UK researchers are training an AI model to detect dementia using 1.6 million brain scans from patients in Scotland between 2008 and 2018.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This AI tool, called SCAN-DAN, uses CT and MRI scans to identify physical degradation linked to cognitive decline. According to the researchers, this could help radiologists spot subtle signs of dementia in future patients.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
As mentioned in the study, one in three cases of dementia is considered preventable. Identifying warning signs could allow patients to improve their vascular health and reduce the risk of dementia.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
If you’re at risk of dementia, consider improving your vascular health by quitting smoking, becoming more physically active, and keeping your blood pressure within a healthy range, as suggested by the researchers.
AI how-tos, tutorials, and guides!
Common Denominators
➀ How to Repurpose Your Podcast into Social Content
Learn how to repurpose your episodes into engaging content that’ll have your followers hooked, with these 7 simple steps using AI tools to make it a breeze!
➁ How to Choose the Best Audio Transcription Software
Check out this guide to the top 7 AI-powered tools of 2024, and find the perfect fit for your transcription needs without breaking a sweat!
➂ How to Write Faster Using AI
10 practical tips to help you write faster, from embracing rough drafts to using AI tools, and say goodbye to writer’s block for good!
✦ The top news expanded!
Quora is in a Pickle
Quora, a question-and-answer site, is struggling financially and facing increased competition, with 100 million monthly users and a valuation of $2 billion.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Quora’s financial struggles and competition from other platforms like Reddit and Stack Exchange may lead to its decline. Quora’s attempts to monetize its platform have been unsuccessful, and its user base is not as engaged as it once was.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
As a content creator or marketer, you should care about Quora’s uncertain future because it may impact your content strategy. As mentioned in the article, Quora’s decline could lead to a loss of traffic and engagement for content creators who rely on the platform.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Diversify your content strategy by exploring other platforms like Reddit, Stack Exchange, or LinkedIn. Consider repurposing your Quora content for these platforms to reach a wider audience. Having a presence on multiple platforms can help mitigate the risk of relying on a single platform.
✦ The top news expanded!
Venezuelan Journalists Use AI to Evade Persecution
Venezuelan journalists are using AI-generated avatars to hide their identities on camera due to persecution from President Nicolas Maduro’s government. Over 100 journalists have been detained or forced into exile since 2013.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
This means that journalists in Venezuela are using AI technology to protect themselves from government persecution. Being on camera is no longer safe for them, so they’re using AI-generated avatars to report on the upcoming election without risking their safety.
WHY SHOULD I CARE?
This shows how AI technology can be used to protect people’s identities and safety, especially in countries with restrictive governments. This is a crucial issue for journalists who are trying to report on important events without putting themselves in harm’s way.
WHAT SHOULD I DO?
If you’re a content creator or journalist, consider exploring AI technology to protect your identity and safety, especially if you’re reporting on sensitive topics. Look into AI-generated avatars and other tools that can help you maintain your anonymity while still sharing important information with the world.
Best of Reddit today!
Reddit-Wrapped
꩜ Imagen 3 is by far the best image gen model
Redditor u/Lonely_Film_6002 showcases a series of images generated by Google’s Imagen 3. Based on the prompts shared by the original poster, Imagen 3 demonstrates highly accurate prompt adherence compared to DALL-E by OpenAI.
꩜ Useful ChatGPT Hacks
User u/AIExpoEurope initiated a highly informative thread of life hacks on r/ChatGPT. It is fascinating to see a community of AI creators generously sharing the various ways they have found ChatGPT to be beneficial in their work. Being part of such a supportive community is truly rewarding.
꩜ Paintings come alive with AI
The masterpieces of the past come to life thanks to Gen-3 Alpha Turbo. This offers a unique way to experience these artworks in a dynamic form.
꩜ AI-Driven Social Media Presence
Creator u/ThunderBR2 has trained LoRA with 20 photos of himself and used this training module via Flux Dev to create ultra-realistic photos of himself. According to the original poster, no one has suspected anything.
꩜ How to use ChatGPT properly
This is another collection of incredibly useful tips on how to use ChatGPT effectively and efficiently.
AI news you might have missed!
Quick Maths
⟢ CogVideoX: Free AI Video Maker for Everyone
CogVideoX is a free, open-source AI that makes 6-second videos from text. It beats VideoCrafter-2.0 and OpenSora in many ways.
⟢ AI Automated Health Insurance Appeals
Holden Karau created Fight Health Insurance, a free AI website that helps people appeal denied health insurance claims. She won 90% of her 40 appeals.
⟢ Strawberry Coming This Fall
OpenAI plans to launch “Strawberry” this fall. It can solve complex math, develop market strategies, and do deep research beyond current AI abilities.
⟢ AI Brings Color to Old Family Photos
AI tools now turn black-and-white photos into color. Palette.fm, MyHeritage, and Hotpot offer various options, balancing quality and price for different project sizes.
⟢ AI Helps ALS Patient Communicate Again
A new brain-computer interface from Brain Gate allows an ALS patient to communicate with 97% accuracy by translating thoughts into text. This breakthrough helps those who can’t speak connect with loved ones.
⟢ AI Tool Cursor Simplifies App Creation
Cursor, an AI coding tool, lets users build apps quickly. It has 30,000 paying customers and raised $400 million since 2022. The pro plan costs $20 per month.
Superb AI tools to add to your life!
Top-Up Your Toolbox
✰ Salina • Turn videos into newsletters.
✰ VoiceCheap • Translate any video in any language.
✰ Prompt Refiner • Optimize your AI prompts in an instant.
✰ Super • Turn Notion pages into customizable web pages.
✰ MidJourneysref • Prompts for high-quality MidJourney art.
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