|
|
Hi Sparklers!
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at a few events, including Technology for Marketing and the AllBright Live Well Festival. The highlight was hosting the Switched ON Session and helping a roomful of women go from AI overwhelmed to a lot more capable. One of the guests said this:
“What a great evening! I have been telling lots of friends about this! … I have been adding things to my folder all weekend … and I have developed a speaker pack to send out for new business ops. … Thank you. I genuinely learnt a lot!”
Thank you for all the messages from those of you who’d have loved to come but couldn’t make the date. You’ll be pleased to know I’ve got something for you, free and online. Keep reading: the details for our very first Switched ONline are at the bottom of this email. I hope you can join me there.
First, the five AI stories worth your Monday coffee.
|
|
THIS WEEK
Switch ON to AI News
Don't You Want Me
Muse, Meta's AI agent, overtook ChatGPT as America's top free iPhone app on 18 September. Hand it your email, calendar and card, and it books travel and buys things. On 23 September Meta announced Charm, a Muse device that New Atlas says fits on a keychain. No price yet.
My take: Charm looks like a cute Tamagotchi. But why does Muse need a device? You know how I feel about Meta and privacy, and a gadget makes that even more complicated. The design is potentially very feminine, and we know how much girlhood sells. Is Meta going after young people yet again, building on its strong female audience across Facebook and Instagram? Or is Muse's killer app an assistant for home life, inside our WhatsApps? Muse isn't in the UK yet, so we'll have to wait to try it.
Read the full story →
Take On Me
From 2027, YouTube will let select creators test up to three edits of a video, Shorts included, on real viewers, and keep whichever holds attention best.
My take: Look at Instagram's Trial Reels. They show a new reel to people who don't follow you before your followers see it, so if it flops, it flops among strangers. If you're building a YouTube following, being able to test like that could be huge.
Read the full story →
Young at Heart
An AI read the pulse signal from OPPO smartwatches worn by 581,804 people in China to estimate their “heart age”. The older the heart looked than its owner, the more likely they were to already have high blood pressure. It's not yet peer reviewed, and it's not on anyone's watch today.
My take: Devices are getting more helpful, and that's what interests me. People are really into health trackers, especially ones that could help spot problems early and prevent them. I think this kind of health tech is only going to grow.
Read the full story →
Every Breath You Take
The UK government wants to know what you think about bosses using software to monitor staff and make decisions about them. Its consultation, “Make Work Pay: workplace monitoring technologies”, closes at 11:59pm on Wednesday 30 September. Anyone can reply, online or by email.
My take: It's the one AI story this week where you actually get a say, and all it takes is a reply. Don't let Wednesday sneak up on you.
Read the full story →
My Way
Anthropic says its model Claude Opus 5.5 “follows the writing rules you give it” and is “less likely to use jargon”. It came out on 22 September, with bigger usage limits on Pro, Max and Team plans. The “40% cheaper” headlines are about developer prices, not your monthly plan.
My take: Two moans I keep hearing about Claude: it's been off its game lately, and it never uses ten words when a hundred will do. If Opus 5.5 really follows your rules, brilliant. Let's see if it can get to the point.
Read the full story →
|
|
SPARK SWITCHED ON
Five parking spaces, one app
One of the women I work with had a problem at her kids' school. You can't drive up to the gates, so you park a bit further up, and there are only five spaces.
She got together with some of the other mums and created an app, so they could tell each other who had a space.
She never thought she could do that. I told her story on stage at AllBright on Friday, because it's the best kind of win: a small, annoying problem she cared about, and the nerve to have a go.
What's your version of the five parking spaces?
|
|
TRY IT THIS WEEK
Switch this ON
This is the one I use every day. I say what I want out loud through Wispr Flow, however messy it comes out, then add these three lines at the end:
THE PROMPT · COPY IT AS IT IS
Clarify what I said here and tidy it up.
Tell me exactly what I've asked for.
Then write it as a tighter prompt to work from.
It plays back what I've asked for, so I can spot anything it's got wrong before it starts, then hands me a tighter prompt to work from. It works in Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini, whether you say it or type it.
|
|
THE REAL TAKEAWAY
Avoidance is not a strategy. Capability is.
Every time I'm in a room with women, I watch the same shift: they arrive cautious and leave curious, excited and wanting to do more. The excitement comes with a better grip on the risks and the impact, too. We still managed a bit of boogie and disco.
A woman empowered is a happy woman.
|
|
OCTOBER
Come and find me
Don't miss this one
Switched ONline
Monday 5 October · Online · Free
Everything I’ve been sharing on stage lately, minus the train fare.
We start at AI overwhelm and finish with a system that lets you build your own agents. Your Me folder comes first, built together, live, one step at a time, so you leave with an AI that knows you.
Tap the time that suits you and save your free seat. I'll go with the most popular.
|
|
HOW WAS THIS WEEK'S SPARK?
with love and sparkle,
Nish x
P.S. Know someone who’s still cautious about AI? Forward her this, so she can save a free seat too.
WRITTEN BY MOUTH
My words in this newsletter started out loud, and Wispr Flow did the typing. My keyboard has never had it so easy.
Get 90 days free: wisprflow.ai/nishma. Full disclosure: I'm an investor and ambassador, and that's my link.
LinkedIn ·
Instagram ·
Substack ·
YouTube
|
|
|
