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Welcome back to Tiny Thoughts, a collection of my insights, experiences, and observations on AI. Got something juicy to add? I'd love to hear from you!
This week I kept seeing the same tension play out: people want AI to solve their problems, but very often they want the whole enchilada. From side hustles to workplace automation to state regulation, everyone's trying to figure out AI strategy, and the ones who start small end up achieving more.
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The $30 billion side hustle economy
Nearly half of Americans run some kind of side hustle now, and the average person makes $891 per month from it. That's not pocket change. People are using AI tools to speed up content creation, customer service, and marketing for their small solo businesses.
Unfortunately, most people still don't know where to begin (oof, been there). They see AI as this intimidating thing rather than just another tool in their toolkit. Start small. Pick one repetitive task and find an AI tool that handles it. You don't need a grand strategy, just one automation that saves you an hour a week.
Source: CNBC
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AI agents are here, but are they ready?
Ethan Mollick tested AI agents on actual work tasks, and the results were mixed. The key finding is that agents work best when you give them narrow, well-defined tasks rather than broad, ambiguous ones.
This matches what I've seen. People want to hand over entire workflows to AI, but the technology isn't there yet. The sweet spot right now is using agents for specific steps in your process, not the whole process. Break your work into smaller chunks and test which pieces AI can reliably handle.
Source: Ethan Mollick
California passes SB 53 for AI oversight
To follow up on my last Tiny Thoughts post, Governor Newsom signed SB 53, which creates new rules for how AI companies operate in California. The law focuses on transparency, safety testing, and accountability for AI systems that could cause significant harm.
My take: regulation always lags behind innovation, but at least California is trying to find a middle path. The law won't slow down AI progress much, but it might prevent some of the worst outcomes. For anyone building AI products, you now have clearer guidelines about what's expected. Use them to build trust with users, not just avoid penalties.
Source: Governor Newsom
Thanks for reading!