Shy AI, Covid Retro and the One Decision

your Saturday roundup

Professionally, I focus on creating social benefit startups. In my Saturday morning emails I share what I’m learning and thinking. Topics range from better living and parenting to business and philosophy.

1. Shy AI and Robots. I’ve thought about when and if we will create general artificial intelligence. I’ve not thought enough about how the public will know. What if there is already a superintelligence hiding in a datacenter? How would we know? A science fiction author makes a persuasive case that we should start looking for it. The immense amount of resources flowing into building AI data centers can be explained by hype (as near-term revenue is hard to identify). Or could it be humans feeding an artificial intelligence without knowing it? Maybe you think all that is just fun speculation. Where will revenue come from? If we could build humanoid robots, that’s a big market. The robot hardware seems close. We need the software. Here is a fun demo to give you a flavor.

   

   by ChatGPT

2. Covid-19 Retro. A retro or after-action review is a great way to improve a team’s effectiveness. What did we learn from covid-19 to help us prepare for future pandemic or other crisis? More specifically, what would we do differently with an airborne virus? How do we properly identify its attributes? Please share the best resource you have on what we learned about the following, including any comparisons between jurisdictions that had different policies:

   1. Early detection (are there any citizen science groups working on distributed DNA sequencing of pathogens?) 

   2. Testing capacity including in home (something I didn’t understand immediately)

   3. Masks (should we encourage people to keep some at home for the future?)

   4. Surface disinfection (how do we determine faster the mode of transmission and focus efforts at mitigation in the right place?)

   5. Closing outdoor spaces (given the health benefits of getting outside and exercising, what would cause us to close outdoor spaces again?)

   6. Closing schools (what lessons can we learn about closing schools?)

   7. Lockdowns? (what were the public health and economic impacts? How do the costs compare to other interventions?)

   8. Human challenge trials for vaccines (I’m in favor. We let people volunteer for war with people why not a war with a virus?)

   9. Getting an approved vaccine produced and distributed faster

   10. Vaccine administration prioritization including by race or geography

3. The One Decision. In the spirit of Tim Ferris, I ask what is the one thing you can do for the most continuous improvement? Some contenders: 

   1. Create a master habit for habit stacking

   2. Keep a list of self-improvement habits which you check regularly

   3. Start the miracle morning,

   4. Implement Getting Things Done starting with the weekly review.

   5. Do The Work or more formal cognitive behavioral therapy.

   6. Or meditate or exercise first thing every day. 

For two weeks, I’ll be taking a break not getting things done.

Until next time,

Miles