I had another very busy week in the end. It wasn’t planned that way, but it ended up being so. I had two full days at the end of the week, giving training to the top managers of a local company on GenAI. It’s a course I have been teaching since around June, and it always incites a lot of philosophical discussion and even some question that reflects the fear people have about this technology.
I try to demystify it a little and give people help on how to use it effectively. However, I don’t shy away from the negative impacts of these products, notably the environmental effects and the digital colonialism that goes on in the background, something that absolutely none of the people I have trained had thought about.
I’ll continue teaching this because the technology is here. If we (or I) can get enough people to think about its use more equitably and sensibly, perhaps the platforms behind these products could do better. I grant you that it is a little naive, but I don’t see much option currently. This is moving so fast and out of control that reeling in from the point of view of a user is one of the strategies we can use to effect change.
Reading
I’m continuing my reading of the Asimov robot series and picking up where I left off on other books, as well as starting a new book. This is quite a departure from my usual reading, as I tend to read factual books or novels. I picked up Thurston Moore’s (of Sonic Youth) autobiography. I’ve only read a couple of chapters so far, and I’m a little indifferent about the person described in the book.
Sonic Youth is a group I have listened to a lot over the years and is probably the group of which I have the most albums. They were very prolific, which goes some way to explain that, but I always enjoyed their music. Not so much this autobiographical work, for the moment. I’ll give it a little more time and will probably get into it at some point.
Of note
It seems I spoke (wrote?) too fast. HomePod Amnesia is still a thing for my stereo pair. It’s so fucking tiring. It used to be that we could press play, and music would emanate from speakers without stuttering, losing place, flipping from left to right or losing a channel. Bad equipment notwithstanding. And I know I sound like Old Man Screaming at Clouds, but this is really basic stuff. There is no world where performance this shitty is acceptable. As I write this, the left channel has just clicked a couple of times for no reason other than to diminish my listening experience. Apple? Is that you? If it is, can you fix this crap, please, because it is beyond a joke now!
Have a good week.
