Human brains are wired such that we get rewarded for attending to surprisal. If we turn our attention toward things that surprise us we get excited —and our model of the world changes. It grows more complex.
In a 2017 interview, Ev Williams (the founder of Twitter), said something that has stuck with me since: “the trouble with algorithms, is that it rewards extremes. Say you’re driving down the road and see a car crash. Of course you look. Everyone looks. The internet interprets behavior like this to mean everyone is asking for car crashes, so it... See more
The central lie behind these programs is that they are meant for artists. They’re not. We don’t need them and using them only hurts us. What our clients really need from us is what the A.I. button cannot and never will be able to give: a human expression in all its flawed, beautiful glory.
Now on to the good news. Your no thanks doesn’t need to be an absolute, total, eternal no . We can use typewriters to write letters and write a poem on our phone at the bus stop. We can say no thanks to AI phone bots but still use ChatGPT to help us understand Aristotle’s Metaphysics in the original. We can be both critical and appreciative of new... See more
Love this observation about interacting and using technology consciously
👋 Welcome to Hot Tub Talks, a monthly whenever-I-feel-like-it newsletter inspired by the conversations I would have in a hot tub with my friends (you!)