Wise & Wired Studio Weekly AI Briefing

Issue #22, Week of October 5, 2026

It's launch day for Course 4,
"Outsmarting Modern Scams with AI"!!

Using AI to spot scams was your most requested topic when we surveyed the community, so we built a full course around it: five topics covering payment scams, healthcare scams, identity theft, impersonation scams, and romance scams, each with a real example and a live demo of Claude catching it in action. We also created a free 60-Second Scam Check: Download now. It's one page. Save it to your phone or print it and stick it on the fridge.

As a Briefing subscriber, you're hearing about this before anyone else, the course won't open to the public until later this week. Launch pricing is $34.95 (regular price $54.95), and it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. This also isn't a one-time course: new scams get added as new lessons over time, and once you're in, every future update is yours automatically at no extra charge. Start Course 4 here!

Quick Tip: Let the AI interview you
Not sure how to ask for what you want? Skip the perfect prompt. Type, "Ask me questions one at a time until you have what you need, then give me your best answer." It works for a gift idea, a letter, a budget, you name it. You just answer like you're chatting with a friend.

Prompt of the Week: Dinner from what's already in the fridge
"Here's what I have in my kitchen: [list what you've got]. I need dinner for [number] people in about [30 minutes]. Give me 2 simple ideas, and tell me what to do first."

Win of the Week: Using AI for regular things:
"It just took that one small thing that AI could do for me, to get me started." Starting small is a great way to start using AI.
Send your Win of the Week to [email protected] and I'll feature it in a future briefing!

📰 AI News of the Week

Good morning, Wise & Wired Studio Community! A lot of news in the world of AI this week that I thought you might find interesting:

🕵️ Scams & Deepfakes

An AI video caller that passes for human. A startup called Tavus previewed Griffin, an AI avatar that listens, watches and reacts live on a video call. In the company's own small study, 26 of 54 people believed they were talking to a real person after one minute, up from about 2% with its older model. It's limited to select testers for now. Why it matters to you: A live video call is no longer proof that the person on the other end is real, so verify any request for money or personal details another way.

🤖 AI Helpers That Act for You

People are sending AI to haggle and cancel. Business Insider reported people using personal agents to negotiate bills, cancel forgotten subscriptions and book reservations. In one case an agent pinged a restaurant booking site hundreds of times an hour. Why it matters to you: These chores are exactly what many of us would love to hand off, but the tools still need supervision.
Three safety habits for any AI assistant. Give it only the access the task needs, turn on activity logs and read them, and require your approval before anything sends, posts or pays. Another guide suggests starting every permission at read-only. Why it matters to you: These three settings are the difference between a helpful assistant and an expensive surprise.

⚠️ AI Safety in the News

The FTC opened an investigation. The agency is looking into OpenAI, Anthropic and other labs over risks their AI agents pose to consumers, and its chairman has said developers should be responsible for what their agents do. Why it matters to you: A consumer watchdog is now asking who pays when an AI tool causes harm.
A voluntary safety pledge at the White House. Leaders of Google, Anthropic, Meta, OpenAI, xAI and Nvidia signed a one-page accord promising internal checks and outside audits, with no penalties attached. The President also ordered federal agencies to call AI "Super Intelligence" in official communications. Why it matters to you: Expect the abbreviation "SI" on government sites, and know that today's safeguards are promises, not laws.

🏛️ Government Services & Health Costs

America.gov, an AI front door to the federal government. The new site answers typed or spoken questions using official government sources and is meant to replace thousands of separate agency websites. It only answers questions for now; filling out and filing forms such as passport renewals and Medicare enrollment is targeted for early 2027. Why it matters to you: Finding a straight answer on Social Security, Medicare or passports may soon take one question instead of an afternoon of clicking.

🛍️ Shopping, Food & Travel

ChatGPT can show clothes on you. A new Try On button in ChatGPT's shopping results lets you upload a photo and see how an item might look, and a Favorites feature saves items for later. Why it matters to you: It could mean fewer returns when you shop online.
Order DoorDash by text. DoorDash's new AI assistant lets U.S. customers text what they're craving in Apple Messages and builds the cart and checks out in the same thread. It's in beta with a waitlist. Why it matters to you: ordering dinner may soon be as easy as texting a friend.
DoorDash drones are cleared for takeoff. The company received FAA certification to run its own drone fleet, mainly for orders 3 to 5 miles away, and says drone deliveries averaged 25 minutes in 2025. Why it matters to you: Faster delivery of food and small items is headed to more neighborhoods.

🏠 New Gadgets

AI hearing glasses. Legato Frames ($999) use AI inside the glasses to pick out voices from background noise, without recording audio. Why it matters to you: This is a new option for following conversation in a noisy restaurant.
Apple's smart home hub. Bloomberg reports Apple's hub is expected October 13 with a 6-inch screen, a built-in speaker, tabletop and wall-mount versions, and Siri at the center. Why it matters to you: It could put calendars, video calls and home controls on one simple screen in the kitchen.
A security camera that doesn't record video. Apple is reportedly working on a small home sensor that uses AI to recognize who is there and sends only a text description. Why it matters to you: You'd know who came to the door without footage of your home sitting on someone's server.

💡 Everyday AI Tips

Point your camera and ask. With camera modes like Gemini Live, you can aim your phone at an outlet, a bird at the feeder or a sick tree and ask your question out loud. Treat the answer as a strong guess, since AI can be confidently wrong in poor light. Why it matters to you: Showing is easier than describing, especially around the house and yard.
Scan several pages into one PDF. On iPhone, the ChatGPT camera can now capture multiple pages in a row and combine them into a single PDF for your chat. Look for it in the camera's three-dot menu. Why it matters to you: It's a quick way to get a multi-page bill, letter or insurance form explained in plain English.
Skills are replacing Gems. On Sept 30, Google added "skills" to Gemini: saved instructions you can build from a chat and reuse, which Gemini can apply on its own when a request matches. Skills will eventually replace Gems, and existing Gems will move over automatically. Available to users 18 and older. Why it matters to you: If you've set up a Gem, you won't lose it, but the name and menu are going to change.

🌍 Good News & Curiosities

AI helping aid workers. The International Rescue Committee used Claude to analyze health data that nutrition workers in Nigeria record by hand; one pilot cut a full day of analysis to under 30 minutes. Why it matters to you: It's a reminder that this technology is also helping children get care sooner.
A Napoleonic code cracked. An engineer used AI to decrypt an 1809 military dispatch to one of Napoleon's marshals in about six hours, working from a blurry photo. Why it matters to you: History buffs and genealogists have a powerful new tool for old documents.
A possible biology discovery. Anthropic says about 950 Claude agents searched genetic data and found a previously unknown enzyme system. It hasn't been peer-reviewed, and a Copenhagen biologist says his team was already studying the same enzymes. Why it matters to you: AI may speed up medical research, but early claims deserve healthy skepticism.
How Americans feel about AI. A survey found 56% say AI is helping their daily life now, even as optimism about the future is dropping. Why it matters to you: If you feel both curious and cautious, you're in good company.

That’s it for this week! Please send an email to [email protected] if you have comments about this Briefing or suggestions for future Briefings. Feel free to forward the Briefing to your friends.

Have a great day!
Don Walker
Wise & Wired Studio
Founder/Chief Instructor

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Wise & Wired Studio AI Briefing 10/5/26