Sign in Subscribe

Topic

Future

A collection of 92 issues

Dignity in the Time of the Toads

In what follows, I’m going to use parable to make my point because I want to focus on principle rather than individual personalities. Okay, with that brief preface out of the way, let’s begin. What is obsequiousness good for? It doesn’t seem to have much utility. In

Why AI Scenarios Are More Important than Predictions

Love in the Age of the AI Tech-Bro Gigolo

Each day brings a new jolt, not from our planet’s shifting tectonic plates but from the disorientating sensation of becoming dislodged from what we previously perceived as objective reality. Whenever I see anybody today proclaiming an unerring foreknowledge of what the future holds, I cannot resist a derisive snort.

As Planned, Nvidia’s GTC Offered No Surprises

When it Comes to AI, Clear-Eyed Pragmatism Beats Slaphappy Optimism

After my return from vacation, I had a lot on my plate these last few days. The preceding sentence is my way of apologizing for not providing a post earlier this week. Still, I’ll attempt to make amends, offering this post today and another tomorrow (on Nvidia GTC . . . for

Returning From Travel: Back Down to Earth

I have been away for more than a week on a vacation in Europe. I’m back home now, but, as I reintegrate into my mundane existence, I’m weighed down by introspection. Travel often marks a break from stultifying routine, providing an opportunity for both a respite and a

Forget the Asteroid in 2032 — Worry About the Here and Now

I am not among the people concerned about an asteroid, charmingly named 2024 YR4, that is reportedly hurtling through space on a collision course for Earth. Astronomers and physicists estimate that the space rock, which measures from 130 to 300 feet (a wide variance), has about a 1.5% probability

A Case For a Bursting AI Bubble

Let’s be honest. We all have our enthusiasms, and some of them, by their very nature, are partly or wholly irrational. Nobody can be objectively rational and logically detached all the time. Some of us can’t manage it only some of the time. Humans aren’t wired that

Answering Zuckerberg’s Call for Masculine Energy

Mark Zuckerberg says we need more “masculine energy” in today’s corporate culture, which presumably includes the tech industry to which he belongs. I’m now retired, but even so, I question whether I’m doing my part for the cause of corporate machismo. I sense that I am at

And Now for A Very Different Take on the DeepSeek Cause Célèbre

A media storm raged in the wake of news that China’s DeepSeek open-source AI models were capable of equaling or surpassing the performance of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which is decidedly not open source. In the past few days, arguably too much has been written and said about the emergence