Six Links That Make You Think #792

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 (Just Evil Enough, 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:

We Are Only Beginning To Understand How To Use AI – Tom O’Reilly – O’Reilly Radar. “Another great piece by Tim O’Reilly, whose ability to pivot to the latest technology stack and think profound thoughts remains unrivalled in the world, IMHO. ‘It takes time and shared learning to understand how best to apply a new technology, to search the possible for its possibleness.’ It’s a short article, but rich because of what it links to: Ethan Mollick writing about successes and failures, and Narayanan and Kapoor reflecting on AI as Normal Technology.”  (Alistair for Hugh). I’m Worried It Might Get Bad – Daniel Miessler . “Mitch, I know we’ve commiserated over many of these concerns. Recent news about the decline in jobs for recent grads only adds to the pile of societal woes that could lead to disenfranchisement, unrest, or worse. A pessimist might see the militarization of police in the halls of power as an anticipation of such uprisings. Daniel Miessler brings data, and it’s a strong counterpunch to any argument that AI might, like any other normal technology, follow normal diffusion laws that give us time to adjust.” (Alistair for Mitch). Mano A Mano – Gordon Marino – The Point . “My father boxed in university, and was a sports writer early in his career, and one of my fond memories from childhood was watching boxing matches with him on our old black and white TV. Sugar Ray, Roberto Duran in 1980 is a particular memory. I still occasionally fall into a YouTube vortex watching boxing. Here, the philosophical power of courage, and boxing, is analyzed.” (Hugh for Alistair). Stop AI-Shaming Our Precious, Kindly Em Dashes—Please – Brian Phillips – The Ringer . “Em dashes are the best. Leave them alone.” (Hugh for Mitch). We’re Not Ready For Superintelligence – AI In Context – YouTube . “It’s hard to know where to put yourself when it comes to artificial intelligence these days. It seems like the smartest people are telling us very divergent stories. Here’s one story: The AI 2027 scenario isn’t prophecy, but it’s close enough to feel unsettling: clumsy AI interns evolving into superhuman coders, accelerating their own evolution and quietly reshaping the world while humans argue about what to do next. Two paths emerge: race ahead and risk extinction through indifference or slow down and try to keep control through cautious alignment. Neither ending feels safe, both concentrate terrifying power in the hands of a few. What struck me most wasn’t the sci-fi sheen, but the plausibility. The job shocks, the political theater, the feedback loops of faster machines making even faster machines… those seeds are already here. Dismissing superintelligence as science fiction is unserious. I found myself nodding along because I’ve seen this cycle before: every wave of technology feels ridiculous until it feels inevitable. The future doesn’t announce itself… it creeps in, and then it accelerates. The only real hedge is to keep learning fast enough to steer, instead of gawking at the machine while it quietly takes the wheel.” (Mitch for Alistair). Ex-Google CEO: What Artificial Superintelligence Will Actually Look Like With Eric Schmidt – Moonshots With Peter Diamandis – YouTube . “With that last link, I find myself getting more and more optimistic (if you can believe that) when it comes to AI. This one feels less like a podcast and more like a briefing for the future… and not the far future either. Eric Schmidt is blunt: digital superintelligence isn’t science fiction, it’s a 10-year problem. Within a few years, AI systems will write their own scaffolding, making breakthroughs in math and programming… the foundation of everything from physics to biology. That means millions of ‘AI scientists’ working in parallel, accelerating discovery at a rate human institutions can’t match. The choke point isn’t chips, it’s electricity, hundreds of gigawatts of it. And while U.S. firms scramble for nuclear deals, China’s energy abundance gives them an edge. The danger isn’t just competition, it’s proliferation: superintelligence that escapes the fortress data centers and spreads via smaller models, open-source weights, or inference hacks. At that point, it’s not ten models to watch but millions. Schmidt draws the historical parallel: this is 1938, The Einstein Letter has just been sent. The question isn’t whether we’ll build the bomb. It’s whether we’ll find a way to live in a world where everyone has it. And, with that, he’s quite optimistic about what this means for work and society. Fascinating stuff… and now you have to decide which side you believe…” (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.