AI Tools for Smarter Research: Inside Marshall Kirkpatrick’s Groundbreaking Browser Extension

AI-generated, human-reviewed.

Marshall Kirkpatrick’s new browser extension, "What's Up With That?", leverages advanced AI to help researchers, journalists, and everyday readers quickly identify what's truly new, relevant, or actionable in online articles. On this episode of Intelligent Machines, Kirkpatrick joined the panel to demonstrate how targeted AI tools are making day-to-day knowledge work faster, smarter, and more reliable.

What Is "What's Up With That?" and How Does It Work?

"What's Up With That?" is an AI-powered browser extension designed to analyze online content—news articles, PDFs, videos, and even emails—with just a click. According to Kirkpatrick, the extension doesn’t passively scan every page you visit. Instead, it waits for you to activate it, prioritizing privacy and user control.

Once activated, the extension captures the page’s main content, then runs it through a suite of AI models (such as Anthropic’s Haiku and Sonnet, OpenAI’s GPT-5, and more). The system compares the page’s claims, conclusions, or data against the current state of knowledge on the topic, surfaces what’s genuinely new, and applies a battery of analytical frameworks—like historical context, industry events, and "mental models" used by intelligence communities for strategic analysis.

The magic, Kirkpatrick explained on the show, is not just summarization, but contextualization and synthesis tailored to your needs as a research professional, journalist, or curious reader.

Key Features that Set This Extension Apart

Personal Research Memory: The extension keeps track of the topics and articles you’ve analyzed, and it proactively looks for patterns or connections in future readings. If you analyze a new article months later with a related claim, it can “remember” what you read before and surface relevant links or context.

Project-Based Tracking: Users can define long-term projects or research themes. The system watches for evidence, new developments, or “fertile edges”—breakthroughs or adjacent trends—that could impact your area.

Automated Power Tools: The extension offers a variety of analytical models (like "systems analysis" for understanding how different forces interact in a complex topic). With one click, users can generate reports that highlight causal loops, leverage points, or industry links—helpful for journalists, strategists, or students alike.

Science Validation: There’s even a "Find Science" button that checks an article’s claims against the latest peer-reviewed research, flagging where the evidence lines up—or doesn’t.

Why Targeted AI Tools Like This Matter

On Intelligent Machines, the hosts noted that many people have access to powerful AI models today, but most struggle with “blank page syndrome”—not knowing exactly how to apply AI to business research or reporting. Kirkpatrick’s approach is to embed deep, expert-designed prompts and structures so users don’t have to reinvent their workflow or prompt engineering every time.

By focusing on actionable, niche use cases—helping people avoid redundant reading, highlighting what’s actually new, and tracking project-specific insights—targeted AI tools like "What's Up With That?" are bridging the gap between general-purpose chatbots and real human productivity.

Addressing Privacy and Security

Browser extensions that read content may raise data privacy concerns. Kirkpatrick emphasized on the podcast that "What's Up With That?" only operates when you press the button and does not have continuous access to your browsing. Analysis happens locally or with secure cloud elements (like Cloudflare), and data is either stored on your device or associated privately with your usage for augmenting research memory.

Real-World Impacts: Beyond Hype, Toward Useful AI

The Intelligent Machines panel highlighted that tools like this exemplify the new wave of “agentic” AI—powerful agents that serve a narrow but highly valuable function. Instead of waiting for AI to replace their jobs, many professionals are now looking for tools that amplify their personal expertise, help them synthesize vast information flows, and generate original, credible insights.

According to Kirkpatrick, the extension was built from the perspective—and pain points—of a journalist, but is equally valuable for policy analysts, students, executives, and anyone who thinks for a living.

Key Takeaways

• "What's Up With That?" is an AI browser extension focused on surfacing novelty and actionable insights in online content.
• It uses a suite of AI models to compare each article against the latest state of knowledge, not just simplify or summarize.
• Privacy-first: Only analyzes content when clicked, stores data securely.
• Great for tracking long-term research projects, memory across articles, and identifying “fertile edges” between topics.
• Includes tools for validating science, spotting causal chains, and applying expert “mental models” to any article.
• Ideal for journalists, researchers, and knowledge workers overwhelmed by information overload and rapid news cycles.

The Bottom Line

On Intelligent Machines, Marshall Kirkpatrick’s "What's Up With That?" epitomized how targeted AI agents can directly boost knowledge work—making information not just more accessible, but actually more actionable. As AI becomes part of everyday workflows, tools like this point toward a future where specialized agents supplement, not supplant, human curiosity and expertise.

Try more episodes and get ahead of the AI curve: https://twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines/episodes/863