EP 426: This is Not Advice: It's Our World, AI Just "Lives" In It

What are we really talking about when we talk about our hopes and fears about AI?

It's us. We're the problem.

Actually, we're not the problem—we're more like the solution. But that's less mimetic.

Sure, this is yet another pod hitting your feed with a take on AI. I'll assure you, though: this episode isn't really AI. There's no fear-mongering or cute suggestions for prompts. It's a bit of a meditation on the very human parts of our relationship with technology. And it's probably one of the most hopeful pieces I've put together in a few years!
 
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Anyhow, today's episode is the second edition of This is Not Advice, a "not advice" column for paying subscribers of What Works. This is the final public edition, so if you'd like to keep getting a dose of "not advice" from me every other week, plus submit your own topics and questions, and support independent analysis of the future of work, business, and leadership, go taramcmullin.substack.com/subscribe and chip in just $7/month.

I'm also hosting a workshop on May 31 for paying subscribers called Tending Your Media Ecosystem. I'll share how what I read, watch, and listen to becomes what I write, produce, and post.

Footnotes:

• Star Trek: The Next Generation, "Deja Q"
• Grammarly's new AI Assistant
• "Did clickbait kill BuzzFeed and the digital media era?" on Offline with Jon Favreau
• "Readers Aren't Flocking to Chatbot Novels Just Yet" in Counter Craft by Lincoln Michel
• "Contrepreneurs: The Mikkelsen Twins" on Folding Ideas with Dan Olson
• "Dingus of the Week: Pivoting to Robots" in Men Yell at Me by Lyz Lenz

Every new episode is also published in essay form! Click here to read.

• (00:00) - This is Not Advice: What We Really Talk About When We Talk About AI
• (01:27) - Today's Question
• (07:01) - Suspicion
• (09:53) - Chatbots are already writing books
• (13:02) - It Already Exists