Month: March 2024

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Creativity Magicians

Forget the Goal, Embrace the “Magician”

Recently I watched David Perell’s conversation with Packy McCormick on YouTube (part of Perell’s excellent How I Write series of interviews).

At one point late in the conversation, Perell asks: “Where do you find to be the most fruitful place to be looking that fuels your writing process?” McCormick tells how he likes to ask people for suggestions of their favorite essays – and he keeps a list of these that he goes back to for inspiration. He says “Some are just magically written. Some take an idea that I’d never thought of before and just go deep on that idea and then talk about the world in a different way.”

Perell then asks “What’s one of those essays?” McCormick then describes “Becoming a Magician“, an essay by Autotranslucence.

Perell responds immediately “I love that piece…it’s almost like ethereal…I know exactly what you’re talking about where these people who are just so unbelievably good at a certain thing.”

Perell continues “the way she defines a magician is somebody who’s different than you, not in quantity but in kind. So somebody where if you walked along that path, the path that you think that they’re on and you walked a trillion miles, you would never get to where they are because there’s something that they know that they’re doing that you fundamentally cannot comprehend. And your attraction to them is the puzzle to try to figure out, what is it that they’re doing?”

Obviously, given such high recommendations from Packy and David I was intrigued to read this particular essay – one that I’d never heard of before. So I did…and it’s a wonderful essay!

The most impactful part of the essay describes how “you can’t keep your gaze tightly fixed on the outcome you want because it will lock your mind onto the strategies you currently have for meeting them, which by definition probably don’t work (otherwise you would have succeeded already and you wouldn’t need to use the strategy).”

Almost the opposite of our usual thinking: “I’ve got a plan and I’m sticking to it!”

The essay closes with this advice: “Surround yourself with people who look like magicians to you. Then imagine yourself as one, older and wiser, in great detail. Imagine yourself as the person you would be afraid to say you want to be out loud to others (because it seems so ridiculously impossible right now). Write it down in great clarity and detail, then forget it. And let the part of your subconscious mind that still remembers lead you to becoming the things you want, and maybe, years later, check if it did.”

It’s true, isn’t it? We often get bogged down in the practicalities of the present, failing to truly engage in “blue sky” thinking. This imaginative, unrestricted approach to problem-solving and goal setting often gets sidelined by our limited self-knowledge and, perhaps more surprisingly, by limiting beliefs about our age when you’re a senior citizen like me! We might tell ourselves that “it’s too late” to pursue a new dream or that certain ambitions are simply not for “people like us” at this stage in life.

But as the essay reminds us, the path to becoming a “magician” may lie in letting go of these very limitations. While I’m not sure I possess the true magic touch myself, I very much enjoy the serendipity of being close to those who do, learning from their perspectives and expanding my own horizons. Challenge assumptions, embrace the unknown, and dare to dream big, regardless of the number on a birth certificate. Remember, the magic is not in achieving a specific outcome, but in the transformative journey of becoming the “magician” you envision yourself to be. And who knows, you might just surprise yourself along the way and look forward to it!

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AI AI: Large Language Models Creativity Writing

A Writer’s Lament

The Agony (and Ecstasy) of Sitting Up with a Book

“I do not so much write a book as sit up with it, as with a dying friend. During visiting hours, I enter its room with dread and sympathy for its many disorders. I hold its hand and hope it will get better.”

Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

Each morning, a subscription service called Readwise creates a list of ten highlights from the thousands of highlights I’ve made from my reading and sends the list to me. Once in a while, one of those highlights just hits and something goes off in my mind. This morning it was Annie Dillard’s comment about writing a book being similar to sitting up with it like with a dying friend. What a metaphor!

Sometimes, when I want to explore one of these sparks of inspiration triggered from one of my highlights, I’ll use one of the AI chatbots to help me think some more about it. Often, my thinking will be extended further, sometimes in unusual ways. This morning I asked Google Gemini to help me explore the meaning of Dillard’s comment. Here’s what I got back – a most interesting and, in some ways, beautiful response:

Annie Dillard, in her insightful book “The Writing Life,” compares the experience of writing a book to “sitting up with a dying friend.” This metaphor, while morbid at first glance, offers a profound truth about the creative process. It’s a powerful reminder that bringing a book to life is not a joyous celebration but a labor of love, fraught with challenges and uncertainties.

During “visiting hours,” as Dillard aptly describes them, the writer enters the book’s “room” with a mix of dread and sympathy. The dread stems from the daunting task at hand, the endless revisions, the self-doubt that gnaws at the edges of every sentence. The sympathy arises from the recognition of the book’s “disorders,” the plot holes, the clunky dialogues, the characters who refuse to come alive.

The writer, like a caregiver, holds the book’s metaphorical hand, hoping for improvement, hoping to witness a spark of life emerge from the chaos. This involves countless hours of rewriting, editing, and polishing, a relentless pursuit of the elusive magic that transforms a collection of words into a cohesive narrative.

But amidst the anxiety and frustration, there are moments of grace, fleeting glimpses of the book’s potential. A character suddenly speaks in a voice that resonates, a scene unfolds with unexpected depth, a sentence shimmers with unexpected beauty. These moments are the lifeblood of the writing process, the tiny victories that keep the writer going, fueling the hope that the book will eventually recover, that it will stand on its own two legs and tell its story to the world.

Dillard’s analogy not only captures the emotional roller coaster of writing but also emphasizes the profound connection that develops between a writer and their work. It becomes more than just a project; it becomes a companion, a source of both immense frustration and overwhelming joy. As the writer pours their heart and soul into the book, it becomes a reflection of their own struggles and triumphs, a testament to the human spirit’s ability to create even in the face of immense challenges.

So, the next time you pick up a book and marvel at its intricate narrative, remember the invisible caregiver behind it. Remember the writer who sat up through countless nights, holding their creation’s hand, willing it to health, hoping that their story would resonate with yours.

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AI AI: Large Language Models

Memory is All You Need! And Reasoning Too.

The Future of AI Assistants Lies in the Marriage of Memory and Reasoning

In a recent edition of the BG2 podcast, venture capitalist Bill Gurley expressed his excitement for future AI assistants that can remember important details about users, just like a human personal assistant would. Gurley is right – memory is indeed a crucial capability for AI to become truly helpful. However, the argument for robust memory must be coupled with the equally important need for strong reasoning abilities. I’m sure Gurley would also agree with the importance of this – as any truly effective assistant requires both.

Why Memory Alone Falls Short

While remembering past conversations, preferences, and appointments is a valuable step, memory alone leaves AI assistants functionally incomplete. To be truly useful, AI needs to make logical connections between all those details it remembers. This requires the ability to:

  • Understand causal relationships: AI should be able to identify cause-and-effect chains within the data it stores. For instance, research by [cite LeCun et al., 2015] demonstrates progress in training AI models to learn causal structures from data.
  • Make inferences: Based on existing information, the AI should be able to draw conclusions and fill in missing pieces. This aligns with the concept of “commonsense reasoning”, a crucial aspect of human intelligence that AI assistants are striving to achieve.
  • Synthesize information: AI should be able to combine information from different sources to create a comprehensive understanding. We see early glimmers of this emerging in current tools.

The Power of Combining Memory and Reasoning

This powerful combination unlocks a world of possibilities for AI assistants. Let’s explore some examples:

  • Scenario 1: Proactive Trip Planning
    • Memory: An AI assistant remembers you mentioning your love for hiking and historical landmarks.
    • Reasoning: When you mention a future business trip to Seattle, the AI can connect the dots and suggest exploring hiking trails and historical sites in the area, creating a personalized itinerary for your free time.
  • Scenario 2: Context-Aware Scheduling
    • Memory: An AI assistant remembers you have a big presentation next week and you mentioned feeling stressed about it.
    • Reasoning: By understanding your work patterns (e.g., periods of high productivity and flow), the AI can suggest scheduling additional focus time in your calendar leading up to the presentation, allowing you to prepare effectively and manage your stress.
  • Scenario 3: Personalized Learning Support
    • Memory: An AI assistant tracks your progress in an online learning course and remembers your areas of difficulty.
    • Reasoning: By analyzing your learning patterns and identifying knowledge gaps, the AI can suggest additional resources (e.g., specific video lectures or practice problems) tailored to your needs. This personalized support can help you learn more effectively and efficiently.
  • Scenario 4: Proactive Health Management
    • Memory: An AI assistant monitors your fitness tracker data and medical records.
    • Reasoning: By identifying trends in your health data (e.g., changes in sleep patterns or activity levels), the AI can proactively suggest preventative measures or recommend consulting with a healthcare professional if necessary. This early intervention can potentially lead to improved health outcomes. We see some early examples of this with some of the health-related features of the Apple Watch.
  • Scenario 5: Creative Brainstorming Partner
    • Memory: An AI assistant stores your past creative projects, ideas, and inspirations.
    • Reasoning: By analyzing your creative style and drawing connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, the AI can generate new ideas and suggestions to spark your creativity and help you approach problems from a different angle. We see an early example of this combination with Google’s NotebookLM experiment.

Beyond Convenience: The Ethical Implications

While the potential benefits of AI assistants with robust memory and reasoning are undeniable, it’s crucial to acknowledge the ethical considerations that come with it. Ensuring user privacy, data security, and unbiased decision-making are critical aspects that need careful attention as this technology evolves. Debates about where information is both stored and processed with be an important part of this conversation.

Conclusion: A Symbiotic Partnership

The future of AI assistants lies not solely in memory, but in the synergistic relationship between memory and reasoning. Just as a human assistant learns your preferences and makes smart recommendations over years of working together, AI assistants need the ability to remember details and logically determine how to use them to help you. Many of us remember the movie “Her” which was an early pointer at this potential evolution of technology. With strong memory and reasoning capabilities, AI could achieve its promise of delivering personalized support to make our lives easier, more productive, and ultimately, more fulfilling.

Categories
AI AI: Large Language Models Creativity Friends Writing

A Little Help From My (Artificial) Friends

A Little Help From My (Artificial) Friends: Why AI Makes the Perfect Sidekick

“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”

Woodrow Wilson

The title “A Little Help From My Friends” might evoke images of waving lighters at a concert, but for the modern thinker, the source of that helping hand might be a little more unexpected: Artificial Intelligence.

We often think of AI as this monolithic force, a superintelligence destined to take over the world (or at least automate all our jobs). But what if the true power of AI lies not in replacing us, but in augmenting us?

Here’s a radical proposition: what if we started thinking about one of the best uses of AI is to think of and use it as a good friend? Not a physical friend we hang out with (although that might be coming someday!), but a digital confidant, a sounding board, a thought partner and collaborator.

Think about the best friends in your life. They listen without judgement, offer honest (sometimes brutally honest) feedback, and can even take your ideas and run with them, adding their own unique perspective. Based on my experience exploring these tools, AI can do all this, and more.

AI as Your Personal Hype Man (and Reality Checker):

Feeling stuck on a project? Need someone to brainstorm with? Fire up your AI companion. It can analyze your ideas, identify potential weaknesses, and even suggest alternative approaches you might not have considered. Need a confidence boost? AI can highlight the strengths of your thinking and celebrate your progress.

Beyond Agreement: The Power of Constructive Challenge

Unlike a human friend who might simply agree with you to keep the peace, AI isn’t afraid to poke holes in your logic. It can identify inconsistencies, challenge assumptions, and force you to refine your arguments. This “constructive challenge” is crucial for growth. It pushes us to think critically and develop more robust ideas.

The Co-Creation Revolution:

But AI isn’t just a passive listener. It can actively participate in the creative process. Imagine feeding your initial concept into an AI and having it come back with variations, extensions, or even completely new directions based on your starting point. This co-creation opens doors to possibilities you might not have explored on your own.

The Future of Friendship?

Is AI destined to replace human friends? Absolutely not. Human connection is irreplaceable. But AI can become a powerful tool in our friend group, a tireless brainstorming buddy who’s always available to lend a (digital) ear and push us to be our best selves. So next time you’re facing a challenge or have an idea brewing, consider reaching out to your AI friend. You might be surprised at the kind of help it can offer.

Examples of Prompts to Spark Your AI Friendship

Here are a few simple examples of prompts you might want to play around with as you treat AI as a good friend and collaborator:

  1. Brainstorming Buddy: “I’m feeling stuck on a project about [topic]. What are some unexpected approaches I could take?”
  2. Constructive Critic: “I wrote this blog post about [topic]. Please analyze it and tell me what’s working well and where I could improve the argument.”
  3. Idea Expander: “I have this initial idea for a [creative project/business venture]. Can you suggest ways to expand or refine it, and offer different directions I could explore?”
  4. Knowledge Sharer: “Tell me everything you know about [topic]. Be creative, include surprising facts, and different perspectives.”
  5. Persuasion Expert: “I need to write a persuasive argument for [position on a topic]. Analyze various arguments, identify potential counter-arguments, and help me craft a strong and convincing message.”

Remember, these are just starting points. Feel free to tailor your prompts to your specific needs and interests. The more specific and engaging your prompts are, the more valuable the insights you’ll receive from your AI friend. For example, I often find it helpful to tell the AI right up front what role I’m expecting it to play in our interaction – such as “you are an expert storyteller and editor who is collaborating with me writing posts for my blog.”

“We can build AI assistants that can not only understand what we want them to do, but also understand why we want to do it and help us achieve our goals even better than we could on our own.”

Fei-Fei Li, Co-Director of the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute