AI: Some things worth trying

Are not for buying. With every revolution comes unregulated behavior. Buyer beware: Bots can go rogue. And they're darn good salespeople.

Author

Connie Connors
August 15, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

Thank you for reading and subscribing. If this newsletter feels a bit too advanced, I am launching FearNothing.AI soon, as well as posting additional resources on the website. And know that I always love hearing from you and value your suggestions.

Commonplace: Friends hop on a trend to post images or videos doctored by the latest AI tool. In a moment of boredom, you start experimenting. You’re almost done with your masterpiece, and a message pops up with a pricing matrix.

Deevid.ai — The trend I noticed last week: taking old photos or videos and modernizing them. One friend posted a video of his kids being towed in an inner tube from 20 years ago and updated it with images of the kids as adults. This photo was a still, black and white photo, and Deevid turned it into an action video in color.

$10 a month subs add up. Pricing is dynamic so the next time you look the price could be $20.

Tip:

Search on the tool you like with “pricing” and “cancellation policy”. Many new tools are developed in other parts of the world, and language barriers (and perhaps untoward practices) make it impossible to get your money back.

CHATBOT AND LLMS: PRICING

If you’ve experimented at all with ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, or Perplexity, at some point, you’ve probably hit a paywall. “Oops, I can’t give you more right now, you’ve exceeded my daily limit. Try again at 1:17am or upgrade to Plus.” Sales 101. In the early days of the Internet, I encouraged companies to create a “free front porch” on their website, where you would treat potential customers with mint juleps and a nice view, enticing them with a lovely experience so much so that they might decide to come through your front door and pay. But unlike a brochure (we called it brochure ware) you’re one mistaken click away from paying.

This is a great example. I asked a Chatbot to create an image as described. Guess what? That typo in the sign? Chatbot: “Sure, I can refresh the image with the correct spelling. Would you like me to do that now?” Me: “Yes!” Silence. I ask again and, “If you’d like it now, you can upgrade to plus.”

Are We There Yet?

AI applications are good at sales. Reel you in. Mint julep on the front porch. Techies on the other hand are generally pretty bad at intuiting natural human behavior. Maybe all the confusion is on purpose. Why do we subscribe to more than one service (Netflix, Hulu, Paramount, Apple) just to find something decent to watch? And blame it on the industry: which company owns the other one now?

NETFLIX AND OTHER STREAMING SERVICES: MENUS

Netflix claims it uses AI, with 75% of what you’re watching coming from personalized recommendations. I’m not feeling it. Are you?

NetGuide, by Michael Wolf, published by Random House, December 1993

I helped launch this seminal guide from Michael Wolf in the early 1990’s. Maybe we need to go back to this.

Posted on social media the other day, “I wish Netflix had a category for ‘watch this in the background while you’re busy on your device.’” I added: “I wish Netflix had a category that says ‘you’ve already watched this season two times and obviously can’t remember, so this is perfect to play in the background’”.

AI AND HARDWARE DEVICES

Brief note: If you like hardware devices and talking to them (as per my last newsletter, many of us use voice to search) note that the new Echo device and Alexa+, the latest version from Amazon, is not ready for primetime. There is a reason only 1 million people use Alexa worldwide, even though it’s been out for more than a decade. I’ve culled all the reviews, and even the early adopter folks are yelling back at their Alexa’s. “She keeps insisting I need more paper towels. Enough!”

NEWLETTER ENDNOTES: SPEECH TO TEXT

I was happy to hear from a friend that she planned on using Otter.ai for her next HOA meeting. It’s just a very simple note taker, but the summary and action items may make you abandon your pencil. Habits are hard to break and are only really achieved when there is a superior solution. Objective summaries are just that.

Until Next Time

Stay curious. Take a walk. Or catch a wave at the beginning of hurricane season next week. I am thinking of taking a hang ten refresher at Narragansett beach. And if I have time, I’ll share an image of me shredding that rip curl, courtesy of AI. Sometimes, almost is enough.

Connie (a.k.a. surfgoddess wannabe)