Making It Sparkle

Hello, and happy Sunday! ICYMI, we released a new tool called Sparkle, which organizes the files on your computer with AI. No longer is your desktop splattered with folders and screenshots, or your documents and downloaded files arranged in a haphazard list. Sparkle has organized more than 500,000 files since its release four days ago. More details on how to use it and how you can access it are just below the jump. Let us know how you’re using it in the comments.—Kate Lee

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Knowledge base

"Introducing Sparkle" by Dan Shipper: Ever feel like your computer's file system is a digital landfill? That’s why we created Sparkle, an AI-powered Mac app that automatically organizes your Desktop, Downloads, and Documents folders. It's like Marie Kondo for your digital life, but without the existential crisis over seeing your old tax returns. Download Sparkle if you want to turn your digital chaos into zen-like order with just a few clicks. 🔏 Paid subscribers get unlimited access to Sparkle, along with our other apps, Spiral and Lex.

🔏 "AI Works Better When You Make It Pretend" by Michael Taylor/Also True for Humans: The ideal co-worker is someone to whom you can say, “Please stop sucking at your job,” and magically, their performance improves. The good news is that AI kind of works that way. Role prompting—asking ChatGPT to pretend it's an expert—can boost performance by up to 20 percent. Read this if you want to learn how to get AI to channel its inner Steve Jobs (or anyone else) for more creative, on-brand responses.

“Feasting at the Trough of AI Slop” by Evan Armstrong/Napkin Math: AI-generated content isn't just coming—it's already here, and it's more popular than you think. In Facebook memes and political ads, AI images are flooding our feeds, and they're getting indistinguishable from reality. But before you panic, remember: If people are engaging with this content, it's because they like it. Read this for a sobering look at how AI is reshaping media consumption and what it means for creators, platforms, and our own lizard brains. 

🎧 "How to Be a Smarter Reader in the Age of AI" by Dan Shipper/Chain of Thought: If you’ve ever felt entranced by libraries and books—the smell of the paper, the excitement of the stories and knowledge contained within—this episode of AI & I is basically that feeling. Alex Wieckowski, the brain behind Alex & Books, shows us how to use ChatGPT as your own literary guide. Read this if you want to supercharge your reading habits, discover your next favorite author, or finally finish that doorstop novel collecting dust on your nightstand. Subscribers have access to the full transcript. 📹 Watch Dan’s video about how to use ChatGPT’s new Advanced Voice Mode feature to maximize your reading on X or YouTube.

"The Addiction Economy" by Evan Armstrong/Napkin Math: From TikTok to sports betting apps, consumer products across industries are becoming increasingly addictive—by design. Evan argues that as digital competition intensifies, addiction has become a key differentiator and competitive advantage. Read this if you want to understand why your apps are so hard to put down—and how to resist their addictive pull.