Reading Digest, July #18
Hey there, my fantastic readers! I hope you’re ready for another exciting edition of my daily reading digest. If you’re new here, prepare to be amazed by the thought-provoking content I’ve curated just for you. And if you’re a regular, thank you for your continued support — it means the world to me!
Today’s digest is a true feast for the curious mind, ranging from the trans women who say that trans women aren’t women to the mounting evidence that humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals. We’ll explore the latest developments in AI, including OpenAI’s staggering training and inference costs, Japan’s use of AI to measure staff smiles and boost service quality, and why AI model collapse due to self-training is a growing concern.
But that’s not all — we’ve got some juicy pieces on the world of tech and business, such as Big Tech’s claims of an AI boom while Wall Street sees a bubble, Apple’s critique of Google’s Topics API based on bad code, and the potential for zero commission sales in PLG. We’ll also take a closer look at China’s alarming rise on the seas and how it’s shifting the global order.
For the curious minds out there, we’ll dive into the world of cultivated meat, confronting impossible futures, and why the Democrats lost tech. We’ll also explore the latest research in AI, including aesthetically controllable text-driven stylization without training, outlier-aware test-time adaptation with stable memory replay, and the path forward for open-source AI.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, my friends. From Keanu Reeves as the modern philosopher we need to Tesla’s worst nightmare getting a huge upgrade, this digest has something for everyone. We’ll even take a closer look at the fatal flaw that could kill the AI industry and a theory of intelligence that denies teleological purpose.
So, grab your favorite beverage, get comfortable, and join me on this thrilling journey through the world of online content. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and reactions in the comments below!
Happy reading, my incredible friends!
The Trans Women Who Say That Trans Women Aren’t Women
The article discusses a group of transgender individuals who reject the mainstream transgender rights movement’s belief that “trans women are women.” These individuals, known as “gender-critical” trans people, argue that biological sex cannot be changed through self-identification and that transitioning does not make a trans woman a “real” woman. The article explores the perspectives and experiences of these “apostates” within the transgender community.
OpenAI training and inference costs could reach $7bn for 2024, AI startup set to lose $5bn — report
The article discusses OpenAI’s significant spending on training and inference for its AI models, particularly ChatGPT, and the potential need for the company to raise more funds to cover growing losses.
How do young people ever get any work done? They’re always so distracted
The article discusses the issue of distraction and lack of concentration among young workers, particularly in the construction industry. It contrasts the author’s own experience as a distracted worker in the 1980s with the observations of a fire safety worker who struggles to train young employees due to their constant phone use and inability to focus.
What’s Hacker News’ problem with open source AI — PostgresML
The article discusses the importance of open-source AI and the benefits of adopting a complete open-source stack for AI-driven applications. It highlights the limitations of proprietary AI models and the advantages of transparency, flexibility, cost-efficiency, and community collaboration offered by open-source solutions.
The Turing Jest
The article discusses the limitations of artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in generating humorous content, based on a study conducted by Google DeepMind researchers. It explores the reasons why AI-generated comedy falls short, including the reliance on common comedy tropes, the challenges in creating a coherent and engaging comedy set, and the difficulties in capturing the nuances of comedic timing.
China’s alarming rise on the seas is shifting the global order
The article discusses the rise of China’s naval power and its implications for the global balance of power, particularly in the context of the South China Sea dispute with the Philippines.
Japan supermarket uses AI to measure staff smiles, boost service quality
The article discusses the adoption of an AI-powered smile assessment system by the Japanese supermarket chain AEON, which has sparked concerns over workplace harassment.
Big Tech says AI is booming. Wall Street is starting to see a bubble.
The article discusses concerns raised by Wall Street analysts and tech investors about the potential for a financial bubble due to the massive investments being made in artificial intelligence (AI) by big tech companies, stock market investors, and venture capital firms.
The evidence is mounting: Humans were responsible for the extinction of large mammals
The article discusses the debate over whether human hunting or climate change led to the extinction of many large mammal, bird, and reptile species over the past 50,000 years. It presents the findings of a research group from the Danish National Research Foundation’s Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) at Aarhus University, which concludes that human hunting was the primary driver of these megafauna extinctions.
Why AI Model Collapse Due to Self-Training Is a Growing Concern
The article discusses the issue of AI model collapse, where AI models can degrade themselves and turn original content into irredeemable gibberish over just a few generations. The research highlights the increasing risk of AI model collapse due to self-training and emphasizes the need for original data sources and careful data filtering.
Apple critique of Google’s Topics API based on bad code
The article discusses Apple’s criticism of Google’s Topics API, a system designed to serve online ads based on a user’s Chrome browsing history, and the potential privacy risks associated with it.
Taiwan sees flooding and landslides from Typhoon Gaemi, which caused 22 deaths in the Philippines
The article discusses the impact of Typhoon Gaemi on Taiwan and the Philippines, including flooding, landslides, and damage to homes and infrastructure. It also covers the response efforts by the governments of both countries.
Biden says he bowed out to unite nation, as Trump attacks Harris
The article discusses President Joe Biden’s decision to abandon his reelection campaign and endorse his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate for the 2024 presidential election. It covers Biden’s reasons for the decision, the reactions from Trump and Harris, and the implications for the upcoming election.
Netanyahu has exposed the West’s gross moral hypocrisy
The article discusses the divisive figure of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, and the response to his recent address to the U.S. Congress. It examines the political dynamics surrounding Netanyahu, the criticism he faces, and the significance of his speech in the broader geopolitical context.
AI Is a Services Revolution
The article discusses how large language models (LLMs) are reinventing knowledge work and disrupting various services industries. It explores the shift in the U.S. economy from manufacturing to services, and how AI is poised to automate many desk-based, text-heavy jobs. The article also highlights the slow pace of enterprise AI adoption, the opportunities for AI startups in services industries, and the potential for vertical AI companies to build defensible businesses.
Chinese researchers create four-gram drone
The article covers various technology and innovation news from Asia, including the development of a lightweight drone by Chinese researchers, a former Samsung employee’s sentencing for sharing OLED technology secrets with a Chinese entity, the growth of Huawei’s cloud operations in Singapore, Singapore’s initiatives to adopt quantum and AI technologies in the financial sector, the introduction of robo-cabs in Shanghai, and the first bilateral meeting between NASA and the newly established Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA).
Is Cultivated Meat For Real? — Asterisk
👓 Zero Commission Sales in PLG?!
The article discusses the unconventional approach to sales compensation adopted by the fintech startup Mercury, which has chosen to eliminate commissions for its sales team. The author explores how this zero-commission model aligns with the principles of Product-Led Growth (PLG) and suggests it could be a good fit for PLG-native companies, particularly in the earlier stages.
Confronting Impossible Futures
The article discusses the lack of strategic planning by organizations for the future of AI, despite the rapid advancements in AI capabilities. It explores the reasons why organizations are not seriously accounting for the possibility of continued AI improvement in their long-term planning, and provides suggestions on how to better prepare for potential AI futures.
Why the Democrats Lost Tech
The article discusses the growing divide between the Democratic party and the tech industry, and explores the reasons behind this shift. It suggests that the Democrats can win back the support of the tech community by acknowledging their shared goals, addressing the regulatory challenges faced by tech companies, and partnering with them to solve America’s biggest challenges.
What Does Money Look Like In An AI Utopia?
The article discusses the challenges of achieving a true AI utopia where no one has to work, and explores the implications for the concept of money and scarcity.
Artist: Aesthetically Controllable Text-Driven Stylization without Training
The paper introduces a training-free approach called “Artist” that disentangles content and style generation in the diffusion process to achieve fine-grained and aesthetically-controlled text-driven image stylization. The key insights are:
- Disentangling the denoising of content and style into separate diffusion processes while sharing information between them.
- Proposing simple yet effective content and style control methods that suppress style-irrelevant content generation, resulting in harmonious stylization results.
Rewrite the Stars
Recent studies have drawn attention to the potential of the “star operation” (element-wise multiplication) in network design. This study attempts to reveal the star operation’s ability to map inputs into high-dimensional, non-linear feature spaces, akin to kernel tricks, without widening the network. The authors introduce StarNet, a simple yet powerful prototype, demonstrating impressive performance and low latency under compact network structure and efficient budget.
STAMP: Outlier-Aware Test-Time Adaptation with Stable Memory Replay
The paper introduces the problem of outlier-aware test-time adaptation (TTA), which aims to conduct both sample recognition and outlier rejection during inference when outliers exist in the test data. To address this problem, the authors propose a new approach called STAble Memory rePlay (STAMP), which performs optimization over a stable memory bank instead of the risky mini-batch. STAMP consists of three key components: reliable class-balanced memory, self-weighted entropy minimization, and stable optimization strategy.
Open Source AI Is the Path Forward | Meta
The article discusses the author’s perspective on the development of AI, drawing parallels to the evolution of open-source Linux versus closed-source Unix in the early days of high-performance computing. The author argues that open-source AI, exemplified by the Llama models, will become the industry standard, just as Linux did, due to its advantages in terms of openness, modifiability, and cost-efficiency. The article also addresses concerns around the safety and security of open-source AI, and the author’s view on how open-source can be a safer and more beneficial approach for the world.
Keanu Reeves is the modern philosopher we need
The article explores Keanu Reeves’ philosophical views on mortality and death, as well as his reputation as one of the nicest actors in Hollywood.
Tesla’s Worse Nightmare Just Got A Huge Upgrade
Towards Transformative AI
The article discusses the author’s experience with generative AI tools and their conclusion that while these tools can generate content that looks good on the surface, their purely generative output is ultimately lacking in substance and quality. The author argues that the true power of these AI systems lies not in their ability to generate new content, but in their transformative capabilities — their ability to take existing data and information and transform it into something new and highly useful.
The False Dawn of AGI
The article discusses the concept of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and the challenges in defining and achieving it. It highlights the gaps between the promises and expectations of AGI and what can realistically be expected.
This Fatal Flaw Could Kill The AI Industry
The article discusses the financial challenges facing the AI industry, arguing that despite the hype and massive investments, AI companies are unlikely to become truly profitable due to the exponentially growing costs of infrastructure and operations.
Y-Combinator Guide: How to Split Equity between Cofounders & When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Split…
The article discusses the common mistakes founders make when splitting equity among co-founders, and provides advice on how to approach this important decision.
A theory of intelligence that denies teleological purpose
The article explores the challenges in defining the “human task” or the purpose of human intelligence, which is crucial for developing general artificial intelligence (AGI) that can match human-level intelligence. It examines four popular paradigms for defining the purpose of the human mind — optimization of a metric, problem-solving, world-modeling, and spiritual development — and highlights the limitations of each. The article suggests that a coherent understanding of the mind requires transcending these individual paradigms and questioning the common assumptions about interpreting human intelligence.
CrowdStrike global outage to cost US Fortune 500 companies $5.4bn
The article discusses the global technology outage caused by a faulty update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which has resulted in significant financial losses for US Fortune 500 companies.
Using AI for research
The article explores the perspectives of UX professionals on using large language models (LLMs) for user experience research. It investigates the confidence and skepticism of UX practitioners towards outsourcing research processes to AI-powered chatbots.
When a Woman Turns into a Wife | Los Angeles Review of Books
The article explores the connections between the works of Alice Munro and Sarah Manguso’s novel “Liars”, examining themes of women’s identity, marriage, and motherhood. It delves into the complexities of Munro’s personal life and the impact on her fictional portrayals, as well as the ways in which Manguso’s novel extends these ideas. The article also reflects on the author’s own experiences of motherhood and the challenges of reconciling personal desires with the demands of caregiving.
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