Connection
Jennifer Baez and
Connection
This line from David Foster Wallace still haunts me:
“The next suitable person you’re in light conversation with, you stop suddenly in the middle of the conversation and look at the person closely and say, “What’s wrong?” You say it in a concerned way. He’ll say, “What do you mean?” You say, “Something’s wrong. I can tell. What is it?”... See more
And he’ll loo
Tommy Dixon on Substack
Humans aren’t meant to excavate their inner feelings until they find their “true self.” We become ourselves in relation, not through introspection.
Laura London on Substack
When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.
— Martin Buber
Don't look too closely, love
starting to suspect having a good conversation and feeling connected is not primarily eye contact or asking a lot of questions or not talking about yourself or whatever, or even curiosity, but some yet more fundamental thing that drives all of it like ... joie de vivre??
i get the sense the core thing is actually quite simple, and all the indicators... See more
i get the sense the core thing is actually quite simple, and all the indicators... See more
X. It’s what’s happening
In other words, rather than trying to please humans, Scientist AI could be designed to prioritize honesty.
A Potential Path to Safer AI Development
Quanta interviewed 19 current and former NLP researchers to tell that story. From experts to students, tenured academics to startup founders, they describe a series of moments — dawning realizations, elated encounters and at least one “existential crisis” — that changed their world. And ours.
John Pavlus • When ChatGPT Broke an Entire Field: An Oral History | Quanta Magazine
If an AI companion becomes someone’s most consistent emotional presence, the right question isn’t “how do we stop this?” It’s “what does that say about the world around them?” Technological relationships are not new. What’s new is how effective they’ve become; and how clearly they mirror the gaps we’ve refused to address.
We’ve tried prohibition bef... See more
We’ve tried prohibition bef... See more
Noah Weinberger • Imaginary Friends Grew Up: We Panicked
Maybe AI doesn’t raise the bar. Maybe it reveals how low we’ve let the bar drop. In a world where ghosting is normal and attentiveness is rare, a chatbot that listens is radical.
Imaginary Friends Grew Up: We Panicked
Friends without friction
Companion chatbots may weaken our ability to navigate conflict and difference—unless we make key design choices, says a new report
Companion chatbots may weaken our ability to navigate conflict and difference—unless we make key design choices, says a new report