Last week, I talked about science fiction's most famous AIs and how they compare to the current chatbot invasion. They're going to affect far more than science fiction. THE MAGIC OF WORLD BUILDING When authors build a new world, they change one variable and see how it plays out in everything from religion to politics to ecology. It's my favorite part of writing. It's been kind of amazing to see that play out in real-time with these language-learning models (that aren't really AI at all...) HOW AI CHANGES THE WORLD? LAW We have legal fights about who owns it, the words it produces, and what they're allowed to train them on. It's going to be a big mess until we all understand what we're looking at and how we can adapt copyright laws written when people were still physically moving little metal letters around and the new American congress was restricting books and maps to the author for 14 years. The United States was all of three years old. ECONOMICS We have … [Read more...] about If We Lived in A Sci-Fi Novel, How AI Changes Everything & Nothing
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How Google Glass will Smash the Metaverse
WHAT IS COMING NEXT? I wrote before why I don't think the Metaverse is going very far. It's just too hard to use for the vast majority of users in the vast majority of circumstances, making it a really cool toy. SO WHAT IS THE NEXT BIG THING? Sadly, Google Glass will be back. Or put more broadly, augmented reality will more likely be the next big push. Augmented reality is the fancy version of Pokémon Go where you mix online and offline. You can look through glasses and see directions or search for a restaurant menu no one else can see. WHY IS THIS GOING TO BLOW UP AND VR WILL REMAIN A TOY? Because it's the exact inverse of all of the problems VR has. It doesn't block our senses, so we can continue to use it in all of the places. And, depending on how small things get, in even more places! It's much less likely to make people sick like virtual reality does, and even many screens do. If the blue light flickering improves, it will be easier to use. We use the … [Read more...] about How Google Glass will Smash the Metaverse
How to Learn to Love the Wicked World
DON'T SOLVE PROBLEMS; GET NEW AND BETTER IDEAS I talk a lot in this newsletter about how to dismantle your assumptions and beliefs and question the water that you swim in. But equally important, if not more important, is the ability to get new and better ideas once you've done that. One of humanity's main tools for seeing things differently is the scientific method. Don't click away! I know, boring, Middle School level science, but we have a massive problem. We were never really taught the first step! WHAT WE DID LEARN IN SCHOOL? How many tests and experiments did you run in school? How many times did you have to come up with the question, not just the answer? I remember an upper division writing class in college. I got a C on my first paper. Somewhat gobsmacked, I went to the Professor who informed me that I had come to a different conclusion, not the one he gave me. I said, "Let me get this straight, you gave me the hypothesis, the evidence, and the conclusion … [Read more...] about How to Learn to Love the Wicked World
4 Ways to Make Perfect Days Less Depressing
DOGS AND BONES AND HUMAN MOTIVATION There's an apocryphal story about racing Grayhounds and how when they catch the dog or the bunny, they cease to race. Though there is no confirmation of this story anywhere in actual racing circles. I am a little suspicious of it because, though I'm allergic to anything with fur, when normal dogs catch anything, they seem to be quite happy to repeat the experience all day. But it's a useful metaphor about human behavior, so let's pretend it's true, which is also very common human behavior. Either the dog is completely satisfied by that one bone and never tries to run again, or he's so pissed off that the bone or the bunny is made of cardboard, he also never runs again. This past week, I caught the bunny. Twice. One day this week, I checked off everything on my to do list. Not just the explicit list that has a prayer of occasionally looking realistic, but also the unspoken expectations I hold myself to, that if I ate … [Read more...] about 4 Ways to Make Perfect Days Less Depressing