I want to start this edition with a little apology. Last week, on Tuesday, you would have received an email from the newsletter list that I have been running on and off for a few years now in a different format than I have been doing previously. This was a test to see how the newsletter platform would operate and also to get something more regularly out of the drafts folder and into mailboxes. I hope you donāt mind.
For various reasons that I donāt want to get into here, writing long articles about one subject has become increasingly difficult. Suffice it to say that I havenāt been able to give the newsletter the time and attention it needs to write those articles, so I tried something different to get a regular newsletter out there.
However, for just over a year, Iāve regularly written a shorter version of the newsletter idea and posted it on a new blog I set up for professional purposes. (Quick plug: you can find it at matthewcowen.org) Each blog post is about 500 words or so, and each week, I write about what Iāve been working on, my thoughts and other things that I think would be relevant or helpful for people to know. Thatās all in a small first section, and then thereās a section dedicated to what I have been reading. Often, it is relevant and useful articles about tech and tech-adjacent stuff. I sometimes contain a few words on the books Iām reading, but I donāt generally do book reviews. Iāll leave that to Amazon comments. If you want to see what books I am reading, take a look at this page. It is up-to-dateā¦ donāt ask me for my āwant to readā list, as it is too long š±
As always, thanks for reading and please reach out for feedback. I have absolutely no problem discussing something I write or say on a podcast. I invite debate, as long as it is civil, as I feel we both learn something like that. PS: Iām toying with inline comments through Mastodon or something, but I havenāt gotten around to it yet.
Last week, I mentioned an article about the lack of regulation and laws in Latin America surrounding online scraping and data usage to train AI and other systems. Well, Iāve been trying to get a project off the ground for a couple of years now that, sadly, hasnāt got past an initial phase. With things changing for me regarding stability, I am (we are) trying to reboot the project over the coming months. Iāll let you know more about it in the future. Still, the project will provide information like that discussed in the above article, tailored to the Caribbean and in a more practical format for consumption and use by businesses and individuals. I look forward to speaking more about it here. Iāll profit by extending the research section of the blog to include a lot of background information, backchannel, and other internal discussions that I hope will add value for you. More later.
Reading
A little while ago, I took advantage of a sale of a book that Iād had on my reading list and purchased it. The book Number Go Up by Zeke Faux is about the crypto, blockchain, and web3 industry and spends a lot of time discussing the goings on at FTX. Iām about halfway through, and I can confirm that this book makes me hate these crooks even more. In an interview that was largely glossed over at the time, SBF admitted that the whole industry is run like a Ponzi scheme. He blathers on about a box, and people putting stuff in a box and that box is worthless, but the fact that others are convinced that the stuff in the box āmightā be worth something starts a bubble and a Ponzi. When this is pointed out to him, he replies, āI think thereās like a sort of depressing amount of validity ā¦ā before cutting short his response.
From the minute I heard of crypto, I felt it was too good to be true. The problem is convincing those neck-deep in it with investments that are, admittedly, currently earning money, which is a tough prospect. They are wilfully blind to their part in the collective theft that is being committed because it makes them some money. Not to mention the disastrous effects on the climate.
I will no doubt repeat this exercise when we dissect the Generative AI industry.
Other than that, Iāve been following the ongoing discussions on Internet governance and the Global Digital Compact (GDC). Things are getting very fishy at the UN, and it appears like a power grab is in process. The risk is a very worrying outcome of a centralisation of power around the UN and some of its more influential members in how the Internet will be governed in the future. AI has been one of the influences that accelerated this process. Internet governance has decades of historical work and outcomes that help defend against this attack on governance. AI, unfortunately, doesnāt, and as a result, it has left an opening for this power grab.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week.
