With Carnaval over, it was back to some serious work. I had a fairly eclectic week with some training, presentations, writing, and relaxation.
I ran one of my AI courses this week to a small public of managers and business owners. These are interesting moments where I evaluate how the public perceives this technology. It doesn’t take long for the existential questions to creep into the discussion, as well as the whole debate about job loss.
Carnaval, productivity and AI 🥴 Source: https://www.moderntiki.com/velvet-ti-punch/
Where I live, the week was dominated by Carnaval. It is one of two events that puts the entire island into a state of slowed-down activity. Most shops are closed from Sunday to Wednesday. A few essentials are open but generally limited to the mornings only. I’ve been a regular visitor to Carnaval over the years I’ve been living here, and I’ve documented through photography several times; however, this year, I decided to take advantage of the slow down by concentrating on some of the administrative work I needed to do … and a sneaky ti’punch now and again.
A new contract My week was a little more stressful than I would have liked or anticipated. I teach at three different institutions, and at one of them, I had a difficult situation to manage with one of the students. This put a lot of stress on me and affected me to the point where I was unhappy with the situation that evening. I didn’t sleep well that night, and it took a few days to wind down fully.
I got a bonus day… because I forgot something I had a full week and week that brought some surprises and a great opportunity. We submitted our proposal to Stanford on time and just have to wait now. I started blogging about the project and how we came around to our question, the process and how we’re working together. You can read about it and follow along as (if) the project progresses here.
This is my first newsletter of 2024, and it’s a long one. I look forward to writing more during the year. I won’t promise they will be sent on a strict schedule, but I’m setting an overall goal to get back into the rhythm of writing these long-form posts here and in newsletter form for this year’s subscribers list.
Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts by email or on Mastodon.