Tag Archives: podcast

AI, Content and Context

Leave a reply

I found this quote very interesting. On his podcast, Diary of a CEO, Steven Bartlett is talking to Daniel Priestley and Steven mentions that Open AI’s Sam Altman believes we are not far away from a 1 person company making a billion dollars, using AI rather than other employees. Daniel pushes back and says while that might happen, a more likely and more repeatable scenario would be a 5 person team. Then he says this:

“AI is very good at content but not context. And having 5 people who share a context and create a context, together… then the content can happen using AI. AI without that context, it doesn’t know what to do, so it doesn’t have any purpose.”

Daniel Priestley

Like I shared before, “The true power and potential of AI isn’t what AI can do on its own, it’s what humans and AI can do together.”

This idea of context versus content seems to be the ingredients that make this marriage so ideal. This is noticeable when generating AI images, as I’ve done for quite some time, creating images to go with this blog. For example, I’ll describe something like a guy on a treadmill and maybe one of the four images created would have the guy backwards on the treadmill – content correct, but not context. As well, AI is really unaware of its’ own biases that humans can more easily see. These context errors are common.

But just as AI will be better teaming with humans, humans are also better when they team with other humans, rather than being solo. We miss context too, we struggle to see our own biases, unless we have people around us to both share and create the context.

The best innovations of the future are going to come from small teams of people providing rich contexts for AI. And while AI will get better at both context and content, it’s going to be a while before AI can do both of these really well. It’s what AI and humans can do together that will be really exciting to see.

The mischaracterization of the Metaverse

Leave a reply

“The Metaverse is already here.” That’s the insight that never really occurred to me until I heard Mustafa Suleyman, Google’s Deep Mind Co-founder, on The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett.

“You know, the last three years people have been talking about Metaverse, Metaverse, Metaverse. And the mischaracterization of the Metaverse was that it’s over there. It was this like virtual world that we would all bop around in and talk to each other as these little characters, but that was totally wrong. That was a complete miss-framing. The Metaverse is already here. It’s the digital space that exists in parallel time to our everyday life. It’s the conversation that you will have on Twitter or, you know, the video that you’ll post on YouTube, or this podcast that will go out and connect with other people. It’s that meta-space of interaction, you know, and I use meta to mean ‘beyond this space’, not just that weird other, ‘over there’, space that people seem to point to.”

We are already in the Metaverse, I’m in the same room as my daughter right now. She’s watching a movie, I’m writing on my phone. We are entered into parallel universes, physically together but disconnected. We are both in spaces, on screens, beyond the physical space we are in.

Before hearing this quote, I thought of the Metaverse as something in the future, like the ‘fitless humans‘ from the movie WALL•E.

We are already there. We have iPads babysit (or at least occupy the attention of) our kids. We rage about stupid things on Twitter and YouTube. We share content with people we have never met, and they share content with us. We are influenced by influencers. We buy things from virtual stores. We play games with people in different time zones.

The Metaverse is already here creating parallel experiences to the ones we physically experience… It’s not something we are heading towards. We are already living a good part of our lives, ‘in spaces beyond the physical space we are in‘. Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest through the trees, or in this case the spaces beyond our screens.

Not just lifespan, healthspan

Leave a reply

Dr. Peter Attia is an expert in longevity and he talks about healthspan rather than just lifespan. Last summer I played water polo with a 73 year old, and I’ve met people a decade younger than him that struggle walking up a flight of stairs. It’s one thing to get old and yet another to live healthy for longer.

Have a listen to this podcast with Dr. Attia. If you aren’t interested in listening, here are two things to do for the rest of your life*:

1. Do cardio at least 3 times a week and one of those times get your heart rate up above 80% of your max for your age/health.

2. Do weight training 2-3 times a week and try to work at least one muscle to fatigue (hypertrophy).

Remind your body that you are young and you won’t just increase your lifespan, you’ll increase your healthspan.

——-

*I’m not a doctor and don’t play one on the internet. If you aren’t already healthy, please don’t start an exercise program without consulting health experts.

Digital vomit

Leave a reply

In his recent ‘Making Sense’ podcast, Sam Harris said this:

“Every part of culture: Science, public health, war, economics, the lives of famous people, conspiracy theories about everything and nothing… All information is in the process of being macerated by billions of tiny mouths and then spit back again, and lapped up by others. So what is in fact actually digital vomit, at this point, is being spread everywhere. And celebrated as some form of nutrition.”

Unfortunately this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. It’s not just ‘billions of tiny mouths’ that are going to be spewing digital vomit, it’s going to be a massive machine of propaganda networks spewing AI created disinformation, vitriol, fake news, and falsified ‘evidence’ to back up the vomit it produces.

And while you would hope mainstream media would be the balancing force to combat this digital vomit, this is not the case. Mainstream media does not have a foothold in truth-telling. Don’t believe me? Watch MSNBC and Fox News side-by-side and you’ll see completely different coverage of the same event. You’ll see minor threats described as crises. If it’s not an emergency it’s not news… so it’s an emergency.

So prepare for a lot more digital vomit. Start trying to figure out how to mop up the mess, to make sense of the mess, because it’s going to get very messy!

Podcasts in the background or foreground?

Leave a reply

When I’m doing repetitive tasks and chores I listen to podcasts. I find them easier to follow than audio books when the task requires some of my attention. There is something about long format interview podcasts that really appeals to me. I find that I can feel like I’m sitting in the room with the people having the discussion, like a fly on the wall, observing, but not participating… yet still part of the conversation.

Listening today really made me want to revitalize my podcast. I enjoy the process. I just need to design a schedule that allows me to commit to it. I don’t want to put the effort in to produce two or three more then stop again. I think I need to start the school year up again then figure out if it’s something I want to add while I’m busy. Because if it feels like work after a full week at work, it’s not going to last very long.

I need to decide that it’s something I want to do in the background of my current schedule, or if I’ll just enjoy the work of other people. There’s a big difference E tween enjoying a good podcast and putting the time and energy into creating one.

The limits of goals

Listen to this podcast of Adam Grant interviewing Emmanuel Acho. Emmanuel shares this quote, without identifying the source and Google hasn’t helped me find it:

“Reaching a goal is the penalty you receive for setting one.”

Soon after, Adam Grant summarizes,

“You like goals on tasks but maybe not goals in life. If I am working on a specific project or if I’m trying to build a specific skill, fine, give me a target I will work towards it, I will grow because of it. But having a goal from my life, that’s where the penalty really hurts by limiting myself.”

Emmanuel then talks about setting objectives rather than goals:

”An objective is energy aimed in a direction… so I want to aim my energy in a direction without any limit.”

I have never been big on goal setting. I think it’s too easy to set goals that are underwhelming and achieve them than it is to truly step out beyond expectations and do something amazing. I think goals impose self-created roadblocks that aren’t there before the goals are set.

That doesn’t mean you don’t dream big. It doesn’t mean you don’t work hard. On the contrary, you arrive for new heights all the time, you just don’t create false end-goals that prevent you from going beyond.

Goals have a purpose, but they should not be your purpose. Your purpose should be greater than the limits goals place on you.

Question my answers

Here is a wonderful quote from Derek Sivers, in a podcast interview on ‘Far Out‘.

“I like to ask myself questions, and then most importantly I like to question my answers. I like to doubt myself, and I assume that I am accidentally lying to myself. I assume that the person speaking is a liar, meaning me. So I like to dissect my beliefs and habits and actions, and see if they might be hollow.”

Later he talks about wanting to do something for a really long time and says that if that’s the situation you are in, then you really don’t want to do it. That is to say, if you really wanted to do something, then you’d do it. If you keep saying you want to do it but you don’t, you aren’t being truthful to yourself.

What do you really want to do? Whatever your answer… question it!

—–

I’m a huge fan of Derek, you can find his books, blog, and podcast all here: https://sive.rs.

The future of conferences

In the past few weeks I’ve participated in Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings with Jeff Borden and Dean Shareski. Both of them did a great job, but I look forward to doing face-to-face conferences again. Dean recently wrote, ‘The Future of Professional Learning Part 1‘,

“I do wonder if we’ll be more intentional about what constitutes and justifies a great face to face experience and what can be highly effective as a virtual option?”

This got be thinking about where we go with conferences post-pandemic? In response to a tweet about his post, I said,  “I was tiring of regular conferences, now I miss them. I think they will evolve to be more engaging (why travel somewhere for a PowerPoint that could be on Zoom) and I also think we might see more (online) pre/post conference engagement and learning.”

To expand on this idea, I don’t see things like pre-presentations or assignments and tasks being given before a conference (read as ‘not homework’), but I do see opportunities for conversation, interaction with the presenter, and with other conference attendees. I see icebreakers and teasers.  I see feedback to the presenter about what the attendees want. I see presenters providing clear learning intentions and a framework for their talk. I see presenters providing a personal introduction so that instead of the first 5-10 minutes of a 1 hour presentation slot being “This is who I am”, the presentation starts with an activity, engaging people with other people who have already connected online. I see interactive presentations that rely on participants being involved and engaged with the material.

Think about it. Why spend hundreds of dollars in flights, hotels, and food, to go to a room and get a PowerPoint and ‘talking head’ that could easily have been delivered to you at home? When I went to ISTE, my favourite memories are the blogger’s cafe, and meeting friends to do podcasts with (Shelly Sanchez Terrell and Kathleen McClaskey), and the people I went to ISTE with from my district. When I went to SXSW EDU, the people I went with and the podcasts that I did are the only things I remember (David Jakes, Jeff Richardson, and after the conference Miguel Guhlin). The future of conferences will need to be much more about creating experiences and making connections and less about presentations… this was already happening, but now that we have created digital experiences that will compete, the pull of conferences needs to be about enriching the experience and making it worth the effort to travel.

Making time for great conversations

In the last year and a half I’ve been making time for an almost daily workout, and daily writes (here) as well as daily meditations. (See: My healthy living goals year-end reflection, with 5 key tips.)

On Tuesday I recorded a podcast with Valerie Irvine on Zoom, which I finally posted today. This was my first podcast since sharing my conversation about learning at home during the pandemic, with Dave Sands in April. I would like to podcast weekly because I love the conversations and they help me think more, and more deeply, about education and learning. However, I’ve got to figure out a schedule that works and is consistent. I’m someone that needs my routines in order to make things work. I’m not a multitasker, and I know this about myself.

I watch things like this and think that maybe I have ADHD tendencies. 😉

@heygudeI forget what I was supposed to be doing when I decided to make this ##adhd ##attentiondeficitdisorder ##add ##attentiondeficienthyperactivitydisorder

♬ original sound – erikgude

My point is, (while I still remember it), that I have to create uninterrupted time to have these conversations, and also to produce and share the podcasts. I’m on holidays now and trying to produce the recording in 15-20 minute chunks made the process twice as long. It won’t get easier when school starts. But I love having these conversations and want to have the regularly. Here are three more of my favourites podcasts from the archives:

Remi Kalir on educator agency, Josh Abrams on Meridian Academy, and Shelly Sanchez Terrell on bringing passions into reality.

There aren’t any I’ve done so far that I haven’t listened to after the fact at least twice. I’m going to figure out a schedule, probably all done on the weekends, and make this as routine as I have my other goals that I track. I need to make regular time for more of these great conversations.

Summer chat with Robert Martellacci @MindShareLearn

I dropped my mom off for her first hair appointment since covid hit, and there isn’t a waiting room to hang out in… so off to Starbucks for a coffee and then a parking lot chat with Robert Martellacci from MindShareLearning.ca.

I hope that you enjoy this episode of This Week in EdTech’s MindShareLearning Report. 🇨🇦

Notes:

My Twitter is @datruss (not dtruss in the tweet above)

Free e-book: Twitter EDU

My Daily-Ink about students/parents showing my wife appreciation.

Inquiry Hub Secondary (iHub) ~ And our website for educators.