I was losing my grip on a lot of things the previous week. People and other responsibilities were pulling me in, rightfully so, and I hit the brakes. After making sure my priorities were straight I took a quick hour to cut down on distractions and things that weren’t driving me to where I want to go.
Notifications of every kind were cut down, apps were removed from my phone, projects were reviewed to cut out loose ends. And with that came a huge win.
We finished moving Gregory-MS to a non-profit that was set up to manage it. Doing this helps with the financial aspect of the company, and also allows us to have a more transparent way of managing our finances. We went as far as setting up a transparency page that lists our bank statements and donations.
While work is going well, everything else kind of feels like running the gauntlet. I have been looking for clinical trials that may improve my mobility, and that is as hard as you can imagine.
Hence, Delulu is the solulu. A Gen-Z trend on TikTok that means “delusion is the solution”. And while being delusional doesn’t help, it also doesn’t hurt to be optimistic or to just persevere to find out the ending.
Quick note on GPT-4o
GPT-4o came out and the web flickered with commentary from everyone and anyone. It only boils down to this, OpenAI made improvements to the efficacy of their service. I have been using their paid version and found that while answers are much faster, the prompt still needs to be very specific to bring any value.
GPT-4o feels like that eager student who tries to answer the question before listening to it in full.
Johnny Five isn’t alive
Yet!
In one way or the other, OpenAI and other companies are building services that exist in isolation. Eventually they will find ways to bind us to them like they did with Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and other social media that uses algorithms to deliver content to hook us.
I think that the real value of AI isn’t in the code or the Excel formulas it generates so well, or the writing, or the pretty images. The real value is in providing an assistant who has as much knowledge as the user. (Or in being a ubiquitous tool, like I mentioned in the past.)
Johnny Five is the computer I use to manage automations around the house, he also filters out notifications and runs open source apps that save me time. Johnny goes as far as finding invoices in my email and filing them in a folder shared with my accountant.
As an AI, Johnny could be aware of my notes on Obsidian and Zotero, my tasks in Notion, the files on my computer and network, and guide me throughout the day.
And we don’t need a brain implant to talk to an AI, we just need to find a way to integrate it without it being a burden. In 2016, @Amber Case made a great presentation on how we can build Calm Tech during the UX-Lx conference.
In the search for an AI that brings Johnny Five to life, Khoj stood out as something close to what I would like to build.
Khoj is the open-source, AI copilot for search. Easily get answers without having to sift through online results or your own notes.
If the AI companies take a similar route, we’ll find ourselves bound to their services with even stronger chains. Just imagine if Google would index all your emails, documents, and contacts. On one hand it would be the perfect assistant for daily tasks, on the other it would be difficult to stop using their services.
Leaked OpenAI Documents Show Sam Altman Was Clearly Aware of Silencing Former Employees
@OpenAI, led by CEO Sam Altman, is facing criticism following allegations of pressuring employees into signing restrictive non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements, and threatening to claw back vested equity. This practice, unusual in the tech industry, has raised concerns over OpenAI’s credibility. Altman admitted to the existence of such provisions but claimed he was unaware of them. However, documents reviewed by Vox suggest Altman and other executives, including chief strategy officer Jason Kwon, signed documents outlining these actions.
With OpenAI getting so much positive spotlight, this was a matter of time. “You Either Die a Hero, or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become the Villain”
Your TikTok for this week
Jack Lawerence brings philosophy to TikTok and tries to answer, is delulu the solulu?
