Thursday Links
A couple links about where technology is headed.
Joanna Stern does such great work with tech-focused multimedia for the Wall Street Journal. Here she shows how her team “broke” an AI agent that was tasked with running a vending machine. I found this both incredibly funny and creative, and another sign that folks need to pump the brakes on the “AI revolution.”
There is no doubt that there are tremendous opportunities for AI to change our lives, the economy, etc, but we have a long, long way to go before it can safely deliver on those promises. Fortunately the creators of the AI agent tested in this piece seem to understand the limitations of their creation and are focused on getting their product to work rather than rush something half-baked to market.
We Put an AI Vending Machine in Our Office. It Gave Away Everything.
And then there’s this piece by Jason Fried about the problems that come with attempting to go all-in with smart home tech. This sphere has intrigued me for years but I’ve not jumped in beyond a few smart outlets because I know it fails the fundamental test of “can the rest of my family figure it out if something goes wrong and I’m not home to guide them/troubleshoot?” We have friends who replaced all their light switches with smart ones and it nearly caused a divorce.
And the lag. Lag everywhere. Everything feels a beat or two behind. Everything. Lag is the giveaway that the system is working too hard for too little. Real-time must be the hardest problem.