Connexion
ChatGPT's capabilities continue to expand apace, and the latest feature is a fully capable slideshow creator. Announced a few weeks ago, ChatGPT Slides lets you create PowerPoint-style decks from inside your conversations, and it's now appearing for those on the Pro tier and above (meaning right now, you need to spend at least $100 a month to get it).
If you're on the free ChatGPT plan or the $20-a-month Plus tier, you can still get ChatGPT to generate downloadable PowerPoint files from the content of your conversations. However, they'll be more basic than those made in the full version of ChatGPT Slides, and there are no collaboration or native edit options.
ChatGPT Slides is part of OpenAI's push to give users a complete office suite inside the ChatGPT apps. Pages (the word processor) is already available for Pro tiers and above, while a spreadsheet app is on the way—the idea being that you will soon be able to get all your work done without any help from Google or Microsoft.
While Chatgpt Slides is only available on pricey plans right now, it's likely to come to lower subscription tiers in the future. But for now, how does the tool compare to what's available in the free and Plus tiers, not to mention what you can do with Gemini inside Google Slides? I've taken a detailed look.
When it comes to testing out AI tools, it helps to focus on something you're already knowledgeable about so you can spot any mistakes. To test this, I decided to see what ChatGPT could hoover up from the web about the new iPhone Duo. If you're on the free or Plus plans, you can start a conversation, then ask for a slideshow or PowerPoint about it.
Plus accounts also have access to a specific Presentations add-on, available via the + (plus) menu in the prompt box, though I get the impression this feature is in a state of flux since ChatGPT Slides arrived. In any case, you can begin asking about the iPhone Duo specs and early online reactions, and then say "build me a slideshow on the key features and reviews so far".
What I got back on the $20 Plus account was a fairly competent slideshow on Apple's foldable, with accurate information as far as I could see, and a simple series of layouts. It looked like something you might whip up from a template if you were in a rush and didn't have time to properly align all the bullet points or be very selective about which details you included and which you left out. One neat touch is that ChatGPT was able to drop in an official photo of the iPhone Duo at the start of the slideshow, but I had to specifically ask for one.
You can go back and make specific edits to the slideshow, but you have to describe them in the general prompt box—you can't select individual slide elements and make more precise changes. Still, if all you want to do is occasionally convert your ChatGPT conversations into a rough and ready slideshow, there's no real need to upgrade from the free or Plus accounts for now.
Switching to a Pro account, I gave a similar task to ChatGPT Slides hoping for something more comprehensive. To begin with, Slides gets its own dedicated area in the app, so you can start up a blank presentation from scratch—there are some basic image and text features, but the idea is to use prompts to build your slide deck. It's like a really basic Google Slides, with a prompt box.
Creating a slideshow this way feels rather tedious: Typing out what you want to say and then waiting for ChatGPT to do it isn't as intuitive as just throwing in some graphics and text yourself, as you might do in PowerPoint. It also seems to be a bit buggy, at least during the time I spent testing it, with some requests not properly completing.
Starting a standard conversation with ChatGPT and then turning all the information into a deck is much more useful from my perspective. My iPhone Duo slideshow was longer, laid out better, and more informative than the one I created on the Plus plan—there were even charts of battery life and official photos this time.
However, whether I used the free, Plus, or Pro tools, my presentations didn't come across as particularly well thought through. They don't really flow smoothly, either across individual slides or the slideshow as a whole—it feels very much like an algorithm, rather than a person, has decided what information to include and where on the slides to stick it.
Whether you create presentations in chats or through the ChatGPT Slides space, you're able to click on individual elements and do some basic manual resizing and repositioning. You can also request edits via prompts: "Drop in an image of a cat", "make this pop more", "center all of this information", or whatever it is.
ChatGPT Slides does offer collaborative tools, which I wasn't able to test, and I can see that being useful for teams heavily invested in ChatGPT's ecosystem. I can also imagine ChatGPT Slides coming in handy when you've got a lot of information you need to quickly dump into a slideshow that looks vaguely presentable.
In general though, I think I'd much rather stick to the traditional way of making slideshows for now. These old methods are more precise and more manageable, and give you full control over what's shown and where—even if they do take a bit longer. What's more, modern-day presentation tools come with so many templates and other layout aids that it's not difficult to put together something that's easy on the eyes while including all of the information you think is most critical.
Google is, of course, also all the way in on AI (and then some), and if you pay for Google AI Pro ($19.99 a month) or above, you can have Gemini pop up right inside Google Slides to give you some assistance with your presentation-making. To compare the tools, I gave it the same task as I did ChatGPT, asking for a slide deck on the new iPhone Duo.
Gemini actually asked some questions along the way: about wht visual style to use, the audience to aim the slideshow at, and the details to highlight. Though it's always possible to put this sort of information manually into a prompt, this would be a helpful additional to ChatGPT Slides.
What Gemini and Google Slides produced was impressive in terms of the layout and overall vibe of the presentation: It felt much more like a human being had put together the slide deck compared to what ChatGPT had produced, in terms of the information chosen, the way the slides were laid out, and the color picks.
However, Google's result had its faults too: The presentation got the facts on the maximum brightness of the iPhone Duo screen wrong, and produced an "iPhone Duo" graphic that looked like two iPhones from around 2021 stuck together. ChatGPT Slides at least managed to pull official imagery from the Apple website.
You can't attach individual edit prompts to specific parts of your presentation in Google Slides as you can in ChatGPT Slides—you have to mention them in the general prompt box. That said, Google Slides is obviously a much more mature and established slideshow tool compared to the OpenAI equivalent, in terms of its features and layout options (it has been around for a decade, after all).
Given that extra software structure and the lower cost of entry, Gemini and Google Slides is the better option for AI-assisted slideshow making at the moment—though I wouldn't bet against OpenAI catching up. For now, ChatGPT Slides is something that's good to have available if you're already paying a lot for ChatGPT every month, but not a feature that makes it worth your while to swap your AI allegiance.
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You Can See Everything, the new documentary about Theranos founder (and accomplished con artist) Elizabeth Holmes from filmmakers Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, is breaking records (and brains). Not only is it raking it in at the box office in a way that few documentaries can manage, it’s also dominating the pop culture chat right now thanks to genre-defying techniques; a huge, rule-breaking twist (that I won't spoil); and its unrepentant and inexplicably mesmerizing subject.
While some might argue that you should head into this incredible film experience fresh, if you’re unfamiliar with any of the three major figures involved, you will benefit from a little prep work before you head in—and if you've already seen it, you're no doubt eager to dive even deeper into this truly remarkable (in every sense of the word) story. Here’s what you should watch, read, and listen to before or after You Can See Everything.
To put it simply: There’s a lot going on here. To ensure you can appreciate the film, you should make sure you know at least the basics about three things: Elizabeth Holmes (and why she’s infamous), and the work of both Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim. Here’s the crash course.
The 2019 podcast The Dropout is one of the most efficient ways to get the background on Holmes and Theranos. In the style of a true crime podcast, this show from ABC and journalist Rebecca Jarvis offers a deep dive into Holmes and her crimes that will give you all the background you’ll need.
John Carreyrou is the journalist who broke the Holmes story wide open, and his award-winning book Bad Blood offers a more journalistic and less sensational investigation than other accounts, providing a close-up look at Holmes in her CEO persona—an alternately terrifying and charismatic person who comes across as a “character” Holmes is playing. The book will inform your viewing of the documentary in important ways.
While Nathan Fielder is getting most of the attention for You Can See Everything, co-director Lance Oppenheim brings his signature technique to the film—it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without his visual sensibility and framing.
Oppenheim has helmed several notable films, as he’s made a name for himself as a brilliant documentarian over the last few years, but to get ready for You Can See Everything, check out Spermworld, his 2024 exploration of unregulated sperm donations (you read that right). The doc deals with people who are as reality-challenged, manipulative, and possibly delusional as Holmes, and it will prep you for his visual style of extreme close-ups and excessive coverage that seems almost impossible in a normal documentary setting. You can stream Spermworld on Hulu.
If you’re unfamiliar with Nathan Fielder’s work, you need to strap in, because he’s unlike any other comedian or documentarian you’ve ever encountered.
To get a sense of his style, start with Nathan for You, a comedy-documentary-reality TV hybrid in which Fielder—as a version of himself—tries to use his business experience to help struggling people and small businesses. Presented as totally sincere, Fielder’s ideas are nevertheless increasingly elaborate and, in a word, unhinged. This show will familiarize you with Fielder’s persona and approach, but if you only have time to cram one episode, check out the series finale, “Finding Frances.” It follows Fielder’s attempts to reunite one of his earlier clients with his long-lost love, and it is a nearly perfect encapsulation of his style and approach. You can stream Nathan for You on HBO Max, Hoopla or Paramount Plus, or rent it episode-by-episode on Prime Video.
You should also watch at least some of Fielder’s other series, The Rehearsal. Here, Fielder (again, portraying a version of himself) attempts to help people prepare for difficult conversations utilizing increasingly outlandish techniques and scenarios that spiral into comedic insanity, including building sets, hiring actors, and immersing himself and his subjects in an alternate reality of sorts—an approach that will prepare you for some of You Can See Everything’s swerves. If you don’t have time to watch the whole thing, just check out the first episode, “Orange Juice, No Pulp.” It’s a self-contained chapter and will give you the basics. You can stream The Rehearsal on Apple TV or HBO Max, or rent episodes on Prime Video.
Have more bandwidth before watching You Can See Everything, or want a deeper dive after the documentary has melted your brain? Here’s what else you can check out.
The companion podcast to Carreyrou’s book, Bad Blood: The Final Chapter, is well worth a listen. Hearing the journalist’s perspective about his investigation and work during and after Holmes’ trial offers additional insight into her personality and methods that will really resonate after watching her in Fielder and Oppenheim’s doc.
Once you’ve noodled on You Can See Everything for a moment, there are two more movies you should check out.
For more on Holmes’s specific grift and how she pulled it off, Alex Gibney’s excellent The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is the way to go, especially if you didn’t follow the Theranos story closely at the time and your main visual guide to Holmes is the new documentary. Gibney’s film is more traditional, but offers a wealth of insight into Holmes and her bubble. You can stream The Inventor on HBO Max or rent it on Prime VIdeo.
If you more from co-director Lance Oppenheim, watch Some Kind of Heaven, his 2020 breakout documentary about The Villages retirement community in Florida. It’s the film that put Oppenheim on the map, and offers hints of the same detached observational style that makes You Can See Everything so arresting. You can stream Some Kind of Heaven on Kanopy or Hoopla, or rent it on Prime Video.
Speaking of which, if you loved the visual style and “enhanced” reality of You Can See Everything and want to see more of that, catch the Robert Pattinson-starring Primetime, still in theaters. It’s Oppenheim's narrative film directorial debut, and combines his hyperstyled visual flair with thriller pacing and a narrative based on a true story.
The Curse, Fielder’s 2023 TV series, is his first work of fiction, and it offers some fascinating insights. It follows a newly married couple (played by Fielder and Emma Stone) who struggle to get an HGTV-style show off the ground as things get excruciatingly awkward (and, eventually, kind of surreal). After watching You Can See Everything, it will be interesting to see how Fielder views the power of editing, the ethics of reality TV, and working with a name actor to get the results that he wants. Plus, similarly to the film, The Curse swerves into a final act that will melt your brain. You can stream The Curse on Apple TV or rent it on Prime Video.
You should also definitely watch The Dropout, the 2022 Hulu series starring Amanda Seyfried. It’s a well-made film, and Seyfried’s performance was rightly praised for capturing the weirdness of Holmes' public persona. You can stream The Dropout on Hulu.
If you have personal conversations with ChatGPT that you don't want others to see, you can now add an extra layer of security for those specific chats. The new Locked Chats feature allows you to hide sensitive conversations behind a four-digit account PIN (or biometric authentication on mobile), meaning others with access to your device or screen can't read them.
Locked chats are retained in your chat history—unlike temporary chats, which are private conversations that aren't saved by default—so you can return to or continue them at any point. However, once locked, they are hidden from your regular chat history, pinned chats, and regular conversation search. To access them, you have to go to Projects > Locked chats and enter your PIN or device unlock method (such as Face ID or Touch ID).
To start a locked chat for the first time, open an existing conversation that you want to keep private and open the options menu. Select Lock chat > Lock chat and create or enter your account PIN. This moves the conversation to your locked chats project. You can repeat this with any existing conversation or start a locked chat from scratch under Projects > Locked Chats by entering your PIN or authentication method and typing a message to launch the chat. When you're done, select Lock now to end access to locked chats and hide them from the sidebar.
Note that if you don't already have an account PIN set up, you should be prompted to do so the first time you attempt to lock a chat. Select Create a PIN, enter your four-digit code, and enter it again to confirm. You can also enable biometric authentication in Account PIN settings. If you reset your account PIN at any point, all locked chats are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.
Locked chats are available on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans on both mobile and desktop apps. The feature is not available for ChatGPT for Healthcare. There are other limitations, too: For example, temporary, archived, and group chats can't be locked, nor can those with shared links, scheduled and background tasks, or meeting recordings. OpenAI says locked chats are rolling out gradually, so they may not be available to all users yet.
While locked chats do add a layer of privacy in terms of how conversations appear on your device, they are not suddenly encrypted or otherwise protected from being retained or used by OpenAI. As the support page notes, locked chats are not encrypted end to end or placed in a separate encrypted vault, and locking a chat does not affect other privacy settings, such as Improve the model for everyone (which can be turned off in Settings > Data controls) or remove information ChatGPT already knows about you.
This week's Out of Touch Guide delves into the musical genre/sub-culture of "Loser Core," a pointed response to overly polished music and Instagram-polished fashion. We also define some slang, so if a young person says you have EBK or nods and says "GiGis" to you, you'll know whether you're being insulted or complimented. And then there's Biddy Blas, Star Wars fandom's newest Glub Shitto.
Loser Core is a growing subculture and musical style among young people. The music is influenced by indie, alternative, and lo-fi, with lyrics that tend toward depressing. They're usually about alienation, teen angst, and how hard it is to talk girls. Loser Core is like emo, but more homemade and more hopeless, or like grunge with less anger. Prominent Loser Core artists include Memo Boy and Wifiskeleton. Notable influences include Radiohead and Weezer.
The Loser Core look is anti-fashion: over-size, slouchy hoodies, anime T-shirts, digital watches, and beat-up sneakers. The personality type is alienated nerd with niche hobbies and few friends. So basically, depressed young people who gravitate to depressing music and a slobby look. No matter your age, I'm sure you knew (or were) this type of person when you were 17.
Here's a video that explains it a bit more:
So that's Loser Core, the genre and lifestyle. Explaining the prominence of the Loser Core Playlist is a little more complicated. Created on Spotify by depay178, LOSERCORE is a playlist of 155 songs in the Loser Core genre. Back in June, a TikTok user called @user406398991 started posted AI-generated cartoons to promote the LOSERCORE playlist. The videos feature a recurring cast of characters, are usually about music, and end with a recommendation to visit the LOSERCORE playlist. Here's an example:
The videos started appearing on a lot of people's feeds in October, raising the profile the musical genre and generating reenactment videos like this:
...as well as videos from artists who are confused at their own inclusion on the list, people selling rip-off merch, and people gate-keeping what Loser Core is and questioning the inclusion of some songs on what is becoming the canonical list. Also: a ton of videos asking, "why does this keep showing up on my feed?"
Online chatter about the playlist revolves around the perceived lack of quality of the videos, and why, exactly, someone would spend so much time promoting a playlist on Spotify when you can't monetize the followers it gets.
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It's a good question. There are indirect ways this list could be making someone money—maybe there's a connection between the promotion and the bands on the list who get paid per stream—but I like to think it's just kids who identify with these artists and want other kids to hear what they're into, like people did with zines in the old days. We don't have to monetize everything, right?
EBK stands for "Extreme Baller Knowledge." It goes beyond the sports reference to apply to to anyone who has deep knowledge of a subject. It's usually used ironically.
Pronounced like the name Gigi, "GiGis" comes from sports by way of gamer culture. The post game pleasantry "good game" has been a staple in sports since forever. Gamers adopted it and shortened it to "GG" in text. So GiGis is a way of saying "good game."
This week's viral video comes by way of a video game cut-scene. Star Wars: Galactic Racer was released on Oct. 6, and its breakout star has emerged: Biddy Blas. You won't find him in any of the Star Wars movies or TV shows. Biddy is only in this one game, and basically only exists as an opponent to be beaten in a race. But Biddy is too great to go out in obscurity. Just check him out:
Soon after the release of the game, fans dubbed Biddy the "best Glup Shitto (Star Wars background character with a silly name)" and started making memes to celebrate him, like these:
Biddy Blas' popularity is the result of voice actor Richard Summers-Calvert's spirited performance, particularly his reading of Biddy's catchphrase, "scrib doon," (i.e.: "Write that down."). The phrase gets caught in your brain:
and there are so many occasions when "scrib doon" is the perfect thing to say:
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