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:

• Hedonometer – Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland. “How happy is the world? Inspired by Kurt Vonnegut‘s Shape of Stories, this site measures the overall sentiment of things. I’ve provided a link to Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, but it will also analyze, for example, all English Tweets, or the sentiment in the US. It even explains why, showing which words are rising and falling. Try looking at a movie (The Princess Bride!) and as you move over the chart, the script for that part of the film scrolls by. Awesome!” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Misalignment, AI & Moloch – Daniel Schmachtenberger and Liv Boeree – YouTube. “I’ll say it right up front: This is a challenging watch. It’s 90 minutes long, and it gets very deep and very dark on human history. Liv Boeree is an amazing science communicator, world-class poker player, and game theorist. She’s been speaking a lot about Moloch—which is a label for the ‘perverse outcomes of competition.’ For example: No country wants to spend money on its military. But everyone must, because everyone else does. In this video, she chats with Daniel Schmachtenberger about AI misalignment, and what that means for humanity. I lost sleep.” (Alistair for Mitch and video below).
• Dangers of AI and the End of Human Civilization – Eliezer Yudkowsky – Lex Fridman Podcast. “To cheer Alistair up, I’ve included this light little three hour and eighteen minute interview with Eliezer Yudkowsky, co-founder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. Yudkowsky says there really isn’t any other outcome from conscious AI than the death of all humans. His advice to young people, roughly: ‘Enjoy your time now, since we probably won’t be here long.'” (Hugh for Alistair and video below).
• Reality is a Paradox – Mathematics, Physics, Truth & Love – Edward Frenkel – Lex Fridman Podcast. “Can I do two Lex Fridman links in a week? Sure, why not? After the ‘we are all going to die soon because of AI’ in my previous link, this intellectually dizzying interview ranges across mathematics, reality, paradoxes, physics, love and AI, the special magic of being a kid, imagination, and much more. Even if we’re all going to die, Edward Frenkel‘s approach to the mysteries of the unknown is infectious.” (Hugh for Mitch and video below).
• Weapons of Mass Persuasion: Tracing the Story of Psychological Targeting on Social Media – Behavioral Scientist. “Here’s an excerpt from the book, Foolproof – Why Misinformation Infects Our Minds and How to Build Immunity by psychologist Sander van der Linden. It is truly a fascinating journey through the history and impact of psychological targeting on social media. The authors explain how companies use data-driven methods to influence people’s behavior and opinions through personalized messaging. This works for advertisers and, you guessed it, political campaigns. We need more transparency… we need more accountability… are we getting it? We’re shifting our concerns from social media to AI… and both require some deep re-thinking. Social media continues to shape our opinions and behaviors… AI will only amplify this… at scale and exponentially.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• How to Give Yourself Time to Think – Beside. “I am feeling very overwhelmed lately. Life in general? Yes. Things seem to moving faster? Yes. AI and other tech are moving at paces that are impossible to keep up with? Yes. Here are some thoughts on how to carve out time for reflection and creativity in our busy world. It won’t surprise you that the main activity to do this would be to set aside regular blocks of time for uninterrupted thinking. Focus is hard. Building a routine around time to focus and calm the mind? Much harder. But we know there is an importance of giving oneself permission to disconnect from the constant demands of technology and social media and to embrace the power of boredom as a catalyst for creativity. You don’t have to be an artist to make this happen. We all need to look for ways to cultivate a more innovative mindset. Start here.” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

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