Tech Finds Religion, Hegseth Declares War
I was tasked with selecting a new stain color for my house shingles, which was relatively traumatic because I have a history of spending an inordinate amount of time making decisions; a process that tends to be followed by a lifetime of regret. I recently spent about 30 hours researching a power adapter and dongle system to simultaneously charge my MacBook and Kindle. How was I going to choose a color for the entire exterior of my house before El Niño hits? I did what most modern internet users would have done. I used AI. I took photos of my house and then had AI show me how it would look stained in the various sample colors my painter suggested. Like many AI experiences, this one was pretty fulfilling and even delightful. But when I think about the AI industry, like millions of other Americans, I have almost exclusively negative vibes. Why does this technology cause such a disconnect between our experiences and our feelings? As I’ve mentioned, I think this is partly due to a broad and growing disconnect between what people want and what AI CEOs think people want. But even more than that, there’s a disconnect between how consumers think of AI (as a new form of super-powered search that finally brings the promise of AskJeeves to fruition) and how AI leaders think of it: As a god. Jaron Lanier explains the disconnect. “This disapproval is unfortunate and unnecessary. It does not arise from the technology itself. It is a reaction to the insular culture surrounding A.I., a culture that is dictating how this innovation is packaged, how it is sold and how it is understood. Words have a way of filtering into actions, as when some of us in Silicon Valley callously treat places where we want to build data centers as sacrifice zones. We technologists are sabotaging ourselves, but it is hard to find a sane focus from inside the intensity and elite isolation of this bubble. Americans are not rejecting A.I. They are rejecting the way Silicon Valley is defining it for them.” NYT (Gift Article): I Am a Silicon Valley Pioneer. We Are Sabotaging Ourselves. (The irony here is that the thing consumers really dislike the most about this new technology is the people. And you can’t really blame them.) “There is an explanation for why some tech leaders, so seemingly worried about an extinction-level event, are plunging ahead with A.I. development: Mankind’s survival, while important to many of them, is less critical than building something they believe to be not only conscious but godlike. A substantial portion of the A.I. community, in celebrating this belief, is quick to support any action or statement that reinforces the idea that the technology is like a deity. They might call for regulation, but only in specific ways — perhaps by deploying more A.I. to control A.I. — that adore the technology’s powers. It is that adoration that is nonnegotiable.” I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to bow down at the altar of a new technological overlord. At least not until I see how my shingles turn out.
+ Which brings us to AI’s big bang… The Verge (Gift Article): The future of AI hinges on… Jensen Huang’s sex life? The stock is way down, the FBI and the newly empowered Dems are looking into the issue, and the Information reported that “CEO Jensen Huang’s relationship with alleged spy Alice Huang dates back to 2023 and enabled Chinese companies to acquire $7.5 billion worth of Nvidia chips.” Here’s the latest. God only knows how this shakes out.
+ As I wrote yesterday: The enduring stamina of the notion that the carnal is greater than the kernel, that ramming overides the ram, and that the dong is greater than the dongle, provides yet another reminder that the key risk factors presented by the AI boom are the humans behind it. And, in this case, it’s a human in the center of a circular economy. Circular Jerk.
+ If the tech industry wants more support for its futuristic dreams, we need a little less deity talk and a little more focus on features like this. I watched a humanoid robot clean my apartment. It felt like a taste of the future.
Heg Stand
Pete Hegseth has declared war on those who want him impeached. That said, he tends to lose wars. “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday cast the impeachment effort against him as a slanderous attempt by a single disgruntled Republican to damage President Trump, as House G.O.P. leaders said a procedural vote would come in a matter of hours. Democrats are expected to support removing him from office, and there may be enough Republican backing to imperil his leadership of the Pentagon.” It doesn’t help to be bad at your job and deeply hated. “Nancy Lacore, a former Navy admiral who won a seat in Congress last week after being fired by Pete Hegseth, has lent her support to lawmakers attempting to impeach the defense secretary, saying that he had committed ‘probably plenty’ of offenses to warrant his ouster.” Meanwhile, “Trump posted on social media that he gives Hegseth an ‘A’ PLUS PLUS PLUS’ for his remarks.” (I wonder if Hegseth can bring a Plus Plus Plus One to his impeachment…)
Grading on a Nerve
While we’re on the topic of grade inflation, the WSJ (Gift Article) has a piece on The Parents Suing Schools Because Their Kids Got Bad Grades. “Time was when parents disciplined children for bringing home bad marks. Today, they often take a more adversarial approach, educators say, leaning on teachers and administrators to change grades in disputes that can even spill into court. Ever since remote learning brought classrooms into living rooms during the pandemic, U.S. parents have grown more involved in and less enchanted with schools, according to numerous surveys. That includes scrutinizing how teachers evaluate their children. Four in 10 American teachers report facing pressure from moms and dads to change grades.”
Digging Up Dirt on Mexican Soil
“President Claudia Sheinbaum drew a firm line barring U.S. forces from operating on Mexican soil. But in a northern border state, one local partner quietly helped the agency build a foothold.” From life imitating art to life imitating a Netflix series. NYT (Gift Article): The Man Who Helped the C.I.A. Secretly Operate in Mexico. “For more than six months, Mr. Zuany shepherded C.I.A. officers as they trained Chihuahua State forces, joined those forces on certain missions and provided expertise during ground operations, according to nine officials and law enforcement officers in Mexico and the United States. In return, officials said, Mr. Zuany’s U.S. visa was reinstated. Then, in April, a truck carrying two C.I.A. officers drove off a cliff, killing all four passengers. The crash blew the C.I.A.’s cover in Chihuahua and set off a national scandal.”
Extra, Extra
Bull Bear Market: “After years of economic turmoil and droughts, the U.S. cattle herd has shrunk to its smallest level in 75 years. The supply shock is driving up steak and hamburger prices at grocery stores and restaurants to record highs—conditions that could last well into the next decade, given how long it takes to replenish a herd.” WSJ (Gift Article): Why High Beef Prices Are Here to Stay. (It will be interesting to see how the beef price crisis impacts public health.)
+ Blinded to Science: “For nearly a century, the United States has been the global leader in cultivating young scientists, training them at the nation’s vast network of universities and harnessing their talents to ensure American dominance in research and innovation. But now that Ph.D. pipeline is in turmoil.” Young Talent Fueled American Scientific Dominance. Now It’s Disappearing. (The midterms were great. But it will take years and years to undo the damage of Trumpism across many sectors.)
+ Cold War: “The U.S. evacuated American aircraft from a Royal Air Force base in England on Monday in the wake of a threat from Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.” U.S. Aircraft Evacuated From Second U.K. Base Due to Iran Threat. Meanwhile, Iran Attacks Europe’s Refrigerators.
+ Tennis Elbowing: “At a time when the rich are walling themselves off from both society and reality—building apocalypse bunkers in New Zealand, buying gated homes in Miami and Newport Beach—there’s one major problem with their escapist fantasies: other rich people.” An insane, multi-year drama between billionaires that revolves around the person who was working in a tennis pro shop. This is, at least in part, a story about people who live for conflict. Toronto Life: Clash of the Titans.
+ Means for an End: “British writer M. John Harrison won the Booker Prize for fiction on late Monday for ‘The End of Everything,’ a satirical dystopian novel whose themes of ‘catastrophe and apocalypse’ chime with our uneasy times. It’s the first work of science fiction to take the prestigious $67,000 literary award.”
+ Blazing Hazing: Ohio State University investigating fraternity after video appears to show two people on fire. What a total burn.
+ Youth Movement! With So Much New Blood in the Senate, the Average Age Is Falling… To 63.
Bottom of the News
I ask this with peace and love… Do we really want to live in a world where Elon Musk can amass a trillion-dollar valuation in a matter of years, but it took Paul McCartney a lifetime just to get to billionaire status? I, for one, am a-pauled.
+ Not a Wedding Crasher is a technology platform that connects couples that have extra seats at their wedding with people who like attending unique experiences. (I can’t imagine wanting to be on either side of this transaction.)
