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How AI Has Forever Altered Innovation

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By David Henkin

The age of AI is here and is rewriting the rules of innovation. Innovation has been the backbone of human progress by transforming industries, revolutionizing businesses and improving lives.

We are not just talking about incremental improvements. We are witnessing a paradigm shift, a fundamental change in how we conceive, develop and deploy new ideas. From enhancing product development and streamlining workflows to personalizing customer experiences and enhancing decision-making, AI is fundamentally changing how we innovate.

The shift is not just about efficiency; it is about expanding the boundaries of what is now possible. AI’s transformation of everything from business intelligence to healthcare are top-level indicators of a key underlying factor — that AI is forever altering innovation across practically every industry and at every level.

Through a wide range of activities, AI is serving to improve humankind’s own innovative capabilities by acting as a powerful augmentative tool.

Innovation, AI And Data

There is no denying the importance of reliable data in driving meaningful innovation that solves problems and creates worthwhile solutions. Despite this, many individuals and organizations struggle to make use of the data that is available to them — partly because the sheer scope of that information can quickly become overwhelming.

AI has proven to be a powerful tool in driving smarter innovation efforts by helping people identify patterns and trends that might otherwise get lost in a sea of data. As Tim Stobierski writes for The Harvard Business School, “While intuition can provide a hunch or spark that starts you down a particular path, it’s through data that you verify, understand, and quantify.

Highly data-driven organizations are three times more likely to report significant improvements in decision-making compared to those who rely less on data.”

Several seaports have begun investing in AI to help with everything from potential port disruptions to creating digital versions of ports to test servicing options for autonomous ships. The machine learning and data collection enabled by these AI applications are helping seaports drive innovative efforts that will help improve future efficiency.

AI-powered decision-making tools such as IBM Watson and Tableau AI are equipping leaders and employees at every level with deeper insights, enabling data-driven strategies that were previously unattainable.

Shifting Investment Strategies

AI’s rise to prominence has also forever altered innovation through the simple fact that many companies and even countries are increasingly shifting their innovation efforts toward artificial intelligence.

In an interview with A&S Media East, Lario Lovric, CEO of Aldra Alamen Security Services explained, “Recent market studies reveal that governments of prosperous Gulf oil-producing countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, allocate substantial funds – equivalent to, if not more than, certain European nations – for the advancement of AI-related technologies. This unequivocally underscores AI’s role in shaping futuristic security. Furthermore, the UAE was the first nation in the region to adopt a National AI Foundation strategy in 2017, and it holds the distinction of being the world’s inaugural Ministry for Artificial Intelligence.”

From a technology perspective, this shift in focus means that artificial intelligence is increasingly viewed as the most important driver of innovation. By making AI the key point of emphasis, expectations increase that future innovations and developments in most spaces will be largely derived from AI. This will include the development of more advanced AI tools or finding new use cases for existing AI applications.

Rapid Testing Of Ideas

Another key area where AI is reshaping innovation is through its capabilities to help individuals rapidly prototype their ideas. The Arizona State University Artificial Intelligence Cloud Innovation Center reports that AI-powered rapid prototyping has been used in 80% of its projects since its launch. Utilizing AI has reduced the cycle time to complete a project from six to eight months to just four to six weeks.

AI’s ability to test concepts faster and more efficiently proved vital in project development, allowing innovative solutions — such as a bot designed to help travellers determine if they could make a flight on time or a hospital tool for querying medical documents — to reach usability much faster.

Similarly, predictive modelling through AI algorithms is also reshaping innovation efforts, by using data to predict future trends and outcomes that could stem from a particular decision. This added guidance allows for organizations to test multiple possible solutions in a much more effective manner, fuelling better innovative outcomes.

Idea Generation

Of course, no conversation about AI and innovation can ignore generative design. Generative design often helps lay the groundwork during the brainstorming and drafting phases of a project, serving as a springboard for additional ideation and innovation. Key examples include:

  • Toyota Japan used generative AI to help redesign its seat frames in a way that fit the necessary size and weight parameters, while simultaneously increasing the level of safety and comfort provided by the frames.
  • AI is widely used in marketing and content creation efforts, helping to generate multiple versions of emails and other content, or to create “rough draft” visuals that are then reworked by human professionals. Video game maker Capcom recently highlighted its use of AI to generate visual concepts and proposals for in-game objects to improve game development speed.
  • An analysis from the Harvard Business Review noted that generative AI can “challenge expertise bias” and “inspire designers to think beyond their preconceptions of what is possible or desirable in a product in terms of both form and function. This approach can lead to solutions that humans might never have imagined using a traditional approach, where the functions are determined first and the form is then designed to accommodate them.”

The Long-Term View

The most profound impact of AI on innovation may be how it changes our conception of what is possible. When we can explore vast solution spaces quickly and cheaply, when we can simulate and test ideas with unprecedented fidelity and when we can collaborate with AI systems that amplify our creativity — we enter a new era of innovation potential.

The organizations and individuals who thrive in this new era will not be those who simply adopt AI tools, but those who reimagine their entire approach to innovation. The future belongs to those who can effectively combine human creativity and judgment with AI’s computational power and pattern recognition.

The innovation landscape has been forever altered. The question is not whether to embrace AI-driven innovation, but how quickly and effectively you can adapt to this new reality.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By David Henkin

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work.

David Henkin helps organizations and individuals innovate and grow.

Sourced from Forbes

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ChatGPT, DeepSeek And The AI Race: Which Model Is Right For You In 2025?

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By Aytekin Tank

Just a week after launching its R1 artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek took the title for most downloaded free app in the United States. Curious about this new AI disruptor, I decided to test it against ChatGPT. I gave both models the same prompt:

“Can you please write an intro to an article comparing ChatGPT and DeepSeek? It should be conversational, punchy, and timely.”

The results were surprising. A regular ChatGPT user, I found myself leaning toward DeepSeek’s introduction. The headline alone felt slightly more compelling.

ChatGPT vs. DeepSeek: The AI Showdown You Didn’t Know You Needed

Versus ChatGPT’s:

ChatGPT vs. DeepSeek: Which AI Model Wins in 2024?

ChatGPT’s version was more straightforward but lost points for incorrectly stating ‘2024’—I ran this mini-test in early February 2025. DeepSeek, on the other hand, leaned into trendy jargon, yet its response felt like a headline I’d actually want to click.

No matter how you phrase the question, the answer is clear: their strengths are comparable and there is no AI winner yet. As CEO of Jotform, I’m always researching the latest AI tools and new ways to automate my busywork. Here are the relative strengths of the two AI models dominating today’s headlines.

Writing: Creativity vs. Precision

As of 2023, employees reported using ChatGPT primarily for writing, copywriting, and content creation—second only to coding. Generating creative, engaging content is one of ChatGPT’s strengths. What’s more, you can even train ChatGPT to write in your voice by sharing excerpts of your writing and guiding the LLM on which facets of your writing to channel. For example, if you want it to generate content reflecting your humour and wit, but not your more formal tone, a simple prompt is all you need. It’s truly impressive.

While DeepSeek isn’t a bad option for writing, I’ve found ChatGPT to have a bit more sophistication and finesse—the kind of writing you’d expect from a reputable lifestyle publication. It makes sense. While OpenAI trains ChatGPT using human feedback, DeepSeek relies solely on computer-driven reinforcement. This approach might give it an edge in technical subjects, but when it comes to areas requiring nuance and subjectivity—where answers aren’t black or white—it is less refined.

That said, if DeepSeek doesn’t always measure up on creative flair, it excels at technical writing. For example, if you need to generate coding documentation, scientific explanations, or data-driven reports, DeepSeek generates precise writing—and fast. Another advantage is that DeepSeek, unsurprisingly, has advanced Chinese-language writing skills, which can be an asset depending on your business needs.

Research: Synthesis vs. Rigor

Large language models can be powerful research tools, helping you identify and synthesize relevant information in an instant. It’s no secret, however, that tools like ChatGPT hallucinate sometimes—in other words, they make things up. Usually, this happens when the information you’re seeking is beyond its training scope. LLMs tend to be people pleasers—they’d rather generate a coherent response than admit they don’t know the answer to something. That’s why the cardinal rule of using LLMs for research is to always verify sources and locate the relevant information within them.

ChatGPT and DeepSeek have unique strengths when it comes to research. Being the more creative, nuanced idea synthesizer, ChatGPT is my choice for research tasks requiring interpretation or subjective reasoning. For example, if you want the LLM to locate a historical fact and explain its significance in a larger context.

To demonstrate, I used the following prompt with ChatGPT:

“Briefly, can you explain how the fall of the Roman Empire influenced modern governance? Please link to sources.”

It provided a comprehensive answer that stuck to the original question. It included direct links to sources after each paragraph. ChatGPT concluded, “In summary, the fall of the Roman Empire prompted a shift from centralized imperial rule to decentralized governance structures, laying foundational elements for contemporary political systems.” DeepSeek, on the other hand, offered an organized answer, broken down into four points. It did not, however, stick to the original question. For example, it provided insight into how Roman law (rather than the downfall) influenced the modern civil law system. Then, it listed a few sources—books like Edward Gibbon’s The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading paperbacks, but for my daily research relating to work, I tend to stick to digital sources.

DeepSeek, however, might be a smart choice for objective data, structured computations, or technical accuracy. For instance, I asked both models to break down the Pythagorean theorem. Both models offered thorough answers, but DeepSeek included an illustrative visual representation. For users looking for clarity, precision, and supplemental visuals in their research, DeepSeek could offer a distinct advantage.

Idea Generation: Who’s the Better Brainstorming Partner?

When working with an LLM, it’s crucial not to delegate your creativity entirely. AI can be a powerful tool to kickstart ideas, expand your pool of possibilities, and handle the parts of the creative process you might not enjoy—like headline writing or social media captions. However, it’s important to maintain control. AI should free up time for your best thinking, not replace it.

With that in mind, both ChatGPT and DeepSeek have proven valuable for idea generation. Since ChatGPT is often associated with creative tasks, while DeepSeek has a reputation for more technical prowess, I tested both with the following prompt:

“Please generate a list of article ideas about the AI race.”

I wanted to see how each model would interpret the vagueness of the prompt—which “race” it would focus on (competition between models? Between countries?)—as well as how it handled the lack of criteria (e.g., SEO optimization, authoritative tone).

ChatGPT generated its reply a few seconds faster, but DeepSeek’s response was more in-depth—producing 24 ideas compared to ChatGPT’s 20, and organizing them into eight categories (e.g., “Cultural and Philosophical Perspectives” and “Ethical and Societal Implications”) versus ChatGPT’s four. Both models generated thoughtful ideas that reflected today’s narratives surrounding AI across multiple dimensions.

While ChatGPT’s suggestions were sophisticated and aligned with the current media landscape, DeepSeek remains a strong contender. If your work relies more on structured insights than imagination or creativity, DeepSeek could be a valuable addition to your toolkit.

Coding: A New Open-Source Power Player?

Investor and entrepreneur Marc Andreessen called DeepSeek R1 “one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs I’ve ever seen — and as open source, a profound gift to the world.”

So, what do developers think?

While it depends on the goal and situation, the consensus seems to be that DeepSeek’s R1 is a great option. Some are saying it’s the best model at the moment. At the very least, it’s the first open-source model to compete with the current juggernaut leaders like OpenAI and Google. For developers looking for transparency, flexibility, and high performance in their coding projects, DeepSeek’s open-source model is an excellent choice.

Models like ChatGPT and DeepSeek are evolving and becoming more sophisticated by the day. Meanwhile, new players like Alibaba Cloud, Zhipu, Moonshot AI, and ByteDance are entering the ring. For the average AI user, navigating this increasingly crowded market might feel overwhelming—but ultimately, more competition means better, more accessible tools. If DeepSeek’s arrival has proven anything, it’s that as AI advances, it also becomes more user-friendly. So experiment, explore, and stay tuned.

Feature Image Credit: GREG BAKER/AFP via Getty Images. AFP via Getty Images

By Aytekin Tank

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website. Contributor. Aytekin Tank is the founder and CEO of Jotform.

Sourced from Forbes

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Solar film you can stick anywhere to generate energy is nearly here

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By Abhimanyu Ghoshal

Since 2012, UK-based Power Roll has been working on a way to print low-cost solar film to generate clean energy from sunlight. It’s now one crucial step closer to manufacturing its lightweight, apply-anywhere film, with a new design for its perovskite solar cells that should make make production cheap and scalable.

Power Roll has been focusing on embossing ‘microgroove structures’ into a plastic substrate, similar to a “hologram” on a credit card. A single square meter has 500,000 microgroove structures, and these are coated with conductive materials and photo-active ink. Layers of encapsulation film keep the printed rolls stable and enhance their durability.

This is all carried out using what’s called roll-to-roll processing, where you coat or emboss an entire length of a material that is fed continuously from one roller on to another. It’s inexpensive and efficient. In addition, Power Roll is going with abundant perovskite as a key material in its solar cells to absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity.

The company has already been at this for a while and has loads of patents to prove it, so what’s new?

Essentially, the team, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Sheffield, has devised a new microgroove structure with a back-contact format – with all the electrical contacts of the solar cell on the back rather than in front. This not only allows for more efficient energy generation, but also makes it cheaper and simpler to produce the solar cells.

The new design also increased the number of grooves in each component of the back-contact perovskite solar cell, from 16 to 362. That improved power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) by up to 12.8%.

A 4-square-inch sample of the film showing how energy-absorbing perovskite is coated on the plastic substrate
A 4-square-inch sample of the film showing how energy-absorbing perovskite is coated on the plastic substrate
ACS Applied Energy Materials

The group also used a Hard X-ray nanoprobe microscope to check the structure and composition of the solar cells for defects. The detailed images helped identify issues like empty spaces within the semiconductor material.

This back-contact design of the solar cell allows the perovskite to directly absorb the light without it first passing through a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer. That negates the need for TCOs incorporating rare and expensive materials like indium, and as such, brings down the cost of production.

The big deal about its product is that this solar film is awfully light and easy to apply. That means you can install it on all kinds of surfaces including non-loading bearing rooftops, transport it to remote areas that need accessible options for generating electricity, and hopefully, blanket many currently unproductive buildings and spaces with it so you’ve got many more sources of clean energy to supply the grid. Power Roll has a neat visualization of this optimistic vision in its promo video below.

Power Roll – Game Changing Flexible Solar PV

With that, Power Roll is set to scale up manufacturing of its solar cells sharpish. The company and its collaborators at Sheffield have published these advancements in the production process in Applied Energy Materials. The team working on this will move on to explore the use of X-ray microscopy in better understanding how its film will operate and what sort of stability it will exhibit.

Last October, Power Roll raised US$5.4 million in a funding round to grow its fully operational manufacturing plant’s production capacity. It’s also expecting to produce enough of the solar film to generate 1 GW of electricity in the near future.

Source: Power Roll

Feature Image Credit: Power Roll / The University of Sheffield

By Abhimanyu Ghoshal

Sourced from New Atlas

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This free European AI chatbot is 13 times faster than ChatGPT

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By Laura Pippig and Joel Lee

France-based AI chatbot Le Chat is currently the fastest of them all, and it can now generate images.

With all the news about ChatGPT, Copilot, and DeepSeek, you might think that the US and China are the two main players at the head of the AI pack, with everyone else lagging behind. But that’s not necessarily true.

Some European alternatives are making waves. For example, last week’s update for the France-based AI chatbot Le Chat integrated an image generator based on a German AI model from the company Black Forest Labs. That’s Franco-German collaboration par excellence.

According to Mistral, the company behind Le Chat, this AI chatbot is the fastest in the world, capable of generating up to 1,100 tokens per second. (That’s about 13 times faster than ChatGPT’s 85 tokens per second.) And not only does the AI respond quickly to prompts, it also draws on in-depth knowledge from a wide variety of sources for robust answers.

According to the update blog post, it’s now possible to generate photorealistic images using Le Chat. Fittingly, a prompt with a cat drinking tea was shown as an example.

Le Chat is a free app for Android and iOS, but you can also try out the AI tool directly in your browser. Apparently, the maximum permitted requests are limited at a certain point, at which point you’ll have to register. Later, you may even need to subscribe at $14.99 per month, but this is explicitly aimed at power users.

In general, the European chatbot makes a good impression. It responds quickly and precisely and can also explain complex issues. Le Chat could soon establish itself as an alternative to the current top dogs.

Feature Image Credit: Owlie Productions / Shutterstock.com

By Laura Pippig and Joel Lee

Sourced from PCWorld

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How to Build a Team of Fully Autonomous AI Assistants with n8n (No Code)

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Have you ever wished you could hand off all those tedious, repetitive tasks—like managing your inbox, scheduling meetings, or drafting content—to someone (or something) else? We’ve all been there, staring at a growing to-do list and wondering how to find the time for the things that actually matter. With the rise of no-code platforms like n8n and the power of AI, you don’t need to be a tech wizard to create your very own digital assistant. Imagine a team of specialized AI agents working together seamlessly to handle your daily grind, leaving you free to focus on the bigger picture.

In this guide, Nate Herk from AI Automation shows you how to build the ultimate AI-powered assistant using n8n—a platform that connects tools and automates workflows without requiring a single line of code. By integrating advanced AI models like GPT-4 and Claude 3.5, this assistant can tackle everything from email management to content creation, all while communicating across agents to complete complex tasks. Whether you’re looking to save time, boost productivity, or simply make your life a little easier, this step-by-step approach will help you unlock the full potential of automation.

What Defines the Ultimate AI Assistant?

TL;DR Key Takeaways :

  • n8n enables the creation of a no-code AI assistant by integrating specialized AI agents like GPT-4 and Claude 3.5 to automate tasks such as email management, scheduling, and content creation.
  • The assistant operates through a modular system of task-specific agents, including Email, Calendar, Content Creator, and Contact Agents, each designed for precise functionality.
  • The workflow involves user input, task assignment to the appropriate agent, agent collaboration for multi-step tasks, and output delivery via email or messaging platforms.
  • Key technical features include dynamic data input, error handling, and seamless integration with external APIs and databases for enhanced compatibility and reliability.
  • The system is highly customizable and expandable, allowing users to add new agents, integrate APIs, and build complex automation pipelines to meet evolving needs.

Imagine having a personal assistant that seamlessly handles your emails, schedules meetings, and even creates content—all without requiring your direct involvement.  This AI assistant is a no-code solution built on n8n, a platform designed to connect tools and services without requiring programming expertise. This assistant integrates specialized AI agents, each tailored to specific tasks, into a unified system. Whether it’s managing your inbox, scheduling events, or generating content, the assistant uses innovative AI models to process and respond to your requests dynamically and efficiently.

By combining the flexibility of n8n with the power of AI, this assistant transforms how you approach routine tasks. It eliminates the need for manual intervention, allowing you to focus on more strategic activities while maintaining control over your workflows.

Core AI Agents and Their Functions

The assistant operates through a team of specialized agents, each designed to handle a specific category of tasks. Here’s an overview of the key agents and their roles:

  • Email Agent: Automates email-related tasks, such as drafting, replying, labeling, and organizing messages. It retrieves message and label IDs to ensure precise actions, keeping your inbox organized and efficient.
  • Calendar Agent: Manages events by creating, updating, or deleting them. It simplifies scheduling by handling events with or without attendees and syncing availability across platforms.
  • Content Creator Agent: Generates content like blog posts or articles. Using tools like Tavali and AI models such as Claude 3.5, it conducts web research and structures outputs for seamless content creation.
  • Contact Agent: Maintains the accuracy of your contact database by retrieving, adding, or updating contact information as needed.

These agents work independently or collaboratively, depending on the complexity of the task, making sure a smooth and efficient workflow.

How to Build a Team of AI Agents with n8n (No Code)

Watch this video on YouTube.

Dive deeper into no-code automation with other articles and guides we have written below.

How the Workflow Functions

The assistant’s workflow is designed to maximize efficiency, starting with user input and culminating in task completion. Here’s how the process unfolds:

1. Input: You initiate a request via text or voice. For voice inputs, the system transcribes them into actionable queries.
2. Task Assignment: The system identifies the nature of the request and assigns it to the appropriate agent. For example:
– Need to schedule a meeting? The Calendar Agent handles it.
– Want to draft an email? The Email Agent takes charge.
3. Agent Collaboration: For multi-step tasks, agents collaborate seamlessly. For instance, scheduling a meeting might involve checking calendar availability, drafting an email invitation, and sending it to attendees.
4. Output Delivery: Once the task is completed, the results are delivered to you via email or messaging platforms like Telegram for review or further action.

This structured workflow ensures that tasks are completed accurately and efficiently, minimizing the need for manual oversight.

Practical Applications of the Assistant

The versatility of this assistant allows it to be applied across a wide range of scenarios. Here are some practical examples:

  • Scheduling meetings and sending automated email confirmations to attendees.
  • Organizing your inbox by responding to emails and labelling them based on priority.
  • Creating blog posts or articles on specific topics by combining web research with AI-generated content.
  • Updating and maintaining accurate contact information in your database.
  • Sharing calendar availability with colleagues or clients in a streamlined manner.

These use cases demonstrate the assistant’s ability to handle both simple and complex tasks, making it an invaluable tool for personal and professional productivity.

Technical Foundations and Customization

The assistant’s technical foundation is built on n8n’s “Call Workflow as a Tool” feature, which enables seamless coordination between multiple agents. Key technical features include:

  • Dynamic Data Input: The system uses placeholders to adapt to varying user requests in real time, making sure flexibility and responsiveness.
  • Error Handling: Robust mechanisms are in place to retry tasks or provide appropriate feedback in case of failures, making sure reliability.
  • Seamless Integration: The assistant connects with external APIs and databases, allowing compatibility with a wide range of services and applications.

One of the standout aspects of this assistant is its modular design, which allows for easy customization and expansion. You can:

  • Add new agents to address additional tasks, such as social media management or advanced analytics.
  • Integrate with APIs to connect with virtually any service or application, enhancing its capabilities.
  • Incorporate more complex automation pipelines tailored to your specific needs, further optimizing workflows.

This adaptability ensures that the assistant evolves alongside your requirements, making it a scalable and long-term solution for automation.

Why Build an AI-Powered Assistant?

Creating an AI-powered assistant with n8n offers numerous advantages. By delegating tasks to specialized agents, you can:

  • Save Time: Automating repetitive tasks frees up your schedule for higher-priority activities.
  • Boost Productivity: AI-driven decision-making and automation streamline workflows, allowing you to accomplish more in less time.
  • Reduce Errors: Automated processes minimize the risk of human error, making sure greater accuracy and efficiency.

This assistant not only simplifies your daily operations but also enables you to focus on what truly matters, making it an essential tool for anyone looking to optimize their workflows.

Media Credit: Nate Herk | AI Automation

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BuzzFeed Is Launching a New Social Media Network. Why?

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By Nitish Pahwa

We got an inside look at the A.I.–fuelled future of the once culture-defining quiz site.

BuzzFeed, the defining American digital media empire of the Obama years, now stands as an unrecognizable, rotted husk of its former self. In the decade that has passed since the peak of its influence, the iconic company has laid off thousands of staffers, shuttered its News division, undergone a disastrous SPAC-fueled public offering, acquired competitors like Complex and HuffPost only to strip them for parts, and shed all the kingmaking clout that allowed it to catapult myriad reporters, comedians, podcasters, and dresses to durable fame.

The story of BuzzFeed’s decline is, in many ways, the story of social media’s vibe shift. Facebook was resplendent with the website’s listicle clickbait and recipe videos before the platform pivoted away from news and toward virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Twitter, once the reporters’ watercooler and the social justice movement’s bullhorn, lost all its reliability and journalistic prowess after Elon Musk’s takeover. Upstart communities, like Bluesky and Threads, that have arisen to fill in the Facebook/Twitter niche are still finding their footing and building their audiences, lacking the monocultural critical mass that might allow a BuzzFeed-like publication to ride engagement algorithms to virality. And today’s most vibrant platforms—namely, Instagram and TikTok and YouTube—are driven by visuals and built to keep your attention locked into their smartphone-optimized feeds at all times, instead of following links to the broader internet.

So what should BuzzFeed do to regain its onetime foothold in internet culture? Start its own social network, of course.

Such a prospect was teased earlier this month, after Semafor—the scoopy news site run by former BuzzFeed News editor-in-chief Ben Smith—got hold of a leaked Slack message from BuzzFeed founder and CEO Jonah Peretti. “It’s clear we can’t rely on the platforms to create a positive environment for content creators like us. I’m beginning to think we need to create our own social media platform,” Peretti wrote, alluding to the conservative drift of social media pioneers like Mark Zuckerberg. “Big role for us to play as the underdog publisher keeping truth and joy alive, especially for women who are left out of this vibe shift to ‘masculine energy’ from Trump, Musk, Zuck, Rogan, et al.”

It appears Peretti is following through. Slate recently received a five-page memo from Peretti that lays out concepts of a plan for BuzzFeed’s post–Big Tech future, including “a new social media platform built specifically to spread joy and enable playful creative expression.” The new platform also plans to “use AI to give users agency instead of stealing their agency,” per the memo. “I am very excited, after years of being beholden to other platforms, to take the big step of making our own,” Peretti writes.

This new platform is still in the developmental stages and doesn’t yet have an official name. Its core concept and imagery revolve around that of an island that will serve as a port in a storm, per a background briefing. The plan is to craft something “safe and fun” that will “bring joy” to its users, especially “women and gay people,” at a time when other social media executives are aping norms of reactionary ultramasculinity.

There will be no algorithms tuned and incentivized for maximum engagement. Rather, the A.I. baked into the platform will be deployed for generative and creative purposes, as engines for games and—yes—those quizzes you know, love, and mock. The goal is not to try to rival the A.I. trenches of Instagram but to replicate something more like the personal-interest hangout boards of Pinterest (minus the alleged workplace toxicity and community harassment, hopefully). Built to serve as “an oasis from algorithm-driven doomscrolling,” per a press release, the platform, called BF Island, will “bring together the best of BuzzFeed’s recent innovations, with a focus on interactive storytelling, new content formats, and cutting-edge AI tools to power self-expression, connection and creative exploration.” Yes, it’s a little vague.

While it will eventually operate apart from the core BuzzFeed website, it will be powered by the company’s in-house devs and subsidized by profits from the overall BuzzFeed Inc. business—which, according to the briefing, is “pretty much right-sized” and “profitable” in the wake of a round of deep layoffs at HuffPost and the sell-off of First We Feast, the formerly Complex-owned studio that produces the wildly popular interview show Hot Ones.

There are a lot of reasons to be sceptical. Peretti rails in his memo against the Big Tech execs who “sit next to the President during the inauguration ceremonies” and “take zero responsibility for the media ecosystem that they were instrumental in creating.” But HuffPost staffers have pointed out that the recent cuts targeted editorial teams—culture, politics, climate change—that were instrumental in breaking stories and driving traffic to the site. “The shocking scale of this week’s announce layoffs do not match the financial information we have,” the national editor wrote in an X post that also pointed to the potential influence of Vivek Ramaswamy, the Trump loyalist who owns about 8 percent of the company’s shares but doesn’t hold much voting power.

The vision for BF Island is somewhat reminiscent of the aims that Ramaswamy expressed in an interview last summer with Smith—that “the internet deserves a sanctuary, a place where people feel joy, rather than toxicity, and have fun in an unconstrained and unifying way.” That, along with a helping of “cost cuts.” [Update, Feb. 11 2025, at 4:40 p.m.: After publication, BuzzFeed clarified that Ramaswamy’s comments were talking points previously explained to him by BuzzFeed.]

The overall mission Peretti espouses in his memo also runs up against some striking self-contradictions. As he lays it out, the BF Island is a response to a nightmare present in which “our meaning, purpose, and agency has already been undermined by Artificial Intelligence technologies,” a trend he blames on the success of TikTok’s deep-learning recommendation feeds and Facebook/Meta’s subsequent bid to play catchup.

“When an app company doesn’t care about content and asks an AI to maximize usage the result is a service that incentivizes content that maximizes addictiveness,” he writes (emphasis his). “The type of content that gets created and recommended is not the best content, but the content that elicits the most compulsive and predictable response from the human brain.”

Peretti boils this tendency down to the acronym SNARF, which stands for “Stakes/Novelty/Anger/Retention/Fear.”

“Content creators exaggerate stakes to make their content urgent and existential,” he writes. “They manufacture novelty. … They manipulate anger to drive engagement via outrage. They hack retention by withholding information and promising a payoff at the end of a video. And they provoke fear.”

All well and good and fair enough, but it’s bizarre for Peretti to ascribe this trend to the emergence of TikTok and black-box feeds when users have bemoaned the prevalence of platform-incentivized outrage since the days of Usenet. You could even point, preinternet, to the viewership incentives that inspired local TV stations to constantly play up racist “crime” reports or the audiences that old-time radio stations curried by granting microphones to antisemitic rabble-rousers. Heck, you could just look to the hate-filled outlets that also successfully gamed Facebook’s algorithms throughout the 2010s, even prior to Trump’s election and the investments in deep-learning tech.

Peretti’s truncated history is somewhat convenient; there’s not a single mention of the effects of YouTube, another quasi–social network key to BuzzFeed’s former success. But it allows him room to weave a tale of how early Trump-era A.I. got Both Sides™all riled up due to “competition from TikTok.” In this view, “MAGA and ‘woke’ are the same thing!”

Peretti explains further: “This is why it seems like every election, every new technology, every global conflict has the potential to end our way of life, destroy democracy, or set off a global apocalypse!” How do MAGA and “woke” both take a hatchet to polite society? “They’ve already delivered a MAGA President that spews SNARF and a woke counter-culture that celebrates the assassination of a health insurance executive.” (No one remind Peretti that the sympathy with Luigi Mangione crossed ideological lines.)

Leaving aside the irony of Peretti himself using this memo to blame a new technology for ruining things, there’s not much here that’s all too insightful or original. The whole screed reads like a lament of enshittification, without using the term or even nodding to Cory Doctorow’s theories. He compares the “early internet,” an era of “beer and wine,” to “today’s internet,” which “is dealing crack and fentanyl that tears people apart.” This is cribbing terminology right from Trumpy conservatives like current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, ex-Rep. Mike Gallagher, and writer Niall Ferguson, all of whom deployed the “digital fentanyl” metaphor in service of the anti-China fearmongering that eventually pushed Congress to ban TikTok altogether. (Yes, that law is still on the books and in effect, in limbo though its enforcement may be.)

But most puzzling of all is how Peretti is approaching A.I., having spent the past two years gushing about generative tools and framing every major BuzzFeed business decision as an opportunity to incorporate more A.I. The CEO may rage at Facebook now, but he wasn’t averse to taking $10 million from Meta in early 2023 to generate A.I. content for Facebook and Instagram. His 2024 letter to the shareholders touted A.I.–written quizzes, listicles of generated Barbie Dreamhouses, and a “contest” for users to write prompts of their desired A.I. emoji. At the end of the day, Jonah Peretti wants you to play with his A.I. instead of the other guy’s A.I., because this A.I. is nice and inoffensive. (Despite the promises from last year to “build the defining media company for the AI era,” the company’s stock value continues to hover around single-digit lows.)

The means by which to achieve these ambitious goals remain as opaque as ever. When it comes to the last remaining assets of the BuzzFeed portfolio—the namesake site and its Studios portfolio, the increasingly shredded HuffPost, and Tasty, with its “A.I. Chefbot Botatouille”—the thought is to “counter SNARF” by just making spaces for human beings to distract themselves by playing with A.I., even as American democracy does in fact crumble all around us. That gets a big ol’ WTF from me.

Feature Image Credit: BuzzFeed

By Nitish Pahwa

Sourced from SLATE

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How To Build Your LinkedIn Brand Without Compromising Who You Are

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By Jodie Cook, 

Posting on LinkedIn intimidates plenty of otherwise fearless business owners. Putting yourself out there feels daunting. Writing updates about your work seems like bragging. But your dream clients need to know who you are and what you stand for. When you build your brand the right way, you don’t have to change yourself at all.

LinkedIn brings in big business. With over 1 billion users, the platform helps entrepreneurs sell more than ever. You don’t need hacks, tricks or formulas to win. You need to show up as yourself and let people get to know you. Here’s how.

Build your LinkedIn brand with authenticity and purpose

Stay true to your values

The best LinkedIn posts come from lived experience. From moments you’ll never forget. From the wins and losses that shaped who you are. Your wisdom came from somewhere. Share it. Don’t feel like you have to dumb yourself down or sell out to make waves online.

Write your own comments. Don’t let AI steal your voice. Pick three things you believe most strongly about your work and write them down somewhere visible. Match every post against these core values. If it doesn’t align, don’t publish it.

Create meaningful connections

Each new follower is a real person. Someone looking for answers. Someone who could become a customer, collaborator or friend. Give them gold in your posts. Share the exact steps you took to get where you are. It’s not necessary to use automated outreach tools. You don’t have to play the numbers game.

Message people who check out your profile. Ask what caught their eye. Don’t pitch. Just chat. Get to know each other first. One genuine conversation beats a hundred connection requests. You know what to do.

Document your journey strategically

A selfie you think is ugly might inspire someone else. Your messy desk could show them how you work. Your team laughing shows the fun you have at work. Take more pictures and ignore the perfect lighting. Document your life and share the lessons. Less airing your laundry, more sharing the person behind the brand.

Create themes for your content: Behind-the-scenes moments, client wins, team culture, product updates. Take pictures throughout your week that fit these pillars, note context about why this moment matters. Let people see the human behind the profile while serving your business goals.

Create posts that serve and sell

Auto-generated posts lack soul. As you know by now, LinkedIn rewards authenticity, not bad AI-generated content. Your posts need to help your audience while positioning your expertise. Someone should be able to thank you for your work. Don’t post for the sake of it. Post for your future clients.

Open with a strong hook that grabs attention. Share one specific lesson or tip your ideal client needs. Include a story that proves it works. Close with a clear next step they can take. Make every post build trust and showcase your offer naturally.

Focus on consistent value delivery

You’ve heard you need fancy tech and algorithm hacks to succeed online. But you’re better than that. Sustainable growth comes from serving your audience reliably. Block time each week to plan your content. Mix personal stories with practical advice. Share your truth right from the heart.

Create a simple content calendar: Monday client wins, Wednesday behind-the-scenes, Friday teaching points. Track which topics spark the most meaningful discussions. Double down on what resonates while staying true to your message. This doesn’t have to be complicated.

Win at LinkedIn: stay authentic and win big

You don’t need to sell out to get known online, and building your LinkedIn brand shouldn’t change who you are. Stay true to your values. Create real connections. Share your actual life. Post with intention and focus on giving value. Your wisdom came from somewhere special. Share it proudly.

You have everything you need to grow on LinkedIn. Your experience, methods and personality set you apart. Start today with one honest post that helps your audience. Keep going until LinkedIn becomes your most powerful business tool.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Jodie Cook, 

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website. Senior Contributor. Jodie Cook covers ChatGPT prompts & AI for coaches and entrepreneurs.

Sourced from Forbes

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After Months of Stagnation, ChatGPT Is Booming Again

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By Alex Kantrowitz

OpenAI’s chatbot is surging after a period of sluggish growth. After DeepSeek, that’s never been more crucial.

chatgpt and competitors graph

The Gist

  • ChatGPT’s surge. After months of stagnation, ChatGPT hit 3.8 billion visits in January 2025, more than doubling its closest competitor.
  • GPT-4o and voice mode. OpenAI’s major update, including an advanced voice interface, fueled renewed interest in ChatGPT.
  • Competitive landscape. Despite DeepSeek’s rapid rise, ChatGPT maintains a massive lead over Bing, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity.

ChatGPT is booming. After months of stagnant usage in early 2024, the chatbot hit an inflection point and is now far outpacing its competition, according to new data from analytics firm Similarweb (see above).

OpenAI’s flagship bot hit 3.8 billion visits on desktop and mobile web in January 2025, more than doubling Bing, its nearest competitor, and leaving Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude and Perplexity far behind. The traffic surge is a remarkable reversal for ChatGPT following a usage stagnation that lasted longer than a year. After reaching 1.9 billion visits in March 2023, ChatGPT didn’t surpass that number until May 2024.

“The first rush was about novelty, people trying it out. They do seem to have transitioned to where more people have found practical uses for the app,” David Carr, editor for insights news and research at SimilarWeb, told me.

Table of Contents

Why ChatGPT’s Growth Matters

The ChatGPT boom could not have arrived at a better time for OpenAI, which recently saw its AI models effectively equalled by the open source DeepSeek. The incident caused OpenAI CEO Sam Altman to admit the company was on the wrong side of history regarding open source and would maintain a smaller lead than it had previously. OpenAI’s application business is now far more important to its long-term success, and it’s delivering.

The inflection point for ChatGPT seems to have occurred just as OpenAI announced its GPT-4o update, which included an advanced voice mode. The new voice interface would be far more responsive and human sounding than anything on the market, and even a bit flirty.

Following OpenAI’s 4o presentation, Altman infamously tweeted “her,” a reference to a movie starring Scarlett Johansson where a human falls in love with an AI voice that she portrays. Johansson, who’d been approached by OpenAI but refused to collaborate, expressed outrage and threatened legal action following the announcement. It’s possible the publicity helped OpenAI more than it hurt.

Beyond voice mode, OpenAI has improved ChatGPT in several areas. It’s incorporated image generation with Dall-E directly in the bot, it’s released better models — including the o1 reasoning model that DeepSeek challenged — and it’s appeared to hallucinate less. The bot’s also been helped by continued public interest and a willingness among people to try different uses and not abandon it after disappointing results.

Don’t Rest, OpenAI. DeepSeek’s Coming

OpenAI shouldn’t get too comfortable though. DeepSeek’s recent surge surge challenged not only its models, but ChatGPT as well. On Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the height of the DeepSeek publicity wave, ChatGPT registered 139 million visits to DeepSeek’s 49 million, according to Similarweb. Almost overnight, DeepSeek built one third of the audience that ChatGPT took years to establish.

But OpenAI does have the leading AI brand in ChatGPT, something that should be useful as more people seek to engage with artificial intelligence. This past weekend, the company sought to burnish its brand by running its first Super Bowl ad. Google ran a lengthy Super Bowl ad for Gemini as well. If OpenAI can make ChatGPT into the “Coke” of AI, it stands to maintain a lead even if chatbots commoditize.

Can OpenAI Maintain Its Lead?

As for the rest of the pack, it’s not looking pretty. Compared to ChatGPT’s 3.8 billion visit in January, Bing received 1.8 billion, Gemini received only 267 million, Perplexity received 99.5 million and Anthropic’s Claude received 76.8 million. These are web-only numbers, but they’re directionally reliable. And they show OpenAI opening up a massive lead, with competition that isn’t really close.

Core Questions Around ChatGPT’s Growth

Editor’s note: Here are core questions around ChatGPT’s growth:

What drove ChatGPT’s recent surge in usage?

OpenAI’s release of GPT-4o, featuring improved reasoning, enhanced voice mode and better image generation, helped drive renewed interest in ChatGPT. Publicity from the Scarlett Johansson controversy may have also played a role.

How does ChatGPT compare to competitors?

ChatGPT recorded 3.8 billion visits in January 2025, more than double Bing’s traffic and far ahead of Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and Perplexity.

Could OpenAI lose its lead?

While ChatGPT remains dominant, DeepSeek’s rapid growth shows that challengers can quickly capture market share, highlighting the risk of commoditization in the chatbot space.

Feature Image Credit: Jason Dent

By Alex Kantrowitz

Alex Kantrowitz is a writer, author, journalist and on-air contributor for MSNBC. He has written for a number of publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, CMSWire and Wired, among others, where he covers the likes of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft. Kantrowitz is the author of “Always Day One: How the Tech Titans Plan to Stay on Top Forever,” and founder of Big Technology. Kantrowitz began his career as a staff writer for BuzzFeed News and later worked as a senior technology reporter for BuzzFeed. Kantrowitz is a graduate of Cornell University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Labor Relations. He currently resides in San Francisco, California. Connect with Alex Kantrowitz:

Sourced from CMSWIRE

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These Are the Top Branding Strategies That Actually Work

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By Dirk Petzold

Stop Guessing, Start Growing: The Branding Strategies That Actually Deliver

Do you feel like your brand is just… drifting? Like a ship without a sail, tossed around by the winds of the market? You pour time, money, and energy into your business, but something’s missing. Visibility, recognition, and a loyal following seem just out of reach. Sound familiar? The truth is, in today’s crowded marketplace, a great product or service isn’t enough. You need a strong brand. You need branding strategies that connect with your audience. And frankly, not all branding strategies are created equal.

This article isn’t about fluffy theories or outdated tactics. It’s about actionable, proven branding strategies that can transform your business. We’re going to cut through the noise and focus on what actually works. Think of this as your guide to building a brand that resonates, attracts, and thrives.

So, are you ready to take control of your brand’s destiny? Let’s get started!

Why Do Branding Strategies Even Matter Anyway?

Before we jump into the specific branding strategies, let’s quickly address the elephant in the room: why bother? Isn’t branding just for big corporations with massive marketing budgets? Absolutely not! Branding is essential for businesses of all sizes. It’s the essence of your business and the way you create trust with your customers. Here’s why:

  • Differentiation: In a world of endless choices, branding helps you stand out. It communicates what makes you unique.
  • Trust and Loyalty: A strong brand builds trust. Customers are more likely to choose and stick with a brand they know and trust.
  • Price Premium: People are willing to pay more for brands they perceive as valuable.
  • Marketing Effectiveness: A well-defined brand makes your marketing efforts more focused and effective.

Basically, branding is the foundation upon which a successful business is built. It’s not an optional extra; it’s a core component of long-term growth.

Understanding Your Brand Identity

Okay, but how do you actually build a strong brand? It all starts with understanding your brand identity. This is your brand’s DNA – the core values, personality, and promise that define who you are.

Think about these questions:

  • What are your company’s core values? What do you truly believe in?
  • What’s your brand’s personality? Is it playful, sophisticated, reliable, or something else entirely?
  • What promise are you making to your customers? What can they expect from you?
  • Who are your target audience? What are their needs, desires, and pain points?

Answering these questions is crucial for any of the branding strategies you will be using. Once you have a clear picture of your brand identity, you can start to communicate it consistently across all your touchpoints.

Consistent Visuals: A Key Branding Element

One of the most important elements of your brand is your visual identity. This includes your logo, colour palette, typography, and imagery.

Consistency is key here. Use the same visual elements across your website, social media, marketing materials, and even your physical location (if you have one). This helps to create a cohesive and recognizable brand image.

Don’t underestimate the power of good design. A professionally designed logo and visual identity can make a huge difference in how your brand is perceived. Think of it as your brand’s first impression – you want to make it count.

Crafting Your Brand Story: Connect on a Deeper Level

People connect with stories. They remember stories. They share stories. That’s why crafting a compelling brand story is one of the most effective branding strategies you can use.

Your brand story is more than just the history of your company. It’s the narrative that explains why you exist, what you’re passionate about, and how you’re making a difference in the world.

Think about the origin stories of brands you admire. They’re often inspiring, relatable, and emotionally engaging. Aim to create a brand story that resonates with your audience on a deeper level.

Content Marketing: Share Your Expertise

Content marketing is a powerful way to build brand awareness, establish authority, and attract new customers. By creating valuable and informative content, you can position your brand as a thought leader in your industry.

This content can take many forms, including blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, and more. The key is to create content that is relevant to your target audience and provides them with real value.

Furthermore, make sure the content is aligned with your brand’s tone and voice. For example, a financial planning company that is trying to establish itself as an industry leader should use professional language and tone. A company that sells children’s toys should have a playful and energetic approach to content marketing.

Social Media Mastery: Engage and Connect

Social media is an essential tool for building brand awareness and engaging with your audience. Choose the platforms that are most relevant to your target audience and create content that is tailored to each platform.

Don’t just broadcast your message; engage in conversations, respond to comments, and participate in relevant communities. Social media is all about building relationships.

Customer Experience: Deliver on Your Promise

Your brand isn’t just what you say it is; it’s what your customers experience. Every interaction a customer has with your brand – from visiting your website to contacting customer support – shapes their perception of your brand.

Focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience at every touchpoint. This includes providing excellent products or services, offering outstanding customer support, and creating a seamless and enjoyable customer journey.

Positive customer experiences lead to repeat business, positive reviews, and word-of-mouth marketing.

Building a Strong Employer Brand

Your employer brand is how your company is perceived as an employer. Building a positive employer brand can help you attract and retain top talent. When your employees are happy, they become brand advocates and are more likely to provide excellent service to your customers.

To build a strong employer brand, invest in your company culture, offer competitive compensation and benefits, and create a positive and supportive work environment.

Measuring Your Success

You should have a way of knowing if you’re being successful with your branding strategies, therefore you should measure your branding efforts and track your progress. This will help you identify what’s working and what’s not, so you can make adjustments as needed.

Some key metrics to track include:

  • Brand awareness (website traffic, social media followers, mentions)
  • Brand sentiment (social media mentions, reviews, surveys)
  • Customer satisfaction (surveys, feedback)
  • Sales and revenue

By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your branding strategies.

Staying Consistent: A Marathon, Not a Sprint

Building a strong brand takes time and effort. It’s not a one-time project; it’s an ongoing process. Be patient, stay consistent, and focus on building a brand that resonates with your audience.

The most successful brands are those that are authentic, transparent, and committed to delivering value to their customers. By focusing on these principles, you can build a brand that stands the test of time. Good luck!

By Dirk Petzold

Sourced from WATC

https://weandthecolor.com/
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Leadership Successful people don’t ask for feedback, says Wharton psychologist—here’s how they get better instead

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By Ashton Jackson

Asking someone for feedback typically goes one of two ways, says Wharton organizational psychologist Adam Grant.

You could get some helpful takeaways, or the other person may tread too carefully to tell you anything useful, scared of bruising your ego. The latter is more common than most people think, says Grant. The bestselling author’s simple workaround, which highly successful people tend to use, he says: “The best way to get people to coach you is, instead of asking for feedback, you seek advice.”

Asking for advice instead of feedback gives you a better chance of getting some helpful suggestions, says Grant. In 2019, Harvard University researchers asked 200 people to offer input on a job application letter for a tutoring position, written by one of their peers. Some participants were asked to provide this input in the form of feedback, resulting in “vague, generally praising comment,” the researchers wrote in a Harvard Business Review article that year.

“However, when asked to give advice on the same application letter, people offered more critical and actionable input,” the researchers wrote. “In fact, compared to those asked to give feedback, those asked to provide advice suggested 34% more areas of improvement and 56% more ways to improve.”

Asking for feedback tends to have two potential results, Grant adds: People go into cheerleader mode, “raising the best version of you, which is very motivating but doesn’t always teach you something new,” or critic mode to “attack the worst version of you, which is educational but potentially demoralizing.”

Seeking advice instead could be especially helpful for the people who tend to get the least helpful feedback at work — high-performing employees and women, according to a 2024 analysis of more than 23,000 performance reviews across 250 U.S. workplaces, conducted by HR communications platform Textio.

Specifically, high-performing employees are more likely than other workers to only receive surface-level feedback, and women are more likely than men to be given feedback based more on personality than job performance, the analysis reported.

Asking for advice allows you to “keep learning, developing, growing and getting greater opportunities,” Textio co-founder Kieran Snyder told CNBC Make It last year. Make your request well in advance, giving your boss ample time to come up with some substantive critique, she added.

Say something like, “Next week in our one-on-one, I’d like to have a conversation where we can talk about some of the specific examples of work I’ve done and, if I were performing at the next level, what I might be doing a little differently,” said Snyder.

Feature Image Credit: Adam Grant, Photo by Jim Bennett

By Ashton Jackson

Sourced from CNBC make it

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