Pollinger’s Productivity : August 2025
| Age Verification on Socials and Apps |
| The Online Safety Act has intensified the spotlight on how social platforms and apps verify users’ ages. For years, companies like Meta have quietly used behind-the-scenes tools to detect underage users. But newer platforms are taking more overt approaches. Bluesky, for example, now relies on three third-party providers for age verification – which adds three more opportunities for your personal data to be intercepted or mishandled. Even Spotify is now running age checks. What’s supposed to be a safety measure is rapidly becoming a standard step in signing up for digital services. But are we removing risk or just creating new ones? |
| Insights: While protecting children online is vital, for many users this shift feels more invasive than protective. Involving third parties adds complexity and increases the chances of sensitive data being exposed. A more secure, on-device method of age verification is surely needed. |
| LinkedIn Adds Autoplay Video Headers for Articles and Newsletters |
| LinkedIn now supports short autoplay video headers (up to 30 seconds) for articles and newsletters. These play silently in the LinkedIn feed and email alerts, helping content stand out. |
| Insights: A looping video can communicate tone, brand or topic faster than a headline alone. It’s a subtle but powerful addition that I’ll be using in upcoming newsletters – well worth considering if you publish content on LinkedIn. |
| ChatGPT Agent Mode Now Live for Subscribers |
| OpenAI has rolled out Agent Mode to ChatGPT Plus users. It gives you a smart assistant that can autonomously complete multi-step tasks. For example, you could ask: “Help me find and compare the best running shoes for long-distance road running.” The agent will browse the web, compare options, summarise the best ones, and share trusted UK links. |
| On the business side, you can use Agent Mode on LinkedIn to identify and follow businesses and extract specific comments from posts … it’s incredibly flexible. |
| Insights: Agent Mode turns ChatGPT from a chatbot into a digital assistant with access to tools like Deep Research. It’s genuinely useful. The test Jonathan tried used-up his 40 credits in the first two days – and he’s looking forward to trying more use cases when they refresh. |
| ChatGPT Launches Study and Learn |
| ChatGPT has introduced Study and learn – a feature designed to help you revise, quiz yourself, and test knowledge on any topic. Think of it as a cross between a flashcard app and a personal tutor. Just upload materials, paste notes or type what you want to learn, and it creates questions, explanations and revision tools. |
| Insights: This is ideal for learning a new subject or brushing up on skills, including languages. It’s a strong signal that OpenAI might be moving towards a learning platform that could rival traditional revision apps. |
| Copilot+ PCs Now Include Built-in AI Assistant and Smarter Tools |
| Microsoft has introduced a new AI assistant for Copilot+ PCs, now built into the Settings menu. You can give voice commands to adjust system settings – helpful for productivity and accessibility. |
| Several Windows tools are also getting upgrades: |
| Photos now lets you relight images after taking them Paint includes object selection and stickers Snipping Tool features auto-crop to frame screenshots intelligently Click-to-do commands are being expanded to more parts of Windows. |
| Insights: Microsoft is weaving AI into everyday tools, not just new features. Paint now rivals Canva for quick edits, and time-saving upgrades like relighting and auto-crop are welcome improvements. |
| Copilot’s Smart Mode Picks the Best AI Model Automatically |
| Microsoft is testing a Smart Mode that automatically selects the best AI model for your task – likely including the soon-to-launch GPT-5. Instead of choosing between GPT-4 or Turbo, Copilot will do it for you behind the scenes. |
| The feature is in internal testing and expected to roll out soon. With GPT-5 on the horizon, this could boost performance across Word, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint and the web without users needing to configure anything. |
| Insights: Most people just want results – they don’t care which model is working. Smart Mode takes the guesswork out and quietly improves quality. For freelancers and businesses, that means better answers with no extra effort. |
| Practical Pointer |
| Use Custom Instructions For a More Bespoke AI Experience |
| If you haven’t tried Custom Instructions yet in ChatGPT – and now in Microsoft 365 Copilot – you’re missing out on a powerful way to make AI work your way. |
| It seems that very few people have set this up – yet it makes a noticeable difference to the relevance and quality of AI’s responses. Tell the AI who you are and how you’d like it to respond. No more generic replies. Emails, reports and ideas come back in your tone and style. Custom Instructions are also available in Copilot for Outlook, helping your replies match your voice automatically. It’s like a digital assistant that actually knows how you work. |
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