How I use AI, New AI Tools & Robot Cats

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 is off to a great start for you and that your resolutions are still going strong. One of my resolutions is to dive deeper into exploring the opportunities that AI represents for businesses, especially marketing teams. So, expect more of that with the content that I share and the training meet-ups I invite you to this year.

AI in Action

The most interesting part of my AI training and consulting work is hearing about smart and creative ways that smart and creative people use AI tools to save time and improve their work. So, I thought I would share an example of my own.

I sometimes take on customer research projects for clients, usually to gather feedback on a digital product or explore new concepts. These projects typically involve virtual interviews and online usability testing. It’s super-interesting work, but also time-consuming—recording sessions, taking notes on key moments, and repeating this process for every interview.

Last month, I used Notebook LM to assist with a project, and it proved to be very helpful. I uploaded audio files from the customer interviews into the platform, which transcribed them and allowed me to query the transcripts individually or as a group. This provided several benefits:

• Quickly locating specific customer quotes for the report by searching keywords or topics, rather than rewatching the videos following my notes and timestamps.
• Identifying shared themes across participants and summarizing responses to specific questions or tasks.
• Quantifying patterns, such as how many participants mentioned a particular topic or observation.

While my overall workflow remained the same, Notebook LM made the report creation process much more efficient. The tool didn’t uncover any surprising insights, but it gave me some confidence that I hadn’t missed anything. The time it saved allowed me to enhance the report by including video clips of key moments from the interviews. So, a better report for the same amount of time. Or the same report, for less time. Take your pick - either way, it was a good reminder of the value AI tools can bring when you pause before starting a task and ask, “how can AI help?”

Other Google AI Goodness

If you’re interested in exploring Notebook LM, this short video tutorial is helpful. It includes some clever use cases, including uploading a lengthy document – like a user manual – and asking it specific questions. Google also announced a new feature allowing users to speak directly with the hosts of its Audio Overview (demo). While OpenAI dominates the AI headlines, Google continues to roll out tools with more obvious applications:

• Deep Research: This AI research assistant can create a research plan based on a topic or question that you provide. It goes on to generate a detailed report based by searching the web for relevant sources.
• Veo 2: This updated video generation model may be the state of the art. Check out this film made completely by Veo 2, and see how it compares to the video output of other models using the same “steak-slicing” prompt.

Looking Back & Ahead

• 2025 Trend Forecasts: Staying with Notebook LM train, here's an excellent example of how it can be used to summarize findings from multiple sources. Using it to search 100+ trend decks for trends relevant to various industries.
• 2024 Marketing Moments: Mark Ritson shares his top 10 marketing moments from 2024 - see Part 1 and Part 2. True to his brand, it includes lots of great points punctuated by profanity and calling out idiots.
• Sean’s Cultural Moments Encyclopedia: A fun and comprehensive Google Sheet with all of the cultural moments that social media managers can use to start planning content for the year.

Fresh Research

• AI Executive Survey (Bain): Illustrates that executives remain optimistic about AI, and marketing is the business area where most respondents reported that results far exceeded target goals.
• The AI Proficiency Report (Section): According to this survey of AI use in business, only 9% of employees achieve high proficiency in AI, while 43% of employees in companies that prohibit AI continue to use it weekly.
• Data Never Sleeps (Domo): An updated version of the infographic used in 90% of digital media presentations, which visualizes digital behaviour minute by minute.

Cool Beans – CES Edition

I attended CES once. That was enough. That said, I love seeing all of the strange tech products that are showcased. Here are a few that made the Cool Beans list:

• Electric Salt Spoon: Your food too bland? Just use this spoon that emits an electric current to the taste receptors on your tongue, and you don’t need to add any more salt.
• AeroCatTower: For those who can’t decide between an air purifier and a cat tree.
• Robot Cat Blower: Don’t have a cat tree (or cat)? This tiny robot cat can mount on the side of your mug and blow air to help cool it off.

Stay weird, CES!