The living handbook of artificial intelligence · October 2026
How models work, which to use for what and what they cost, where the technology is heading. Practical guides, numbers with source and date, opinions labelled as such.
Teaching example: illustrative probabilities, not from a real model.
Pick the next word yourself
Learn
32 in-depth guides, each with practical examples, pitfalls and sources. Read in order or jump to what you need.
How a model really works: tokens, context, reasoning, agents. No formulas, but no wrong simplifications either.
Agents, context, research, documents, automation: how to make AI work for you by giving it a goal and the right information.
Which model and plan, what it costs, what the law says, how to protect data.
Which AI for what
My picks for ten common jobs, based on Arena and Artificial Analysis rankings and daily use.
Write and edit text
Summarise long PDFs and documents
Research with sources
Excel, data and maths
Code or build a site
Create or edit images
Video and animation
Automate repetitive work
Study and learn
Work with confidential data
Models & prices
Each dot is a model: higher is more capable, further left is cheaper. The gold line links the best choice for each budget. Hover a dot.
This month in AI
Newsletter · every Monday · free
Picked and explained by me, with one practical tip to try right away. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.
My book
History, inner workings, tools and future of AI, explained with the lights on. For those who want to really understand, from start to finish, and keep it at hand.
About me
Economics and Finance graduate from LUISS, I use AI every day. Here I explain how it works, which tools are really worth it and how to give agents context, memory and tools, so they work on their own from a single goal.
Go further
I explain and choose; these sites measure, catalogue and anticipate. The site assistant checks them in real time too.
Independent benchmarks of intelligence, speed and cost for hundreds of models. The reference for numbers.
To pick an API model or see what a task really costs.
artificialanalysis.ai↗Rankings built from millions of blind, side-by-side votes by real people.
To see which model people prefer for text, code, images and video.
arena.ai↗The largest catalogue of AI tools: 50,000+ tools searchable by task.
To find the right tool for a specific, niche task.
theresanaiforthat.com↗News, previews and features in testing at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and Meta, often before launch.
To see what's coming next. Rumours need confirming.
testingcatalog.com↗AI Radio
AI-generated music
Tracklist
