The GPT Store Opens Next Week & AI Girlfriends Are A Thing | The Hi-Tech Discussion

I might have missed posting this yesterday – and you may forgive me, for I was on day 5 of a 5-day water fast, so my brain was toast.

However, I believe in always keeping your word. So today, as I'm high on two massive meals and it's just 1pm as I write, I want to discuss with you everything tech. Fair?

Let's start the first 2024 issue of the Hidalgo Tech Discussion.

"We Can't Compete With AI Girlfriends"

This is the borderline triggering headline of Evie Magazine, as it features a picture of a pink-haired (branded) AI young woman.

The topic, which seems taken straight out of a Black Mirror episode, is still unknown to many people: Apps like Replika, which has gotten 20 million downloads and that was supposed to be a mental health support tool, are now running ads on social media. They offer hot role-play.

Another app, Eva AI, is telling people they can create their dream partner. And Dream Girlfriend promises a girl that will exceed even the wildest desires. Finally, another app offers voice calls with your fake partner.

Now, if you don't see the issue in this you're either a hypocrite profiting from it, or an incel. There is already a crisis going one – one where our youth isn't able to interact with the other sex. One where that leads to loneliness.

And you know who's at fault? Not the app producers, of course. They are simply obeying the law of supply and demand. Men are at fault. Men who have become weak, scared and insecure. Men who have lost their self-love and are addicted to screens and voyeurism.

Where the companies are at fault is when they start advertising these apps on TikTok and Instagram, apps where the average user is younger and still hasn't developed an adult prefrontal cortex.

Also, if you think porn is ruining beauty standards, wait until dudes can configure their fantasy girls however they want. Wait until they can't handle an argument with their real-life partner, and threaten to cheat on them with an AI.

I won't link to those apps in this articles – God forbid I help a perv get worse. But I will tell you something: I don't see how we get out of this one. Unless we violate the privacy of 20 million men to track who downloaded, take their phones, and send them to military service with only a 1999 Nokia as their way to contact family.

If you have any thoughts on how to make men be men, please shoot them my way. But this is one of the darkest things I see popping up in our society and nobody seems to care.

The GPT Store Is Finally Here

Next week you'll be able to access the GPT Store, where you can create your own custom GPTs. Now, why does it matter and how does it work?

Well, imagine you are a fan of Marcus Aurelius or, like me, Napoleon Hill. I bet my left hand that, at least once, you've wondered: "What would it be like to get advice from them?"

A custom GPT could be the answer to that. You upload the entire body of Marcus Aurelius' work, add extended biographical information, and then ask the GPT to act as your own life advisor: Say hello to Marcus AIrelius.

Now, the GPT Store was supposed to come out sooner, but the old board decided to fill OpenAI with drama by trying to fire Sam Altman and the launch was delayed.

For now, we know that there is no plan for monetising these GPTs. Nor is there information about payments. The news matters because it will kill all those IT companies' initiatives around building GPT for customers – guess what, now y'all are gonna have to find more creative ways to make money. Exactly as you did before (hopefully).

TikTok Takes On Amazon

Our favorite propaganda-prone social engineering app has big goals: They will try to grow their US online sales business to $17.5 BILLION in 2024.

However, this goal doesn't just impact Amazon. TikTok goes for a war on three fronts, taking on also Temu and Shein. And you might think: "Yes, but how will TikTok compete? Amazon is the everything store. Temu and Shein are cheap retailers."

It's a fair objection. Those who know anything about Business Strategy will right away object that TikTok might be stretching their capabilities and taking too big of a step here.

However, here's the thing: Algorithms are perfectly controllable. With them, you can decided what content gets boosted and what content doesn't.

With this in mind, imagine a world where the words "Amazon," "Temu" and "Shein" are de-boosted. A world in which TikTok gives a visibility boost to the posts that review and feature articles from their store. That's a world in which hundreds of thousands of creators will just start doing that – playing into TikTok's plan to a T.

I won't say that this is an Amazon-slayer. Amazon has decades of trust and experience to rely on, as well as a perfectly honed-in capabilities system and the trust of the public opinion. But Temu and Shein?

If I were them, I'd be shaking.

In Other News

Logan Paul

Perhaps one of the most annoying figures in the influencer space, especially now that his fake-claim-ridden drink "Prime" made its way into Europe, amongst smart people the older Paul brother is famous for two things: The Suicide Forest episode, and scamming people with CryptoZoo.

Apparently though, he'll be refunding all the people that got scammed with his crypto initiative. He went as far as claiming he never made money with the project.

The decision comes in response to a class action lawsuit the victims are running against him. And the catch? If you claim your refund, you can't sue him.

Lol, lmao and ROFL all at the same time. Someone tell Paul to stick to pro wrestling.

23andMe

Remember 23andMe ? The DNA company that let the genetic data of 14.000 people, and the personal data of almost 7 million?

Well they just doubled down on their stance, basically claiming that it is their user's fault for not updating their passwords.

I won't comment on this much – because they don't seem to need any help putting themselves to shame – but I will say this: Change your PR management and do it fast, because this ain't it.

I even volunteer to help you guys with that. Some ethics would do you well if you want to retain the favor and trust of the public.

Microsoft Copilot enter iOS & Android

BingChat changed identities. Now that it is Copilot, it has become Microsoft 's ChatGPT. It can help you write emails, summarize things, and build resumes.

Thanks to an integration with DALL-E you can even generate images. They even claim it can generate logos – but I'm a Brand Strategist and I know dozens of designers, so trust me: it doesn't.

However, it's a good workflow tool to count on for support and assistance.

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