What's Appening: AI’s Open for Business 🤖🏗️

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👀 TLDR:

In this week’s What’s Appening, we cover the launch of an API for OpenAI tools. The APIs for ChatGPT and Whisper will allow businesses to officially integrate OpenAI’s tools into their apps, products, and services. Some believe it will lead to an AI gold rush as developers can now stop messing around with AI and start building products in earnest. We also have news of the beta launch of Bluesky, the so-called Twitter alternative that’s been backed by former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey. There’s also news from Planet Twitter itself, where Elon Musk has promised to provide end-to-end encryption for DMs by the end of the month. Our Stat of the Week looks at TikTok’s plans to limit teens’ screen time. And What’s dAppening reports on a breakthrough in Ethereum Account Abstraction, which could lead to crypto and web3 becoming more user-friendly.

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Takes 🎬️

📱🤖 OpenAI – Launch of API Could Lead to Golden Age of AI Apps

Last week, OpenAI launched an API for both its AI text-to-text generator ChatGPT and Whisper, its speech recognition model. It’s not a stretch to say that this could be the most important development in the tech industry this year. An API allows businesses to build ChatGPT (or Whisper) technology into their apps and websites, as well as other products and services. Now, those of you who have keenly read What’s Appening this past few months will have noted that we have mentioned several businesses and tools that have already integrated with ChatGPT. But without the official API and licensing, there are limitations to how a business can promote and charge for that service, and what developers can build on it. Since ChatGPT came out in November, you can be sure that a lot of developers were simply messing about with the technology within their own personal sandbox, so to speak. But now the doors are officially open for a suite of new AI-assisted products and services. What, then, comes next? That’s the exciting part because we just don’t know what’s coming. Some have spoken of an AI “gold rush”, characterized by an explosion of creativity. Overnight, the economics of many businesses could change. Indeed, API access to ChatGPT is 10 times cheaper than its predecessor, GPT3. At a stroke, then, adding AI to your business has become more accessible and affordable. The building is beginning in earnest, and we can’t wait to see the next generation of AI apps and services. #APIAIYAY Read more here.

🌇🐣 Bluesky – Jack Dorsey’s Twitter Alternative Arrives as Invite-Only App

Truth to tell, we haven’t heard much buzz recently about Bluesky, the alternative to Twitter that is being backed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. In fact, the project’s backers have been tight-lipped about the upcoming app for months now. However, it has now launched on the App Store, albeit in an invite-only mode for developers to start testing the beta version. We’ve only got a few details here and there of what Bluesky is going to look like, but, in truth, we should really be talking about a Mastodon alternative, given it is based on the same principles as a decentralized social network. Dorsey maintained (in messages with Elon Musk, ironically) that Bluesky will be more of an open-source protocol than a company, but will it be a hit with users? Nonetheless, the App Store listing means Bluesky’s official launch is surely not far off. #BlueSkiesNear Read more here.

💌 🔏 Twitter – End-to-End Encryption for Direct Messages Coming Soon

Since we mentioned him above, we might as well bring you up to speed on what’s been appening on Elon Musk’s plaything. Yesterday, Mr Musk announced that Twitter should have end-to-end encryption for DMs “by the end of the month”. This one is kind of a big deal for Elon, as he has mentioned encryption repeatedly in the gazillion tweets he has posted since buying the platform. The encryption means that nobody – not even Twitter itself – will be able to see the messages you send, apart from the recipient, of course. It’s a huge win for privacy campaigners, but it’s worth remembering that not everyone loves encryption. Police & security services, as well as child safety campaigners, believe it can put users at risk. Still, Twitter is only offering the same type of service as messaging apps like Signal and WhatsApp, and we expect most users will be happy enough that their DMs aren’t easily accessible. #EndToEndTwitter Read more here.

🧐 Stat of the Week: 60 Mins

⛔⏰ TikTok – Plans to Automatically Limit Minors’ Screen Time to One Hour Per Day

TikTok has rolled out a bunch of new features with the intention of promoting well-being among younger users. One of the key takeaways is the plan to automatically apply a 60-minute limit to all U18s’ screen time. The feature can be disabled, sure, but TikTok intends to keep nudging them towards healthy screen time by requiring the inputting of passcodes, new parental controls, further reminders after 100 minutes, and so on. Moreover, TikTok has done its homework on this, too, discovering in testing that its reminder system increased the uptake of account-limiting tools by up to 234%. #TikTokTime Read more here.

🕸️ What’s dAppening?

A dApp is a decentralized app. Here’s the latest in web3, NFTs and blockchain apps.

🪙🔑 Ethereum – Major Update May Actually Solve Crypto’s UX Problem

At ETHDenver last week, we were told that the ERC-4337 standard, also known as Account Abstraction, would be arriving a lot quicker than was first thought. Account Abstraction is highly technical, but the important thing is what it does, not how it does it. In a nutshell, it makes the architecture of Ethereum wallets much simpler and more user-friendly. A good way to think about it is that it gives a Web-2-like account experience to a web3 product. The decentralized nature of crypto wallets means you are in trouble if you, for example, lose your passwords and that clunky 12-word seed phrase. But with Account Abstraction, you will be able to get access via an option like social recovery, which allows you to regain control of your wallet with the help of previously nominated “guardians”. Account Abstraction does a lot more, including improving the functionality of your wallet by allowing plugins, paying for gas fees in any token, enabling phones to become de facto hardware wallets, and more. This will all take time to roll out into web3 products and services, but it’s a huge deal for the sector as it makes exploring and interacting with the decentralized internet much easier. #AccountAbstraction Read more here.

Meanwhile at 3Advance…

We are delighted to welcome Jackson Jost to the 3A team as our new Product Manager Trainee. Jackson has experience as a solo entrepreneur and developed Vibe Social Music, a social media app for music discovery.

His passion for music and enthusiasm for product management will make him a valuable addition to our team - and we’re really excited to see how he will apply his expertise to his new role. Welcome aboard, Jackson! We look forward to getting to know you and working together to create exceptional apps for our clients.

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