Hi {{first_name}}!
Another week is flying by. Can you believe Halloween is tomorrow? Scary! ;)
A couple of the tools I'm diving into this week have become staples in my daily workflow, so today I’ll break down exactly why they work so well.
If you've been to one of my presentations, you've seen Gamma in action. It's the tool I use to build all my decks, and it's become essential to how I work. I'm also clearing up a question I get all the time: What's the difference between ChatGPT Projects and Custom GPTs, and which one should you actually be using?
Plus, this week's AI updates include some fascinating developments, from Google's massive free learning platform launch to how AI is significantly changing web traffic patterns!
This week we're covering:
New and Noteworthy - Google's 3,000-course AI learning hub, Gemini coming to GM vehicles, NotebookLM's new video generation, and shifts in how people consume information online
Tool Spotlight: Gamma - The presentation tool I use for every deck I create
ChatGPT Projects vs Custom GPTs - Which one you should actually be using (and when)
OK, let's get into it!
New and Noteworthy
NotebookLM Video Generation: NotebookLM now generates narrated videos with AI illustrations using Nano-Banana. Turn your documents into visual explainers in 6 different styles. Great for internal team training materials!
Google Skills Platform Launch: Google just launched Skills, a unified hub with nearly 3,000 free courses and labs from Google Cloud, DeepMind, Grow with Google, and Google for Education covering a wide range of industries and roles including (of course) AI!
Vibe Code in Google AI Studio: Google AI Studio now lets anyone turn ideas into working web apps in minutes. Just describe your concept, and it selects the right models, generates the code, and lets you deploy with one click to GitHub or Cloud Run.
Manus 1.5 Release: Manus released version 1.5 of its AI agent platform with major upgrades: 4x faster task completion, full-stack web development capabilities, and enhanced automation features.
General Motors + Google Gemini: GM will roll out a Gemini-powered AI assistant in vehicles next year, offering smarter voice interactions for messaging, routing, and vehicle information directly from your dashboard.
Wikipedia Traffic Drop: Wikipedia reported an 8% drop in page views over the past year, attributing the decrease to AI models scraping content rather than users directly visiting the site, a signal of how AI is quickly changing information consumption. Given my background in SEO, I plan to explore this further inside the Ampra Circle community in the coming weeks!
Perplexity Language Learning: Perplexity dropped a built-in language learning tool that lets users practice, translate, and converse in different languages directly within the app.
Uber Digital Tasks: Uber is launching "digital tasks" in its driver app, letting U.S. drivers earn extra cash by completing simple AI training work like uploading menus or recording audio samples.
Tool Spotlight: Gamma
If you've been to one of my presentations, you know I use Gamma for creating every single deck I present and there's a good reason it's become my go-to presentation tool.
Here's what makes it special: You type a simple prompt like "Create a sales deck that I can use with prospects for my business www.acme.com to showcase who we are and what we do" and Gamma will research your website using AI, build an outline, and create a professional presentation in seconds. Not a template you have to fill in, but a complete deck with structure, visuals, and polished content.
Pro tip: You can also work smarter by drafting your outline in your AI tool of choice, then feeding that refined structure into Gamma. This gives you the strategic thinking and memory/context of your preferred AI, combined with Gamma's design intelligence. And if you use the paid version you can save a custom theme that matches your branded look and feel!
What used to take me 3–4 hours in PowerPoint now takes about 30 minutes. I describe what I need, build an outline, select my theme and it generates a polished deck that looks professionally designed.
What I love most:
AI-generated images that match your brand colors automatically
Smart layouts that look professional
Easy editing: just chat with AI to make changes
Export to PowerPoint or PDF, or share a link when needed
Beyond presentations: You can also create documents, web pages, and social posts with the same AI design intelligence.
The free tier is solid, but the paid plan is absolutely worth it if you're creating decks regularly. For the time it saves me, it's one of the best investments I've made in my tech stack.
Major Updates Are Coming To The Frontier Models This Year!
It’s rumored that every major AI model is getting a significant upgrade before year-end. We’re likely to see ChatGPT 6, Grok 5, Gemini 3.0, etc… before 2026! These won’t just be minor version bumps. AI is continuing to make significant strides towards being able to handle complex decisions your team currently makes, understand your entire operations manual, work autonomously, and deliver increasingly reliable outputs you can trust.
Smart operators are preparing now, identifying where AI almost works today so they’re ready when these capabilities land. Think about:
Customer interactions that need personalization but follow repeatable patterns
Operational decisions that require judgment but follow a framework
Meeting prep and follow-up that eats hours of your team's time
Report generation that requires context across multiple documents
We're releasing an AI Communication Plan template next week to help you talk about these changes with your team because preparing your people is just as important as preparing your processes. The companies that move fast on this will have 6-12 months of advantage while competitors are still figuring out what changed. Inside the Ampra Circle community, we're working through this preparation framework together so you're not starting from scratch.
*If you’d like my AI Communication Plan Template now feel free to reply to this email and request it!
ChatGPT Projects vs Custom GPTs: Which One Should You Actually Use?
If you're paying for ChatGPT Plus, you've probably noticed two different ways to organize your AI work: Custom GPTs and ChatGPT Projects. They seem similar, but there's one big difference...
Here's what each one does:
Custom GPTs are specialized versions of ChatGPT built for specific tasks. Think of them like hiring a specialist who only does one thing really well. You can upload your brand guidelines, give it specific instructions, and it'll consistently handle that one job the same way every time.
Example for service businesses: I built a custom GPT that evaluates automation flowcharts. I just upload a flowchart image and without any additional prompting, it automatically creates a detailed breakdown of the workflow, estimates implementation time, identifies potential bottlenecks, and generates a complete cost estimate. Every time. The same thorough analysis, zero extra instruction needed.
ChatGPT Projects work more like organized workspaces. You can add files, context, and have multiple conversations, all tied to one topic, project, or client, using different AI models for different tasks.
Example for consultants: Create a project for each major client. Drop in their contracts, past meeting notes, and strategy docs. Every conversation you have about that client lives in one organized space instead of scattered across dozens of random chats.
Real business scenarios:
Use Custom GPTs when:
You need shareable tools (you can send links to team members or clients)
The task is repetitive and specific (proposal generation, FAQ responses)
Brand voice consistency matters more than cutting-edge reasoning
Use Projects when:
You're working on complex projects or client engagements
You need everything about one topic organized in one place
You want access to the newest, smartest AI models
Organization matters (you can name chats, archive old ones, find stuff later)
I use both. Custom GPTs handle my repetitive tasks. Projects help with client work, and strategic planning, and big initiatives where I need the latest AI capabilities and better organization.
Take note: Chats from Custom GPTs don’t save to Projects.
If you’re only going to use one, start with Projects. The ability to organize your work and use newer models makes a bigger difference than most people realize. But Custom GPTs still win for repetitive tasks, especially if you want to share with others.
Any questions about Gamma or how to set up your ChatGPT workflows? Just hit reply. And if there's a specific AI tool or topic you'd like me to dive into next week, let me know.These newsletters are most valuable when they answer the questions you have.
See you next week,
Julien
PS: Know someone still building presentations the hard way? I would greatly appreciate if you would forward this newsletter to them and they can subscribe at www.ampra.ai/join-our-newsletter.