Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little explore OpenAI's "12 Days of OpenAI" campaign, particularly focusing on their new reasoning models and the expanded availability of Canvas across all ChatGPT models.

They examine how ChatGPT's new camera view in Advanced Voice Mode transforms mobile research capabilities, demonstrating real-world applications for genealogists.

This week's Tip of the Week reveals how to get the most out of free AI tools by leveraging each one's strengths: Gemini for summarization, Perplexity for research, ChatGPT for reasoning, and Claude for writing.

In RapidFire, they discuss Apple's cautious AI updates in iOS 18.2, the release of GPT Search for free account holders, Harvard's million-book donation for AI training, and OpenAI's festive Santa Chat feature.

In the News:

02:41 12 Days of OpenAI: New Features and Updates

12:15 Canvas Integration: Now Available Across All Models

17:24 Advanced Voice Mode: ChatGPT Gets Camera View

Tip of the Week:

23:29 Maximizing Free AI Tools: The Right Tool for Each Task

RapidFire:

35:52 Apple Intelligence: iOS 18.2 AI Features

40:20 Free GPT Search Goes Public

45:22 Harvard's Million-Book Donation for AI Training

51:52 OpenAI's Santa Chat Mode

Resource LinksChatGPT

https://chatgpt.com/

12 Days of OpenAI

https://openai.com/12-days/

ChatGPT Canvas Feature

https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/chatgpt/openai-announces-official-launch-of-canvas-for-writing-and-coding-heres-whats-new

ChatGPT Projects Feature

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcB97h3vrzk

GPT Search is now free

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2024/12/16/chatgpt-search-now-free-for-all-heres-why-you-should-try-it/

Advanced Voice Mode with Vision

https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/chatgpt/chatgpt-advanced-voice-with-vision-just-launched-heres-how-to-try-it

ChatGPT Search and the Chrome Extension

https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-search/

Claude

https://claude.ai

Claude Projects

https://www.anthropic.com/news/projects

Gemini

https://gemini.google.com

Perplexity AI

https://www.perplexity.ai

Perplexity Pages

https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/blog/perplexity-pages

Apple Intelligence

https://www.apple.com/apple-intelligence

Harvard Digital Collections

https://hls.harvard.edu/today/harvards-library-innovation-lab-launches-initiative-to-use-public-domain-data-to-train-artificial-intelligence/

https://institutionaldatainitiative.org/

ChatGPT Santa Mode

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10139238-santa-s-voice-in-chatgpt

Artificial Intelligence, Genealogy, OpenAI, Family History Research, Voice Technology, ChatGPT, AI Tools, Content Creation, Canvas, 12 Days of OpenAI

Co-hosts Mark Thompson and Steve Little reveal their top recommendations for AI tools worth paying for in 2025. They also discuss which AI tools aren't worth paying for in 2025. One of them might surprise you!

Next, Mark and Steve begin their review of OpenAI's "12 Days of OpenAI" announcements, beginning with the release of their enhanced O1 reasoning model. This new model will help you plan your family history research.

This week's Tip of the Week challenges conventional thinking about AI hallucinations, suggesting ways to leverage this characteristic as a feature rather than a bug.

In RapidFire, Mark and Steve examine Microsoft's Copilot Vision beta release, Apple's cautious AI rollout strategy, Google's new memory feature in Gemini, and XAI's significant funding round.

In The News:

03:10 AI Tools Worth Paying For in 2025

19:48 Specialty AI Tools to Consider in 2025

26:46 AI Tools Not Worth Paying For in 2025

32:26 OpenAI's 12 Days of Gifts Begins

Tip of the Week:

40:10 Treat AI Hallucinations as a Feature, not a Bug

RapidFire:

50:06 Microsoft Copilot Vision Beta Launch

53:18 Apple's Intelligence Rollout Plans

56:20 Google Gemini Adds Memory Feature

59:34 XAI's $6 Billion Funding Round

ChatGPT Plus

https://openai.com/index/chatgpt-plus/

ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode

https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8400625-voice-mode-faq

Claude Pro

https://claude.ai/

Perplexity Pro

https://www.perplexity.ai/pro

Acrobat AI Assistant

https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/acrobat/using/generative-ai.html

Eleven Labs

https://elevenlabs.io/

Mid Journey

https://www.midjourney.com/

Microsoft Copilot Pro

https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/copilot

Grammarly

https://www.grammarly.com/

ChatGPT O1 Model

https://openai.com/o1/

ChatGPT O1 Pro

https://openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-pro/

Microsoft Copilot Vision

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-copilot/blog/2024/12/05/copilot-vision-now-in-preview-a-new-way-to-browse/

Apple Intelligence

https://www.apple.com/ca/apple-intelligence/

Siri

https://www.apple.com/siri/

Gemini Memory Feature

https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/19/googles-gemini-chatbot-now-has-memory/

X AI Platform

https://x.ai/

Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Genealogy, Family History, Machine Learning, AI Tools, AI Product Reviews, AI Pricing, Voice Technology, Image Generation, Research Tools, AI Ethics, Content Creation, Professional Research, Language Models