speculations

https://newatlas.com/photography/lomography-wide-glass-instant/ Some cal it “retro”. We prefer to call it “real”. Nostalgic definitely, but real. We founded the company because we were sick of the slick, characterless “content” that is all-too-easy to churn out with our devices. We were frustrated that people were just pressing a button and posting with… Read the rest

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/mentoring-sea-raises-boats/1893316 I was lucky. Most companies don’t have pipeline programmes at all. They still wait for the last few universities to deliver recruits they can turn into talent. Here they went looking for… well me. They train me in what they want and need and that can change week by… Read the rest

https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/10/googles-deepmind-is-building-an-ai-to-keep-us-from-hating-each-other/ The floor used to be… lively, you could call it. Noisy certainly. “Spirited discussions” would be one way of describing an average afternoon. It wasn’t surprising really. There were egos of course but also firmly held beliefs and passions. People were invested in their work and fought for it.… Read the rest

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2024/10/23/expanded-access-google-s-synthid-text-watermarking-tool-may-help-advertisers-win There was something about a letter, a postcard. It just felt different. Partly of course it was the fact he’d had to find a way to get it through her door. Her parents told her about the days of “post” but that was long ago. Now he had to… Read the rest

https://www.marketing-interactive.com/microsoft-ai-agents-businesses-everyday-tasks I’m the one who organises the card and the collection. If it’s for a human obviously. I don’t think our AI colleagues would want a card and a cake. Then again, maybe I should ask them… And I’m the one that makes sure we don’t miss a birthday or… Read the rest

https://www.marketing-interactive.com/heineken-hides-messages-music-events-across-the-world The band opened with it. They always did. Not their most popular or most famous song but the one guaranteed to get hardcore fans going. The data showed it. Their AI gig manager said so. Sure enough the cheers went up, the arms went up, the phones went up.… Read the rest

https://www.404media.co/ai-powered-social-media-manipulation-app-promises-to-shape-reality-4 They used to call it a filter bubble apparently. There were panics about polarisation and content ghettos where vulnerable people would drown in a sea of self-reinforcing stories, true, false it didn’t matter. The dumb schmucks would get mesmerised by seeing only what they wanted to see. My parents… Read the rest

https://www.wired.com/gallery/best-retro-gaming-consoles/ It is my son’s birthday. A significant one. One where he could buy me a pint… if he drank alcohol. So much of what he does is alien to me. His way of talking obviously. His way of being with his friends or finding a partner. His ways of… Read the rest

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/18/24273895/penguin-random-house-books-copyright-ai He wrote for himself really. It was a daily practice. Calisthenics for the imagination. Mind full, meditative practice. It was good for him. He wrote quickly, usually on his phone. A tiny sketchbook for words. His thumb slid across the glass, rarely correcting or going back. The stories were… Read the rest

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/10/17/1105810/ai-could-help-people-find-common-ground-during-deliberations/ We never argue. I can’t even remember the last time we disagreed on anything. It doesn’t matter if it’s choosing the takeaway or the series to binge watch or where to go on holiday or which system to buy for the kids… there’s never an argument. We just settle… Read the rest