⚡️ 3 AI Tricks That'll Save You Hours This Week (Most People Have No Idea These Exist Yet)

While everyone's obsessing over the next big AI announcement, the tools sitting in your browser tabs quietly added features that'll genuinely change your workflow. I'm talking about updates that dropped in the last two weeks—stuff that's already live and waiting for you to use.

Let me break them down.

Tip 1: Let ChatGPT Do Your Holiday Shopping Research (It Just Got Scary Good at This)

OpenAI rolled out "Shopping Research" on November 24, 2025, and it's genuinely useful—not in a gimmicky way, but in a "this just saved me 3 hours" way.

What changed:

Instead of generic product lists, Shopping Research acts like a personal shopping assistant. It asks clarifying questions about your budget and priorities, then researches across hundreds of websites to build you a personalized buyer's guide. Works especially well for electronics, beauty, home appliances, and sports gear.

How it works:

Ask ChatGPT any shopping question and it suggests Shopping Research automatically. You get a visual interface where you swipe right on products you like (Tinder for shopping). ChatGPT asks follow-up questions, researches in real-time, and delivers a complete buyer's guide with comparisons and purchase links in 2–3 minutes.

The feature uses GPT-5 mini trained specifically for shopping—it reads trusted reviews, pulls current prices, and synthesizes 100+ sources instead of the usual 10. With Memory enabled, it remembers your preferences from past conversations.

Copy-paste these prompts:

• For specific products: "I need running shoes for someone with flat feet who runs on pavement 3-4 times per week. Budget is $100-150. I care most about comfort and durability."
• For gifts: "Help me find a gift for my mom who loves cooking but already has basic kitchen equipment. Budget $75. She likes trying new cuisines and watches cooking shows."
• For comparisons: "Compare these three robot vacuums: Roomba j7+, Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, and Eufy X10 Pro. I have two dogs, hardwood floors, and I care most about pet hair pickup and low maintenance."
• For alternatives: [Upload photo] "Find me something similar to this dress but under $100. I need it for a wedding in 3 weeks."

Key details:

• Available on Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans with "nearly unlimited" holiday usage
• Doesn't pull from Amazon, but covers Walmart, Best Buy, Target, and hundreds of retailers
• Double-check prices and availability on actual retailer sites

Try Shopping Research in ChatGPT • Official announcement • See examples

Tip 2: Turn Text Into Professional Video Content With Sora's New Android App

OpenAI just released Sora 2 on Android (December 9, 2025), which means you can now create hyperrealistic videos with sound from your phone. This isn't another "AI generated a wonky video" situation—Sora 2 actually follows physics correctly.

What you can do:

Generate 10-15 second video clips from text prompts or images, complete with synchronized sound. Create product demos, social media content, educational videos, or quick mockups for client presentations.

The big upgrade: It understands physics properly. If a basketball player misses a shot, the ball bounces off the backboard instead of magically teleporting into the hoop.

Key features:

• Character Cameos: Upload a video of yourself (or anyone/anything) and drop them into any scene.
• Stitching: Combine multiple clips to create longer narratives.
• Storyboards: Describe each frame and duration to build a detailed storyboard before generating.
• Remix: Swap characters, change the vibe, or add scenes from videos in the Sora feed.

Copy-paste these prompts:

• For product marketing:"Show a modern minimalist water bottle on a wooden desk, morning sunlight streaming through a window..."
• For educational content:"Animated explanation of how photosynthesis works. Show a leaf in cross-section..."
• For social media:"A golden retriever wearing sunglasses skateboarding through a park..."
• For business:"Professional office setting, diverse team collaborating around a conference table..."

Real applications:

• Marketing teams: Create b-roll and demo videos without hiring a production crew
• Content creators: Generate custom footage without stock footage limitations
• Educators: Visualize complex or historical processes
• Entrepreneurs: Make pitch videos on a startup budget

Important to know:

• Videos are 10–15 seconds max (stitch multiple clips for longer content)
• Watermarks added to all videos for transparency
• ChatGPT Plus: 50 videos/month at 480p ($20/month)
• ChatGPT Pro: 500 videos/month at higher resolutions ($200/month)

Download Sora on Android • iOS version • Browse examples at sora.com • Technical details

Tip 3: Make AI Remember Your Work Style (So You Stop Repeating Yourself)

ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI tools now have memory systems that actually work. Instead of starting fresh every conversation, they remember your preferences, work style, and context from past interactions.

What's new:

• ChatGPT Memory Profiles (expanded December 2025): Remembers your role, industry, workflows, communication style, tech stack, audience, and typical deliverables. Handles 500+ page documents without losing context.
• Claude's Extended Memory: Maintains context across entire projects, remembers coding patterns, tracks ongoing work, and adapts to your writing tone automatically.

How this changes your workflow:

Before memory: "Hi Claude, I'm a marketing manager at a B2B SaaS company targeting mid-market CTOs. I need help writing an email. Use a professional but conversational tone. Keep it under 150 words. Focus on ROI…"

With memory: "Write the follow-up email for the demo request." [Claude already knows everything about your role, audience, tone, and format]

Setting up memory the right way:

Quick setup prompt (copy-paste and customize):

"I want you to remember key details about me and my work. Here's what you should know: Role: [Your job title and industry] Common tasks: [3–5 things you do regularly] Communication style: [How you prefer responses] Tools I use: [Your main software/platforms] Current priorities: [What you're focused on now] Going forward, use this context automatically without me needing to repeat it."

Real examples:

• Marketing professional: Remembers brand voice guidelines, target audience, successful campaign formats, and approval process
• Developer: Remembers preferred languages/frameworks, code style, project architecture, and testing requirements
• Content creator: Knows your niche, audience, publishing schedule, and high-performing content patterns
• Consultant: Remembers client details, service offerings, successful frameworks, and reporting format

Pro tips:

• Review regularly: Both ChatGPT and Claude let you view and edit stored memories. Check monthly and remove outdated info
• Update when things change: New role? New project? Tell your AI explicitly so it adjusts
• Use for templates: Tell it once how you format proposals or emails. It'll use that structure automatically
• Be specific about exclusions: "Don't remember: client names, financial figures, or anything marked confidential"

How to enable:

• ChatGPT: Settings → Personalization → Memory (toggle on). Use "Remember this:" prefix for important details. Say "Forget about [X]" to remove.
• Claude: Memory automatically enabled in Projects. Each Project has separate memory space. Ask "What do you remember about [topic]?" to check.
• Gemini: Enable “Personalization” in settings. Gemini pulls from Search history when enabled.

ChatGPT Memory settings • Memory FAQ • Claude Projects • Gemini Personalization

The Bottom Line

These aren't theoretical productivity hacks. They're features that went live in the last two weeks and are already saving people hours every day:

1. Shopping Research turns ChatGPT into a personal shopping assistant that actually understands your needs
2. Sora on Android lets you create professional-quality video content from your phone in minutes
3. AI Memory means you finally stop repeating yourself every time you need help with work

The difference between people who are productive with AI and people who aren't? The productive ones actually use these features instead of sticking to "Hey ChatGPT, can you help me with..."

Quick action steps:

1. Try Shopping Research for your next purchase (holiday shopping is the perfect test)
2. Download Sora and create one video this week (even just to experiment)
3. Spend 5 minutes setting up memory in your AI tool of choice

Want more AI updates that actually matter?

• OpenAI's latest announcements
• ChatGPT release notes (actual changelog, not marketing)
• AI news roundup (weekly digest of what actually shipped)
• Practical AI tools directory (searchable database)

Just before you go

Hope you enjoyed this edition of Brain Bytes. Got feedback, suggestions, or cool AI tools to add?

You can always reply directly to this email — I read everything you send.

See you later this week, — Oliver