What the Heck is Nano Banana?
The hot new AI image generator that you can't even use is probably coming from Google
All the AI YouTubers are talking about a new image generating model with the code name Nano Banana. The only place you can use this is on a site called LMArena where you can do a blind competition between image models with a sample prompt. Only after the images are generated, is the model name revealed. But this week, a new contender emerged, and everyone is amazed by the quality. While the code name is Nano Banana, several internet sleuths are now saying it actually comes from Google because the image quality is very similar to those shown in the huge Made by Google 2025 conference this week. To be clear, this is a rumor, and Nano Banana is not actually available to use anywhere yet, but when it lands it will be another huge leap forwards in image generation similar to what we saw in the spring with Flux Kontext.
While we’re on the subject, Google’s trade show was generally regarded as a huge cringefest…
The problem wasn’t that Google decided against one of those silly old, stuffy on-stage product announcements, it was how it chose to go all-out with a Shopping Channel vibe, while swapping specs.
But, the really cool thing is that they made a Google NotebookLM that you can go through if you need to get all the details.
On the subject of GoogleNotebookLM, regular readers know it’s my favorite thing, and now Microsoft is coming out with a similar product called Copilot Pages.
Copilot Pages makes it easy to find and organize info for your research and study projects. Here’s how to use it and why I think it’s better than Google’s NotebookLM.
Not to be outdone, Adobe has a similar approach where you can query your pdfs and generate graphic outputs called Acrobat Studio with PDF Spaces…for $25/month.
Pairing all the benefits of content consumption, editing and analysis, Acrobat Studio makes it easy to create standout content like infographics, presentations, flyers and social posts using tools from Adobe Express — the quick and easy, all-in-one creation app. Acrobat Studio comes with access to Adobe Express Premium’s entire suite of tools and assets, including professionally designed templates, brand kits and Adobe Firefly-powered tools like Text-to-Video and Text-to-Image so you can bring your message to life in rich and compelling visualizations with the ease of generative AI.
In other Adobe news, you can now add a Flux Kontext plugin to Photoshop (Tedious, extra steps, but worth it.
And if you download the beta version of Illustrator, you can try their new ‘Turntable’ feature. You can select your 2D vector artwork and then access the Turntable feature in the Properties panel or control bar. This allows you to rotate your artwork horizontally and/or vertically, exploring different 3D perspectives. Check it out
Anthropic Expands it’s AI Fluency Courses
Earlier this summer, I took Anthropic’s AI fluency course and recommended that everyone else should too. Well they just released an extension called Teaching AI Fluency, so you know what I’ll be doing next week. There is also AI Fluency for Students which I will make required reading for my college age sons.
AI Has Passed the Aesthetic Turing Test
The evidence suggests it has already passed what might be called an “aesthetic Turing Test.” AI can generate music, images and movies so convincingly that people struggle to distinguish them from human creations.
Vibe Coding and The Illusion of Progress
That's the real unhappy path of product development. And here's the irony: AI has smoothed the "happy path" of building so much that we risk confusing motion for progress. The core challenge of product development—understanding what users actually need and validating that solutions address real problems—remains as difficult as ever.
Video Workflow is Getting Faster
After my critically acclaimed first sizzle reel, "The Soul of a Chef", I'm back with a follow up, "The Heart of a Baker". Ideogram and Seedance inside of Weavy. Oh yeah, that crackly croissant in the middle was Google VEO!