Tag: wired

AI AI AI AI: here’s some good, bad and scary stuff on AI


I am glad that Apple released a new device last week. It was a refreshing change from what most IT discussions are about recently. And what’s topic is most discussed? AI, of course.

And for good reason! There’s lots and lots happening in this space. New AI technology is coming out. New uses for AI are developed. It’s an exciting space. Like many, I am having a hard time keeping it with it all. But try and keep up I must. And as I do, I have found some interesting links for me (and you) to read:

Clive Thompson has a grim take on the boring apocalypse of today’s AI 

Also grim is this story in WiReD about  tessa, the eating disorder chatbot, and why it had to be suspended. Don’t leave your AI unattended!

Grimly funny: what happens when a lawyer misuses ChatGPT? Hijinx insue!

Not grim, but clever:  A Vienna museum turned to AI and cats — yes AI and cats — to lure visitors.

Also in WiReD is this thoughtful piece on how  non english languages are being left out of the AI revolution, at least for now. I see this changing really fast.

A good New York Times piece on how training chatbots on smaller language datasets could make them better.

Fascinating to see how much AI is listed in Zapier’s app tips here.

Also fascinating: Google didn’t talk about any of their old AI while discussing their new AI during their I/O 2023 event recently. I wonder why. I wonder if they’re missing an opportunity.

AI junk: Spotify has reportedly removed tens of thousands of ai generated songs. Also junk, in a way: AI interior design. Still more garbage AI uses, this time in the form of  spam books written using ChatGPT.

This seems like an interesting technology:  liquid neural networks.

What is falcon 40b? Only “the best open-source model currently available. Falcon-40B outperforms LLaMA, StableLM, RedPajama, MPT, etc. ” Worth a visit.

Here’s a how-to on using AI for photo editing. Also, here’s some advice on writing better ChatGPT prompts.

This is a good use of AI: accurately diagnosing tomato leaf diseases.

For those that care: deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton quit Google.

Meanwhile Sam Altman is urging the US congress to regulate AI. In the same time period, he threatens to withdraw from Europe if there is too much regulation, only to back down. It seems like he is playing people here. Writers like Naomi Klein are rightly critical. Related is this piece: Inside the fight to reclaim AI from Big Tech’s control | MIT Technology Review.

Here’s another breathless piece on the AI start up scence in San Francisco. Yawn. Here’s a piece on a new startup with a new AI called Character.ai that lets you talk to famous people. I guess….

Here’s some things my company is doing with AI: Watsonx. But also: IBM to pause hiring for back office jobs that ai could kill. Let’s see about that.

Finally, this story from BlogTO on how “Josh Shiaman, a senior feature producer at TSN, set out to create a Jays ad using text-to-video AI generation, admitting that the results “did not go well.”” Not go well is an understatement! It’s the stuff of nightmares! 🙂 Go here and see.

In some ways, maybe that video is a good metaphor for AI: starts off dreamy and then turns horrific.

Or maybe not.

A reminder of how great WiReD magazine was, and how often wrong it was….

A reminder of how great WiReD magazine was — and how often it was wrong — can be found in this fine piece by Dave Karpf: A WIRED compendium.

I bought the first copy of WiReD when it came out, and was a buyer and collector for some time. It was everything I loved in a magazine: smart and stylish and full of ideas.

WiReD was a perfect title for it too. The publication was about how the world was becoming interconnected through the rapid build out of the Internet, but it was also about how our brains were changing as a result of it. It covered both of those areas well.

Dave’s piece also covers some of my favorite things it got wrong, from the promise of PUSH technology (companies HATED Pointcast for flooding their networks and soon worked to shut that it down) to digitally encoded smell (right?? yeah, no) to a cover on how Second Life was the future (hey, I thought that too).

WiReD got plenty right, too. But more than right or wrong, it captured the zeitgeist of the 90s and early 2000s and generally provided insights into how information technology was affecting us.

If you have only read the magazine recently, you might not get what the fuss was all about regarding it. Check out that summary from Dave Karpf: you will get a history lesson and hopefully a glimpse of WiReD and why it was so great.

(For more on it, I also recommend Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Hacking North Korea


This is a fascinating story in WIRED: North Korea Hacked Him. So He Took Down Its Internet

It may seem far fetched, but if you read it you can see there were plenty of opportunities for him to exploit weaknesses in North Korea’s networks. He’s also modest about what he was able to accomplish.

Among other things, it reminded me that the Internet is full of fragile technology that can be brought down. Even if that technology is owned by government agencies.

The best example of why we need to regulate the social media industry? The auto industry


Wired magazine makes the case, here: Facebook’s Fall From Grace Looks a Lot Like Ford’s.

Worth considering. Social media is struggling to govern itself and Facebook is often downright defiant.

P.S. In Facebook’s defense, you may seem them play the “we are weak” card. The New York Times makes the case for their weakening, here.

(Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash )

It’s Monday. You’re todo list isn’t working for you. Here’s what you should consider


It’s Monday. You are trying to plan your day, your week, and you are struggling. It may just be you, but chances are it is the act of writing out your todo list. To see what I mean, read this excellent piece by my online friend and great writer, Clive Thompson. Everyone struggles with todo lists and the tools used to work with them. I know I do. I have used many such tools over time and have never landed on the perfect one.

So here’s what I recommend:

  1. First, acknowledge todolist tools are blunt instruments at best. Don’t try too hard to do everything with one tool. Do the best you can.
  2. Second, acknowledge that it is easy to overwhelm todo list tools with data. When you do, you end up spending more time working with the tool then getting things done. Try to hold back.
  3. Third, understand the level of granularity to require. Start high level on your todo lists and then drill down only if you have to.
  4. Finally, separate planning and reporting from todo lists. Your plans should drive your todo lists. Focus on more on achieving your plans and your goals and less on your tasks. Then when you are done, report what is necessary.

Todo list tools are good to help you achieve your tasks. But focus less on your tasks and tools and more on what you are trying to achieve.

(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash )

It’s Monday. Why are you working more than five hours a day?


It’s Monday. You are only working five hours today, right? I bring this up because I recently read this piece in Wired on how that is the right amount of hours to work each day, and how people who worked that way were more productive.

Of course there are a few caveats. For one thing, many jobs are not mainly focused on being productive. Anyone who has a job that requires many meetings can tell you that. But if you have a job that is largely focused on producing things, then try and limit yourself to five hours.

(Photo by ANIRUDH on Unsplash )

Two good articles on sleep

Man and dog sleeping

If you are having sleep problems, read #1. If you need to understand why you need to sleep more, read #2.

  1. Shuteye and Sleep Hygiene: The Truth About Why You Keep Waking up at 3 a.m.
  2. Scientists Now Know How Sleep Cleans Toxins From the Brain | WIRED

I especially liked #2. I had a long held belief that is why we sleep. It’s satisfying to see it established by science.

We all need clean and shiny brains. To do that, get some sleep.

On the Apple Cube, a wonderful failure

It’s hard to believe that this computer (see above), that is in the MoMA no less, was a failure. But as this piece shows, it was one of Apple’s least successful computers for a number of reasons: 20 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Built Apple’s G4 Cube. It Bombed | WIRED.

Beautiful design, but not a great product. Every company has those from time to time. Apple was no exception.

What’s wrong with starting a sustainable business?

Nothing, of course, unless you are playing by the rules and goals of Silicon Valley, where VC money comes at a cost. In this piece He Wanted a Unicorn. He Got … a Sustainable Business | WIRED, we hear 

(this) story is one part cautionary tale for entrepreneurs seduced by the allure of venture capital and billion-dollar valuations, and one part an example of how a company can thrive outside those expectations.

I liked the angle of this story and found it fascinating. I think we need more stories of people quite nicely achieving a sustainable business. It’s not that having a blockbuster business is terrible, but it is rare, like all exceptional things are. It’s a winner takes all approach to business. To me, a better approach is that people can be successful in many different ways. Ways like having a sustainable business that provides a service that people really need. That’s a good measure of success to me. I hope we can get more such stories.

How online retailers end up selling outrageous and appalling products

I’ve seen many instances where a sudden outrage occurs because some ecommerce site like Amazon or some T shirt store ends up selling some product which an outrageous message on it. People will howl: how could they choose to do something so stupid? This article gives a good explanation of just how such stupidity occurs: How Amazon Ended Up With Auschwitz Christmas Ornaments for Sale | WIRED

In a nutshell, things are automated to the point that many of these platforms take on products with little if no review. The cost of review would be much much higher than the occasional cost of having to deal with these exceptions. Given that, expect more and more of this to occur until some legislation comes into play.

 

How to get started making low cost films using your smart phone

Sure, to make a great film, great equipment helps. But as these links (and that photo of Zach Snyder shows), you can also make a good film using the latest smart phone technology. And not just Snyder: Gondry does it too. All the links below can help you get started making films using the technology in your pocket. Your films may not be as good as those, but the sooner you start making films with what you have on hand, the better your later films will be.

Very cool. Build a Google Home for Only $35

This is a pretty cool DIY project: The AIY Voice Kit Lets You Build a Google Home for Only $35.

Now, I have my qualms about letting Google have access to so much personal information. If you do not have such qualms and you want to build a cool project, click the link and head on over to Wired, where they have more information on it and how to get it.

Is it possible to run a sub two hour marathon?

Nike seems to think so, based on this: Nike Wants Athletes to Run a Marathon in Under Two Hours, So It’s Rebuilding the Race. And the Runners | WIRED

While it’s a bad idea to say it can’t happen, Runner’s World has a long list of reasons why it will be a difficult thing to accomplish: What Will It Take to Run A 2-Hour Marathon

Perhaps the two hour marathon will be like the four minute mile: once insurmountable, then broken, then broken often.  If and when that happens, I think it will not be a near term event.

In the meantime, read the articles, especially the one from Runner’s World: it’s a fascinating study into biomechanics and running, as well as some fine infographics.

How to run Minecraft on a mainframe and other cool things

Here are two interesting pieces of innovative things people have done with Minecraft. The first one, New Minecraft Mod Teaches You Code as You Play, is a novel way to learn how to code. If you have a young one who loves Minecraft and whom you want to learn how to code, this may be a good way to do this. The second one is an amazing story found on Reddit: My experiences with running a Minecraft Server on an IBM Mainframe.

I was amazed he managed to get it to run, albeit slowly. Needless to say, a Mainframe is not an ideal platform for this software. Still, that he did get it to run is a testament to his ingenuity and also the flexibility of Minecraft and the IBM Mainframe.