I really need to change the title of my newsletter. Or just get it out on time. Anyhoo, welcome to another edition of First Thing Monday! Delivered to you on a Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on where you are.
Dunno about you, but right now I’m thoroughly enjoying long-form content again. Thanks mostly to Substack and Medium. I’ve also started sing Feedly again. Old school RSS, there’s really nothing like it.
I’m stoked that my old mate
It feels like trackbacks all over again! Remember trackbacks?
All of this has me thinking that I should shut down my twitter account. PJ Vogt's interview with Ezra Klein this week might be the deciding factor.
—
As the saying goes, “AI won't take your job, It is somebody using AI that will take your job.” So I feel it’s in our best interests to learn, experiment and play with AI as much as I can. Play, not panic, as this article from Campaign Asia wisely states.
I’d love to chat to you about the ways you’re starting to play with AI. What things are you using it for?
So I’ve been reading as much as I can. Learning as much as I can. Going out to meetups again. San Francisco is amazing for this! One of this week’s highlights was to be able to hear talk about her AI Playbook for design teams (video here). Mia is one of my favourite thinkers in the design / ai space, and I definitely recommend her work if you haven’t come across it before.
—
I still remember the first time I used Google. Pretty sure it was 23 years ago. Like all of us, I couldn’t have lived the last 20 years without it.
Recently I’ve using ChatGPT (and other LLMs) more than Google. I find it really helpful having a ChatGPT tab open during the day. To help me brainstorm ideas. To help me flesh out a blog post. To help me prepare for a meeting. Or find a good cocktail recipe. Or advice on how to handle a sitation with my now-teenage daughter. In no time, Chat-GPT has become my day-to-day work companion.
Something interesting happened this week. ChatGPT(4) made me chuckle. It said the funniest thing … “Artificial intelligence : It's like watching a movie, only we're in it, and there's no popcorn”.
The first time that an AI made me laugh. Perhaps we are becoming friends? Probably not yet. But maybe one day? It’s not inconceivable that in 12, 24, or 36 months, the technology improves to the point where ChatGPT feels like a friend.
Google never felt like that. Google has always been a tool. I’ve never considered it to be a companion or a friend.
The Meteoric Rise of AI Companions scares me more than a little. As do AI girlfriends. And it will come as a surprise to absolutely no-one, but experts say that AI girlfriends may actually be making men worse.
At the same time, there’s all this talk of AI and Robots and stuff. I’m finding lots of interesting reading around the topic of Anthropomorphism. Like The Design Elements That Make This Robot Look Cute and Unthreatening. And Jakob Nielsen’s 4 Degrees of Anthropomorphism in Using AI.
I’m certainly not looking for AI girlfriend. But I am fascinated by the thought that we might become friends with AIs and Robots.
Until next week,
Ben
Quit Twitter. I did 12 months ago and it’s had zero impact on my life. Just archive everything first so you can remember how witty you were in 2008, and how we first met in 2013!
Brilliant.