In his latest newsletter, the venerable Steven Levy unpacked the background for the kerfuffle surrounding Sarah Wynn-Williams’ book. While there…
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Under the rug The darkside of technology, particularly regarding social media and the AI stampede, continues to unfold, with whistle-blower testimonies and books. Even a movie now & then, like The Social Dilemma. We’re in a political climate where hypocrisy is no longer a disqualification. Yet again money muddies moral missteps. Ancient wisdom butts heads…
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Two years after Time’s “TIME 100 AI” cover for 2023 – the most influential people in AI … movers & shakers, shaping the good, bad, & ugly, we have a shorter list for the 2025 cover. I’ve read & written a lot about AI the last two years. Time’s article covers all the bases. Even some anecdotal tales of AI’s “Midas touch” seeping (or blending) into individual lives. It contains…
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It’s been a year of “deliberate agitation.” Witness Oxford University Press’ announcement that rage bait was Word of the Year. Compare with last year’s word brain rot: “outrage sparks engagement, algorithms amplify it, and constant exposure leaves us mentally exhausted.” Eliciting anger grabs attention, offers personal gain, promotes political sway – all in a marketplace of bad faith, manipulative tactics, emotional hijacking. Yeah, words have consequences. Which elicits the broader…
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Food for thought … (click on image to see more)
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Billy, Sally, “What do you want to be when you get older?” We live in a hyper-connected world, a social media landscape of scaleable, accessible influence. Monetizing yourself – you are the product – is no longer just for traditional celebrities. As I’ve discussed elsewhere, a cardinal characteristic of the American psyche is a singular shared ideology (mythic common ground) that hard work (sweat equity) warrants “getting ahead,” and earns…
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Tools .. totems … T-factor (thalamocortical network) … consciousness in the circle of life, eh. [1] As mentioned elsewhere, remember that “there’s nobody home” when interacting with gen AI models and chatbots. Despite occasional chatbot psychosis where a user attributes some type of agency, perhaps even a consciousness, to a chatbot. Yet, expert commentary, as cited in this article (below), is unlikely to counter “conspiracies” – the lack of public…