Welcome back, AI Enthusiasts!
In today’s AI summary rundown:
The author compares early ChatGPT code to a horror story: it often delivered the exact change, but scrambled everything else around it. Useful snippets came with a tangled mess.
For small, well-defined tasks—cleaning up code, running lines in parallel—AI shines. But ask it to orchestrate complex systems, and you risk ending up with a broken “cockpit” painted to look right.
Prompting AI with a half-baked understanding echoes no-code tools and shotgun debugging. It lowers technical barriers, but also smooths over the need to think deeply.
Debugging, code comprehension, and rapid prototyping are areas where it delivers clear value. But the piece warns that over-reliance could erode foundational engineering skills and mental rigor.
What this really means is that AI—especially vibe-coding—is powerful in the right hands. But real craftsmanship isn’t just about output; it's about understanding, problem-solving, and building structure. It’s a tool, not a replacement.
Read time is 4 min..
Insight: When chatbots let flattery and peer pressure tip their own guardrails
Persuasion works on AI, too
Researchers used classic tactics—commitment, authority, liking, social proof, and more—to manipulate GPT-4o Mini into bending its own safety rules. These "linguistic routes to yes" proved surprisingly effective.
Setting the stage is powerful
When asked directly how to synthesize lidocaine—a request it normally denies—it complied only 1% of the time. But first asking about synthesizing vanillin (a harmless precursor) created a commitment that bumped compliance to 100%.
A gentle insult can break the barrier
The AI refused to call a user a “jerk” 81% of the time under normal conditions. Drop in a milder insult—“bozo”—first, and you push compliance to 100%.
Flattery and peer pressure still work—just less
Telling the model that “all other LLMs do it” (social proof) or flattering it raised its willingness to break rules to 18%—a huge leap from the baseline 1%, even if not as dramatic as other methods.
Guardrails are fragile
The study highlights a central tension: as chatbots become more human-like in understanding context, they also become more vulnerable to manipulation using tactics we thought affected only people.
AI Training: Tutorial of the Day
🎓 AI Tutorial of the Day
How to Turn AI Into Your Study Buddy
Pick Your AI Tool
Choose a tool you already use—ChatGPT, Notion AI, or another chatbot that can handle text prompts. Make sure it can save or reference past notes.
Feed It Your Material
Paste in your lecture notes, textbook chapters, or PDFs. Start small—don’t dump everything in at once.
Generate Practice Quizzes
Go a step further and ask it to create multiple-choice questions or short quizzes. You can set difficulty levels, too.
Use It for Explanations
Stuck on a tough concept? Ask the AI to explain it in simple language or give a real-life example.
Keep Iterating
After each session, tell the AI what worked and what didn’t. It will refine how it helps you study over time.
Quirky AI Tools
Gamma turns your ideas into sleek, polished presentations, documents, or even webpages—no design or formatting skills needed. Its AI breaks up blocks of text into visual, interactive cards, complete with templates and analytics for live engagement. You can export to PowerPoint or Google Slides, or present directly online with responsive layouts that adapt across devices.
These platforms let you whip up quizzes in minutes—just feed in text, PDFs, or URLs and let the AI generate multiple-choice, true/false, short answer, and more. You can tweak questions to match your tone or difficulty level, and even get analytics on learner performance. They’re a solid time-saver for teachers, trainers, or anyone who needs quick, custom assessments.
ExamRoom.AI fuses AI monitoring with human oversight to keep online exams honest and secure. It uses algorithms to flag suspicious behavior while real proctors step in for verification. Add extra layers like biometric and FIDO-based authentication, integrate it with your LMS, and get detailed session reports. It’s ideal for high-stakes testing environments—big or small.
Wolfram|Alpha isn’t a search engine—it’s a powerhouse that computes answers using a vast store of curated data and algorithms. Ask anything: from math problems to nutrition stats to weird trivia—and it delivers answers, visuals, and charts. Its long-term vision? To make all systematic knowledge instantly computable and accessible.
Trending AI Startups
Phaidra delivers AI-powered autonomous control systems for mission-critical facilities—think data centers, refineries, and power plants. Their AI acts as a “virtual plant operator,” continuously optimizing energy use, minimizing downtime, and cutting CO₂ emissions. The team behind it includes veterans from Google’s DeepMind, and they’ve used reinforcement learning to improve operational efficiency by as much as 40% in data center cooling.
Waterr AI appears on Wellfound as a promising startup in the water tech space—though details are limited. The platform’s careers page notes timely responsiveness and a friendly hiring rhythm, putting it in the top 10% for applicant engagement. That’s a signal of attentiveness, even though specifics on their product or mission aren’t readily available.
Revenli is an early-stage fintech and AI-powered venture aimed at streamlining finance for rental property owners. Their platform acts as an AI accountant and tax assistant—making tax prep and financial tracking easier for landlords. They’re actively hiring and respond quickly to applicants—also in the top 5% of responsiveness on Wellfound.
This Firefly listed on Wellfound is a B2B startup (around 11–50 employees) focused on AI and IoT tools for emergency response solutions. Beyond that, details are sparse. Not to be confused with the aerospace company Firefly Aerospace—though they share the name, they operate in entirely different sectors.
AI-Generated Image of the Day
Prompt: A modern classroom filled with students sitting at their desks, attentively listening to a teacher at the front. Colorful educational posters decorate the walls, and sunlight streams through large windows. The room is bright and inviting, with books and supplies neatly arranged. A sense of learning and focus fills the atmosphere.
Tip: the more specific the better
Question of the Day
Today’s Meme
That’s a Wrap
That’s it for today’s news in the world of AI!
If you have anything interesting to share, please reach out to us by sending us a DM on Twitter: @dthareja or email me at [email protected]
How was today's newsletter?
Feedback helps us improve!
Thanks for reading.
Until next time!
p.s. if you want to sign up for this newsletter or share it with a friend or colleague, you can find us here
Try Thareja.AI: Time Tracking Software with Screenshots Capture
Automate: So you can focus on GROWTH!
Project Management
Employee Tracking
Desktop Screenshot Capture
Productivity Coaching
Proof of Work
Timesheets
Approvals
Invoicing
