ZD 25.33: AI is on the Clock Again
My 2024 fantasy football experience was fair to middling, how was yours?
An answer to the very important annual question — will this be the year AI is a better GM than I? Also exploring The Cool Report, On The Edge and reverberations around GPT-5 feature in the Distilled Spirit. Really tight East Coast hip hop musical coda to celebrate the 50th. One love.
Is AI a Better GM in 2025?
Last year I let AI be my fantasy co-GM. Success was admittedly mixed — I finished in the money in two leagues, one of which was an inherited dynasty team. AI was not a better advisor than your buddy from the bar or your average fantasy football newsletter. Could it do better in 2025? What new tricks could you call on to improve the outlook?
Deep Research Tools
AI technology has evolved rapidly—one year in fantasy football feels like a decade in AI years. Last summer, deep research tools didn’t exist, but now they’re game-changers for draft preparation. These tools quickly analyze current information and can be tailored by uploading your league rules for personalized insights.
I sent my league settings to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity’s deep research tools. All produced much better draft plans than last year. Among them, Gemini stood out for its speed, strong sources. ChatGPT was a close second; the depth of the research showed. Perplexity was fast but not as deep.
No matter which platform you use, you can now generate solid, customized advice for your fantasy situation. I wouldn’t pay a robo-advisor over ChatGPT in 2025.
What About Agent Mode?
OpenAI describes Agent Mode as “what if Operator and Deep Research had a baby?” It's like having a fantasy football research protégé that scours the web in record time, as if you were scrambling just before the draft you almost forgot. Using the new scanning and text summary modes is almost a sport on its own; they’re slick but still keep you involved in the process.
Agent Mode outpaced Deep Research by several minutes. That said, the advice was lacking—sometimes contradictory, and Bijan Robinson would not realistically be available at pick 2.10 unless injured. The guidance also felt truncated, so this tool may not be right for every job.
What to do in Real Time?
Planning is one thing; making decisions while on the clock is another. Speed is critical—I especially appreciate how quickly Perplexity presents facts. It’s a great tool for a final “Does this guy have any red flags?” check late in the draft.
Good luck, and may your teams prosper in 2024—whether AI-picked or not. Go Commanders!
Musical Coda
The Distilled Spirit
Risk is Cool Again
Risky business is cool business.
🎱 Scene Cool Trend Report ()
Part II of Sean’s annual report. I’ll let it speak for itself: ”The internet personality is the new celebrity. Beefs are the new tabloid gossip. Algorithmic slop is the new network television. The new mainstream is online.”
📗 On The Edge at a Year (
)Nate Silver’s On The Edge is an amazing look into risk and risk takers — the River in his parlance — and how that group is winning the culture and business war.
🤵 White Collar PEDs (Colossus)
One writer’s experiences with a variety of modern nootropics. No one has yet invented a GLP-1 for work.
🤠 AI Powered Country Music Shitposting Gone Wild (Pitchfork)
The reach of TikTok and the ability of tools like Suno to make any lyrics you want have created an interesting trend of country music zingers.
AI This Week
Three layers of AI for your reading pleasure this week.
Doom, Gloom and Aspiration
GPT-5’s launch caused a bit more than the usual amount of AI doom, gloom and aspirational AI posts. Here are the most meaningful.
👍 The Future of AI Is Facebook ()
In many ways, the goals of both OpenAI today and Meta in their early days are the same: to foster dependence.
🏎 AI Doomerism is Bullshit ()
AI doomers have some flawed presumptions. It would take more than you think for the robots to kill us all.
⚖ Death of The Billable Hour ()
The economics of AI versus human labor will cause some radical changes in markets, starting with $900 an hour legal advice. The AI-native firm is coming.
🗑 Eliminate Policy Clutter (Eating Policy)
What if we used AI to eliminate volumes of often conflicting policies and regulations?
GPT-5 Reverberations
It is a good time to reflect upon AI’s arms race. What does the current wave enable and where are we?
🦸♂️ Setting the Stage for Monetization and a Super App (Semianalysis)
In all the teeth-gnashing over GPT-5’s personality change, we missed the real point of the show: setting the table for monetization.
How To AI
A few of the best ideas for ways to use AI to improve your work product.
⛏ AI-Powered Pain Point Mining ()
How to use Reddit and NotebookLM to come up with product management ideas based on real input.
🤘 Vibe Marketing With Claude Code ()
Claude code is often thought of as a developer tool, but it is actually a superpowered AI agent that can run on your files.
🎞 Natural Language Video Editing ()
Using natural language to edit video is game-changing. This publication agrees.
🎾 AI as a Tennis Rally ()
Thinking about AI in terms of the give and take of a good tennis rally is a much more successful strategy than trying to craft the perfect prompt. It is about intent not instruction.
📚 Rules Before Tools (Box of Amazing)
AI is a magical tool, but it thrives within a structure. Here are ten rules to think about as you ramp up.
Being a Better Professional
Non-AI tips for professional improvement.
🤝 Why People Want to Work With You ()
Following Dale Carnegie’s advice on winning friends and influencing people isn’t a bad place to start.
📝 How to Take Notes ()
Really sound advice on note taking with modern tools.
📖 How to Self Educate on a Subject ()
Great guidance on structuring your learning about an abstract subject.
Outside Interests
There is more than work and AI. Even if I don’t get to see it often.
👟 Black Benjie, A Gang Truce and the Birth of Hip-Hop ()
Hip hop was born at a house party 50 years ago in the Bronx. But that party might not have been there without the tragic death of Black Benjie.
🍜 Improving Western Weeknight Stir Fry ()
Chinese Cooking Demystified revisits their venerable stir-fry advice.
💰 South Park Success ()
South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are billionaires through amazing vision about where value will be, amazing negotiating and smart bets on themselves.
The Look
The youth are undergoing a personality shift; conscientiousness is down, neuroticism is way up among the young especially. We are now seeing it in the workplace en masse.
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