Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 38

Six Links That Make You Think #719

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

Our Office Avatar Part 1 – Harper Reed. “Harper Reed continues to be one of my favorite things on the Internet. A hacker’s hacker, he loves to mess with things. In this case, feeding data from sensors and security cameras to a wise-cracking AI chatbot. The results are predictably hilarious and well documented.” (Alistair for Hugh). AI Makes Any Sound A Synth Preset Instantly – Longest Solo Ever – YouTube . “Electronic music comes from two sources: Sampling (playing back a recorded sound, often with modifications that change its pitch or speed) or synthesizer (creating soundwaves, then modifying them mathematically). And, until now, never the twain shall meet. I found this video fascinating and figured a musichead like you would too. It reverse-engineers the modifications needed to synthesize a sample.” (Alistair for Mitch). Effie Passero – ‘Billie Jean’ (Cover) – Mondays Dark – YouTube . “Piano torch song version of Michael Jackson‘s ‘Billie Jean’.” (Hugh for Alistair). Canadian School Boards Sue Social Media Giants For Over $4 Billion In Damages – Reuters . “New twist on the ongoing worry about kids, smartphones, social media, and the damage we’ve maybe done to a generation. A bunch of school boards in Ontario are suing Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok for making platforms that are ‘negligently designed for compulsive use, have rewired the way children think, behave and learn.’ There is growing evidence (another link for another week) about the massive impact on the mental health of teens from smartphone and social media use. And while $4 billion is a drop in the bucket (Facebook alone reported profits of $14 billion in the last quarter of 2023), this might be part of a new move to force change in how society deals with kids/teens and technology.” (Hugh for Mitch). Daniel Kahneman: The Thought Leader interview – Strategy + Business . “We lost one of the great thought leaders last week. Daniel Khaneman was the Nobel Prize-winning economist who tackled everything from the psychology of judgment and decision-making to his work in creating the field of behavioral economics. And, having lived 90 years, he was able to assume the titles of author and psychologist – along with being one of the brightest economists our world has ever seen. Most will recognize him as the author of bestselling book, Thinking, Fast And Slow (2011), but his list of accolades and awards are plentiful. This is an interview with the also-brilliant, Michael Schrage (MIT Media Lab’s e-Markets Initiative and author of Serious Play – How the World’s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate). In a world where everyone wants to known as a thought leader, Kahneman walked the talked. Read on for his fascinating perspectives on human decision making, cognitive biases, prospect theory, risk, emotion, decision analysis and so much more. He will be missed.” (Mitch for Alistair). Dungeons & Dragons All Started In This Tiny Wisconsin Town – Atlas Obscura . “Whoa wow… major Nerd Alert on this one. I don’t know if you spent any Saturday nights (and then a whole Sunday) being a Dungeon Master for the role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons… but I sure did (and, it didn’t stop at D&D for my interest in these games). And… yes… truly nerdy (even though games like D&D have become popularized in the current culture of ComicCon and more – including the movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves starring Chris Pine!). Now, after 50 years of the game that always held marketshare and some kind of interest in an audience, it’s leaning more into a more popular place in culture. Who created the game and where is it come from? We can thank Gary Gygax and Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for this one. Now the city celebrates Gary (and all things D&D) with Gary Con – an event to celebrate the game’s founder who passed awayin 2008. This is a great read and brings up a lot of nostalgia for me. It was also an opportunity to reflect on how D&D help mature my problem-solving, collaboration and personal growth skills as a teenager… which is something I had not associated with the game until this read. Roll ‘em!” (Mitch for Hugh). 

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Henrik Linder From Dirty Loops On This Month’s Groove – The No Treble Podcast

Henrik Linder from Dirty Loops is this month’s conversation on Groove – The No Treble Podcast.

You can listen the new episode right here: Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #112 – Henrik Linder.

Groove – Episode #112: Henrik Linder by No Treble

Who is Henrik Linder?

Henrik Linder‘s story with the bass guitar is a journey of curiosity, creativity and connection. From his early days in Sweden, where a childhood crush’s comment steered him from piano to bass, to his innovative work with Dirty Loops, Henrik has always approached the bass with a sense of exploration. It’s not just about playing an instrument for him – it’s about pushing boundaries and discovering new ways to create sound. In Stockholm, as a teenager, Henrik quickly made a name for himself, playing with various groups and soaking up influences from different genres and bass players like Flea and Gary Willis. His passion for music led him to the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, where he met drummer Aron Mellergårdh and pianist Jonah Nilsson. Together, they formed Dirty Loops, a band that would take pop songs and turn them inside out, showcasing their musical chops and Henrik’s fluid, inventive bass lines. Dirty Loops became known for their ability to take well-known tracks and infuse them with jazz, funk, and a whole lot of technical skill into a new form of fusion. Their cover of Lady Gaga‘s ‘Just Dance’ exploded on YouTube, setting the stage for their original work, including the album, Loopified, and their latest single, ‘Run Away’. Through it all, Henrik’s bass playing has been a constant source of innovation, using techniques like slapping, looping, and even adjusting his equipment to get just the right speed and sound and pop. Dirty Loops was recently in town performing (go and see them live in your area… it’s a jaw-dropper), so we grabbed the chance to meet Henrik backstage and have this conversation. Henrik shares insights into his musical world. He talks about the joy of learning and growing as a musician, the transition from covers to original music, and the role of the bass in a band. He also discusses how social media has opened new doors for musicians, allowing them to share their work with a global audience and connect with fans in new ways. Henrik’s bass playing continues to explore the possibilities of the instrument. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to their music, it’s a testament to the power of pushing the boundaries of what’s expected and embracing creativity. Henrik (and Dirty Loops) remind us that music is a playground. With each note and every song, they invite us to listen a little differently, to hear the possibilities, and to appreciate the bass guitar not just as part of the rhythm section, but as a lead voice in its own right (it will get you dancing!). In the end, it’s about sharing that journey with the world, one groove at a time. Enjoy the conversation…

What is Groove – The No Treble Podcast?

This is an ambitious effort. This will be a fascinating conversation. Our goal at Groove is to build the largest oral history of bass players. Why Groove? Most of the content about the bass revolves around gear, playing techniques, and more technical chatter. For us, bassists are creative artists with stories to tell. They are a force to be reckon with. These are the stories and conversation that we will capture. To create this oral history of why these artists chose the bass, what their creative lives are like, and where inspiration can be found.

Listen in:  Groove – The No Treble Podcast – Episode #112 – Henrik Linder.

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends). 

Lights, Camera, AI – Sora’s Hollywood Debut

It wasn’t a long time ago in a galaxy far far away…

In fact, it was just this past summer when the writers of Hollywood laid down their pens in strike.
One of their main issues was the use of Generative AI in films and storytelling and how that would work in terms of credit, payment and more.

I can’t imagine what that same industry has been thinking last week…

OpenAI (home to ChatGPT and Dall-e) created a lot of buzz with the launch of Sora – a text-to-video generator
Yes, simply type in words of the movie that you want to create and Sora will output original video (much in the same way OpenAI has done for text and images).
Sam Altman and his Sora team have been spending some time in Hollywood attempting to get the industry on side and excited about a tool that is likely to decimate and change the landscape for filmmakers.
As filmmakers begin to experiment with Sora, the boundaries of storytelling and visual art are being redrawn, sparking a mix of excitement and concern within the industry.

The new frontier of content creation?

Sora represents a groundbreaking shift in how movies could be made, offering filmmakers tools to create content that was previously unimaginable.
Toronto-based Shy Kids, a pop-band and filmmaking collective, took Sora for a spin with their short film Air Head, showcasing a man with a balloon for a face.
This experiment highlighted Sora’s potential to maintain character consistency across frames, a common hurdle for generative video tools.

It’s great… but not close to perfect.

Despite Sora’s impressive capabilities, including generating nearly perfect facial details in a crowded train scene, the technology isn’t flawless.
While Sora could create astonishing visuals, some post-processing was still necessary to polish the final product.
Still, this blend of AI-generated content and human creativity underscores the collaborative potential of tools like Sora.
As one executive said: “The technology is nothing without you.”

The aesthetic palette continues to expand.

Paul Trillo, an artist and filmmaker, pushed Sora’s boundaries with Abstract – a video that fuses retro-style footage with fantastical elements.
Trillo’s work, produced entirely with Sora’s raw output, sought to explore aesthetic possibilities beyond the game-like quality of earlier demos.
His success in creating a film that feels organic suggests that Sora’s capabilities extend into diverse visual styles, offering artists a broader canvas for their creativity.

The double-edged sword for the movie business.

The introduction of Sora into the filmmaking toolkit is not without its challenges.
Concerns are flaring about the potential for deepfakes, misinformation, and the impact on traditional roles within the industry.
Still, when you watch the slew of new Sora demos it’s hard not to be impressed with the profound potential of this technology to enhance storytelling and visual expression.
As the creative industries grapple with these new tools, the key will be finding a balance between leveraging AI’s capabilities and preserving the human touch that lies at the heart of art.

The journey of Sora from a novel experiment to a staple in content creation is just beginning, and it promises a future where the only limit is the imagination.

This is what David Heurtel (Elias Makos was away for vacation) and I discussed on CJAD 800 AM. Listen in right here.

Mitch Joel · Lights, Camera, AI – Sora’s Hollywood Debut – The Elias Makos Show – CJAD 800

Before you go… ThinkersOne is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Russ Neuman On How AI Will Make Us Smarter – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #925 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to

The transformative impact of artificial intelligence on business and society is going to be a technological shift unlike anything we have ever experienced. Russ Neuman, a distinguished scholar in new media and digital education, is currently a Professor of Media Technology at New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. With a storied career that spans from the University of Michigan to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Russ has been at the forefront of understanding and shaping the digital landscape. Russ’ recent book, Evolutionary Intelligence – How Technology Will Make Us Smarter, delves into the complex relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence (a topic that is near and dear to my heart). How can we better navigate the myriad perspectives on AI, from its potential to disrupt employment and amplify polarization to its capacity for enhancing human decision-making and fostering societal advancement. In Evolutionary Intelligence, Russ offers a refreshing counter-narrative to the doom-laden discourse surrounding AI. Russ argues that, rather than fearing the emergence of AI, we should embrace its potential to augment human capabilities and address the cognitive limitations that have bounded humanity since its hunter-gatherer days. By integrating AI into our daily lives — from laptops to headsets — Russ envisions a future where computational intelligence complements human judgment, empowering individuals to adapt to rapidly changing environments. As we delve into Russ’s latest book and his extensive research on media technology’s impact on society, we have a challenging and thought-provoking discussion that might upend your preconceived notions about AI and offers hope for a smarter, more collaborative future. In an era where the buzz around artificial intelligence swings dramatically between utopian promises and dystopian warnings, Russ stands out with a refreshingly balanced perspective. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via Apple Podcast or whatever platform you may choose):  #925 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

SPOS #925 – Russ Neuman On How AI Will Make Us Smarter

Welcome to episode #925 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #925. The transformative impact of artificial intelligence on business and society is going to be a technological shift unlike anything we have ever experienced. Russ Neuman, a distinguished scholar in new media and digital education, is currently a Professor of Media Technology at New York University, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. With a storied career that spans from the University of Michigan to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Russ has been at the forefront of understanding and shaping the digital landscape. Russ’ recent book, Evolutionary Intelligence – How Technology Will Make Us Smarter, delves into the complex relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence (a topic that is near and dear to my heart). How can we better navigate the myriad perspectives on AI, from its potential to disrupt employment and amplify polarization to its capacity for enhancing human decision-making and fostering societal advancement. In Evolutionary Intelligence, Russ offers a refreshing counter-narrative to the doom-laden discourse surrounding AI. Russ argues that, rather than fearing the emergence of AI, we should embrace its potential to augment human capabilities and address the cognitive limitations that have bounded humanity since its hunter-gatherer days. By integrating AI into our daily lives — from laptops to headsets — Russ envisions a future where computational intelligence complements human judgment, empowering individuals to adapt to rapidly changing environments. As we delve into Russ’s latest book and his extensive research on media technology’s impact on society, we have a challenging and thought-provoking discussion that might upend your preconceived notions about AI and offers hope for a smarter, more collaborative future. In an era where the buzz around artificial intelligence swings dramatically between utopian promises and dystopian warnings, Russ stands out with a refreshingly balanced perspective. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 53:59.Hello from beautiful Montreal.Subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.Check out ThinkersOne.or you can connect on LinkedIn.…or on Twitter.Here is my conversation with Russ Neuman.Evolutionary Intelligence – How Technology Will Make Us Smarter.Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development – NYU.Follow Russ on LinkedIn.This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Takeaways

AI elicits diverse and conflicting perspectives, ranging from doomsday scenarios to optimistic possibilities.Unemployment due to AI may be a gradual transition, and the impact on social unrest may be mitigated by the creation of new jobs.AI has the potential to amplify polarization and hate speech, but efforts are being made to identify and filter such content.The alignment problem in AI raises questions about control and the ability to ensure that AI systems align with human values.The future of work will involve collaboration between humans and AI, with AI augmenting human capabilities rather than replacing them.The redefinition of intelligence and the exploration of new models of decision-making are key to the future of AI.Mistakes and challenges are expected in the development of AI, but the hope is that we will learn from them and ultimately get it right.The impact of media technology on society is profound, influencing various aspects of our lives, including politics, culture, and communication.Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in media, enabling personalized content recommendations, automated content creation, and data analysis.The future of media technology holds exciting possibilities, such as immersive experiences, enhanced personalization, and advancements in AI-driven content creation.

Chapters:

00:00 – Introduction and Diametrically Opposed Perspectives on AI03:12 – Unemployment and Polarization07:37 – Regulation and Openness in AI08:05 – Concerns and Warnings from AI Creators16:10 – Concerns and Optimism about AI22:07 – Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Evolutionary Intelligence25:31 – The Contentious Nature of AGI28:34 – The Alignment Problem and Control34:30 – The Role of AI in Work and Professions43:52 – The Future of Work and Redefining Intelligence46:50 – Concerns about AI and the Future51:12 – Hope and Making Our Own Rules10:00 – The Evolution of Media Technology20:00 – The Impact of Media Technology on Society30:00 – The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Media40:00 – The Future of Media Technology

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #925.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Six Links That Make You Think #718

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

How I Came To Write Frank Herbert – O’Reilly. “Tim O’Reilly, Internet prognosticator and founder of the eponymous publisher to whom I owe much of my career, wrote a book about Frank Herbert (he even wrote one with Frank). It’s now available free, online.” (Alistair for Hugh). Before The Crowd Shows Up – Working Theorys . “Marketers talk a lot about first-mover advantage. Sometimes it works (Gillette invented the disposable razor and dominated that segment for a century) and sometimes it doesn’t (Xerox invented the fax machine and graphical user interface but failed to execute on both). Common marketing wisdom holds that if the technology evolves slowly, it’s easier to maintain an early head start. I’ve been thinking a lot about this in the last strokes of Just Evil Enough, and once I’d wrapped that section I – of course – found an article that said it better than I could, with a particular eye to digital platforms and how they’re unique.” (Alistair for Mitch). “Will Digital Intelligence Replace Biological Intelligence?” – Prof. Geoffrey Hinton – Romanes Lecture – YouTube . “Geoffrey Hinton, University of Toronto professor and the ‘godfather of neural networks’, explains in clear language the risks posed by AI. His main thesis is: Human intelligence is mortal, and limited. Digital neural networks are immortal and (roughly) unlimited, so it can learn infinitely faster than humans. AIs will start to compete with each other for resources (information, compute) – possibly directed by bad-actor humans.” (Hugh for Alistair). A Digital Twin Might Just Save Your Life – Noema . “If indeed we are in a simulation, this seems a plausible path for us to get here. Or there.” (Hugh for Mitch). What If Generative AI Turned Out To Be A Dud? – Gary Marcus . “In our times, the most interesting thing a human can do is spend some time with very smart people who think the exact opposite of your views. In this case, I’m more aligned with Gary Marcus than not, but I’m not sure that trying to unlink Generative AI’s current capacity from the future capacity of AI is the right position to take. ‘… what has me worried right now is not just the possibility that the whole generative AI economy — still based more on promise than actual commercial use — could see a massive, gut-wrenching correction, but that we are building our entire global and national policy on the premise that generative AI will be world-changing in ways that may in hindsight turn out to have been unrealistic.’ I believe that Generative AI is a bridge technology… something unique that we can all see and understand until AI tools develop and become a part of every system. For my dollar, the market corrections that we might see are frequently detached from the actual work and functionality of evolving technology (think about the boom, bust and echo of the early Web). Valuations and hype are par for the course… and I would be surprised if Generative AI turns out to be a dud.” (Mitch for Alistair). ‘Secret’ RCMP Report Forecasts A Bleak Future In Canada – CTV . “For as long as I can remember I have always felt safe in Canada. It’s not perfect. No country is. I have countless issues with our government and how our social infrastructures have been neglected as our taxes and interest rates keep spiking. It’s not easy… still… I have always felt like the world may not realize what Canada (truly) is… and its potential has never been fully realized. Now, it seems our world is on fire. Both literally (climate change) and philosophically (is there anything any of us can agree on without taking an extreme side?). I found it strange… weird… and wild that this news item and report came out in the news cycle and disappeared… with a whisper and not a bang. Everything from the end of abundance to bleak economic forecasts and more. This is, literally, the ‘Lions and tigers and bears oh my!’ report about a country that everyone knows to be livable, peaceful, open and secure. Now, we get nothing but an erosion of trust mixed with paranoid populaism and a dash of climate devastation. So… where do we go next?” (Mitch for Hugh). 

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Apple’s Orchard Under Scrutiny – Innovation Or Monopoly?

I’m not a lawyer… but I sometimes play one on the Internet?

The U.S. Department of Justice‘s lawsuit against Apple has thrown a spotlight on a big question in tech:
When does pushing the envelope on innovation cross over into monopolistic territory?
This isn’t a new debate.
Remember the Microsoft antitrust case?
Well, Apple’s in a similar hot seat now, accused of playing gatekeeper a little too strictly in the smartphone world.

What did Apple do so right that makes the government see it as so wrong?

It reads like the DOJ thinks Apple’s been a bit too successful for its own good.

The issue?

Apple allegedly makes it tough for any other company to get a fair shot on the iPhone.
Slate and The Verge have reported that Apple might be keeping third-party apps from accessing key iPhone bits like its payment tech and GPS features, all while making sure its own products don’t face the same hurdles.

Is it a monopoly… and is that the same as operating a closed vs. open ecosystem?

Apple’s fondness for a closed ecosystem — where everything works seamlessly together because it’s all made by Apple — is a double-edged sword.
Sure, it means everything’s smooth and secure, but it also raises a big question:
Should one company have so much control?

It’s not an open and shut (or closed) debate.

On one hand, this closed system is part of why people love Apple.
On the other, there’s a fine line between being a successful company and being a monopoly that squashes competition (Google’s Android would be a prime example of how it’s not a monopoly?).

Figuring out if a company is just big and successful or actually a monopoly is key here.

Apple’s definitely got a lot of power, but does it cross the line into monopoly territory?
It’s worth asking if Apple’s really blocking competition or just competing head-to-head with the likes of Android.

Big Tech versus all comers.

This lawsuit isn’t happening in a bubble.
It’s part of a bigger picture where tech giants are under the microscope worldwide, with people questioning how their dominance affects us regular folks and the smaller companies trying to innovate.

So, is there a middle ground?

Maybe what we need are antitrust laws that fit the digital age — laws that let companies like Apple keep innovating, without shutting out everyone else.
But from where I stand, it doesn’t look like that’s what’s happening with this lawsuit.

What’s your take?

This is what Elias Makos and I discussed on CJAD 800 AM. Listen in right here.

Mitch Joel · Apple's Orchard Under Scrutiny – Innovation Or Monopoly? – The Elias Makos Show – CJAD 800

Before you go… ThinkersOne is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Coco Krumme On The Illusion Of Optimization – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #924 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to

In her new book, Optimal Illusions – The False Promise of Optimization, Coco Krumme embarks on a compelling journey to unravel the influence of optimization in our society. Coco’s diverse pursuits – from running a craft distillery on a rural island to making sculptures and flying a small airplane – give her analysis a unique perspective (far removed from the standard academic fare on the subject). With that, she is an applied mathematician with an impressive background, including a Ph.D. from MIT and significant experience in academia and tech. Optimization, a principle initially rooted in mathematical theory, has dramatically reshaped our world. It dictates everything from the efficiency of airline schedules to the algorithmic matches on dating sites to how we figure out our best days. Optimal Illusions is a fascinating read, as Coco explores the history of optimization, highlighting its journey from America’s founding principles to its application by oil tycoons, wildlife ecologists, Silicon Valley technocrats, lifestyle gurus, and beyond. This exploration reveals a complexity where the quest for efficiency – while yielding undeniable benefits – has also led to significant trade-offs, compromising resilience, limiting options, and narrowing perspectives. Coco’s work in scientific computation provides her with an intimate understanding of the pitfalls of optimization’s reach. She argues that while optimization may offer short-term gains in efficiency, it ultimately fosters a society that is less adaptable and more homogenous. The book challenges readers to consider the hidden costs of optimization – from the erosion of human creativity and flexibility to the potential for creating systems that are fragile and prone to failure. For anyone intrigued by the intersection of technology, society, and human behavior, this episode is for you. Enjoy the conversation…

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via Apple Podcast or whatever platform you may choose):  #924 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

SPOS #924 – Coco Krumme On The Illusion Of Optimization

Welcome to episode #924 of Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast.

Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #924. In her new book, Optimal Illusions – The False Promise of Optimization, Coco Krumme embarks on a compelling journey to unravel the influence of optimization in our society. Coco’s diverse pursuits – from running a craft distillery on a rural island to making sculptures and flying a small airplane – give her analysis a unique perspective (far removed from the standard academic fare on the subject). With that, she is an applied mathematician with an impressive background, including a Ph.D. from MIT and significant experience in academia and tech. Optimization, a principle initially rooted in mathematical theory, has dramatically reshaped our world. It dictates everything from the efficiency of airline schedules to the algorithmic matches on dating sites to how we figure out our best days. Optimal Illusions is a fascinating read, as Coco explores the history of optimization, highlighting its journey from America’s founding principles to its application by oil tycoons, wildlife ecologists, Silicon Valley technocrats, lifestyle gurus, and beyond. This exploration reveals a complexity where the quest for efficiency – while yielding undeniable benefits – has also led to significant trade-offs, compromising resilience, limiting options, and narrowing perspectives. Coco’s work in scientific computation provides her with an intimate understanding of the pitfalls of optimization’s reach. She argues that while optimization may offer short-term gains in efficiency, it ultimately fosters a society that is less adaptable and more homogenous. The book challenges readers to consider the hidden costs of optimization – from the erosion of human creativity and flexibility to the potential for creating systems that are fragile and prone to failure. For anyone intrigued by the intersection of technology, society, and human behavior, this episode is for you. Enjoy the conversation…

Running time: 46:16.Hello from beautiful Montreal.Subscribe over at Apple Podcasts.Please visit and leave comments on the blog – Six Pixels of Separation.Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook.Check out ThinkersOne.or you can connect on LinkedIn.…or on Twitter.Here is my conversation with Coco Krumme.Optimal Illusions – The False Promise of Optimization.Follow Coco on LinkedIn.This week’s music: David Usher ‘St. Lawrence River’.

Chapters:

00:00 – The Definition of Optimization04:50 – The Negative Perception of Optimization06:18 – Losses Caused by Optimization10:05 – Figuring Things Out for Oneself16:18 – Optimization Pre-Pandemic and Post-Pandemic23:56 – Balancing Discipline and Optimization26:48 – The Opposite of Optimization28:50 – Teaching Kids about Optimization36:08 – The Impact of Artificial Intelligence45:00 – The Potential of AI and the Skepticism55:35 – The Power of Optimal Illusions56:35 – The Perito Moreno Glacier Experience

Download the Podcast here: Six Pixels of Separation – The ThinkersOne Podcast – Episode #924.

Before you go… ThinkersOne  is a new way for organizations to buy bite-sized and personalized thought leadership video content (live and recorded) from the best Thinkers in the world. If you’re looking to add excitement  and big smarts to your meetings, corporate events, company off-sites, “lunch & learns” and beyond, check it out.

Six Links That Make You Think #717

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

FreakTakes. “Invention doesn’t happen by accident. This amazing blog has a whole series of posts on innovation with titles like, ‘How did places like Bell Labs know how to ask the right questions?‘ and ‘Tales of Edison’s Lab.’ We spend so much time in innovation theater, glorifying VCs and accelerators, that we forget what the Old Ways were like: Skunkworks, industrialized research, and academics thrust into labs by wartime.” (Alistair for Hugh). End The Phone-Based Childhood Now – The Atlantic . “A topic the three of us have discussed at length, tackled head-on by one of my favorite writers and, I would say, one of the most important voices about technology and the human mind. Jonathan Haidt lays it out plainly: We have wrought a huge social experiment, with no control group, on hundreds of millions of unwilling, uninformed, under-aged test subjects, and now we’re paying the price.” (Alistair for Mitch). The Coddling Of The American Undergraduate – The Hedgehog Review . “I suppose when your parents are paying $100k/year in tuition, they want their investment to pay off. If that requires coddling, so be it. Still at some point, even future masters of the universe need to become independent adults.” (Hugh for Alistair). Why Chatbots Are Not the Future – Amelia Wattenberger . “ChatGPT continues to amaze me with the curious ways it is wonderful, and the strange ways it is terrible. Amelia Wattenberger, a UX designer, who is building LLM interfaces at GitHub, explains why chatbots are not the answer. 100% agree.” (Hugh for Mitch). Strategy & Artificial Intelligence – Roger Martin . “I subscribe to a lot of newsletters. I scan everyone. I save some stuff to Pocket. I graze through others. Then… there are a select few that I am genuinely excited for because they challenge me to slow down, read, take notes and allow the thinking to ferment in my noggin. Roger Martin’s weekly articles are the prototype of the ones that I look forward to making a coffee and taking a moment before I start my day. This is a great example of his work (and his most recent article). Roger (who has been a guest on my podcast a few times… here’s this last appearance from 2022: SPOS #826 – Roger Martin On A New Way To Think) tackles the business strategy opportunity (and concern) for artificial intelligence. Large language models will, without question, accelerate the transition of knowledge, but if the output of generative AI is average results that tend to focus more the common outcomes instead of the exceptional ones, this could dilute the quality of solutions. Roger’s answer? We need to develop unique and valuable heuristics to remain relevant (and employable) in a market that is becoming increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. AI, as we all know, is providing businesses with transformative potential, but there are many current limitations. If we apply AI too broadly and quickly to our business models, we might sacrifice good for great.” (Mitch for Alistair).Sam Altman – OpenAI, GPT-5, Sora, Board Saga, Elon Musk, Ilya, Power & AGI – Lex Fridman Podcast #419. “I am a sucker for these conversations. Sam Altman from OpenAI is back on the Lex Fridman Podcast for a two hour long conversation about the state of artificial intelligence… and every nuance within the landscape of this rapidly evolving technology. From Altman: ‘I think compute is going to be the currency of the future. I think it’ll be maybe the most precious commodity in the world. I expect that by the end of this decade, and possibly somewhat sooner than that, we will have quite capable systems that we look at and say, ‘Wow, that’s really remarkable.’ The road to AGI should be a giant power struggle. I expect that to be the case.’ There is so much to think about in this conversation… and it’s not just for people interested in tech. In fact, it’s probably more relevant for your day to day work/life than you might realize…” (Mitch for Hugh). 

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on X, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

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