Dear curious mind,
Today, we are exploring Lex, a groundbreaking writing tool that's redefining AI-powered document creation. Imagine Google Docs, but supercharged with AI capabilities. Lex isn't just about storing your words in the cloud, Lex is your writing partner, ready to assist when you're stuck, offer advanced proofreading, and provide intelligent suggestions to elevate your work.
In this issue:
π‘ Shared Insight
Lex: The Evolution of AI-Assisted Writing
π° AI Update
Perplexity Finance: Your Real-Time Market Research Platform
Perplexity Spaces: Collaborate with Shared Files & Custom Prompts
Mistral AI's Ministral 3B & 8B: Powerful AI for On-Device Applications
NotebookLM: Podcast Generation Gets Customizable
ChatGPT Desktop App for Windows
π Media Recommendation
Podcast: Dan Shipper on AI, Management and Building a Media Business
π‘ Shared Insight
Lex: The Evolution of AI-Assisted Writing
Two years ago, on October 16, 2022, a new player entered the world of collaborative word processing: Lex. The service was launched just weeks before ChatGPT and was positioned by its CEO Nathan Baschez as "Google Docs with AI," offering a glimpse into the future of writing assistance.
I was fortunate to gain access to the Lex Beta on November 5, 2022, experiencing its potential firsthand. The initial demo video and announcement tweet are still accessible today and serve as a time capsule of early AI writing assistance. It is remarkable to consider how far we have come since then, not only because of more powerful models like GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet with improved writing capabilities.
Lex's journey has been one of continuous development and evolution. In August 2023, the company announced a $2.75 million seed round led by True Ventures. At this time, Lex was positioned as a standalone entity after being started as part of Every, the media and software company that publishes a daily newsletter about what comes next in technology.
Recently, Lex introduced a paid subscription tier, Lex Pro, offering advanced features for power users.
Instead of upgrading to Lex Pro directly, you can also subscribe to Every for $200/year. With this subscription, you will get a high-quality daily newsletter about technology topics and two other tools besides Lex. Namely, Spiral, which automates writing tasks, and Sparkle, which organizes your macOS files. My recommendation is to start exploring Lex in its free version, which will already help to strengthen your writing.
As a cloud-based service, Lex stores your documents on their servers, which may raise privacy concerns for some users. The company addresses this in their FAQ, stating:
All of your data on Lex is privately and securely hosted on our own database. We have strict policies about when our team can access it (e.g., to solve a technical issue) and will always explicitly ask for your permission.
For those preferring local text or markdown file editing with AI assistance, alternatives like the Zed coding editor, which I highlighted in the article Zed: From Coding Editor to Universal AI Assistant, are worth exploring.
The true strength of Lex, and AI-assisted writing tools in general, lies not in replacing the writer but in enhancing the writing process. Features like "Checks" provide valuable feedback on readability and style, while the "Ask Lex" function can also offer targeted assistance when you're stuck. To make this even easier and more versatile, Lex added a prompt library which gives you many helpful suggestions to utilize AI for your writings.
Recently, I contributed two custom prompts to Lex's growing prompt library, showcasing the platform's versatility:
Passive to Active Voice Converter: This prompt helps transform passive sentences into more engaging active voice constructions.
Voice Analyst: Uncover Your Unique Writing Style: This prompt analyzes your writing to identify key characteristics of your personal style, helping you understand and refine your unique voice.
As I reflect on Lex's two-year journey and the current capabilities of the tool, it's clear that AI-assisted writing is here to stay. However, the most effective use of these tools comes from viewing them as copilots β supportive assistants that enhance our natural writing abilities rather than replacing them entirely.
Whether you choose Lex or another AI writing tool, remember that the most compelling and impactful writing still arises from your creativity, experience, and insight. AI can help refine and polish your words, but the core message and voice should always remain your own.
π° AI Update
Perplexity Finance: Your Real-Time Market Research Platform (@perplexity_ai on π)
To open a finance overview in Perplexity, just search for β<company> stockβ. Many people are likely not ready to trust AI for financial decisions. However, a little note at the bottom of a financial overview states that all the information comes from a reliable source called Financial Modeling Prep.
Perplexity Spaces: Collaborate with Shared Files & Custom Prompts (Perplexity Blog)
Perplexity Spaces offer custom system prompts and files as knowledge base features comparable to OpenAI's GPTs. However, the full potential of these capabilities is currently reserved for paying users, as only these can upload files.
Mistral AI's Ministral 3B & 8B: Powerful AI for On-Device Applications (Mistral Blog)
The new Ministral models show impressive benchmark results. Both are available via Mistral's paid API, but only the 8B model weights are released for non-commercial use. But why did Mistral AI not add Qwen2.5 to the comparison? π€
NotebookLM: Podcast Generation Gets Customizable (@OfficialLoganK on π)
NotebookLM offers a glimpse into the future of content creation, where raw information is transformed into personalized, easily digestible formats. A significant step towards truly tailored content experiences is the ability to customize Audio Overviews. By allowing users to guide the conversation and adjust expertise levels, NotebookLM is pioneering a new era of AI-assisted learning and information processing. The next crucial step would be implementing adjustable conversation lengths.
ChatGPT Desktop App for Windows (Microsoft store)
It's great to see ChatGPT finally arrive on Windows, following the macOS app release in June. Using a keyboard shortcut to prompt ChatGPT in a separate window allows a better integration in your workflows. However, the screenshot suggests that the app can access the content shown in other applications, which, according to my evaluation, is not true.
π Media Recommendation
Podcast: Dan Shipper on AI, Management and Building a Media Business
Dan Shipper, Co-founder and CEO of Every, recently appeared in episode 237 of the Infinite Loops podcast to discuss his journey from writer to tech founder and share insights on AI, creativity, and building new media companies.
Every, Dan's media company, uses a "pyramid" business model which diversifies the income stream:
Free content at the base reaches millions.
Paid subscriptions offer premium content and product access.
Higher tiers include courses, consulting, and speaking engagements.
The podcast highlights the parallels between managing AI and traditional management skills. While only a small percentage of the workforce currently develops management skills, the widespread adoption of AI tools may democratize these abilities. Using AI models effectively requires knowing when to delegate tasks versus when to provide detailed instructions, much like managing human employees.
Dan sees daily use of advanced AI tools as a way to experience the future of technology months ahead of others, providing valuable insights. However, he acknowledges that some AI skepticism is also warranted.
Disclaimer: This newsletter is written with the aid of AI. I use AI as an assistant to generate and optimize the text. However, the amount of AI used varies depending on the topic and the content. I always curate and edit the text myself to ensure quality and accuracy. The opinions and views expressed in this newsletter are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the sources or the AI models.