Summer has just begun…and it’s already waaaay too hot.

As the world struggles to solve the climate crisis, artificial intelligence is playing a complicated role. AI requires enormous computational power, largely generated by fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency predicts that in two years, energy use by data centers could double, consuming as much energy as Japan. Yikes! We need sustainable solutions fast.

In this week’s edition, we’ve got the latest on AI-powered language apps, chatbot task masters, an AI life coach, and a fabulously fun way to turn yourself –or anyone else—into a Pixar-style cartoon.

Let’s dive in!

AI Speak-easy

Language learning is about to take a big leap, thanks to AI. Language learning apps are betting big on new AI-powered conversational features to create more immersive experiences.

Duolingo recently launched Roleplay as part of their “Max” subscription tier. With Roleplay, you can practice real-world conversation skills with characters that are trained using OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4. The voice-activated conversations are meant to feel responsive and interactive; one example is ordering coffee at a café in Paris. After each chat, you'll receive personalized feedback to help you with future conversations.

And there’s another new feature: “Explain My Answer” is designed to help you better understand the ‘why’ behind correct and incorrect answers, plus tips to help you improve.

While Duolingo is well known and hugely popular with quick, bite-sized lessons for over 40 languages, Speak is a relative newcomer. This AI-driven language app emphasizes talking over memorizing grammar and vocabulary. Speak’s co-founders, Connor Zwick and Andrew Hsu founded Speak in 2014 during their Thiel Fellowship, convinced that speaking out loud is at the core of language learning. 

Speak was launched in South Korea in 2019, and today, it boasts over 10 million users in 40 countries.  Investors are betting big on Speak. It just closed a $20 million Series B round that included funding from the OpenAI Startup Fund, at a valuation of half a billion dollars. That’s some serious money.

Pricing varies widely - DuoLingo has a free plan with ads, a $60/year ad-free “Super” plan, and the new “Max” plan at a hefty $30/month. Speak costs $8/month with a 7-day free trial.

As language apps like Duolingo ramp up their AI features, Speak’s focus on verbal practice could set it apart. This is a space we’re watching closely. Who knew fluency could be so futuristic?

AI Chatbots

Are you confused about the different models of AI chatbots - ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, and more? Ever wondered which is best for which AI task?

Now there’s Choosy Chat– a new tool that lets you directly compare responses from different AI models, making it easier to see which one excels at various tasks.

Created by ex-Google tech entrepreneur Gabor Cselle, Choosy Chat lets you ask any question and then displays the answers from each AI model side by side. It even judges which response is the best or fastest.

Choosy Chat currently features OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Google’s Gemini Pro 1.5, and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5, the current performance benchmark leader. We took Choosy Chat for a spin, asking it to evaluate each model’s performance in creating a Sudoku-like grid puzzle with this prompt:

You are given a 3x3 grid where each cell can either be empty or contain a number. The goal is to fill the grid with numbers from 1 to 9 such that each number appears exactly once, and the sum of the numbers in each row, column, and diagonal is the same. Describe the steps you would take to solve this problem and provide a solution.

The results:

• GPT-4o: Selected as the best for its detailed solution.

• Gemini: Recognized for its speed.

Not every task needs to be tested against every model, but it’s fascinating to see the different approaches these chatbots take.

Choosy Chat offers a free tier with 5 questions per month, perfect for experimentation, and three paid tiers starting at $5/month, depending on the number of questions you need. Gabor has offered a 25% discount for the first 3 months to Here.Now.AI readers - use code HERENOWAI.

AI Coaching

Some of us are great at setting goals, then pursuing and tracking them with precision. For the rest of us, it’s just not that easy -- distractions often get in the way.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a buddy who could help keep you focused?

Summit is an AI life coach with a mission to help clarify, organize, and reach your goals. Its coaching program is built on top-tier, real-world coaching methodologies. With Summit, you can communicate with your coach via talk or text — whichever suits you best.

How it works: The app starts by helping you to commit to your big goals in writing. Summit breaks the goals down into bite-sized milestones, and then helps you to achieve them by acting as a 24/7 accountability partner, with a personality type that suits your motivational style (we prefer the idea of “empathetic friend” to “tough drill sergeant”). 

Your coach retains memory of all your conversations, seamlessly recalling previous discussions and insights.  We love the idea of receiving messages that positively reinforce when a milestone is reached, such as “you’ve had quite the productive week!”

Summit prioritizes privacy and security, encrypting data storage with cloud providers, and redacting information after processing when possible. The app is available on Apple iOS or Android.

With a majority of its functionality available for no cost, those intrigued by an AI accountability coach might want to give it a try. Some more advanced features and high frequency usage will cost $15/month.

AI Creative Pursuits

Have you ever imagined yourself as a cartoon character in a Pixar movie? Ok, maybe you haven’t … but trust us, we’ve discovered a free, AI-powered tool that will make you wish you had!

Cartoonize Me by Artisen is available in the ChatGPT store. Simply upload any photo —  a family portrait, a pet’s picture, or a selfie—and in seconds, you’ll get a Pixar-style illustration with the help of image generator DALL-E.

We tried it with team member Lori’s hockey-loving daughter with her bestie at a game – and the result? Pure animated brilliance!

There are several cartoon-image generators in the GPT store, but we preferred Cartoonize Me over the few others we tried, including the more popular Cartoonize Yourself.

Tools like Cartoonize Me can spark creativity in countless ways. Imagine using it to create personalized avatars, illustrate stories, design marketing materials or craft educational tools. It’s also perfect for birthday and special event invites, social media posts, and interactive games. The possibilities for fun and engaging visual projects are truly endless.

So, why dream about being in a cartoon when you can see yourself in one? Dive into the fun with Cartoonize Me and let your imagination run wild!

AI in the News (in case you missed it)

• Record labels are suing AI music generators for copyright infringement. Watch here.

• AI decodes emotions in tennis players. Read here.

• Google brings Gemini access to teens via their school accounts. Read here.

• AI took their jobs. Now they get paid to make it sound human. Read here.

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Here.Now.AI Editorial team: Lori, Justin, and Lisa