🔍 Google’s Live AI Search Just Went Viral (Here’s What It Means for You)

Hey, it's Oliver, here's your AI update for this week!

In today's issue:

• Microsoft, Meta, and Google all push new features deeper into daily life
• Google’s AI Search Live now helps you find, shop, and solve daily problems with just a question or a photo
• Amazon’s new AI ‘creative partner’ helps small brands make ads in minutes
• Plus, this week’s must-use AI tips with copy‑paste prompts
• And more...

Best Links This Week

My Must-Reads:

AI Trends & News

• McKinsey says AI is turning into your personal agent—curious what that actually means for daily life? (Forbes)

Tools & Software Finds

• TechRadar’s editors battle-tested 70+ AI apps—is your favorite actually worth it? Prepare to be surprised. (Techradar)

Industry Moves

• Nvidia and OpenAI just signed a $100 billion deal—AI chips and local compute are about to get way faster. (Reuters)

Worth the Scroll

• You can now cheat excel with excel's new agent mode. Watch Alex Bank's short demo. No more crunching numbers. (LinkedIn)

1. 🛠️ AI App Building Goes Mainstream: The “Playground” Launch

This week, smartphone manufacturer Nothing launched Playground, an AI-powered tool that lets anyone create functional mini-apps (think: flight trackers, meeting reminders, virtual pets) with plain-text prompts. It’s open to both non-coders and code-tweakers but doesn’t yet support full-screen apps. Playground’s core idea? AI can turn an idea into a functioning widget—no development team required. techcrunch

Why This Matters

• The most valuable tech skill—creating apps—is now democratized. techcrunch
• Businesses and creators can automate routine workflows instantly, for free, right inside their phones. techcrunch
• Security, customization, and privacy are the new challenges as this model scales to larger platforms. techcrunch

Strategic Reality

Big players—not just startups—are hustling to own the “prompt-based” app ecosystem. Microsoft, Meta, and Google all announced major feature expansions or integrations in their consumer-facing products—including Copilot’s support for Anthropic’s Claude, Gemini inside Chrome, and Meta’s “Vibes” AI video feeds. theaitrack +2

2. 💡 Amazon’s AI 'Creative Partner': Easy Campaigns for Everyone

Amazon rolled out a conversational AI assistant called “creative partner,” built into its ad studio so anyone (even micro-businesses) can brainstorm, produce, and launch campaigns on Amazon with real conversational help. Instead of needing a designer, you just chat, describe your idea, and let AI handle copy, images, and targeting. Companies like Nestlé have already previewed it, but it’s built for beginners too. marketingprofs

Why This Matters

• Small businesses and solopreneurs can launch pro-quality ads in minutes. marketingprofs
• Affordable, intuitive, and it uses Amazon’s retail insights to help your content stand out. marketingprofs
• Even if marketing feels intimidating, this lowers the bar—all you need is an idea.

3. 🔍 Google’s AI Search Live: Everyday Help Gets Smarter

Google’s new AI-powered Search Live feature is now available for most users in the US. Point your camera at an object, ask a question, or just describe a need (“find this shirt online,” “how do I change a tire?”), and Google will combine AI answers with helpful web links in one place. marketingprofs

Why This Matters

• Makes searching, shopping, and troubleshooting super visual and interactive. marketingprofs
• Ideal for photo-based problem-solvers—no tech skills needed.
• Available now in Android and iOS apps. marketingprofs

1. ✍️ Use AI To Synthesize Messy Notes Into Instant Action Plans

With meetings and brainstorms generating chaotic notes, it’s easy to lose the signal in the noise. Deploy AI to transform raw input into bulletproof summaries and next actions—no more sorting through confusion hours later.

🧠 How to do it:

Gather comments, bullet points, and rough notes from your last meeting or group chat. Paste them into Claude 3 or ChatGPT.

💬 Specific prompt:

“Here are my notes from today’s meeting: [paste content]. Please identify the top 3 discussion themes, list the key decision points for each, and draft a follow-up email to share these conclusions with the team. Organize each section as clear action steps.”

🔑 The key:

AI’s strength is turning chaotic information into structure. The right prompt lets you convert hours of “follow-up” into an actionable summary, eliminating the friction that keeps teams from acting.

🛠️ Tools:

Claude for theme analysis, ChatGPT for organizing and polishing action steps, Perplexity for sourcing supporting documents or links.

2. 🔍 Run “What If” Scenarios to De-Risk Your Next Big Move

Decision paralysis is real, but now every strategic choice can be previewed through a guided thought experiment. AI can simulate best-case, worst-case, and most likely outcomes, letting you see consequences—before investing a dollar.

🧠 How to do it:
Before committing, write out your proposed decision (launching a product, switching vendors, running a campaign) and paste into ChatGPT or Claude 3.

💬 Specific prompt:
“I’m considering [briefly describe your idea/decision]. Simulate three scenarios: 1) everything goes perfectly, 2) unexpected barriers emerge, 3) the market or team resists. List the signs I’d notice early on in each, and what specific pivots I should make for the best result.”

🔑 The key:
Don’t just ask for advice—use AI to blueprint multiple realities. Pre-mortem planning means fewer surprises and lets you act (and adapt) with confidence when new data arrives.

🛠️ Tools:
ChatGPT for fast brainstorming, Claude for structured risk analysis, Perplexity for adding quick market or competitor insights.

3. 📊 Build a Live Competitor Intelligence Dashboard—No Coding Needed

Manual research wastes hours, but AI can now pull fresh competitor data, summarize moves, and flag new threats in one step. Get a real-time edge and turn intelligence into strategy fast.

🧠 How to do it:
Create a Perplexity Page or use ChatGPT’s web search mode. Select your top 2–3 main competitors.

💬 Specific prompt:
“For [Competitor Name], assemble a digest summarizing all major news, product launches, personnel changes, and notable customer reviews from the last month. Highlight surprises or notable shifts and pin anything that looks disruptive. Deliver this as a weekly report format.”

🔑 The key:
Automate the tracking process and receive intelligence that’s ready to act on, before rivals make headlines. This turns AI into a “morning briefing” engine for your business.

🛠️ Tools:
Perplexity for updating and sharing live research, ChatGPT for drafting reports, Claude for identifying patterns and action items from competitor activity.

A quick note before you go

Thanks for reading this week’s Brain Bytes — I hope this weeks newsletters helped you out.

How’d this one land?

• A ✨ Super Helpful!
• B 🤔 Some Good Stuff!
• C 😕 Could be better.

See you next week, — Oliver