interesting thoughts and ideas on the future of biotech
Jan 18, 2025
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i focus a lot on ethics and technology in my studies, so AI has been a huge discussion topic in my life lately lol. i took a course where the professor's entire thesis was that AI could bring about the next Industrial Revolution and we must act now. I think AI is super fascinating and could potentially be the next frontier and the invention that might move humanity forward (the last big invention was the iPhone over a decade ago and we haven't really had any disrupting technologies since then). a lot of public facing applications of AI are basically still in their infancy and are extremely error prone. at the same time, AI does seem to be a bit of a buzz word term that gets thrown around by people don't understand it super well (example: people saying 'an AI' when talking about ChatGPT lol) and it can be frustrating to discuss (as someone who studies tech, whenever I mention my major ppl ask about AI lmao).
I agree with you that we should not be afraid of AI or its introduction into society and instead focus on its application. AI is human made and cannot function without a human (we should only be worried if AI starts to make its own decisions or develop its own language whenever I think of introducing AI into society I think of that quote that's like computers should never make management decisions because computers cannot be held accountable.
I like philosophical ramblings about whether AI can ever be sentient, if humans are playing God, etc, and witnessing the development of AI right before my eyes has made me interested in more scifi novels and movies lol.
I really like Yale professor Luciano Floridi. He deals with the ethics of information and talks a lot about AI and its applications. He has a ton of papers and talks and goes on a lot of podcasts.
Mar 24, 2024
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When the smartphone revolution began about 20 years ago you knew when you were using a smartphone or not. You knew when you were sitting down at a computer or not, when you were opening up a social media app or not, etc.
I think the big difference here is that AI is everywhere and in everything, almost without user consent. No industry is safe. Education isn't safe. Childhood isn't safe. Religious communities aren't safe. Text exchanges with family members aren't safe.
For months now I've recognized the need to establish a set of personal values and safeguards around AI. These apply primarily to me and in my domains of oversight. But also they will shape who and what I engage with and consume from.
In many ways I think this will be the issue of our time. What does it mean to be a human? Is there value in creating or only in the completed product? What do we gain from the struggle of the creative process?
Also I see opportunity everywhere.
As generative AI overtakes and as we realize that we can't trust anything that comes through a screen, even, soon, the person on the other side of a Zoom video chat (it could be their AI avatar authorized to speak on their behalf), then real life and real world interactions become so much more poignant and beautiful.
Right now I lead a community writing workshop on weekly basis. IT IS REAL. No one is using AI. We write together with pens in notebooks. We read our work aloud together. This will remain a safe space.
I can see other safe spaces springing up too. For instance: we gather and paint or make art, together and in realtime. Then we walk next door and hang our art immediately in a gallery and have a show. It's real. It's human. And we can trust it.
Also I see communities forming of people who choose to opt out of the generative AI devolution. There's a lot of thoughtful writing about this out there already.
May 15, 2025
i'm always getting too bleak about technology and AI, about the brain rot and disassociation and spiraling out and general cognitive decline we're all experiencing, that will only continue to worsen with time. but this essay gave me some hope
“Do you see a way out?”
“Yeah, I mean . . . I’m not in the business of saving the world, but it would definitely be a better and more interesting place if more people were involved in making these things. That’s the fundamental thing: that if more software, more buildings, more social spaces, and more everything were designed by more people, of course it would produce a more interesting and better world! ...One of Stafford Beer’s more famous and brilliant phrases was ‘POSIWID,’ which stands for ‘the purpose of the system is what it does.’ It’s a kind of maxim of cybernetics. And it’s very good for diagnosing systems. Instead of saying, Oh, we have a democratic system, we have an education system, you say, The purpose of the system is what it does. And what our society produces is people who are undereducated, or just educated enough to perform specific tasks—the way to get a good education is to study something that has this high economic value. Apart from that, you are pretty fucked. The purpose of the system is to reproduce the existing power dynamics of that system again and again. That is what it does. Society has no interest in educating you in how technology works. Because then you make your own technology, and you make different technology, and you upset the economic power balance and so forth. But it is doable, and people are doing it all the time. You can do it yourself.”
May 30, 2025
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does an excellent job explaining zoonotic spillover and the future of pandemics in an accessible and entertaining way
Jan 18, 2025
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Lovely to see my long distance friends and visit the east coast for the first time
Jan 18, 2025
Jan 18, 2025