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:

• Which Of Scott Aaronson’s Five AI Worlds Will Come To Pass? – Metaculus. “Back in March of 2018, before pandemics and AI and verb-article-noun politics, I gave a talk in Montreal about the most important decision tree in the world. It was a thought experiment: Will superintelligent AI come to pass? Will we be able to harness it? Will it help or hurt humanity? It was an interesting discussion. Turns out Scott Aaronson made a similar decision tree a bit later – but with way better names, like AI-Fizzle, Futurama, and Paperclipalypse. And then people started voting on them.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Fight Health Insurance. “At Strata, the Big Data Conference I used to chair, Holden Karau was an absolute hero. Amazing talks on stage, and a zero-bullshit attitude everywhere. Her latest project is an AI tool that helps Americans appeal health insurance denials. We worry about the asymmetrical power that AI, surveillance, and autocracy gives the few but, but projects like this one give me hope that maybe the many can fight back.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• The MICrONS Project – Nature. “The MICrONS project mapped 200,000 neurons and 523 million synapses in a mouse’s visual cortex, recording the activity of 75,000 neurons. The project, build of course with the help of AI to analyze and map the massive amounts of data, links brain structure to function on an unprecedented scale, giving hints about how neural circuits actually compute. The project also created a ‘digital twin’ of the brain for virtual experiments. I’ll leave it for my next coffee with Alistair to figure out what a pithy conclusion to this paragraph is, but this feels monumental.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• The West Is Bored To Death – Stuart Whatley – The New Statesman. “I’m not sure that boredom is exactly the feeling I am experiencing today (hard to be board when brain keeps hopping between existential threats), however there is something compelling about the idea that the West is suffering from a lack of spiritual richness. We have, maybe, filled that with a religion politics, left and right.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• Jordan Rudess Destroys AI Clone In EPIC Battle – Rick Beato – YouTube. “If you have been thinking that AI can never really be creative like humans – espcially when it comes to music: Watch this. Full stop. Jordan Rudess is the keyboardist for famed progressive rockers, Dream Theater, and he is – without question – a music prodigy (he recently took up guitar and his videos are… staggering. With that, he also love technology – and pushing it futher. This is his latest project where he’s developed an AI to ‘jam’ with him. Understanding the notes, chords and structures and trained on Jordan’s style. If you close your eyes, can you honestly tell when Jordan or the AI is improvising… because I can’t… and I’m a fan/someone who knows his music. We are not prepared.” (Mitch for Hugh).
• Why Adults Are Spending Billions On Toys For Themselves – Big Business – Business Insider – YouTube. “I’m fascinated with nostalgia… especially as I get older. What makes me feel younger? What makes me think younger? What gives me a great feeling? And, most of the time, it comes from being a teenager… those initial discoveries of pop culture, music, literature and, yes, video games, comic books, toys, TV shows, cartoons, snacks and everything else in between. Things just taste better in your mind (how you remember them versus how they are today). I can spend hours watching grown adults dig through flea markets, meet-ups and local conventions trying to acquire their personal ‘holy grails’ from their childhoods, because in their adventure I am constantly reminded of my own journey and what gives me the feels. Now, of course, collectibles is a multi-billion dollar industry… and here’s a peek behind what’s going on…” (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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