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Scarlett Johansson was robbed, return-to-office mandates kill innovative talent, my book launch, and the crypto philanthropy boom.
The latest OAI demo was like a late-night sex product infomercial. If you follow my Linked In News Feed, you'll have seen a lot of conversations about ChatGPT 4o, which I have been calling ChatGPT4 ShowMeYourOFace, making the Mike Judge (creator of Silicon Valley and Office Space) reference
ChatGPT 4o, handwriting, fake science and a little optimism
confusing and stage-y demo with no testing, research, or safety documentation The big news on 4o (which isn’t the long awaited GPT5) demonstrated looking and emotional speaking capabilities. I call out the concerns and troubles with that highly theatrical and curated demo here. I will add one more concern
Houston, we have a problem: GPT plagiarism
You've been hearing a lot about hallucinations. Some people call them hallucinations or confabulations, but let's call them out for what they are. Bad results. Sometimes, terrible results. Calling it a hallucination is another way of personifying and using "anthropomorphic" language to persuade investors
Meet Sparkles. The cutest dang robot ever.
In a sea of overhyped car-salesmen technology pseudo-innovation, Boston Dynamics may be the most underhyped research firm doing the most interesting and useful automation research. They aren’t trying to sell to a populist market so you won’t hear about them unless you are looking. Check it out. Google
Short takes on this week in tech.
AI hangover The AI party is over and the startup set has a hangover. The cost of running an AI system is in the billions. While the iPhone only cost 100 million to launch, AI start ups have to raise close to $2 billion and that has proven not to
Apologies.
"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction." --EF Schumacher, Small is Beautiful Lately, our newsletters have been sent out with strange formatting errors. We are aware
Neuroaesthetics
Some somewhat interesting potentials concerning machine learning and design can be derived from training models on eeg and other scan results performed on humans engaging in aesthetic experiences. Neuroaesthetics is a popular topic among some interface design circles. I am not immune to this. I have taught workshops in neuroscience
The Tungsten Selenide Paperweight: the Top 10 Signs of an Anti-Innovation Culture
Innovation has been co-opted and no longer means what we think it does. (If you hear Inigo Montoya in your head as you read this, we should hang out and have a drink or a cuppa tea. You are my kind of people.) A young, brilliant teen woman described this
Singular XQ Quarterly Update
Readers, we have such lofty goals for Singular XQ, but our goals are not yet our current reality. We are still raising money and developing revenue streams. If you want to help, please consider upgrading to the paid version of this newsletter or supporting the podcast at our Patreon. However,
Top secret: the number one thing innovation leaders can do to give them an edge. Shhh!
When I advise C-suite clients and start-up founders on adopting AI solutions or any emerging technology operation, especially if I'm hired to build a solid innovation culture, I recommend learning in one subject area above all others. It isn't science and math. It's history.
Tesla settles, Amazon shows what's behind the curtain, and Globant shows human intelligence and not the artificial kind.
I no longer have to say "what a week" in emerging tech innovation; the news cycle is consistently a blitzkrieg regarding emerging tech, which is matched only by geopolitical movements. I think that is not a coincidental parallel. However, here are some tech innovation nuggets, Gentle Readers, for