Gamechanger?
+ Essential vocabulary for 2023, How to be an excellent gift giver, A perfect first book (#421)
This week, a special welcome to my very first readers from Uruguay and Uzbekistan 👋 There are now only 68 countries left with not a single Weekly Filet reader (The goal was — still is — to get that number down to zero by the end of the year. Know someone in DR Congo, Paraguay, Cuba, Turkmenistan or Fiji? Tell them about the newsletter!)
1. Generative AI: autocomplete for everything
Having played around with GPTChat, and having seen dozens of examples of how powerful this latest iteration of artificial intelligence has become, I can't shake the feeling that we're witnessing the beginning of a new era in human-computer-interaction. This joint analysis by an economist and an AI researcher provides a good high-level perspective. Key quote: «Applying the idea of comparative advantage at the level of tasks instead of jobs, we can see that there will always be something for humans to do, even if AI would do those things better.» Strikes me as both fairly depressing, and overly optimistic.
Noah Smith
Btw, I asked GPTChat for a headline for the newsletter.
2. The Riddle of Rest
A good definition is one that immediately feels correct yet makes you pause and ponder. Like this one: «Rest is when you’re not associating your self-worth with what you have to do next.»
Lawrence Yeo
3. He Sold a Message of Climate Doom. He Has Regrets.
Thought-provoking first-person account of Steven Guilbeault's career path, from radical Greenpeace activist to Canada's climate minister. On the difficulty of staying true to ones core beliefs while changing tactics.
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