The modern world is great. We live in a time that is the safest in known history. The healthcare available is phenomenal, and there is a plethora of technology available cheaply to make our lives easier. Yet, in many respects, I sometimes think that it’s almost too easy.
I am not saying I want to go back to times where I had to worry about ever returning from a walk in the countryside.
A little over two years ago, I first started experiencing weird happenings. I would grab my laptop, sit on the couch or at my desk ready to write a blog post, and a little while later, I would catch myself answering work emails or updating things on our website. Without realising it, I had stopped writing, if I even started at all, and had begun working full-on when I should have been switched off.
When I read philosophy, it nearly always gets me thinking about technology. Not because I am obsessed with it, or that it occupies all of my thoughts, but because I don’t really have any other vices to solve. I mean, I probably do, but my usage of technology is one of the only things I seek a solution for. Which usually means I moan about it on my blog, or I shut myself off from it.
Mr Mobile review of a product I had my eye on for meeting notes, the Plaud Note:
Finally, there’s the question you really have to ask with any product like this. What company am I entrusting with these potentially sensitive recordings? Well, answering that led me down a fascinating rabbit hole into the world of so called registered agents, which are essentially companies that allow certain types of businesses to operate by giving them a physical address for legal purposes…in Wyoming, registered agents don’t seem to need to do any kind of vetting of the companies they represent.
Matt Birchler, writing about the technology used in wristbands at concerts:
Whenever a company says, “We’re using AI to enhance our product,” ask them for specifics. Often, it’s either complete nonsense or something so minor that it’s essentially doing nothing. It’s not always the case, but I think you’d be surprised how much “AI” is mentioned in product marketing as nothing more than a marketing tool to look modern.
Rex Barrett writing about his ongoing content diet:
… Filling my time with these junk apps is alluring, and I feel good when using them, but I want to find content that takes me somewhere. Ultimately, I don’t want to look back and see hours blocks of time squandered on things I’ll not even remember in a day or two.
My brain goes through these cycles of needing to back away from the web completely, to diving in constantly.
Cory Dransfeldt has great posts about AI, and this one is no exception. Of course, he’s right in his stance on AI-generated images, but as with everything, I don’t find the conclusion so simple.
The images it generates are, at best, a polished regression to the mean. If you want custom art, pay an artist.
As I have covered before, my thoughts on generative AI are mixed. While I understand many of the issues people have with it, I can’t find the same motivation.
One of the first sections I added to my new blog is a reading page. I adore reading, and if I’m not reading, I am often pondering over the things I have read. It’s an obsession, but one I happily embrace. The only problem with my need to track these activities is the standard at which I consider something as read.
There’s been debate online about the distinction between reading a book and ‘reading’ an audiobook.
I wrote a few days ago about my personal take on AI being trained on my writing. Although I expected much more anger, hence the rather long block at the bottom, I am happy to see some nice responses and some pushback on the ideas. It sparked several emails, a few text messages, and one very well-thought-through response post.
Erlend on Mastodon raised a very good point when considering other people’s choices: