Today I noticed a new section on Purple Space for AI exploration and discussion. This part of the description had me noodling all day:

“Perhaps the biggest change in work since the invention of electricity.”

So if AI is electricity…

…then the foundation model companies are like the utility companies.

(AI had a few more ideas to fill out the obvious)

…then data is the fuel that powers these utilities. Without it, the AI cannot function, much like a power plant without coal or gas.

…then machine learning engineers are the electricians, building and maintaining the infrastructure that allows this power to be harnessed and used effectively.

…then the algorithms are the power grids, distributing the AI’s capabilities to where they’re needed most.

…then the applications of AI, from autonomous vehicles to voice assistants, are the various appliances and devices that use electricity in different ways to perform a wide range of tasks.

…then the ethical guidelines and regulations around AI are the safety standards and regulations in the electrical industry, ensuring that this powerful tool is used responsibly and safely.

(ok back to human mode)

AI is hot right now. There are a lot of people trying to resell electricity and make a buck. But if we believe the analogy, there are only going to be a few utilities, and they are going to be heavily regulated.

What seems more interesting to me is the idea of building a business that is powered by AI. The same way that the most valuable companies of the “second industrial revolution” were the ones that were powered by electricity, not the ones that sold electricity.

Or perhaps lets take a more personal level of the analogy…

…who do you want to be? Tesla? Edison? Westinghouse? Shockley? Moore?

Further reading: Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes

This week we did our first AI-assisted 6 Hats exercise with 6 Hats Helper.

It was way more fun than doing it alone. The helper was well-behaved, and in a few cases stated the “obvious” perspectives right away, so the team didn’t need to spend time naming them. At the end, it summarized everything for us to copy/paste as meeting notes.

6 Hats is a major decision-accelerator on its own, even more so when powered by AI.

In case you are curious, here’s the first post about it: 6 Hats Helper: Your New Thinking Buddy

Today I had an “Oh That’s Why It’s So Hard” moment courtesy of NIST, US taxpayers, and the Constitution.

The short version of the story is that it is a pain in the ass to print on LCD resin 3D printers, and there are all these inconsistencies that arise even when you specifically “tool match” a DLP printer to have the same specs (wavelength, power density, temp, etc).

Today I found out that I’m not the only one with this problem. In fact, it’s a big enough problem that NIST decided to investigate.

I’m sure we’ll write something more in depth on the polySpectra website about this.

In case you are curious, here’s the paper: Characterizing light engine uniformity and its influence on liquid crystal display based vat photopolymerization printing…

…and the figure that summarizes why it’s so hard to print on these machines is below:

Sometimes you fall off the horse. I did over the last week.

This time, I’m going to try to cover my tracks with gold. Gold flakes, nuggets, maybe even gold teeth.

SuperAgent has recently introduced a new feature that’s worth exploring: Custom Tools. This feature allows you to create your own tools within SuperAgent, opening up a world of possibilities for data manipulation and visualization. (and literally anything you can write a function for…)

One tool that caught my attention is the graph tool. It’s a powerful addition that allows you to visualize data in a more intuitive and insightful way.

A great example of this in action is the Super Stocks project. It uses the graph tool to visualize stock market data, making it easier to spot trends and patterns.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

In my ongoing journey with AI, I’ve been experimenting with a new approach: dictating directly to AI. This method eliminates the need for additional prompting, allowing me to simply paste the transcript straight into ChatGPT.

This approach has several advantages. It’s faster, as it cuts out the middle step of typing out my thoughts. It’s also more natural, as I can speak my thoughts out loud as they come to me. I’ve been playing with “function words” like “todo” and “end”. It’s amazing how well it catches onto the re-formatting. Just don’t ask for a summary.

Despite these challenges, I’ve found the process to be incredibly rewarding. It’s opened up a new way of interacting with AI, one that feels more natural and intuitive. It’s also made me more aware of how I formulate my thoughts and express them, which has been an interesting exercise in self-awareness.

For more on my journey with AI and related topics, check out these posts:

• Finding the Perfect Voice Transcription Tool
• Superpowers
• Searching for Super-Discernment
• Using AI at Every Step of the Customer Journey
• 6 Hats Helper: Your New Thinking Buddy
• Yealink BH71 Pro headset

I’m intrigued by this concept: “Type as fast as you can. Or paste some badly written text. I’ll rewrite the mess in a proper way.”

Flow Speed Typist

It’s an interesting angle on using AI to accelerate workflows. I’m not a perfect typist. I’m probably unaware of just how much time this would save.

I’m particularly interested in applying this concept to bad audio transcripts. Please let me know if you hear of anyone working on this.

I was revisiting Curable recently. A question that really stuck out to me, which I’ve been revisiting recently:

“Is this movement dangerous for me?”

We our fear/danger wires get re-inforced over time, this question seems to help uncross the wires.

I recently came across Tavily, an AI-powered platform that aims to revolutionize the way we conduct research. Tavily automates the research process, promising to deliver comprehensive, accurate, and credible research results in a matter of seconds.

Tavily’s approach to research is quite impressive. You simply share what you want to research, and Tavily starts gathering information from multiple online trusted sources. It then organizes the information and provides you with a comprehensive research report within minutes. This process not only saves time but also ensures that you get the most accurate and credible information.

One of the things that caught my attention about Tavily is its flexibility. It can conduct any kind of research, regardless of the subject matter or niche. It isn’t perfect but it is dangerously good. And the team is amazing and super helpful.

My friend Keetu said something very deep recently, which I think is appropriate for Thanksgiving:

“Family Is Where Things Don’t Need to Make Sense”