Machine learning and augmented intelligence; platforms as publishers; and the fake news debate continues
Release Date: 05/25/2017
Infinity. Perplexity. Resentment.
Small Data Forum Podcast
On a chilly 1st December, Sam takes us to the Bermudas (only virtually, sadly) – to the “Jurassic Park of crypto” that (of , and so much more fame) describes with trademark virtuosity in his fly-on-the-wall tale of almost-first-trillionaire-cum-felon, Sam Bankman-Fried (“SBF”), of . A self-declared Lewis fanboy, Sam introduces , an account of the life and times of SBF, the people in his cash-fueled orbit, and the fraudulent practices of his crypto business ventures which are now likely to have earned him . Continue reading:
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Two rants and a wry smile
Small Data Forum Podcast
In a distinctly un-Friday 13th Feeling, the gathered for the 78th time to pick through the familiar themes of politics and social media, separately and intermingled. Spoiler alert: this episode may contain rants. The rest is politics Sam started by reviewing the remnants and the impact of the recent U.K. party political conference season. Least said about the Liberal Democrats’ opening event the better – not least because it didn’t touch the sides, of either our or the media’s consciousness. Though as Sam pointed out, several commentators have noted that the LibDems’...
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Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who will be the sexiest chatbot of them all?
Small Data Forum Podcast
Another month, another deepish dive by the three podnosticators of the SmallDataForum – who Sam describes as “Thomas = the philosopher-academic and historical context-setter; Neville = the champion experimenter and enthusiastic evangelist; and Sam = the dabbler, observer, and sceptic.” This time, we dive into (as well as ) artificial intelligence, large language models (LLMs) and various chat-botty applications, including Neville’s new favourite, , “the most human-like experience”. Turing Test, anyone? Perfectly timed with our latest podcast...
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The three sceptics of the apocalypse
Small Data Forum Podcast
Scepticism, questioning, and an ever-present gnawing uncertainty whether what Them In Power tell us is the case actually is the case – these are three hallmarks of we three Podnosticators at the Small Data Forum. And these three qualities are all present in abundant spades as we enter our fourth, quarter-century of podcasts in fresh-minted episode 76. We gather in what the British press term ‘silly season’ – in Germany (“sour gherkin time”), Thomas tells us – and in the hours before we gathered, President Putin had cried crocodile tears over the mysterious...
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SmallDataForum’s Diamond Jubilee
Small Data Forum Podcast
After seven years of vigorous podnostication, the SmallDataForum reaches its diamond anniversary. Or semi-sesquicentennial (‘half one hundred and fifty’) as Sam (of course!) informs us. Seventy-five episodes of wondering and pondering about the strange times we live in, with absolutely no end in sight. Our almost hour-long Zoomwag starts with the battle of the micro-messaging platforms: , Twitter vs Meta, Elon vs Mark – the digital cage fight over the monetizable part of the networked world. Tech maven and serial early adopter and experimenter-user Neville explains it all with...
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Flushable, unflushable, or lingering round the U-bend?
Small Data Forum Podcast
We start episode 74 of the Small Data Forum podcast – or “1 AB” as Thomas christens it; the first after B*ris – in what many are calling “the era past peak podcast”. Things haven’t worked out as well for our medium of choice as Spotify predicted and gambled, and that includes the platform’s not-so-conscious uncoupling from the Sussexes. But we – like the relentless grind of British politics – carry on regardless. Thomas recalls the halcyon days when democracy meant the executive, legislature, and judiciary: three, interlocking, interdependent branches that worked with...
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We don’t do that here
Small Data Forum Podcast
“In framing an ideal we may assume what we wish, but should avoid impossibilities.” This Aristotle quote opens one of my favourite books, Aldous Huxley’s last novel, (1962). It also summarises neatly Neville’s, and to a lesser degree, Sam’s, position re the appetite and capacity for, and thus the likelihood of radical change to the British political and electoral system. To be fair, Neville suggested not to focus on politics at all in our latest episode, and instead invest all of our podnosticating attention in the “only big news of the day”, . In a masterclass of...
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Burn, baby, burn
Small Data Forum Podcast
Fire and music go well together. Sixties rocker – a long-time resident of the liberal enclave of Lewes, home of your correspondent, Podnosticator Knowles – made an entire career out of his 1968 cult classic, Indeed, I even played roadie to him and had the honour of putting him out when during the first chorus of Fire in a Sussex gig back in 2007, my pimple on the backside of rock ‘n’ roll history. And the first time Arthur had gone up in flames since the 1971 Windsor Jazz Festival. The least successful rockstar of all time, , was given a...
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Trolley problems
Small Data Forum Podcast
Back in the grey drizzle of a late March Friday morning in the UK, the three Podnosticators of the SmallDataForum convene to take another sideways look at ‘events, dear boy, events’ (something Harold Macmillan ). For once, and in spite of recent headline-grabbing incidents, we give relatively short shrift to the of politics on either side of the Atlantic – though Sam briefly reminds us of the travails – one with the UK parliament’s , the other with a . Perhaps by SDF 72, there will have been some flushing. Though we’re not holding our breath. In the meantime, we focus our...
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Meet the Podnosticators – the Oracle of Riogordo
Small Data Forum Podcast
In ancient Greece, people consulted oracles to learn about the future. The best known resided at the , where the blind priestess Pythia provided prophetic prediction for all in need of direction. Above its entrance, the temple had an inscription: Know thyself. In fact, there appear to have been a chiselled into the marble – and they are well worth studying in detail if one wants to fine-tune ones moral compass... The first three are the best-known: in addition to self-knowledge, they appeal to moderation and the avoidance of overly strong beliefs or ideology (one might be tempted to...
info_outlineSDF episode 9 discusses the challenges and opportunities of accelerating progress in the areas of machine learning and AI (which for us means augmented, rather than 'just' artificial intelligence). When it comes to permanent change driven by technological advancement, the genie is out of the bottle and it is too late to resist change. We need to get better at understanding it and living with it.
Another key subject are the big social media platforms and their roles as pure technological intermediaries, as opposed to taking on the responsibilities of publishers. This is a complex and controversial field, with a broad range of opinions. Robert Thompson, CEO of News Corp. and former editor of The Times, published a strongly worded editorial in the Times on 10th April where he claimed that "the two most powerful news publishers in human history have created an ecosystem that is dysfunctional and socially destructive". He calls for Authenticated Authenticity – verified provenance, accuracy, reality – as an asset of increasing value.
Our general, rather broad advice is to question everything. More specifically, seek out sources with a proven track record that you can trust, with authors that link to things they state – to allow verification