The Monday Mix (05/12/2022)
Hi friends,
The days are noticeably colder, darker and shorter now as winter sets in. I’m not a fan of the cold but I prefer it to rain, which is the worst during winter, especially if it’s cold because you get the worst of both worlds then.
I remember someone saying a few months ago they liked winter because it’s cosy. I think that’s a good way to describe the season. You retreat to your home, pull on warm clothes, hide under a blanket and perhaps drink a hot beverage.
It may not be everyone’s cup of tea (pun well and truly intended!) but it sure does feel nice. I prefer summer, as there’s more opportunity to do things during the summer months and once December has finished winter drags on and tends to get worse in England at least.
So, I’ll be making the most of the next few weeks in the run-up to Christmas and make the most of it before we reach the January and February blues!
How Close Are We To True Artificial Intelligence
All the hype the past few days has been around the ChatGPT bot from openAi. I’ve seen countless marvelling at it, and friends revelling in its ability to converse and answer questions. But I can’t help thinking it’s essentially a sophisticated chatbot, or as one user on Twitter said, a parrot of a parrot. The above article is from David Deutsch, who proved that artificial general intelligence is possible. He stated on Twitter that he’s not impressed with ChatGPt, which is significant given his role in the field.
This article is ten years old but still holds up and provides a fascinating insight into the physics behind artificial intelligence.
Freedom of Speech
A nuanced article by the political scientist Francis Fukuyama looking at freedom of speech in the context of Elon Musk’s claims he’s a ‘free speech absolutist’. Musk’s stance is juvenile in the sense that it would all sorts of unsavoury content to be published on Twitter such as child pornography, Holocaust denial and pornographic films as just a few examples. Obviously, this is insane and won’t happen, which renders his position all the more remarkable given a lot of people consider him to be a genius. Every modern society has limited speech, there has never been a free for all and never will be. Given some of Musk’s recent tweets, it seems he’s slowly getting the message.
Who Said it?
Speaking of Elon Musk, here’s a fun article where you have to guess whether he or Mr Burns from The Simpsons said several sentences. It’s a fun and light-hearted quiz that takes a few minutes. The answers may surprise you!
Europe’s New Mega Tunnel
An extra link today, which looks at a massive European engineering project. I had no idea this was even being built until I came across the video on YouTube. I used to work in the construction industry and with a Dad who’s a builder, it’s something that will always fascinate me. Megaprojects like this are sure to capture the imagination. The scope of this project is incredible and will help to better connect Germany, Denmark and Sweden. If you’ve driven from Sweden to Germany, or the other way round, you know it’s a pain having to go through all of Denmark to get to Germany. Well, this tunnel aims to solve that, making the commute shorter for cars, trains and freight.
It’s amazing how many megaprojects are underway in Europe, which I think shows the strength of the continent and is a sharp response to critics of the EU, who say it’s slow and bureaucratic. Given I live in England where we can barely build high-speed rail, I’m always impressed by how efficiently these projects are organised and built. If only the same was true here!
Book I’m reading - The Age of Football by David Goldblatt
Still making my way through this chunky book and enjoying it. It’s a nice companion to the World Cup and touches on a lot of lesser-known countries in the football world, which makes it all the more interesting!
Quote I’m pondering: – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
That’s all for this week.
Until next time,
Tom