Gosh, I've been thinking about making hommade cinnamon rolls lately ... but for the sake of my health I probably should not for now haha. Great recipie find though, I will have to try it!
Wonderfully and thoughtfully written. I am compelled to add, however, the extreme need ("Requirement") for discernment, for discerning the times, for seeking wisdom from, let's say, Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time and a season for everything. maybe, perhaps, this is a season to "tear down and rebuild", for it strikes me that we (may be) are on a fools errand (!) if we continue to try to "fix" broken, poorly-designed systems with the same tools that designed and built them in the first place. Were they "designed" at all in any sort of long-term (kingdom) perspective? Or have things simply run amok?
What force is pressing the accelerator to drive technology to this frenetic pace? For here is an engineering maxim for our discussion and debate:
Thanks Frank, lots of good thoughts here. Been thinking a lot about Ecclesiastes in this conversation too and how much wisdom it has to speak into our striving.
Your comment is full of great seeds for future rumination and you make a great point about control over what we create. I think that unfortunately the various incentive structures are pushing us dangerously near the point of creating technologies beyond our control, even if we don’t always see it from the outset. In some ways every technology can elude our control in some way, the question is just to what degree and how fast.
Thanks for the commentary and for the great questions. Hope to keep pressing into them in future posts.
Great review! The idea of a check list seems too simple to have any real impact, yet would still represent a big improvement for almost every innovator. Your proposal is a great start.
Indeed the ability of a checklist to make an impact seems naive. I will say that Atul Gawande's book "The Checklist Manifesto" challenges this view and really made me think again about the power of a simple checklist. I think we should embrace checklists more in this space.
Fascinating read! I particularly appreciate your focus on the concept of "containment" in tech development. It really highlights the challenges of managing tech's broader societal impacts. Regarding AI and synthetic biology, how do you envision practical steps for containment that can be adopted by both innovators and regulators?
That is the million-dollar question: how do we effectively contain a technology like AI which demonstrates all four of the features that Mustafa Suleyman highlights?
Although I didn't have space to discuss it in this post, Mustafa lays out a blueprint with some strategies in the final part of his book. His list includes leveraging existing strategies like government regulation, international agreements, and better literacy about the challenges of AI. His plan is more like an agenda than a step-by-step plan (which is understandable given the scope of the challenge), but I think it creates a good foundation for further conversation.
Of all the suggestions he makes, I think the one that resonates with me most is building a self-critical culture within communities of technology builders. It's important for scientists and engineers to do what we can to understand why containment matters and design our technology in ways that it can be contained. There are no easy answers, but I think asking the right questions is an important first step.
Definitely check out some of his recent podcast conversations about the book, I think you'll find them valuable and insightful!
Super insightful, thank you! I will bump his book up my reading list. I did listen to his podcast/debate with Yuval Noah Harari which was also interesting if you haven't watched it already... check it out.
On "The Still" section:
Gosh, I've been thinking about making hommade cinnamon rolls lately ... but for the sake of my health I probably should not for now haha. Great recipie find though, I will have to try it!
Thanks Allen! It’s a good recipe and pretty easy too. Let me know when you give it a try :)
Wonderfully and thoughtfully written. I am compelled to add, however, the extreme need ("Requirement") for discernment, for discerning the times, for seeking wisdom from, let's say, Ecclesiastes 3. There is a time and a season for everything. maybe, perhaps, this is a season to "tear down and rebuild", for it strikes me that we (may be) are on a fools errand (!) if we continue to try to "fix" broken, poorly-designed systems with the same tools that designed and built them in the first place. Were they "designed" at all in any sort of long-term (kingdom) perspective? Or have things simply run amok?
What force is pressing the accelerator to drive technology to this frenetic pace? For here is an engineering maxim for our discussion and debate:
We Do Not make things we cannot control.
Or do we? And if we do, why?
Thanks Frank, lots of good thoughts here. Been thinking a lot about Ecclesiastes in this conversation too and how much wisdom it has to speak into our striving.
Your comment is full of great seeds for future rumination and you make a great point about control over what we create. I think that unfortunately the various incentive structures are pushing us dangerously near the point of creating technologies beyond our control, even if we don’t always see it from the outset. In some ways every technology can elude our control in some way, the question is just to what degree and how fast.
Thanks for the commentary and for the great questions. Hope to keep pressing into them in future posts.
Great review! The idea of a check list seems too simple to have any real impact, yet would still represent a big improvement for almost every innovator. Your proposal is a great start.
Indeed the ability of a checklist to make an impact seems naive. I will say that Atul Gawande's book "The Checklist Manifesto" challenges this view and really made me think again about the power of a simple checklist. I think we should embrace checklists more in this space.
I haven't watched this in full, but bet this talk that Dr. Gawande gave at Microsoft Research about it would be a good overview and summary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfl8Xt8W09A&t=1324s
Fascinating read! I particularly appreciate your focus on the concept of "containment" in tech development. It really highlights the challenges of managing tech's broader societal impacts. Regarding AI and synthetic biology, how do you envision practical steps for containment that can be adopted by both innovators and regulators?
That is the million-dollar question: how do we effectively contain a technology like AI which demonstrates all four of the features that Mustafa Suleyman highlights?
Although I didn't have space to discuss it in this post, Mustafa lays out a blueprint with some strategies in the final part of his book. His list includes leveraging existing strategies like government regulation, international agreements, and better literacy about the challenges of AI. His plan is more like an agenda than a step-by-step plan (which is understandable given the scope of the challenge), but I think it creates a good foundation for further conversation.
Of all the suggestions he makes, I think the one that resonates with me most is building a self-critical culture within communities of technology builders. It's important for scientists and engineers to do what we can to understand why containment matters and design our technology in ways that it can be contained. There are no easy answers, but I think asking the right questions is an important first step.
Definitely check out some of his recent podcast conversations about the book, I think you'll find them valuable and insightful!
Super insightful, thank you! I will bump his book up my reading list. I did listen to his podcast/debate with Yuval Noah Harari which was also interesting if you haven't watched it already... check it out.
Thanks for the recommendation!