https://ai.meta.com/muse/ The AI platform, not the band. Mark Zuckerberg gives piss-poor presentation. It's funny, Steve Jobs created the paradigm. You write it and you rehearse it, to the point where even Tim Cook could keep the audience's attention... But Zuck? He looks like a dweeb in AP English standing up to give a book report. Such that when he is announcing products, we shrug. Not that Zuck has a great track record. I mean he changed the name and direction of the company to focus on the metaverse, Facebook becoming Meta, blowing billions in the process, if he didn't control the company he would have been blown out, and then he introduced those spy glasses... Seemingly everything he accomplished since Facebook was based on an acquisition, like Instagram, or an imitation, like Threads. We did not look to Zuckerberg for breakthroughs. Those came from Apple... In the Jobs era. Has Apple missed the boat with AI or is it going to end up sitting pretty? The economics of AI...let's just say all the profits are theoretical, and the costs are beyond high...these are not railroad tracks, you've got to replace the infrastructure on a regular basis, chips are superseded seemingly the moment you get them installed (well, at least within a few years). So, the AI mania could be equivalent to the Enron mania or the Jack Welch GE mania. Seen as paragons of excellence, with hindsight... Remember when Welch was anointed the CEO of the Century? Now to say GE is a shadow of what it once was would be charitable, and Welch's lieutenants have gone on to wreak havoc and ruin other legendary companies, like Boeing. So... All those data centers, all those job losses, will they be seen as a boondoggle in the future? No one knows for sure, but sitting on the sidelines Apple could emerge a winner, having dodged a bullet. Meanwhile, the Cupertino company is experiencing a brain drain. Meta poached a lot of people for its AI effort. And all the hype has been about ChatGPT and Anthropic, Meta has been seen as an also-ran, but now... So Zuck gave a presentation last week, if there was a run-up, advance hype, it eluded me. And based on all his previous failures and/or less than exciting news, I wasn't paying much attention, until I was led to a clip about the new glasses functioning as hearing aids. Watch the demo... If you've lost some hearing, which seemingly every boomer has, and you wear glasses, and your vanity prevents you from wearing hearing aids, this could solve your problem. And then comes Muse. Okay, what exactly is Muse? An AI agent. Which I wasn't that excited about, which I was keeping on the periphery, until I read Joanna Stern's article. I mean I'd seen the stories, but I'm AI'd out. Yes, Muse could be my agent, but did I need an agent? Before I read Stern's piece, I was intrigued by Amazon declaring Muse off limits. And reading that Muse was number one in the app store. But then I read Stern's piece on Friday" "Musing around... How much should you give Meta?" https://thenewthings.com/p/musing-around That's a big question, should you trust Meta/Muse? It's not like Zuckerberg has earned our trust. And to tell you the truth, I'm not giving it access to my inbox, but I did try it (you can access Muse in a web browser using the link above or download the app). Try it out, Muse acts like a personal assistant. It does the work for you. Now the truth is we haven't seen anything this interesting...at least since ChatGPT itself, nearly four years ago. But, we used to see technology breakthroughs on a regular basis. First it was hardware (remember the iPod?), and then there was endless software from MySpace to music apps to... Now we used to have a new sound every three to five years in the music business. That ship sailed long ago. It's mostly just endless drivel, variations on a theme. Something that demands attention from the public at large... We really haven't seen that since Adele, who was more of a throwback than a great leap forward, focusing on singing and songs. But still... You've got to experiment with Muse. Give it a few assignments. Am I asking you to trust it with your data? NO WAY! But if you want to be part of the conversation, if you want to be in the now, this is truly a breakthrough, a harbinger of what's to come. It's exciting. Gentlepeople, START YOUR ENGINES! -- Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/ -- Listen to the podcast: -iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj -Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp -- http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz -- If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter, http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1 If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25 To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists/?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25
