BB Digest: Who's using AI at work?

Digest #505 → Subscribe | Upgrade to Pro

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And speaking of workshops, this week we have Corey showing how to write copy like David Ogilvy (tomorrow) and Tom teaching no-code AI voice assistants (Wednesday).

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TLDR; inside today’s newsletter

• Claude's code abilities, Wharton's AI report, and Big Tech's agent plans

• ICYMI: New tutorial on running AI models locally + two fresh courses

• snack n skill - a bite-sized lesson to create training materials using AI

• 8 of the best new AI tools

• 6 interesting posts from around the web

• to-do’s

Alright, let’s get to it!

 🔎 Trends & news

• A new Wharton report studying 800+ senior business leaders shows AI adoption is maturing but selective. While overall usage is up dramatically, companies are getting strategic—focusing on specific high-value tasks like data analysis, idea generation, and contract drafting rather than trying to transform everything at once.

• Claude can finally run the code it generates. The new “Analysis Tool” enables Claude to write and run JavaScript code. It also promises the ability to do data analysis tasks (just like ChatGPT’s code interpreter, which uses Python). The analysis tool is currently a preview feature, so expect some rough edges.

• The year-end spooky season is starting. Leaks reveal that Google's prepping "Project Jarvis" to automate Chrome tasks (+ next-gen Gemini in December). And while Sam declined rumours of the "Orion" launch, we can expect new tech from OpenAI too. Meanwhile, Meta is building its own search engine to break free from dependence on Google/Bing.

• Get the context you need about your codebase without digging for it. Unblocked augments your source code with context from GitHub, Slack, Confluence, Jira, and more, so it can explain the “how” and the “why” of your code. Save an hour or more a day with Unblocked.*

  *sponsored

👀 ICYMI: New stuff we’ve launched

How to run AI models locally on your PC - We get a ton of requests for local AI models. We don’t suggest using them much. They are hard to work with, need a powerful PC and aren’t as smart as paid online chatbots like Claude or ChatGPT. But this tutorial should get you started with how to use local LLMs with a chatbot-like interface.

And, we added two new courses:

• Build AI chatbots for specific tasks using ChatBase

• Execute a successful L&D strategy with AI.

Plus some light reading on our blog:

• Make more sales with AI: 4 ways to get more leads to buy

• Using AI for fast, automated SOPs.

• Top free AI tools for teachers in 2024.

• 5 ways AI can reduce customer support tickets.

🍽️ Snack ‘n’ skill

Learn how to create training materials using AI

Creating handouts and training materials is the perfect use case for AI—it's repetitive, needs structure, and takes forever to make it look good. Here's how to use AI to create professional L&D content in minutes, not days.

Step 1. Plan your content strategy

Use Claude to turn your training goals into detailed outlines. Feed it your learning objectives, target audience, and any existing materials to get a structured outline ready for visuals.

Step 2. Transform outline into engaging content

• Design slides in Gamma by directly pasting Claude's outline

• Pick the right content density (use "Medium" for complex topics)

• Customize AI-generated visuals to match your brand

• Add interactive elements like quizzes and exercises

• Create assessment tests using Claude for measuring retention

• Export to PowerPoint for final tweaks or distribution

• Generate student handouts and teacher guides using the same content

Tip: Don't just create presentations. Ask Claude to suggest activities, discussion points, and exercises for each section. Mix content formats to keep learners engaged.

This walkthrough is a condensed version of this tutorial. It's part of our course on executing L&D strategy with AI. Check it out for end-to-end guidance on creating a training program.

⚙️ Top new tools

• AssemblyAI* - State-of-the-art multilingual speech-to-text.

• Duonot - Conversational surveys with real-time follow-ups.

• Averi - Craft marketing strategy, create endless content, and build a perfect-fit team.

• Dream Lab by Canva - A new powerful text-to-image app powered by Leonardo’s Phoenix model. (Canva acquired Leonardo recently)

• Vidify - Use AI to make product videos out of your Shopify images.

• FigFlow - Translate designs into user stories.

• Loomos - Convert rough Loom recordings to professional videos.

• RunwayML’s video gen models are now available on Poe! 

More tools here →
*sponsored

 📜 Interesting posts

• I own my LLM chat history, and so should you.

• The AI productivity paradox - Why aren’t more workers using ChatGPT?

• Building the agentic future together.

• Meta strikes multi-year AI deal with Reuters.

• Radio station in Poland fired its journalists and replaced them with AI 'presenters'.

• OpenAI CFO says 75% of its revenue comes from paying consumers.

📌 To-dos

1. Let us know if you have any tutorials or courses you want us to create—we’re always open to ideas.

2. Are you using AI for sales in a unique or successful way? We'd love to feature your story - fill out this quick form.

That wraps things up for today! See you again on Thursday. 👋

Ben