Kia ora {{ First name | friend }},
We’re exploring the light and shadow of AI, with a focus on leaning toward efficient AI workflows for freeing up our time.
This week’s edition features a heavy dose of OpenAI everything-monopoly, some interesting updates from Claude, and my critical thinking on Digital ID’s after the UKs'‘s recent release.
Thanks for being here.
Featured Launch: OpenAI Sora 2
OpenAI released Sora 2, their next level AI video generation model. Causally, they’ve also made it into a social media platform that feels like an AI Tiktok. It’s feeling more like all the big tech companies are just merging into rebranded versions of each other (Meta also just released an TikTok-esque social platform).
That said, Sora 2 has much better video capability than any other AI video generation I’ve seen. It has insane character consistency, and generates sound as well. Google Veo3 has some similar capability but it seems they rushed the launch and missed some key details.
Currently Sora 2 is only available in USA/Canada in iOS. However I’ve figured out a way to access Sora via VPN and am currently waiting on verification. Once I get verified, I’ll have 4 codes available to share with others. First 4 people to reply to this email get the codes.
Here’s a few interesting AI updates:
Claude and Slack have started a relationship where users are able to bring AI directly into Slack collaboration and channel broadcasts. It’s a two-way workflow, meaning you can use Claude in Slack, and vice versa. Very efficient for teams already using both platforms. Read more.
OpenAI’s Instant Checkout lets U.S. users buy inside ChatGPT via Stripe. Shopping is about to change forever. It’s live for Etsy, and soon coming to 1M+ Shopify stores. Basically search for t shirt ideas on ChatGPT, and you’ll be able to click to buy straight from there. AIO (SEO for AI) will become increasingly important as this scales. Check it out.
OpenAI makes it’s third appearance in this newsletter with ChatGPT Pulse, marking ChatGPT’s shift from reactive Q&A to a proactive assistant. Basically a daily morning briefing that does overnight research and delivers personalised visual cards based on your chats, feedback, and optional app connections. Rolling out first on mobile for Pro users, with Plus to follow. Read more.
ChatGPT Teams is finally useful, allowing people to collaborate. Now people can share across projects without having to collaborate. For example, your marketing team might contain all docs relating to a single client within a project, and have real-time access to new info. Learn more.
Insight: Digital ID’s? No, thanks.
(Here’s the real shadow of AI)
Digital IDs are suddenly everywhere. In plain terms, a Digital ID is a government-recognised credential, often bound to your biometrics, used to prove “you are you” online or in person. The checks are increasingly automated with AI: document scans matched to selfies, plus “liveness” tests to stop photos, masks or deepfakes.
Think about international travel, where the passport scanner reads your face. Or your face/touch ID on your phone. These are efficient and reliable yes, and also they lean towards a more centralised digital future.
Recently, the UK has just green-lit a national digital ID, pitched as “free” and handy for proving your right to work and accessing services. Suggestions are strong that it could be compulsory for all workers by the end of this Parliamentary term. That’s sparked a political scrap already.
Meanwhile, Vietnam is taking the hard road, where their govt is purging more than 86 million bank accounts that aren’t biometrically verified—a data “clean-up” tied to new e-KYC rules.
These things always come wrapped in nice packaging e.g. reduce fraud, decrease cybercrime, efficiency, etc. For example, the UK are saying that theirs is a response to the influx of refugees coming over from France in small boats. While that may be true, it feels a little rushed to get us all baked into a global digital data system, don’t you think?
The real issue lies in the future, where this all could head… Once the Digital ID becomes compulsory or mandated, to not comply can lock you out of life. Work, payments, even travel could all be off the cards if you don’t comply.
So what is compliance? Right now it’s pretty mellow. In the future it might be that you need to only drive a certain amount, or spend your time in certain ways, or take part in a certain medical procedure.
For me, this raises concerns on the future of personal sovereignty, the ability to exercise our birth-given freedom as humans, and overreaching surveillance. We’ve already had a taste of access rules with vaccine passes in Aotearoa - and how did that go?
Anyway, Digital ID’s (beyond what we already have) are a no from me. Helpful for admin, sure. But we should keep real personal choice front of mind, and be very mindful of social and lifestyle segregation.
Gif by johnchungus27 on Giphy
Featured Workflow: Automate your Google Calendar
Here’s a (somewhat) simple way to create a personal AI calendar agent in n8n that schedules events directly in Google Calendar from natural-language requests—no forms, no date pickers.
You’ll need
An n8n account (cloud or self-hosted)
Google Calendar with OAuth credentials
Access to a chat model (e.g., GPT-4o mini)
Set-up (5–10 mins)
Go to n8n.io, create your account, click “Create workflow,” then press Tab to add an AI Agent node to the canvas.
In the AI Agent, select GPT-4o mini (or similar), add Google Calendar as a tool, and authenticate with OAuth.
Set the tool description to “Create calendar events.”
In the system message, include the current date/time for context: Current datetime: {$now}.
How it works
In the chat panel, type: “Schedule dinner for tonight from 7 to 9 p.m.”
Run the workflow and verify the event appears in your Google Calendar.
Pro tips
Connect WhatsApp or Telegram so you can message your agent instead of opening n8n.
Save a couple of reusable prompts (e.g., “Book a 30-min check-in with Sam next week”) for faster input later.
If times are ambiguous, have the agent confirm before creating the event.
{{ First name | friend }}, thanks for joining. I’m enjoying this project and looking forward to having some more time for it. Good things a’coming :)
Stay human,
Billy