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AI Agents: What they are, and why they’re suddenly all the buzz

Biden's global AI safety summit, Runway partners with lionsgate, California's AI election deepfake bill, AI agents explained and more!

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Everyday AI
September 18, 2024

Outsmart The Future

Sup y’all! 👋

Today’s episode on AI agents is kinda wild, TBH.

Anyway, wanted to throw a quick FYI out there.

Often times, email providers “clip” our emails cuz…. well, they’re super long. Got a few emails yesterday from readers who couldn’t find certain info.

We put a TON of human hours into each episode and newsletter, so make sure you click any “see more” type message at the bottom if the email gets clipped.

Go get your AI agent on. Oh, and our ‘Thanks a Million’ giveaway ends today. Takes about 10 seconds to enter.

✌️

Today in Everyday AI
8 minute read

🎙 Daily Podcast Episode: AI agents have been all the buzz recently in the AI world. So what are they? And why now? We give you the 101 on AI agents. Give it a listen.

🕵️‍♂️ Fresh Finds: Apple Intelligence expands languages, Coursera’s new AI certificate program, OpenAI’s o1 models get graded, and Google’s new AI funding for education. Read on for Fresh Finds.

🗞 Byte Sized Daily AI News: The White House’s global AI safety summit, California signs AI bill for election deepfakes and Runway and Lionsgate form huge partnership. For that and more, read on for Byte Sized News.

🚀 AI In 5: Unlock the secrets of creating custom GPTs that will streamline your workflow and save you precious time. See it here

🧠 Learn & Leveraging AI: Wondering what the rave is all about with AI agents? We explain what they are and how they’ll affect the future of work. Keep reading for that!

↩️ Don’t miss out: Did you miss our last newsletter? We talked about Copilot Wave 2 breakdown, Sam Altman leaves OpenAI Safety board and Intel partners with AWS. Check it here!

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AI Agents: What they are, and why they’re suddenly all the buzz 🕵

Everywhere you turn.... AI agents.

This past week more than ever, the biggest companies and hottest startups have seemingly gone bonkers for AI agents.

Why?

And, what the heck are they?

We'll give you the 101 on all things agents.

Join the conversation and ask Jordan and Matthijs questions on AI agents here.

Also on the pod today:

• Future of AI Agents 🔮
• Corporate Adoption of Agents 🏢
• Ethical Concerns of AI Agents 🤔

It’ll be worth your 59 minutes:

Listen on our site:

Click to listen

Subscribe and listen on your favorite podcast platform

Listen on:

Here’s our favorite AI finds from across the web:

New AI Tool Spotlight – Surfsite is an AI assistant for SaaS professionals, Bolna provides front desk AI agents for calls and Meco turns your newsletter into personalized podcasts.

AI Models — The LMSYS updated their chatbot arena scoring system with OpenAI’s o1-preview and o1-mini models on the charts. Let’s just say….. wowzers.

Trending in AI – Apple has announced that Apple Intelligence will support more languages over the next year.

Google - Google.Org has unveiled new AI funding for students and educators.

Future of Work - ClickUp is adding an AI powered chat with new features.

AI in Education – Coursera has launched new AI certificate programs.

Read This – This new study shows that 3/4 of teens have used GenAI, mostly for homework.

LLMs – Kyutai Labs has released Moshi, a real-time speech-to-speech-text foundation model.

AI Startup – NVIDIA backed AI startup Sakana has reached $1.5B in value.

1. Biden's Global AI Safety Summit: Tackling Tech Challenges Ahead 🌎

The Biden administration is set to convene a significant global safety summit on artificial intelligence on November 20-21 in San Francisco, led by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

With growing concerns about the potential risks of generative AI—including job displacement and election interference—this meeting aims to strengthen international cooperation for safer AI development. Experts from nations like Australia, the EU, and Japan will collaborate to discuss strategies for ensuring AI technologies are secure and trustworthy.

2. California Sets New Standards Against Election Deepfakes 🏛️

California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken decisive action by signing three bills that prohibit the creation and distribution of deepfake content in political advertisements within 120 days of elections. This new legislation grants courts the authority to halt misleading materials and impose civil penalties, helping to maintain public trust in the electoral process.

Additionally, social media platforms will be required to swiftly remove deceptive content, marking a significant step in regulating misinformation

3. Lionsgate Partners with Runway to Innovate AI Video Technology 🤯

Runway has officially partnered with Lionsgate, the studio responsible for blockbuster franchises like "John Wick" and "Twilight," to develop a custom AI video model that leverages Lionsgate's extensive movie catalog. This innovative collaboration promises to provide the studio's filmmakers, directors, and creative talent with advanced tools to enhance their storytelling and production processes.

Notably, this announcement comes on the heels of California's new legislation aimed at regulating AI's use in film and television, which could impact how these technologies are implemented.

4. Google Unleashes AI Updates for Ad Campaigns 📢

At DMEXCO, Google made waves with the announcement of powerful new AI features designed to elevate advertising campaigns and maximize ROI. Key highlights include the expansion of Gemini models for effective Search campaigns, offering enhanced language support to connect consumers with businesses at critical moments.

Additionally, generative AI tools will allow advertisers to create optimized ad copy and visuals, while Performance Max campaigns are set to deliver deeper insights with improved asset reporting.

5. YouTube Enhances Shorts with DeepMind's Veo AI Integration 🎥

At its Made On event, YouTube announced an exciting partnership with Google DeepMind to integrate Veo, an advanced AI video generation model, into Shorts, allowing creators to produce high-quality 1080p clips effortlessly.

This marks a significant upgrade from the previous Dream Screen feature, enabling the creation of 6-second standalone video clips that enhance storytelling through seamless transitions. Additionally, YouTube unveiled new features like Jewels for livestreams and expanded dubbing support, further enriching the viewer experience.

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🦾How You Can Leverage:

Trillion-dollar tech titans just unleashed their AI armies. 

  • Not next year. 

  • Not next quarter. 

  • This friggin week. 

Microsoft, Salesforce, OpenAI - they all went all-in on AI agents about at the exact same time.

(Coincidence? We think not.) 

So we thought it was about time to do a deep dive on AI agents. 

Apparently, this was some much-needed intel. 👇

Can we be real for a second? 

The future of work isn't approaching. 

It's officially here, kicking down your office door and rewriting your job description in binary.

Ready or not.

Today is one of those that we kinda IMPLORE you to watch/listen/read. 

(It’s ok to 2X on the speed. We do, too.) 

But if you want the juiciest of scoops, let’s break down the 3 things you need to know. 🧃

1 – Your New 24/7 Workforce️ ⏰

Remember when chatbots were the hot new thing? 

Cute. 

AI agents are here to make those look like speak-and-spell toys. 

These digital workers don't just chat - they tap into your live data, plan complex tasks, and execute tasks faster than your intern can grab a latte.

(Could be a fun IRL test, right? ha!)

With Microsoft's Copilot Studio and Salesforce's AgentForce, you're no longer limited by human headcount or, you know, sleep. 

These agents can work 24/7, understand nuanced requests, and can probably file your taxes while planning your next product launch.

Try this: 

Dip your toes in the AI agent waters.

Try Zapier Central to create a customer inquiry bot.

Set parameters in plain English, connect it to your CRM, and watch it handle customer questions while you binge Netflix. 

Welcome to the future, shorties.

Oh, and make sure you dive into yesterday’s show on Microsoft’s Copilot Wave 2, where we covered what’s new in their agents builder.

2 – The Great Job Reshuffle 🔀

Not convinced LLM-powered AI agents are the future?

Look at Salesforce.

Its Marc Benioff just talked about his company’s hard pivot from a CRM company to focusing on autonomous AI agents. 

And the fact that he’s envisioning at least 1 billion AI agents by the end of 2026. 

(Seriously. So our 2023 hot take on billions of AI agents doesn’t sound all that crazy anymore, does it?) 

Why are we focusing on Salesforce? 

Well, it makes sense that tech companies like Microsoft, Google and OpenAI go all-in on AI. 

But Salesforce? 

THE household name in sales that power the overwhelming majority of enterprise’s sales teams? 

Yeah. HARD pivot. 

More real talk — As AI democratizes complex tasks, your precious domain knowledge is about as valuable as a Blockbuster membership. 

The future belongs to creative strategists who can augment AI’s capabilities, not human databases. We agree it hurts. But…… Sorrynotsorry.

Try this:

Time for a career audit, hotshots. 

List out your daily tasks. Anything that relies on recalling facts or following set procedures? 

Kiss it goodbye. 

Whether that’s tomorrow or next year, the generations-old concept of your career/company/department thriving off the experience in your brain is no longer the primary driver of success.

It’s how YOU, the human, performs in the loop. 

(You know, the whole human-in-the-loop thang we always talk about.) 

Start beefing up those creative muscles - they're your lifeline in this brave new world soon to be crawling with AI agents. 

Want a deeper peek? Go check out this Forbes piece looking into the future of augmented intelligence in the workplace.

3 – The Wild West of AI Ethics 🤠

Will this be super fun or super scary? 

Yes. 

Lolz. 

(Also, not lolz.) 

With the great power of agentic AI systems comes... a metric ton of ethical dilemmas. 

AI agents bring unprecedented capabilities and equally unprecedented risks. 

Bias, safety concerns, and the terrifying potential for autonomous agent "collusion" aren't just sci-fi plot points anymore.

As these AI agents get smarter, the need for robust guardrails and human oversight skyrockets. 

(Oh and OMG when they all get access to the reasoning o1 “Strawberry” model sheeeeesh!)  

Forget "move fast and break things" - it's time for "move cautiously and don't accidentally create Skynet.”

Try this: 

Before you go HAM implementing AI agents, establish some ground rules. 

Like we talked about today, you NEED to be having the ‘AI agent’ conversation right now with the leaders of your org.

(Don’t say we didn’t warn ya!) 

Create clear ethical guidelines. 

Define what decisions absolutely require human input. 

Set up a monitoring system to catch potential biases or safety issues. 

Remember, with AI agents, "oops" could mean anything from a PR nightmare to accidentally tanking your biz. 

This article takes a look at Google’s discovery on how AI agents can cause some serious ethical challenges.

Yeehaw?

Welcome to the AI agent revolution. 

Hope you brought your big kid pants - you're gonna need 'em y’all. 

⌚

Numbers to watch

84%

84% of students who have discussed AI in class believe it can help brainstorm ideas for school projects.

(Or your fave LLM like Claude, Gemini, Copilot, etc)

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