Welcome to the World of GPT's

This has been the most exciting week in AI since the dawn of time - that’s maybe an exageration, but not by much. This week we’ve had so many announcements it’s been hard to keep up but I’m going to focus today on a real game changer: AI agents or GPT’s as they are now known.

30 years ago, at the dawn of our digital age, I envisioned software that could transcend the boundaries of its programming to offer a truly personalised experience. Today, we're on the brink of realising that dream, heralding the greatest revolution in computing since we replaced command prompts with intuitive icons. Imagine a future where you converse with your device as you would a trusted friend, guiding it through the complexities of your daily life with nothing but your voice. This isn't science fiction; it's the imminent reality of GPT's, or AI agents, sophisticated software that understands the nuance of human language and the intricacies of individual preference. These agents are not static bots confined to a single task—they are dynamic companions learning from every interaction, capable of managing diverse tasks across platforms, from scheduling meetings to booking holidays, all while adapting to your personal tastes and habits.

Those of you who have been with this newsletter from the start may remember Chef Gordon from issue #2. To create him, I had to write all manner of emoji laden code and create a picture in MidJourney to get the essence of a personna. You then had to paste all the code into ChatGPT and then you could interact with it. It was fun, but hard work - both to create and to use as it wasn’t that intuitive. Well, times change. Here’s a link to a GPT that I created this morning in about half an hour - if I had been properly organised it would have taken no more than five minutes. Welcome to The Gluten Free Gourmet. Try it out here. The next version of this agent will be able to talk to you and perform actions like print recipies, download videos and order ingredients. It’s only my skill level that is stopping this right now. All the tools are available today.

In the next five years, I believe these AI agents will become as integral to our lives as smartphones are today. They will democratise services across healthcare, education, productivity, and entertainment, previously accessible only to a privileged few. Healthcare, an area I've written about a lot before, will see AI powered clinician agents offering medical advice, making healthcare more accessible, especially in underserved regions. In education, agents will tailor learning to each student's interests, propelling them toward academic success with an understanding as profound as any human tutor. Both healthcare and education, cornerstones of our existence, offer some of the lowest hanging fruit for AI to pick. I can't wait to see the changes in the coming days, weeks and months.

On the productivity front, AI agents will serve as personal assistants, streamlining business plans, and fostering creativity, while in entertainment, they will curate experiences uniquely suited to your tastes. But this seismic shift isn't without its challenges. We must navigate the technical complexities of creating agents that can seamlessly integrate into our lives, ensuring they enhance rather than complicate. The imperative to safeguard privacy and security is paramount; these agents must be guardians of our data, not gatekeepers. However, it is equally true that the more access to our lives we give these GPT's, the more useful they will be to us.

As we stand on the precipice of this new era, we must also ponder the societal implications. How will AI agents reshape our interactions, our economy, and our very sense of purpose? These are questions we must grapple with collectively, shaping a future where technology amplifies our human potential without overshadowing it. As we prepare to embrace this new reality, let us do so with both anticipation and caution, ensuring that the agents of our digital future serve not just our needs, but our values. I can’t wait to see this unfold!