Visiting friends, conversations, food, treasure hunts, some time for reading, and a little synthesis. [^1]
Daily Reads:
Ben Werdmuller AI is not a paradigm shift but it could be useful. This is an example of Dr. ChatGPT advice to cancer patients, and a technical paper of findings is here
Scott Eblin shares at least Three Benefits of Removing Toxic Leaders I’ve been observing the effects of toxic leadership for a few months. Apparently, the short-term benefits of turning a blind eye to ‘high-performing’ toxic people are very attractive, while leaders also espouse the pursuit of great culture. Sigh.
Jack Clark’s ImportAI newsletter 340 story is a stunner. No spoilers.
Manuel Moreale on small communities The biggest impact I’ve had has been through small communities. Small enough to know individuals by name. Small enough for greater impact than the much larger formal ‘initiatives’ set up for the same explicit purpose.
Ben Myers Statement on Generative AI resonates with me. While my work involves supporting the exploration of large language models, I’m also wary of this tech at peak hysteria. People who don’t know what analytics or machine learning is, are espousing the ‘transformative’ power of impressive sounding hallucinations, unable to separate the bullshit from the real.
[^1]: Despite my intentions, I recognise that I’ve made no attempt to summarise or synthesise what I’ve been reading, or why I’ve been sharing these links. I’ll try to do that this week.
QOTD:
I’ve been helping the older one figure out "how" to make notes, and a few approaches to learn. This has been a repeated plea.
“Without using the new word which you have just learned, try to rephrase what you have just learned in your own language.” — Richard Feynman, Physicist.
Music:
A repeat share – Leonard Cohen’s Anthem speaks the truth about kintsugi, the beauty in imperfection. As he writes, "There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in". I’ve needed this multiple times during this week.