Innovation Profs - 4/22/2025

In this week’s newsletter

• This week’s top Gen AI news

• Tool of the week

• Image of the week

• What we found

Upcoming Innovation Profs Events

👾 Vibe Coding Lunch Club
When: 12:30-1:30 p.m. Central on April 23
Where: Virtual on Zoom
Cost: $30
Attendees will learn about vibe coding, a new trend in generative AI where people are able to code projects with little to no coding skills by simply describing what they want to create. Sign up now.

😎 Hot GPT Summer 2
When: Noon Central on May 14
Where: Virtual on Zoom
Cost: FREE
Our free kickoff to summer is back. Join us for this 45-minute Zoom call to catch up on the latest advancements in the world of generative AI. Sign up now.

🤖 Gen AI Boot Camp
When: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. May 22
Where: In-person at Drake University of on Zoom
Cost: $199 early-bird rate through May 12
This hands-on workshop will give you the knowledge needed to supercharge your productivity at work with generative AI tools. You will learn about tools available now and in the future and leave with tangible ways to use gen AI at your job.

Latest Gen AI News

OpenAI launches a pair of AI reasoning models, o3 and o4-mini

OpenAI added to its slate of reasoning models with the release of o3, o4-mini, and o4-mini-high last week. o3 is OpenAI’s “most advanced reasoning model ever,” surpassing previously released models like o1 and o3-mini in a range of diagnostic tests, while the cheaper and faster o4-mini also performs fairly well on these tests. A third model, o4-mini-high, that spends more time crafting its responses, is available to paid ChatGPT users. One feature new to these reasoning models is that they can draw upon web browsing, Python code execution, image processing, and image generation in producing their outputs. One caveat: word on the street is that o3 hallucinates a lot…check the first Quick Hit below.

Claude just gained superpowers: Anthropic’s AI can now search your entire Google Workspace without you

In response to the Deep Research feature of both Google Gemini and ChatGPT, Anthropic has released a new Research tool for Claude, which the company claims is considerably faster than its rivals. In addition, Claude now has a Google Workspace integration, which can draw upon a user’s email, calendar, and documents to provide context for work-related queries without having to manually load this information (similar to how Microsoft 365 Copilot works with the Microsoft suite of productivity tools). Finally, with these two tools working in tandem, one can use Claude to conduct research driven by their own data. These tools can only be accessed through a paid Claude account.

Microsoft lets Copilot Studio use a computer on its own

The trend of keeping up with the Joneses in this space continues: in an attempt to keep up with Claude’s “computer use” and ChatGPT’s Operator, tools that let an AI agent autonomously interact with websites and desktop applications, Microsoft has released its own “computer use” feature in Copilot Studio, their own platform for building custom agents. “Copilot Studio will be able to create AI agents that can automate data entry, perform market research, or even process invoices. This new tool will even detect when buttons and screens change in apps or websites and continue working without failing or breaking, according to Microsoft.”

Quick Hits

Tool of the week: OpenAI.FM

OpenAI.fm is an interactive platform (launched last month) for showcasing OpenAI's advanced text-to-speech (TTS) technology. It allows users to convert text into highly customizable and expressive audio using various pre-set voice characters.

Key features include an intuitive interface for generating speech, flexible controls for adjusting speaking styles based on emotions or context, and pre-made or custom prompts.

AI-generated image of the week

It’s Drake Relays week here at Drake University. The paint fight has already happened. Midjourney just can’t seem to grasp how much paint someone would get on their faces during such an event. Ideogram and ChatGPT did much better.

Prompt: college students with their faces and hair completely covered in various colors of paint after a paint fight broke out on the university campus, posing for a photo, wearing blue and white clothing that says Drake University

What we found

Google stepped up its vibe coding game with Firebase Studio. Firebase Studio lets you prototype AI apps with natural language, images, and more.