Data Science

The AI hype machine has fully lost its mind. There are about fifty articles from reputable news organizations and pundit sites proclaiming that OpenAI just announced AGI (artificial general intelligence). It didn't. OpenAI has introduced "o3" and "o3-mini," the latest in its reasoning model family, claiming significant advancements in AI's ability to tackle complex tasks. So, let's all calm down and take a minute to examine the specifics of OpenAI's announcement and gain a clear understanding of o3's actual capabilities and their implications. Continue Reading →

This is the time of year I try to gather my observations and write them down. Most years, I craft a trend report or enumerate my "investable theses," but this year, I simply want to share what’s on my mind. These are not predictions or forecasts—just a collection of the ideas and concepts that have captured my attention. From the accelerating pace of innovation to the profound societal shifts driven by AI, here’s what I’m thinking about as 2024 comes to a close: Continue Reading →

Tomorrow will look nothing like today. By the time we wake up, 20 exabytes of data will have been generated globally, 13 zetaflops of AI workload computed, and an additional 360 billion emails sent. Even if these metrics are debated, they point to a fundamental observation: today is the slowest rate of technological change you'll ever experience for the rest of your life. Continue Reading →

Mastering the art of prompt engineering (aka prompt crafting) is touted as the new "must learn" business skill. It is. But just because it has a fancy, technical sounding name does not mean it is complicated or hard to understand. Here's a very short primer, guaranteed to improve the output you get from ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, or most any generative AI platform. You are only minutes away from unlocking your prompt engineering superpowers. Let's go! Continue Reading →

While the FTE-based model is flawed and often exploited, its one saving grace is that it creates predictable billing for both sides. But there’s a new problem. With a single AI-enhanced, well-trained FTE capable of outproducing entire teams, the math changes. Now what? Continue Reading →

Asking for reports is a fact of corporate life. So is requesting updates to your dashboards. But imagine if you could open a chat window and talk directly with your data. You'd just type (or say), "What's the last day we can sell a full-priced widget in market 18 before we have to mark it down or ship it back to the manufacturer?" and the database would give you the answer. No reports, no dashboards, just a conversation. Continue Reading →

Using proprietary data in AI workflows has the potential to transform brand marketing, but there aren't any one-size-fits-all solutions. To make matters worse, the field is filled with jargon and hype. I can't do much about the hype, but I can arm you with some high-level concepts to facilitate your AI-focused discussions. With that in mind, here's a brief overview of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), one of the most popular ways to incorporate your proprietary data into generative AI workflows. Continue Reading →

OpenAI plans to integrate SearchGPT into ChatGPT by the end of this year. Initially launched as a prototype in July, SearchGPT combines real-time search capabilities with conversational AI providing direct answers, summaries, and contextual insights as opposed to a list of links. The chat interface allows users to ask followup questions and the system links citations to the output ensuring transparency (and the preservation of link-based search). Continue Reading →

Meta has launched Movie Gen, a new AI-powered video creation tool for small businesses. Movie Gen allows users to generate video content from prompts, edit existing videos, and add synchronized sound effects and music. It will not be available for open developer use but is intended for collaboration with the entertainment industry and content creators. Continue Reading →

We always talk about Large Language Models (LLMs), but now, we're deploying more and more Small Language Models (SLMs) and Small Action Models (SAMs). So, here are three definitions that will come in handy for any AI-focused cocktail conversation you may have this weekend. Continue Reading →