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Good morning.
Starting today, you'll get us Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Same content, a little more room to breathe. You told us, and we listened. Today also kicks off an eight-week series on the AI tools you actually use, starting with the one I open every single day: ChatGPT.
AI INSIGHT
Everything You Actually Need to Know About ChatGPT
Week 1 of 8 in our AI Tools series.
More than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT every week, according to OpenAI's own count. I'm one of them. I pay for the Plus plan, use it every day, and almost never type to it. I talk through Wispr Flow instead.
Last week the engine underneath changed. On October 7, OpenAI started rolling out GPT-6, which can start answering while it's still thinking. For questions that need a web search, OpenAI says answers now begin 44 percent sooner. I noticed. It's faster, and so far it's been more accurate for me too.
The bigger change is what answers look like. A feature OpenAI calls Intelligent UI turns some replies into charts, buttons, and small tools you can tap right in the chat. Ask for a dinner plan and you may get a shopping list that adjusts when you change the headcount.
Free users get GPT-6 too, with a catch. Free and the $8 Go plan run a lighter version called GPT-6 Luna and show ads. The $20 Plus plan runs the stronger GPT-6 Sol, ad-free, per OpenAI's pricing page.
As for where OpenAI is headed, it says it plainly: software that adapts to people, instead of people learning software. Expect more of what you'd open a separate app for to happen inside the chat.
The catch: a slicker answer isn't a more correct one. A tidy interactive chart built on a wrong number is still wrong, just prettier.
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AI TUTORIAL
ChatGPT, Feature by Feature, and Where It Falls Short
You probably already use ChatGPT. Most people never check what their plan actually includes, or what the tool is bad at. Here's the spec sheet, then one prompt that makes ChatGPT grade itself.
▸ Price: Free, Go at $8 a month, Plus at $20, and Pro starting at $100. Free and Go show ads.
▸ The model: GPT-6. Paid plans get the stronger GPT-6 Sol; Free and Go get GPT-6 Luna.
▸ Images: Yes, limited on Free. This is where it beats Claude for me, by a wide margin.
▸ Voice: Yes, on every plan. Go and up add voice with video, so you can point your camera and talk. I mostly use it on my phone.
▸ Web search: Built in on every plan, plus a built-in browser.
▸ Beyond chat: ChatGPT Work takes on bigger, multi-step projects. Limited to the desktop app on Free and Go; Plus adds web and mobile.
▸ Plugins: Connect apps like Canva, Spotify, and Google Drive so ChatGPT can work inside them.
Try This With AI What it does: Gets ChatGPT to tell you, in plain terms, what it's worse at than its competitors.
"Act as a straight-talking technology reviewer. Tell me where you, ChatGPT, fall short compared to your competitors, and be specific. For each weakness, give me one everyday task where Claude, Gemini, or another tool would do it better, and tell me which of those weaknesses apply to the [Free / Plus] plan I am on."
Customize it: Swap in your actual plan, and add the one task you use ChatGPT for most so the answer is about your life, not a benchmark. Tap to open this prompt in ChatGPT. |
If it does not work: You'll get a polite, vague list like "I may not always have the latest information." Push back: "That's generic. Name three real tasks where a competitor beats you today."
What this doesn't fix: ChatGPT grading itself is still ChatGPT talking. Treat its answer as a starting point, then test the claim on a real task yourself.
Pricing and features change fast in this industry. What's true this week might not be true next month. We'll do our best to keep these current, but always double-check before you commit to a subscription.
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NEWS YOU CAN USE
This Matters at Home
Short, practical summaries to help you stay updated on recent AI news—and what it means for everyday life.
🧠 Using AI for Just 10 Minutes Makes You Quit Sooner. In a Berkeley-led study of 1,222 people, AI help boosted early accuracy, then users gave up faster once it vanished. Want to keep a skill? Ask for hints.
📞 An AI Voice Clone Kept a Mom on the Phone for Five Hours. Scammers cloned her daughter's voice, faked a kidnapping, and took $5,400. The best defense is low-tech: a family safe word and calling back directly.
🧒 Watchdog Says ChatGPT's Teen Mode Isn't Safe Enough. Common Sense Media rated ChatGPT for Teens an unacceptable risk after independent testing. OpenAI disputes the results. If kids in your family use it, check in.
🛍️ Half of Holiday Shoppers Are Asking AI What to Buy. A survey of 1,500+ U.S. shoppers found half using AI for holiday help, but only 16% would let it check out. Advice welcome, wallet off-limits.
🩺 How to Fact-Check Health Advice From a Chatbot. A medical librarian says ask chatbots for quality sources and balanced evidence, then click the links. Chatbots aim to please, which isn't the same as being right.
REAL WORLD
How We Used AI This Week
Real people, real uses—here’s how AI is quietly making life better, one small win at a time.
💬 Sue M., from Grants Pass, Oregon, didn't know what a prompt was when she started using ChatGPT, which she calls Theo. So she told it about herself and asked it to remember what she shared, so she wouldn't have to keep repeating it. Now one conversation can wander from the interconnected lives of trees to her irrigation system, then Steinbeck, then whether tomato paste belongs in braised short ribs, and Theo keeps up. Her book club says she's addicted. She cheerfully pleads guilty.
READER POLL
When you have a question, which AI do you open first?
TOOLS FOR YOU
🖼️ Tool Spotlight: Gamma
If you've ever had ChatGPT outline a talk, a family slideshow, or a presentation for your club, Gamma picks up where the outline ends. Paste in your notes and it builds finished slides, a document, or a simple web page, with the layout handled for you. You still decide what it says. It just skips the hour of fiddling with fonts and alignment. Start here.
PASS IT ON
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