Hi Reader, I’ve been testing the new ChatGPT 5.1 update this week and it’s genuinely impressive. The new personality presets (like teaching, professional, and casual) make switching tones effortless, and the memory and reasoning upgrades are a noticeable improvement. Conversations feel smoother and more intuitive across the board. That wasn’t the only big drop. Google launched PDF Podcasts in Drive, Gemini now supports hands-free shopping with agentic checkout, and Comet from Perplexity...
12 days ago • 7 min read
Hi Reader, This week’s AI updates are all about making your tools feel more like teammates. ChatGPT’s Agent Mode now lets it take real action on your behalf: researching, booking, comparing, and shopping all within the Atlas browser. It’s a big step toward real, hands-free task automation. (But use with caution, as there are privacy issues!) Over at Google, Maps just got a major upgrade with Gemini integration, meaning you can now ask for alternate routes, nearby coffee shops, or parking with...
19 days ago • 7 min read
Hi Reader, Happy Halloween! 🎃 This week’s updates really hit a sweet spot between creativity and productivity, and I’ve been testing a lot of them behind the scenes. Claude memory is now available to everyone, Canva just launched their new “Creative Operating System,” and OpenAI quietly added company-level knowledge to ChatGPT, which is a big deal for teams managing internal data. Let me just throw in a little let's do a happy dance emoji for that one. 💃 But what really caught my attention is...
26 days ago • 5 min read
Hi Reader, This week’s AI news drops are powerful, but what really stood out to me were the two new AI browsers changing how we get things done online. I shared demos of both — ChatGPT Atlas and Perplexity’s Comet — and each brings a totally different kind of productivity boost. Whether it’s Atlas auditing your LinkedIn or Comet filling out forms while you sit back, we’re clearly moving beyond “search” into full-on assistant mode. And yes — I also posted some other fun ones this week,...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, This week I had a fun exchange with Mr. Rogers. 😉 Aside from that silliness, the AI updates this week are all about power and practicality. OpenAI dropped Agent Builder, a drag-and-drop visual editor that lets you build full AI workflows without writing a line of code. Don’t get rid of your Zapier account just yet, but there’s a lot to be excited about. Meanwhile, Google’s Gemini just got the ability to schedule meetings, sync files, and apply your makeup before a video call....
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, This week’s AI updates pack a serious punch. I got hands-on with the new Sora app and—no exaggeration—it blew my mind. The video generation is fast, easy, and pretty stunning. Here’s the video I shared to show what it can do → Also, if you’ve been sleeping on NotebookLM, now’s the time to dig in. It just got even smarter with custom conversational styles and better audio/video overviews, and I put together a quick tutorial to walk you through it. Whether you’re creating content or...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, What a week! Straight on the heels of speaking about AI to a group of VAs at a conference in Spartanburg, SC, my “Front Row Advisory Board” is joining me on Sullivan’s Island this weekend to build some amazing AI automations and integrations. (While we were waiting for the couple of people who were still on their way, we had to rush out to see the sunset over the marsh!) This week’s AI news shows just how fast the major players are closing the gap between content creation, task...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, Last week after my routine mammogram, I received a notification in my MyChart app that the results were abnormal. (I had my follow up imaging today, and all is fine, thank goodness.) But I’m sharing this here, in this weekly AI newsletter, because it was AI that saved my sanity during the very long 7 days I had to wait for my new tests. First of all, the minute I got the results, which were written in medical speak, I didn’t understand a word of it. I copied and pasted it into...
2 months ago • 8 min read
Hi Reader, Not gonna lie, I’m drowning in AI! Mostly it’s fun. I’m enjoying the discovery of it all. The new features and tools that show up day after day, sometimes multiple times a day, are spectacular! But it’s A LOT! And this is my full-time job! I can only imagine how you feel if you are trying to get your regular work done AND keep up with all this. But you’ve got me! And as I sift through all of it, I’m pulling out the stuff I think is most important for you to know. This week’s AI...
2 months ago • 7 min read