Authority Hacker Podcast – AI & Automation for Small biz & Marketers

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We've spent a week handing more of our work to ChatGPT Dots, and we're using them far more than we expected. We can give a Dot a broad request and have it start Codex jobs, steer the work and follow up. In this episode, we share what's happening inside our business, from preparing payroll to collaborating with our bots in Slack.

In this episode we break down:
→ Why Dots feels more like an assistant you can delegate to
→ Preparing payroll, remembering follow-ups and working with the team in Slack
→ Telling a Dot to find useful work and letting it manage Codex
→ Building a business website without managing all the technical setup
→ How ChatGPT's growing app experience changes the choice of AI tool

We're learning to give AI the problem and let it work out the steps.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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We’ve been trying OpenAI’s latest updates, and there’s more to this DevDay than the new features. Alongside 21 new releases, the company is changing what you get for your subscription. We look at the trade-offs, including why a cheaper model can mean more actual usage even when the old plan loses value.

In this episode we break down:
→ What OpenAI’s new Dots assistant promises, and why we haven’t been able to try it yet
→ Spaces, business apps inside ChatGPT, and the risk of getting locked in
→ Gael’s experience with GPT-6.1 Sol and how it compares with Claude
→ The subscription shake-up, the $500 plan, and what cheaper models mean for usage
→ Building connected dashboards and using your ChatGPT allowance in other apps

We focus on what these changes mean for the work you actually need to get done.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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Last week we were asking whether you should move from Claude to ChatGPT. This week Anthropic hit back with Opus 5.5, and Gael ran it for two and a half hours of intensive use on the $20 plan while using just 8% of his weekly limit.

But the lead is going to flip again. So instead of telling you to switch, we talk about how to run your business when the best AI model changes every few weeks.

In this episode we break down:
→ Why Opus 5.5 beats Anthropic's own top model on most benchmarks
→ How Claude went from the worst value plan to arguably the best
→ Why OpenAI's GPT-6 Sol is cheaper but not any smarter
→ How to run Claude and ChatGPT from the same folder with one agents.md
→ ChatGPT's new voice mode, now connected to your email, calendar and Stripe

The best model will keep changing. Your setup doesn't have to.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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I've switched from Claude Code to Codex. After a week using OpenAI's Astra model in our business, it's become the tool I reach for first. This week, it rebuilt one of our sales pages inside an awkward drag-and-drop editor with just one round of feedback.

But Gael and I haven't had exactly the same experience.

In this episode we break down:
→ Why I switched to Codex for everyday business work
→ What happened when we put Astra to work on sales pages and 3D design
→ Where complex video editing still needs human input
→ Why the way an AI talks to you matters more than you'd think
→ What changed with image editing and making websites easier for AI agents to use

We're sharing what held up after a week of actual business use, and what you should know before switching.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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OpenAI finally released Astra last night, sort of. They announced it, then told almost everyone they can't have it until the weekend. Some people did get early access though, and what they've done with it is worth a look. One handed it a floor plan and got back a photoreal interior render. Another had it prep an entire video edit in Final Cut in three and a half minutes.

So we lined it up against Claude Fable 5.1, which also shipped this week, on the things that actually matter for a business: design, writing, computer use, and how much of either model your plan lets you use before it cuts you off.

In this episode we break down:
→ The one-shot design test: Astra vs Fable 5.1 vs Opus on the same prompt
→ Why computer use is the upgrade most business owners haven't noticed yet
→ Astra on the $20 plan with no five-hour limits, while Fable is capped at 50% of your usage
→ Anthropic's "25% permanent raise" that's really a 17% cut from September 14
→ Why we're stacking AI subscriptions instead of making our next hire

Pick the model you can actually use, not the one that wins the chart.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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A year ago everyone said Claude was the best AI model for writing, so that's what most of us used and never questioned again. 

Then Gael built a blind test: two pieces of text, no model names, pick the one you like. My top three were all cheap Chinese open source models, and Claude's newest model got knocked out early. One of the winners writes a full SEO article for about 2 cents.

Try our free AI writing blind test tool: https://www.authorityhacker.com/tools/ai-writing-model-test/

In this episode we break down:

→ The blind writing test you can run yourself, free on our site

→ Why the best model for SEO articles isn't the best for sales emails

→ How to call these cheap models from inside Claude Code or Codex

→ AI watermarking, and which models escape it

→ ChatGPT's new triggers, multi-Gmail support, and password manager logins

Stop paying premium prices for mid-table writing.

Heads up: the AI Accelerator monthly price goes up Monday August 31 at midnight. Join before then and you lock in the current rate for as long as you stay.

🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator

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rok Bot landed this week and a surprising number of people have already switched to it. Always-on AI agents, each with their own computer in the cloud, that you talk to like colleagues in Slack.

It's the closest thing yet to a plug and play AI employee. It's also $200 a month minimum, you can't bring your own API key, and once you've built your setup on it you're locked in. So we put it up against Hermes, the open source agent that does most of the same job for a fraction of the price, and worked out who should actually use which.

In this episode we break down:

• What Grok Bot actually does, and why non-technical founders love it
• The $200/month lock-in and why we call it a poisoned gift
• Hermes Bot Mode, the open source alternative (think Webflow vs WordPress)
• Gael's setup where Codex installs and runs Hermes on a VPS so he never touches the server
• Should solopreneurs bother, or stick with Claude Code and Codex
• ChatGPT Computer History, which records everything you do and then tells you what to automate
• The free mystery model beating Fable on coding tests

The tech is good. The terms are the catch.

🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator (Join before price goes up on Sept 1st)

💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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If AI writes your content, that content is now traceable. The EU's watermarking law came into effect this month, and Claude is already leaving a hidden signature in every piece of text it generates.

It's not hidden characters you can strip out. It's the word choices themselves. So even if you copy and paste the text, the signature survives. SEOs are panicking that Google will use this to penalize AI content.

In this episode we break down:
→ How the watermark hides in word choices and survives copy/paste
→ What Google will realistically do with it as a ranking signal
→ Why Gmail could start flagging AI cold outreach as spam
→ Why the scariest warnings come from people with something to sell you
→ The new Authority Hacker MCP that plugs our membership into your AI agent

The watermark is real. Most of the fear is manufactured.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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Anthropic just shipped Opus 5, and on paper it beats their best models on nearly every benchmark. Then one of the first big reviews opened with "Opus 5 is here, and I hate working with it." Both things are true. We spent the week testing it inside our business to figure out which one matters for yours.

In this episode we break down:
→ Where Opus 5 genuinely beats Fable (and where it makes more mistakes)
→ The one real unlock for marketers, interactive pages that replace blog posts
→ A full 3D game one-shotted into a single HTML file
→ Cheap specialist models on OpenRouter for volume work
→ The new ChatGPT voice mode that runs your Mac from your phone

Use it where it's strong. Skip it where it's insufferable.
🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator
💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/

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Gael can write a full blog post using about 7% of his weekly Fable limit. Most people use 50% doing the same job.

The difference isn't a better prompt. He stopped letting the smartest model do the work at all. Fable briefs the task, Sonnet handles research, Opus makes the editorial calls, Codex writes the code. Fable just manages. With Anthropic cutting weekly limits by roughly a third, this stops being optional.

In this episode we break down:

→ Why Fable is a project manager and not a worker

→ How to build a routing table so delegation happens automatically

→ Why spawning 100 subagents costs you more, not less

→ Running eight threads at once without losing track of them

→ OpenAI's new model names and what the ChatGPT and Codex merge means

Token efficiency is about to be a job. Start learning it now.

🔗 AI Accelerator: https://www.authorityhacker.com/ai-accelerator

💻 Learn Claude Code: https://www.authorityhacker.com/resources/learn-claude-code/