01: Gen AI – The New Normal
To say the AI industry is booming would be a laughable understatement.
Generative AI (aka Gen AI) is at the forefront of this growth & fundamentally changing how businesses operate, driving innovation, and creating new opportunities; it has us rethinking what technology is capable of.
Businesses are now adopting and utilizing this technology and these tools to transform their operations and gain a competitive edge, and I have a unique front-seat view of this with those I teach and implement AI for in their business.
Last week, McKinsey Digital released a Global Survey on Gen AI, and I’ve highlighted the most prominent findings for you from their 76-page document deep dive:
- One-third of respondents use Gen AI tools in at least one business function.
- Nearly a quarter of C-suite executives use Gen AI products for work.
- Over a quarter of AI businesses’ boards have put AI on their agendas.
- 40% of respondents said their companies would invest more in AI due to Gen AI.
- Three-quarters of respondents expect Gen AI will disrupt their industry’s competition within three years.
- Gen AI tools are primarily used in marketing, sales, product, and service
- Nearly four in five AI adopters expect more than 20% of their workforces to be reskilled, while 8% foresee a 20% workforce reduction.
- Companies use Gen AI to enhance human tasks, not replace them.
- 55% of firms have embraced AI in at least one function.
- Over two-thirds expect their companies to increase AI investment in the next three years.
They also predict that AI will automate 30% of work hours by 2030, leading to 12 million people needing to change jobs, and 50% of work activities could be automated between 2030-2060, with a midpoint around 2045, about a decade earlier than previously estimated.
Putting this all together, Gen AI is not just a trend.
It’s a new normal that’s here to stay. And as more businesses adopt and invest in these tools, we can expect to see even more innovation and growth in the AI industry. The more I work with businesses to implement AI for them, it’s clearer than ever now is the time to focus on the next generation of your business and how Gen AI is part of it.
For the rest of today’s Top 3 Tuesday, I’ll be talking about mixed media and giving you more ideas than ever to get creative.
🔔 Think about this: Is there an opportunity AI can immediately fit into your workflow and I can do it for you?
I’ve started helping a few businesses do this and the results have been incredible in the just the first 30 days. I’m asking you, here, before I announce it publicly. If you think there’s an opportunity, reply to this email and let me know.
02: The Future Sounds Good
Gen AI is making waves in the audio industry, creating new possibilities for music, sound design & voice technology, and giving me material for my dad jokes. It’s about creating new sounds and transforming existing ones in ways we’ve never imagined.
Meta continues to develop a suite of Gen AI tools that can create a wide range of audio content, from music to sound effects. These tools can generate realistic human voices, create ambient soundscapes, and even compose original music 🔗.
Another fascinating example is OpenAI’s MuseNet 🔗. This deep learning model can generate 4-minute musical compositions with ten different instruments and even create music in the style of famous composers. It’s a testament to the power of Gen AI in creating complex, creative content.
On my site at jimcarter.me/ai-tools, I track and add to these services all the time. One of my favorites is ElevenLabs 🔗 which allows you to pick from a variety of ready-to-go voices and model your own voice in mere minutes.
But it’s not just about creating new content. Gen AI also reimagines existing content in new and exciting ways. For example, the Instagram account “There I Ruined It.” recently shared a reel that features Johnny Cash singing “Barbie Girl,” The Spice Girls, and Miley Cyrus 🔗. It’s an entertaining example of how these tools can be used creatively – and stir up controversy with quite a lot of comments.
🧠The potential applications for small businesses using Gen AI with audio are vast.
Create unique jingles or soundtracks for marketing campaigns. Develop voice-activated services and products. Transform your book into an audiobook. Launch that podcast from your training, and so on. It’s an exciting time to explore and experiment with these tools, and I can’t wait to see what innovative applications businesses will come up with next.
03: Lights, Camera, Action
Who doesn’t love a good video? Gen AI companies agree and are creating new possibilities for editing or adjusting, and for original creation.
One of the most exciting developments in this space is the rise of AI-powered video generators. These tools use Gen AI to create high-quality videos from scratch.
Pika Labs, for example, is a pioneer in this space. They’ve developed an AI-powered video editing tool that can automatically generate videos from scripts, complete with visuals, voiceovers, and music. And the public beta is free to test via their Discord 🔗.
Another innovative player in this space is RunwayML 🔗. They’ve developed a suite of AI-powered tools for video creation and editing, including a Gen AI tool that can create realistic human-like videos. The quality of Runway’s videos are astounding, and when teamed with original creations from a service like Midjourney – the results are almost hard to comprehend. Don’t believe me? Watch the ‘Genesis’ movie trailer that isn’t real 🔗 and was 100% created with the same Gen AI tools we can access.
🧠These tools democratize video creation.
Making this process possible for anyone to create professional-quality videos without needing expensive equipment or specialized skills changes everything.
Create unique videos for marketing campaigns. Develop AI-powered video tutorials or product demos. Transform your blog posts not just into audio, but now with video and more.
