Gamify habit-tracking to boost productivity + Alibaba’s EMO outshines Sora // Stay Ahead #14

Welcome to Stay Ahead #14 from FlexOS!

Every Tuesday, we share the latest tools and technology news to help you work smarter, not harder. 

In this week’s edition:

1. Innovation news of the Week: The impressive lifelike quality of EMO.
2. Productivity Tools: A gamified habit-tracker and Virtual Cafe to boost your focus.
3. Must-read News: OpenAI condemned the New York Times for “hacking” lawsuit evidence.
4. Job Board: Future-forward roles at Mastercard, Chorus One, Remote, and more.

Let’s dive in!

EMO and the Future of Online Dating

Alibaba's Institute for Intelligent Computing developed a new AI system called “EMO,” which can turn a still photo or an audio file into a lifelike animated video. 

EMO is a revolution in AI video generation because the model uses a direct audio-to-video synthesis approach, bypassing the current facial landmarks method. 

Sora, OpenAI’s video creator, rocked the internet several weeks ago, and now we have EMO. Yes, the speed is insane.

Last week, we mentioned that Tinder and OpenAI signed a deal, but there are more areas where AI and dating match. 

Tinder and other dating apps are now filled with charming AI-generated photos, creating a good opportunity for scammers to blend in. This situation urged Tinder to expand and strengthen ID checks to tackle AI scams and increasing dating crimes. 

The evolution of image-to-video AI models worsens this, as people can FaceTime AI videos. What is still real?

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Best Productivity Tools To Try Out This Week

Gamify your life with Habitica

Want to unlock that new avatar or the new in-game feature? Complete your task today first. 

Habitica can turn your habit-building and task-tracking into a game. You get rewards (and punishments) for every task you did or didn’t do.

You can also fight monsters with your friends and use gold to buy new rewards!

Price: Free!

Work in your favorite cafe everywhere with I Miss My Cafe

No more feeling stuck in the office or at home,; y You can always find your favorite cafe with I Miss My Cafe (unfortunately excluding the actual coffee part).

A cafe music playlist, barista, customer, coffee machine, and ambiance rainy sound - you can customize everything to go to your favorite workplace mentally and maximize your productivity. 

Price: Free.

Need more AI tools? Check out:

• The best AI tools for Recruiting, Marketing, and Accounting.
• 10 Tools for Common Work Tasks Anyone Can Use (Writing, Powerpoints)
• 10 AI Productivity Tools (Meeting Notetaking, Writing, Brainstorming.) 
• And check our full AI For Work Top 100 

In the News 

Every week, we pick must-read articles about the future of work so you can stay ahead. 

This week, Anthropic launched the most powerful A bot in the market to date:

Anthropic says its latest AI bot can beat Gemini and ChatGPT

Anthropic launched Claude 3 - its most powerful AI, which surpasses GPT-4 on many aspects and has “near-human” capability. 

OpenAI says New York Times 'hacked' ChatGPT to build copyright lawsuit

Tackling the copyright lawsuit with the New York Times, OpenAI argued that the New York Times had hacked ChatGPT and other AI systems to fabricate the evidence. 

Exclusive: Musk's Neuralink brain implant company cited by FDA over animal lab issues

After Elon Musk recently announced the first human patient's recovery from AI chip implementation, U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors reported some issues in the animal trials phase. 

When You Want to Be Hybrid, But Your Boss Wants You in the Office

You want to be hybrid and have more flexibility in your work? Ask for it, but in a skilled and well-crafted way. Rachel Montañez showed us all the steps needed to ask for hybrid working respectfully. 

Want to Be a Better Leader? Stop Thinking About Work After Hours.

As a manager or a CEO, your work and personal life are intertwined, and you are urged to think about work constantly. However, new research has shown that this may hurt your performance rather than enhance it. 

Jobs to Level Up

We want you to make the change we need in this world of work. And do it from wherever is best for you. Here are some jobs that caught our attention:

Emerging Talent (1-5 years of experience)

1. Rejoiner: Remote Editorial Copywriter
2. Kanpai Foods: Remote Content Writer
3. Chorus One: Remote Customer Success Specialist

Experienced Leaders

1. Bullpen Talent LLC: Accounting Manager (CPA) - U.S. Technology Company
2. Remote: Senior Core Customer Success Manager APAC
3. Mastercard: Global Talent Acquisition Program Manager

Need more options? WeWorkRemotely, FlexJobs, Remote, and Jobgether are great places to get vetted remote-friendly roles. 

Also, check out our guide on “How to Get a Remote Job Today.”

How did we do?

That’s it for this edition of Stay Ahead, the newsletter that keeps you ahead in the future of work. Reply and give us your feedback: what could we do better?

We’re here for you, truly.

– Daan and the team at FlexOS​