Tech Stack Digest #3
Uncover the multifaceted relationship between technology, history, and human nature.
Welcome to our third Tech Stack Digest! We are testing a new AI-powered newsletter digest workflow that we hope will make these summaries informative and engaging.
In this issue, delve into a fascinating world where artificial intelligence (AI) and ancient civilizations intertwine. This issue explores OpenAI's groundbreaking text-to-video AI model, Sora, and its potential impact on various industries. Discover the intricacies of Rome's ancient sanitation system and Constantine's strategic shift of the empire's center.
Grapple with the limitations of AI in replicating human emotions and the importance of authentic communication. Ponder the implications of AI in education and labor market dynamics. Engage with thought-provoking concepts like steelmanning arguments and managing impulsive behavior.
Examine the physics behind everyday smartphone experiences, consider the potential consequences of anti-technology sentiment, and reflect on the significance of the Voyager 1 golden record.
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NOTE: A majority of this content is AI-generated, so although a human editor has read and aproved all of it, inconsistencies and mistakes are still posible. Let us know if you see anything.
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Featured articles
The following are AI-generated summaries of randomly chosen articles writen by members of our community since last digest.
Dream Machines
Jurgen Gravesteen's article discusses OpenAI's new text-to-video model, Sora, which generates high-quality videos up to a minute long. The announcement created excitement, with Sora stealing the limelight from Google's Gemini 1.5 model. Despite its impressive capabilities, Sora shares flaws with language models and image generators. Gravesteen holds off on discussing industry impact, instead highlighting oddities in the Sora-generated videos, suggesting potential issues that warrant further investigation.
AI as a Catalyst for Innovation: An Interview with Dr. Elliot Bendoly
Nick Potkalitsky discusses the potential of generative AI in education and its risks to critical thinking. He shared his views on LinkedIn, prompting Dr. Elliot Bendoly to share a research paper supporting the thoughtful implementation of AI in classrooms. Potkalitsky advocates for a data-driven approach in AI adoption, and is excited about the emergence of research papers to guide educators. He acknowledges that many educators are pioneering AI integration in isolation, and hopes that comprehensive studies will help in this process.
Steelman
Michael Woudenberg, in his article on the website "Polymathic Being", discusses how to become a superhero by improving strength and agility, and avoiding conflicts. He introduces the concept of "Steelman", a type of thinker who spans diverse specialties and weaves together insights. Before getting to Steelman, he explains their archnemesis, "Strawman", a personality who misrepresents what you say and uses strawman arguments, an insidious informal fallacy of refuting an argument that is different from the one being discussed. Woudenberg uses the infamous interview between Jordan Peterson and Cathy Newman from the BBC as an example of Strawman.
What's In A Name?
Stephen Gruppetta explores the relationship between names and objects in Python, using the example of naming a string object "Stephen". He explains that names are not objects, but labels that refer to objects, comparing it to a box analogy where objects are placed in boxes labeled with names. Gruppetta then delves into reference counts, explaining how they work and how they relate to garbage collection in Python. He emphasizes that understanding these concepts can help programmers avoid common mistakes and improve their coding skills. The article serves as an introduction to the intricacies of Python's memory management and object system.
Setting fire to self-driving cars won't help build a better future
Andrew Maynard writes about his shock and anger at the torching of a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco, and the narratives that have emerged around the incident. He notes the growing sentiment against self-driving cars in the city, but cautions against oversimplifying the issue as a public backlash against new technology. Maynard argues that the incident should be seen as a complex issue, reflecting the challenges of integrating new technologies into society and addressing the concerns of different stakeholders. He emphasizes the need for responsible innovation and engagement with communities to build a better future.
From the Community
The following are AI-generated summaries of the remaining articles published since last digest. The categories were assigned by AI as well.
Essays
In "Doodoo Diligence", Andrew Smith recounts his visit to Rome with Alley, focusing on their fascination with the ancient Roman sanitation system, which is not commonly highlighted among Rome's achievements; he describes how Romans dealt with their waste, using the Cloaca Maxima sewer system, and their communal latrines, which were like stadiums with rows of urinals that caught both urine and feces.
In "From Constantine to Constantine", Andrew Smith discusses how the Roman Emperor Constantine shifted the political and economic center of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium, now Istanbul, due to its strategic location, secure defenses, existing infrastructure, and to distinguish himself from Rome's origin story.
In "But Why?", Andrew Smith explores the physics behind everyday experiences with smartphones, discussing the science behind light, electric fields, wireless communication, and the seemingly solid yet mostly empty atomic structure of matter.
In "How AI can Impact Demand and Supply of Labour(Musings)", Edem Gold discusses the potential influence of artificial intelligence on labor market dynamics, highlighting the increased automation risk in occupations with high minority representation, and the negative impact of AI integration on perceived human expertise in labor demand aspects.
In "Let's stop saying that Data are the new oil", Valentino Zocca discusses the drawbacks of the popular analogy that compares data to oil, highlighting the differences in their utility and scarcity, emphasizing how data is dynamic, subject to rapid obsolescence, and not all data are equally valuable, while also touching upon issues of privacy, security, and bias in the expanding data landscape.
In "Gold Records", Andrew Smith discusses the Voyager 1 spacecraft and its golden record, which includes a collection of sounds, images, and music intended to represent life on Earth and to communicate with any extraterrestrial civilizations that might intercept the spacecraft.
In "How To Tame Your Impulsive Behaviour And Make Healthier Decisions", Zan Tafakari argues that traditional strategies for managing impulses, such as resistance and identity change, are not effective and can even increase suffering; instead, Tafakari suggests a solution focused on understanding and managing impulses.
News
In "Daily AI Snapshot: Meet Sora, a text-to-video AI model", Nat discusses OpenAI's new Sora, a text-to-video AI model that generates photorealistic videos, its capabilities and limitations, the advancement it represents in AI's growth, potential ethical concerns, and its competitive position in the emerging AI-generated media landscape.
In "Daily AI Snapshot: Tech Giants Unite Against AI Election Misuse", Nat discusses how twenty tech companies, including OpenAI, Meta, and Microsoft, have collaborated to create detection tools, run public awareness campaigns, and implement actions against deceptive AI-generated content that could interfere with elections globally.
In "Daily AI Snapshot: Breaking Up with Algorithms: Spot the Artificial Tears", Nat discusses the limitations of AI in replicating human emotional depth in writing, particularly in breakup texts, emphasizing the importance of authentic human communication in personal relationships and raising ethical questions about using AI in sensitive interpersonal matters.
Promotions
In "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Graphs", Alejandro Piad Morffis aims to fill the gap in current graph-related educational materials by providing a book that combines real-life applications, practical algorithms, and the underlying mathematical theory, catering to students, teachers, and professionals alike.
And that’s all for today! Let us know your thoughts about this new format and any suggestions to make it more useful.
Very cool. I'm glad we're fortunate to have so many folks doing such a good job of keeping up with the news, so I can talk about goofy stuff! <3
Thanks, Alejandro! I greatly appreciate this!