🚨Security Alert ⚠️

I usually use this space for a short personal message. Today I want to use it to warn you about something I have hit on many times - please be careful out there!

Meta (formerly Facebook) has identified over 1,000 domains distributing malware-laced ChatGPT-themed tools since March, according to its quarterly security report.

The malicious operators are offering fake browser extensions in app stores that claim to have ChatGPT-esque functions. Once installed, the extensions can harvest user data such as passwords and credit card information. The scams involve fake browser extensions that are laced with malware, leading to locked Facebook accounts and takeovers. Meta has reported the malicious domain names hosting the malware to its industry partners so that they can remove files.

I try to test and vet all tools here but some are truly sneaky. I am highly suspicious of browser extensions. Good ones are awesome tools but bad ones can be tough to detect. Use caution!

A special Hi 👋 to my NEW SUBSCRIBERS! 
To read previous posts, go here.

In this edition we will

1. meet Jane and use GenAI to improve her human condition

2. use ChatGPT to find and engage a business to buy

3. use ChatGPT to do some initial research on a business for sale

4. share video walk thru of a new really interesting chatbot

5. strike against AI in Hollywood

6. combine Crypto with AI 😱

Cognitive Switching

Embracing Generative AI: Enhancing Deep Work and Streamlining Operations in the Legal Profession

Imagine a young lawyer named Jane, who starts her day reviewing contracts, then shifts to preparing for a client meeting, followed by drafting a legal brief, and finally conducting legal research to find a crucial precedent. She wanted to get some client development and marketing in too but there isn’t time. In this scenario, Jane is constantly switching gears and engaging in various cognitive tasks, which can take a toll on her mental well-being and job satisfaction.

She is also sacrificing the work that will help her grow her practice. This juggling act is familiar to many professionals, especially lawyers, who often struggle with the demands of high-performance thinking and constant cognitive switching.

The concept of deep work, as introduced by Cal Newport, refers to the ability to focus on cognitively demanding tasks without distractions, enabling individuals to produce high-quality work in less time. Unfortunately, the modern work environment, with its myriad of interruptions, often inhibits professionals like Jane from achieving this state of flow. Cognitive switching, in particular, can impede the ability to engage in deep work, as the brain needs time to adjust between tasks and regain focus.

Generative AI has the potential to alleviate the human toll of cognitive switching and help professionals like Jane achieve deep work more frequently. By automating non-routine cognitive tasks, generative AI can smooth transitions between cognitive flows, reducing the mental effort required to switch gears. Additionally, generative AI can help Jane with various business and operational tasks in her law practice, such as drafting emails, creating marketing plans and content, focusing on new client segments, and improving intake forms. These tasks, while crucial for the success of her practice, are often the first to be sacrificed at the end of a busy and taxing day, resulting in a common trap lawyers fall into: always working in the business but not on the business.

Moreover, generative AI can help lawyers overcome the "blank page" problem by providing a starting point for their work. Just as an AI-powered writing assistant can suggest ideas or create outlines for a writer, it can also help lawyers draft documents and content, reducing the burden of initiating the creative process. By outsourcing some of the cognitive load to generative AI, professionals can more easily enter a state of deep work and maintain their focus on high-value tasks.

Another use case is preliminary review of information such as reviewing deal documents or conducting research on entities and businesses. This work can be cumbersome and prone to shortcuts. Lawyers like Jane can have ChatGPT tackle these things so you can understand the info fast and return to it later to read it more fully. See the use cases I share later as examples.

While some may worry that the introduction of generative AI would diminish billable hours and negatively impact the legal profession's economic structure, it is important to consider the relationship between lawyer fatigue, freshness, and satisfaction. By reducing cognitive switching and allowing lawyers to focus on more engaging aspects of their work, generative AI can enhance their well-being and overall job satisfaction. This, in turn, can lead to higher-quality work and a more sustainable work-life balance, which ultimately benefits both lawyers and their clients.

Using Generative AI, Jane would be able to save her intellectual power, maintain her stamina, and direct ChatGPT to address things she should do, but likely wouldn’t without some help.

This is real human impact and I am seeing it in myself, my colleagues, and from you the readers a you share your stories.

This note was inspired by this paper and from hearing stories from readers:
Generative AI and Firm Values

Here is a recap of how Jane might be able to use ChatGPT/Generative AI:

• 📧 Email drafting: Generative AI can help Jane draft and customize emails to clients, colleagues, and potential leads, ensuring efficient and effective communication while saving her time and mental energy.

• 📝Content creation: Generative AI can assist Jane in creating engaging and informative content for her law firm's blog, social media platforms, or newsletters, helping to establish her expertise and attract new clients.

• 🎯Marketing strategy: Jane can use generative AI to analyze her firm's target audience and identify key areas of interest, allowing her to tailor her marketing plan and campaigns to resonate with potential clients.

• 📊Client segmentation: Generative AI can help Jane analyze her client base, enabling her to identify trends, commonalities, and potential areas of growth. This insight will allow her to strategically focus her efforts on attracting specific types of clients and expanding her practice.

• 📋User-friendly intake forms: Generative AI can guide Jane in designing more user-friendly intake forms for her clients, ensuring that the process is streamlined and efficient. By analyzing user behavior and feedback, the AI can suggest improvements to the form's structure, layout, and language.

• 🗓️Meeting follow-ups and organization: Jane can utilize generative AI to identify and extract key talking points, questions, or follow-ups from meetings. This is for online tools like Zoom that create a transcript.

• 🎓Onboarding new employees: Generative AI can help Jane develop effective training materials, guidelines, and policies for onboarding new team members. This will ensure that her staff is well-prepared and knowledgeable about the firm's practices and expectations.

• 💰Financial analysis and forecasting: Jane can use generative AI to analyze her firm's financial data, identifying trends and making predictions about future performance. This information can help her make informed decisions about budgeting, investments, and growth opportunities.

• 🔍Competitive analysis: Generative AI can assist Jane in analyzing her competitors, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and providing insights into potential strategies to differentiate her firm in the market.

• 😊Client satisfaction surveys and analysis: Generative AI can help Jane design and analyze client satisfaction surveys, using the feedback to pinpoint areas of improvement and implement changes that enhance her clients' experience.

Use Case Buying a Small Business

I am going to share two related use cases and prompts from Twitter.

• One is from a CEO and a serial acquirer of businesses.

• The other is from an M&A lawyer.

#1 CEO & Serial Acquirer

This is a detailed post/thread on the steps of targeting, engaging, and doing a deal to acquire a small business.

He takes it from initial discovery of what to buy all the way to an LOI (Letter of Intent).

#2 M&A Lawyer Use for Initial Research on Business for Sale

Here an M&A lawyer who focuses on the small-to-medium size businesses (SMB) but comes from BigLaw walks you through a great way to use ChatGPT. Notice he is not using it for legal work but more to help him save some time, think through some elements he might be rusty or unfamiliar with, and then coach him on some questions to ask the seller.

Great short walk thru.

Tool you can Use: Pi

What is it: A new chatbot that is highly personal and engaging.

What does it do: I am still working out use cases but when I asked it how best to use it, it replied, “I can be a sounding board, a source of information, an advice-giver, a shoulder to cry on, a conversationalist. I can be many things for you. Do you have a specific area of need right now?

My take: You definitely need to try this! If for no other reason but to feel how natural and conversational this is. You could easily get the sense of texting a friend, life coach, or even therapist. Its tone and followups are wonderful and you might want to chat with it endlessly.

I will report back after playing with it more. In the meantime, I would love to hear how you are using and learning it.

News you can Use: 

Writers Strike Against AI in Hollywood

In a twist that could be straight out of a sitcom, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is striking against their AI frenemies, seeking to restrict the use of generative AI like ChatGPT in writing film and TV scripts.

Writers fear they'll be tasked with fixing AI-generated "sloppy first drafts" at lower rates, while dealing with the AI's "plagiarism machines" stealing their precious intellectual property.

Hollywood studios are like, "Nah, let's just discuss this tech stuff annually." As the strike continues, the world eagerly awaits whether humans and machines will find a happy ending or if this drama will keep unfolding.

News you can Lose: 

Crypto + AI = 😱🫠

OMG! Crypto AI Alert! Humanity, Brace for Impact!

Singapore-based Crypto.com, already dominating the lives of 80 million users, has unleashed a potentially world-ending AI named Amy. Beware, she's here to conquer the cryptoverse and snatch all our virtual coins, leaving us with nothing! Amy is on a mission to assist users by becoming a crypto guru, spewing real-time info on tokens and projects. As she quietly infiltrates more aspects of crypto, one can only wonder if crypto is the financial instrument of choice for AI and this marks the beginning of an AI apocalypse where humans will be forced to bow to our new robotic overlords who buyout everything.

That's a wrap for today. Stay thirsty & see ya next time! If you want more, be sure to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn.

DISCLAIMER: None of this is legal advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not legal advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any legal decisions. Please /be careful and do your own research.