The Weekly Waypoint, Issue #2
The AI tool landscape shifted again this week. New launches, major updates, and one quiet revolution you might've missed.
Here's what matters and what to actually try.
This Week's Big Story: Perplexity Is Becoming the New Google
What happened: Perplexity hit 50 million monthly users this week, up from 15 million just 6 months ago. They also launched "Perplexity Pro Search", AI research that searches the live web, reads every source, and writes a synthesized answer with footnotes.
Why it matters: For millions of people, Perplexity has replaced Google as their default search. Not because Google is bad, but because Perplexity reads 10 articles so you don't have to. You get the answer, not a list of links.
Try it now: Go to perplexity.ai and ask something you were going to Google. Notice the difference.
The catch: Free version is limited. Pro is $20/month. But even the free tier handles 5 searches/day, which covers most people's daily needs.
New Tools and Updates This Week
Claude Projects got a big upgrade, You can now upload up to 50 files per project (up from 10) and Claude remembers everything across conversations. If you work with lots of documents, this is huge. Free to try at claude.ai.
OpenAI launched "GPT Marketplace", Think App Store, but for custom GPTs. You can now browse, install, and use pre-built AI agents someone else made. Early standouts: a tax prep assistant, a travel planner, and a homework helper that actually explains concepts instead of just giving answers.
Cursor 0.45 dropped, The AI code editor now builds full web apps from a text description. Describe what you want, it generates the code, runs a preview, and iterates based on your feedback. Non-coders are building functional tools in 30 minutes.
Notion AI got a refresh, Finally feels useful. Ask questions about your own Notion workspace: "What did we decide about the Q2 launch?" and it searches your docs for the answer. Free for all Notion users.
The App Nobody's Talking About: Google Lens
Why it matters: Google Lens just crossed 1 billion searches per month, but most people don't realize everything it does now:
- Point your camera at a plant → Identifies it and tells you if it's toxic to pets
- Point it at a menu in another language → Translates and shows reviews of each dish
- Point it at a product → Finds where to buy it at the cheapest price
- Point it at a skin rash → Identifies likely causes (obviously, see a doctor, but good for triage)
It's free, built into Android, and available as an iOS app. If you haven't used it this month, you're missing out.
Practical: 3 Things to Try This Week
1. Replace one Google search with Perplexity Same question, different experience. You'll know within 60 seconds whether it's useful for you.
2. Upload a document to Claude Projects Take a long document you've been meaning to read, a contract, a report, a school handbook. Upload it to Claude and ask: "Summarize this and flag anything I should be concerned about."
3. Try Google Lens on something Next time you wonder "what is this?", reach for your camera instead of your keyboard.
For Working Professionals
The move this week: If you're in a role with lots of documents (legal, finance, HR, management), Claude Projects just became your best friend. Upload your standard documents, templates, and past work. Ask it to draft new documents based on your existing style and format. First drafts that used to take 2 hours now take 15 minutes, and they're in your voice because you gave it your past work as reference.
The Fun Stuff
- Someone asked ChatGPT to negotiate their rent, And it worked. They pasted their landlord's email, ChatGPT drafted a respectful but firm response citing local rent comps, and the landlord came down $150/month. The tweet has 2M views.
- AI-generated "history" of the Super Bowl, An AI confidently described games that never happened, including a "2019 Super Bowl between the Chicago Bears and London Monarchs." The London Monarchs haven't existed since 1998, and they were an NFL Europe team. AI is confident even when it's completely wrong.
- The "AI therapist" trend, Therapy apps using AI are surging. Users love the 24/7 availability. Therapists are... concerned. The consensus: great for venting, not great for real treatment. Know the difference.
What I'm Watching Next Week
Rumors are swirling about a major Microsoft Copilot update. If it adds the kind of autonomous agent capabilities OpenAI just launched, that changes the game for the 400 million Office 365 users who'd suddenly have AI agents built into their daily workflow.
Also watching: Apple is reportedly expanding Apple Intelligence to the Mac in the next update. Desktop-level AI assistance could be quietly transformative.
Deep Dive This Week
Pro members go deeper: "Prompt Engineering Mastery: From Zero to Expert", the definitive guide to the prompting frameworks that consistently produce expert-level output. We covered the tools this week; the deep dive covers the techniques that make those tools actually work. Tested across 10,000+ real tasks with measurable quality improvements.
The best AI tool in the world is useless if you don't know how to talk to it. This week, learn to ask better questions.
- James
P.S. - Did you try something from last week's issue? Reply and tell me how it went. Best stories get featured next week.