Figma announces BIG redesign with AI

Welcome back to AI Odyssey!

Today’s edition is 866 words, a 3-minute read. 

We’ll discuss Figma’s big AI integrations; how they plan to revolutionize the software market and details about Reddit safeguarding its content from unauthorized AI models and how you can learn the same. 👀

1 big thing: Figma announces latest redesign with AI

A limited beta list is rolling out. Figma has announced a significant redesign and the introduction of new AI tools at its Config conference. Users can join a waitlist if they want to try it.

The updates:

• Major UI redesign: Figma's new UI, referred to as "UI3," includes a new toolbar, rounded corners, and 200 new icons. This redesign aims to make the interface more focused on users' work and approachable for both new and experienced users. It is currently in limited beta, and users can join a waitlist to try it out.

• New generative AI tools: Figma's new AI tools help users quickly start and develop projects. These tools can create app designs, prototype apps, and generate content such as images and text. They aim to make it easier for beginners to test ideas and for experienced users to iterate more quickly.

• Figma slides: Figma has introduced Figma Slides, a feature for creating and sharing presentations directly within the app. This tool allows real-time tweaks to designs and includes interactive features like polls. Currently in open beta, Figma Slides will become a paid feature upon official release.

Between the lines: Figma clarified its approach to AI model training, emphasizing that its generative features are powered by third-party models and not trained on private Figma files or customer data. Figma admins can control whether the company's AI can train on customer content, with plans defaulted differently based on their type.

Why this matters: These updates represent Figma's commitment to innovation following the collapse of its acquisition by Adobe. By integrating AI and expanding its feature set, Figma aims to maintain its competitive edge in the design software market. 

The new tools have the potential to significantly speed up the design process and make the platform more accessible to a broader range of users.

Reddit’s upcoming changes against AI crawlers

Reddit is tightening web crawler access to protect data against AI models without permission.

How is it doing so? 

• Updated Robots.txt file: Reddit's new robots.txt file aims to prevent unauthorized AI crawlers from scraping its content. This protocol historically allowed search engines to index sites, but the rise of AI has led to concerns about the unacknowledged use of content for training models.

• Rate-limiting and blocking: Reddit will continue to rate-limit and block bots that do not comply with its Public Content Policy or lack agreements with the platform. This measure is intended to deter AI companies from using Reddit data without permission.

• Impact on users and researchers: Reddit assures that the updates will not affect the majority of users or good faith actors like researchers and organizations such as the Internet Archive. 

• Existing agreements: Reddit's changes will not impact companies with existing agreements, like its $60 million deal with Google, allowing the search giant to train its AI models on Reddit content. This signals to other companies that access to Reddit's data for AI training will require payment and adherence to Reddit's policies.

Between the lines: If proper standards and guidelines are not implemented against content scraping, search engines like Perplexity continue to scrape even bad comments about themselves. This just shows automated bots will continue to scrape everything mindlessly. Reddit is setting a valuable example of how platforms can safeguard their content effectively.

Prompt of the day:

Best ChatGPT prompt for creating product testimonials

“Act as a Marketing Manager. Create a persuasive and authentic testimonial for [your product/service] in the perspective of a satisfied customer. For this prompt, consider specific benefits that the product/service has provided to the customer that could be highlighted in the testimony. Describe how the customer initially learned about the product/service, what needs it met, and how it has performed. Additionally, request the customer to include specific examples of how the [product/service] has helped them solve a particular problem or improve their quality of life in a believable way that would encourage potential customers to consider purchasing the product.”

💣 Latest AI hits: quick recap

• Google announces surprise Pixel 9 hardware event in August powered by AI. [Link]

• NBC is bringing a version of famed sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer with an unlikely twist: His voice will be powered by AI. [Link]

• YouTube is trying to make AI music deals with major record labels. [Link]

• The owner of Toys ‘R’ Us just used OpenAI’s Sora to animate the zombie brand. [Link]

• OpenAI delays ChatGPT’s new voice mode. [Link]

• A group of R1 jailbreakers found a massive security flaw in Rabbit’s code. [Link]

• SoftBank to back AI startup Perplexity at $3 billion value. [Link]

• South Korea kicks off $19 billion of chip loans, funds from July. [Link]

• ChatGPT for Mac is now available to all. [Link]

That’s a wrap! See you again for a fresh dose of AI Odyssey soon. 😎