Nora Bateson on systems, Carl Sagan on baloney detection, Text2Graph tool, and more

November 27, 2023

“It is a wonderful feeling to recognise the unity of a complex of phenomena that to direct observation seem to be quite separate things.” - Albert Einstein

At the center of my “Humans + AI” framing is the belief that we should primarily be using AI to think better, to amplify our own capabilities. As computing pioneer Doug Enbelbart put it, it’s all about “Intelligence Augmentation”.

I’m bringing together all my work and research this year to run a cohort course starting December 5 on AI-Enhanced Thinking & Decision-Making. Check it out! If you’re interested, as a subscriber you can use NEWSLETTER to get a 30% discount. Let me know if any questions, happy to get on a quick call if you want!

Ross.

📖In this issue

  • Carl Sagan’s baloney detection kit

  • Applying AI to teaching and better thinking

  • A new religion: AI as god

  • Nora Bateson on ecology, increasing possibility, warm data, and intergenerational learning

  • New free tool Instagraph creates concept maps from text

🤸🏽In practice

Carl Sagan was one of the all-time great science communicators. One of his gifts to us was a ‘baloney detection kit’ derived from scientific thinking. As it turns out, it is even more relevant today than when he created it.

👩🤖What you need to know in Humans + AI

Applying AI to teaching and better thinking  

“AI partners could be used to lead students through a problem step by step, stimulate critical thinking or… enhance users’ creativity and broaden the possibilities being considered. Jules White, director of the Initiative on the Future of Learning and Generative AI at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, calls ChatGPT “an exoskeleton for the mind”.”

OpenAI may have made leaps in reasoning ability

Reports that an OpenAI project named Q* had made substantial progress in maths reasoning, a step towards AGI, were linked to Sam Altman’s firing by the board. The reports haven’t been confirmed and it’s not clear how much of a breakthough this was, but it’s safe to believe OpenAI continues to make significant progress in its research.

AI will be like a God that many will worship

A detailed survey of software developers provides a generally positive view of the potential of AI on their work, but most expect their role to be transformed in the coming five years, senior tech executives the most

🎙️Latest podcast episode

Nora Bateson on ecology, increasing possibility, warm data, and intergenerational learning (AC Ep20)

🧑‍🎓What you will learn

  • The dynamic interplay and shared learning among diverse species in a complex ecosystem (03:00)

  • Rethinking human communication and relationships (05:50)

  • Exploring the fluidity of identity in different social contexts (08:22)

  • Understanding warm data and its role in perceiving complex systems (12:24)

  • Exploring warm data through describable experiences and creative expression (17:27)

  • Intergenerational learning and systemic thinking (21:27)

  • Nurturing intergenerational relationships (30:12)

  • Integrate intergenerational and indigenous wisdom into our common sense-making processes (32:21)

New free tool Instagraph creates concept maps from text

VC Yohei Nakajimi is one of the leaders in building exploratory AI tools, including the notable early AI agent BabyAGI. He has now released “Text2Graph” tool InstaGraph, which converts natural language prompts into a visualized knowledge graph, effectively a concept map.

It is a free prototype, though they are hiring a CEO so hopefully it will be developed further, the user interface and usability is still fairly basic.

You can provide starting points or questions and give references. One of the best ways to use it is to create a graph then use “Merge with selected graph” to add related concepts.

Thank you for reading!

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