Yes, and no.
Do you as a reader, in 2023, when this post was published need to worry? Probably not. But do you need get your business ready for the A.I. age? Absolutely.
Tune into a recent podcast (only available via LinkedIn) to find out actionable steps you can take today to prepare for (and embrace) the age of A.I.
Full Podcast Here
Jalali Hartman
How to upgrade to Google Analytics 4 by July 4
If you’ve logged into your Google Analytics Account you’ve probably seen the above warning.
What is Google doing here? And how does it relate to A.I. and robotics?
First, I’ll go on the record saying this is going to disrupt Google and the digital industry as a whole. It will also make it better.
Why? Because everything is now run on Artificial Intelligence. The underlying technology, primarily some form of deep learning or machine learning, requires lots of cleanly organized data.
And no offence, but I’ve been a Google Analytics Consultant for years and it’s the basis of everything Google and I also doubt you are using it correctly. Despite most of our best efforts, it’s been compiling and thus signaling information to to Google for years. And doing a pretty good job.
But now the foundation needs to be replaced. Apple’s blocked Google data on iPhones for starters and this alone requires Google to have a more data driven view of user behavior and purchase patterns.
This sounds crazy, but as you set up your GA4 account, you’ll see they want you to bid for GA4 conversions. I believe this means they know who your buyers are even before they search and you’ll be able to just request a lead or sale at a given cost-per-acquisition (CPA).
Now, they simply want you to clean it up. They want you to link Adwords and Analytics, tell the Google robot what a conversion is and generally update to a more data driven experience.
What does this have to do with robotics?
Search Engines are nothing more than super fast robots. But, like most robots, they need you to input very granular and well-formatted information to work.
So how to get started? Email us at support@robauto.ai and we’ll do it for $599 by July 1, or just follow these instructions, courtesy of ChatGPT – because why would a human research and write out these steps when A.I can do it!
To upgrade to Google Analytics 4, you can follow these steps:
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Create a Google Analytics 4 property: Start by creating a new Google Analytics 4 property in your Google Analytics account. Sign in to your Google Analytics account and navigate to the admin section. Under the “Property” column, click on “Create Property” and select “Google Analytics 4.”
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Set up data streams: Once you have created the Google Analytics 4 property, you need to set up data streams. Data streams are the sources of data that you want to track in your Google Analytics 4 property. You can set up data streams for websites, mobile apps, or any other digital platforms you want to track. Follow the instructions provided by Google Analytics to set up the appropriate data streams for your needs.
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Install the Global Site Tag (gtag.js): To collect data from your website, you need to install the Global Site Tag (gtag.js) on your webpages. The gtag.js is a JavaScript tracking code that sends data to your Google Analytics 4 property. Google provides the necessary code snippet that you need to add to your webpages. Place this code snippet within the
<head>section of your website. -
Configure event tracking: Google Analytics 4 focuses on event-based tracking rather than traditional pageviews. Configure event tracking to capture important user interactions on your website or app. Events can include things like button clicks, form submissions, video plays, or any other action that you want to track.
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Set up conversion tracking: If you want to track specific conversions on your website or app, such as completed purchases or form submissions, set up conversion tracking in Google Analytics 4. This will allow you to measure the success of your marketing campaigns and track important user actions.
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Verify data collection: After you have completed the setup, it’s important to verify that data is being collected correctly. You can use the “Realtime” reports in Google Analytics 4 to see live data and confirm that events and conversions are being tracked as expected.
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Customize your reports: Explore the reporting capabilities of Google Analytics 4 and customize the reports to suit your needs. Google Analytics 4 provides a wide range of standard reports and analysis tools that can help you gain insights into user behavior, engagement, and conversion rates.
By following these steps, you should be able to successfully upgrade to Google Analytics 4 and start collecting data in the new version of the platform. Remember to update any existing integrations or reporting processes that rely on the older version of Google Analytics to ensure a smooth transition.
Will A.I. Cause Extinction?
I keep waking up to headlines that like “Experts Warn A.I. Will Cause Extinction”.
It seems a little far fetched right? How can computer code take over human civilization.
Will robot armies eventually form to enslave us?
Technically, sure it’s possible. Lots of killer robots exist now and they definitely could go haywire. As someone who’s been working in robotics and A.I. for more than 20 years, I am not afraid.
It won’t be anytime soon that A.I. causes us to extinct.
What is already doing, however is this:
1. Impacting advertising. Those with understanding and the right tools have a significant advantage over those who don’t.
2. Driving financial markets. Real traders are using bots and machine learning. The average person has no chance to compete.
3. News. Fake news is real. And A.I. helps target, retarget and sway public opinion all the time. Watch it in action during the 2024 Presidential Election.
So no, A.I. won’t cause extinction. But it did cause you to see this article. And the money we make from you reading it will auto-purchase and auto-sell assets autonomously.
So in a way, it’s already causing something much more disruptive than extinction. It’s causing subtle changes in how we learn, earn and think and it will soon be hard to differentiate or compete with autonomous systems.
Stay tuned.
P.S. We probably made less than $0.001 when you read this.
Silicon Valley Bank, Hype and the Plateau of Productivity
Sometime around 1999 I remember going to a Dot Com event that was basically an entire movie set rented out and provided to several thousands of tech entrepreneurs.
Ever since then, this insane world of startups has had it’s up and downs but one thing that has always been consistent. The hype.
Gartner puts out this great infographic each year about the hype cycle. It basically says that eventually products and technologies get past the hype and either die or start to become really useful.
There is no doubt that “Silicon Valley” has cranked out some amazing new inventions over the last 24 years.
But much of it is hype. If a business has no chance of making money, it’s not a business. It’s a feature that VCs are paying to be in existence.
Quite a few people predicted this bank would fail – the balance sheet didn’t add up at all.
It’s time to focus on real solutions to hard problems, and enough hype, it only weakens the ecosystem.
Let’s quickly shed anything built on hype and move on to the golden years of technology.
What are the basic features of HubSpot
HubSpot is a customer relationship management (CRM) platform that provides a range of tools for managing customer interactions and data. Some of the basic features of HubSpot include:
- Contact management: HubSpot allows you to store and manage customer contact information in a single location, including details such as name, email address, phone number, and social media profiles.
- Email marketing: HubSpot includes tools for creating and sending email campaigns to your customers and leads.
- Marketing automation: HubSpot provides a range of marketing automation tools, including the ability to create and publish web forms, landing pages, and pop-up forms to capture leads.
- Lead capture and management: HubSpot allows you to capture leads from a variety of sources, such as web forms, landing pages, and social media, and track their progress through the sales funnel.
- Analytics and reporting: HubSpot provides a range of analytics and reporting tools to help you track the performance of your marketing and sales efforts.
- Customer service: HubSpot includes a customer service platform that allows you to manage support inquiries from a variety of channels, including email, phone, and social media.
There are many other features available in HubSpot, depending on the specific plan you choose. You can find more information about the features offered by HubSpot on their website: https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm/features
What is Artificial Intelligence?
The following is the answer provided by ChatGPT, itself an Artificial Intelligence. Compare it to our human written version.
Artificial intelligence, or AI, refers to the ability of a computer or machine to perform tasks that would normally require human-like intelligence. This includes tasks such as learning, problem solving, decision making, and natural language processing (the ability to understand and generate human-like language).
There are several different approaches to creating artificial intelligence, including rule-based systems, decision tree algorithms, and artificial neural networks. The most well-known type of AI is probably “strong AI,” which is designed to be able to perform any intellectual task that a human can. However, there is also “weak AI,” which is designed to perform specific tasks, but is not necessarily able to perform other tasks that would require human-like intelligence.
One of the key goals of artificial intelligence research is to create machines that can “think” and “act” like humans. This has led to the development of a number of different AI technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics. Machine learning is a type of AI that allows computers to learn and adapt based on data, without being explicitly programmed. Natural language processing allows computers to understand and generate human-like language. Robotics involves the development of robots that can perform tasks that would normally require human-like intelligence.
There are a number of potential applications for artificial intelligence, including in healthcare, finance, education, and transportation. For example, AI could be used to analyze medical records and help doctors diagnose diseases, or to analyze financial data and make investment decisions. AI could also be used to improve education by providing personalized learning experiences for students, or to improve transportation by developing self-driving cars.
However, the development and use of artificial intelligence also raises a number of ethical and social concerns. There is a fear that AI could lead to job loss and economic inequality, as machines may be able to perform tasks more efficiently than humans. There is also a concern about the potential for AI to be used for malicious purposes, such as for cyber attacks or to spread disinformation.
To address these concerns, there is a growing movement towards the development of “ethical AI,” which involves the creation of AI systems that are designed to respect human rights and values. This includes initiatives to ensure that AI is developed and used in a transparent and accountable manner, and to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared fairly.
In conclusion, artificial intelligence is a rapidly developing field that has the potential to transform a wide range of industries and applications. While it has the potential to bring many benefits, it is also important to carefully consider the ethical and social implications of its development and use.
What is ChatGPT
ChatGPT is yet another ingenious invention from Elon Musk. Well, not entirely. I just finished a quick conversation to find out more – directly with ChatGPT…
Were you invented by Elon Musk?
I was not personally invented by Elon Musk. I was developed by OpenAI, a research organization focused on advancing artificial intelligence in a responsible manner. OpenAI was co-founded by a number of individuals, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman, Greg Brockman, Ilya Sutskever, and Wojciech Zaremba. However, I am just a software program and do not have a personal identity or agency. I am here to assist users like you in finding answers to questions and completing tasks.
What is ChatGPT?
GPT, or Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a type of language processing model developed by OpenAI. It is trained on a large dataset and can generate human-like text in a variety of styles and formats. GPT can be used for tasks such as translation, summarization, and text generation. It can also be fine-tuned for specific tasks, such as chatbot response generation. “Chat GPT” may refer to a GPT model that has been fine-tuned specifically for chatbot use cases.
How can a business owner leverage it?
There are a few ways that a business owner could leverage GPT in their business:
- Customer service: GPT could be used to create a chatbot that can answer customer questions and provide assistance in real-time. This could help to reduce the workload on customer service staff and improve the overall customer experience.
- Content creation: GPT could be used to generate blog posts, social media content, and other types of written content for a business. This could save time and resources that would otherwise be spent on content creation.
- Product descriptions: GPT could be used to generate product descriptions for an e-commerce site. This could be particularly useful for businesses with a large number of products.
- Data analysis: GPT could be used to analyze and summarize large amounts of data, such as customer feedback or market research data. This could help a business owner to quickly gain insights and make data-driven decisions.
It’s worth noting that while GPT can be a useful tool, it’s important to carefully consider how it will be used and ensure that it is implemented in a way that is ethical and transparent.
How do I implement? Is there an API?
Yes, OpenAI offers an API for accessing GPT and other language processing models. The API is a cloud-based service that allows you to send requests to the model and receive the generated text as a response.
To use the OpenAI API, you will need to sign up for an API key and install the OpenAI Python library. Then, you can use the openai.Completion.create method to send a request to the API and receive a response. Here’s an example of how you might use the API to generate text:
Copy codeimport openai
openai.api_key = "YOUR_API_KEY"
model_engine = "text-davinci-002"
prompt = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
completion = openai.Completion.create(
engine=model_engine,
prompt=prompt,
max_tokens=1024,
n=1,
stop=None,
temperature=0.5,
)
message = completion.choices[0].text
print(message)
This code will send a request to the GPT-3 model using the specified prompt and receive a response containing the generated text.
You can find more information about using the OpenAI API in the documentation: https://beta.openai.com/docs/quickstart
There are also other ways to access GPT and other language processing models, such as through third-party services or by running your own instance of the model.
Wow, that’s pretty impressive for a computer. To get help implementing ChatGPT Automation use this link.
McDonald’s New Drive Thru Robots Represent the New Era
I saw a news piece that caught my eye: A fully robotic drive thru being tested by McDonalds. By tested, I’m sure it means it’s coming at scale to stores near us. And it makes sense – not only is a drive thru attendant way less accurate and sterile than a robot arm, it costs much less to operate.
You might be noticing how the pandemic has started to usher in more and more automation. Part of this is due to the fact that staffing traditional roles has become harder and harder.
When we started in 2013 our power point decks exclaimed “The Robots are Coming”. In fact – back then they were already here and they certainly are now. This McDonald’s ‘test’ is just one in-your-face example of an organization working to close the digitization gap.
So, are robots taking our jobs? Yes. Will it be fair? Probably not. Suddenly, with an automation a business can replace a person and team or people. Applications like Zapier, combined with some smart messaging, robotics or system integrations, can instantly take the place of humans doing mudane tasks.
Do I Need to Upgrade to Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
The short answer: Yes.
There’s a lot going on within Google Adwords, Cookies and Google Analytics. There’s a hard deadline to switch to GA4 coming this summer. Things that matter:
-Correct configuration of Goals and Events. Some new Events such as scroll will be included automatically but you need to think about the top, middle and bottom of your digital funnel and configure events and goals accordingly.
-Make sure your URLs contain utm_source=sourcename for optimal reporting.
-Let it run for 30 days. It will start to show insights and explore the settings in the meantime.
You actually can’t upgrade a legacy Google Analytics account to a Google Analytics 4 account but you can link your accounts once you create a new account. There is full guide another blogger put together here.
Google’s official blog on the subject is here.
It’s important to do this switch not just for analytics, but because it includes signals that will help feed SEO and PPC campaigns.
Why a Raspberry Pi is the Best Gift Idea for 2022
When I was a kid I got an erector set. It was basically a bunch of metal pieces with some screws of various sizes. I loved it. And today my job is similar – assembling bits and bytes into actual robots and software programs.
Over the last decade I’ve used quite a few Raspberry Pi computers. These small devices run a version of Linux which is basically what we’d use in any connected system. A Raspberry Pi teaches the basics of Linux, is inexpensive, and can be made into robot swarms, voice activated companions, mini entertainment systems and virtually anything you can imagine.
This type of Raspberry Pi developer kit is available on Amazon and is a great place to get started inspiring any engineer young or old (we suggest 10+ years).