Book Week
The AI Dilemma; a library of Ted Nelson; writers’ workshops; being rejected; I’m looking for a few good authors.
It’s Book Week, so most of the items here are book-related. If you decide to buy a book mentioned here, I recommend shopping at Bookshop.org.
What’s Your Story?
Steve Jobs on Blue Boxes and hacking the phone company: “Experiences like that taught us the power of ideas: the power of understanding that if you could build this box, you could control telephone infrastructure around the world. That’s a powerful thing.”
“The power of ideas.” That’s the takeaway. Not the particular technological device: the credit for that goes to John Draper. The power of an idea was what caught Steve’s imagination. Ideas can change the world.
I’m shepherding a line of books for The Pragmatic Bookshelf, and I’m looking for stories. Stories of powerful ideas that changed the world — or that changed the people who went on to change the world. Technological ideas, yes. Artificial intelligence, which is changing our world right now in ways we don’t understand, but imperatively need to. Programming languages like Lisp and Forth and Smalltalk and Prolog that changed how we can think about, and go about solving, problems.
But more than just recounting of the development of some technology, I want stories that get inside the head of an inventor. Ted Nelson dreaming of electronic screens as the new home of humanity. Douglas Engelbart integrating multiple inventions into the Mother of All Demos. Trygve Reenskaug bringing a new understanding of responsibility to software development with the Model-View-Controller pattern. Charles Babbage struggling to realize his Analytical Engine.
This is the idea behind the Pragmatic Stories series from The Pragmatic Bookshelf. We have several books in the pipeline now, but I am actively looking for more stories. You might have such a story. You might know someone else who does. You might know of a story that needs to be told. If so, I’d like to hear from you.
It bears mentioning that The Pragmatic Bookshelf has one of the most generous royalty schedules in the industry.
Email me at michael.swaine@pragprog.org for details.
Quotes of the Week
AI is very good at discovering what’s wrong in human society.
— Esther Dyson.“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
— Oscar Wilde“To us, you appear to be the only one around who is clinically sane,”
— Werner Herzog, to Ted Nelson
Book Week: Writers’ Workshops
“The writers’ workshop is one of several somewhat counterintuitive practices in which what seems like an individual art or craft is done or assisted by a group or crowd. Other practices … include brainstorming, open-source development, pair programming, and the design charrette.”
That’s Richard Gabriel, author of Writers’ Workshops & the Work of Making Things. I’ve probably mentioned this book before, but you probably didn’t run right out and start a writers’ workshop, so I’m giving you another chance. Gabriel is uniquely qualified to write a book about writers’s workshops for both creative writers and technical folks, because he has lived in both those worlds, and because he has experience with writers’ workshops.
I’ve participated in about a half-dozen writers’ workshops, most lasting about a week. A very intense week. Every one of them affected me profoundly and gave me new insights into the writing process. All of my workshops were focused on creative writing, and that’s what makes Gabriel’s book unique: he comes to the subject from these two directions: creative writing and software.
Gabriel walks you through all the steps of starting and running and participating in a workshop. I’d like to say that you can read this book and then go ahead and start a writers’s workshop. I think that’s true, but I haven’t done it. Maybe I will, though…
Book Week: The AI Dilemma
I’ve read a lot of books about artificial intelligence. It began in my grad school days, when AI was the focus on my computer science degree. It continued through decades of editing and writing for computer magazines. And lately, geneartive AI has been a focus of my blogging and writing research.
Mostly these books have dealt with the technology of AI. A recent book by Juliette Powell and Art Kleiner deals with the question, “So AI is here, what are we going to do about it?” That’s The AI Dilemma.
I first met Art Kleiner shortly after I moved to Silicon Valley from the Midwest. He was working as an editor at CoEvolution Quarterly/The Whole Earth Review, and I was an editor at InfoWorld. We both worked on The Whole Earth Software Review, and attended the first Hackers Conference.
Art moved back East and continued writing about technology and its impact. He made himself an expert on leadership, management, and organization, wrote books, and taught at the university level. His latest book, written with his business partner, Juliette Powell (whom I have never met), is called The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology. Great title: names a problem and promises the solution.
Well, not the solution so much as a framework for thinking about the dangers of artificial intelligence and kinds of strategies for dealing with them. The book maps closely to the principles of the White House’s proposed AI Bill of Rights. I plan to keep this book close at hand as I read about and write about (and use) AI, as an aid to spotting the questions that need to be raised.
Book Week: a Library of Ted Nelson Books
Last Monday was Ted’s Nelson birthday. I hope you know who Ted is and why he’s significant, but just in case: he’s the Tom Paine of the personal computer revolution, the inventor of hypertext, and much more.
Ted has written several books, all of them entertaining, provocative, and insightful. The picture above shows some of them. I don’t have all of them; visit Ted’s site for the full list. (I take particular delight in his collection of college essays, Life, Love, College, etc, which didn’t make it into the picture because I am very disorganized and can’t find it at the moment.)
If you haven’t read anything by Ted, Possiplex might be a good place to start. It’s his version of an autobiography and is entertaining, provocative, and insightful. (A couple of biographical details: His mother, Celeste Holm, won an Academy Award for her performance in Elia Kazan’s Gentleman’s Agreement, and was nominated for her roles in Come to the Stable and All About Eve, and his father, Ralph Nelson, was best known for directing Lilies of the Field, Father Goose, and Charly, films which won Academy Awards. But he was raised by his grandparents, which (personal opinion) accounts for a certain charmingly old-world courtesy in his manner.)
But Computer Lib/Dream Machines is the must-read. There’s much dated material in it, but you can skip those bits easily, because CL/DM is (so very much) a nonlinear narrative. It’s the book Steve Wozniak had at his side while he was designing the Apple ][. If Ted is Tom Paine, CL/DM is Common Sense.
Verse
If you’ve been following this blog for over a year, you may recognize some of these. I just feel a need to put some verse in each post. I’ll try to include a new one from time to time. This one is a villanelles about the trials and tribulations of being a book author.
Norton and Knopf
You won’t be invited to feed at the trough
With the short story wonders who pack 21
When you’ve been rejected by Norton and Knopf.
Like lovers who kiss you while saying kiss off
They’ll tell you “well done” while meaning “you’re done”
And no longer welcome to feed at their trough.
Their legions are legend: Naipaul, Nabokov,
Well maybe not those: anyway, you are one
Of the authors rejected by Norton and Knopf.
Like cousins with cooties or a guest with a cough
It’s nothing you’ve done, you’re just one to shun
And won’t be invited to feed at the trough.
For you, though, no fish eggs, no champagne to quaff
Are needed to celebrate not being one
Of those never rejected by Norton and Knopf.
Because it’s a blessing: you’re much better off.
So open a brewski, kick back, and have fun
And pity the authors who feed at the trough
Who’ve not been rejected by Norton and Knopf.
I’ve collected these verses in a book. You can download it here.
Of Interest
When I was editor of Dr. Dobb’s Journal, we had a section in the back of the magazine titled “Of Interest.” Here are some things that I think you might find Of Interest.
Blogroll
Some recommended blogs.
FACT CHECKERS
Claim: A new study found that “10 to 27%” of noncitizens in the U.S. are registered voters. This is false. But it’s been widely repeated by less-than-trustworthy sources, included Elon Musk. You and I know it’s not true because we check on claims like this. Here are some of the fact-checking sites I use:
Snopes is the granddaddy of fact-check sites. It got its start in 1994, investigating urban legends, hoaxes, and folklore. Now it’s the oldest and largest fact-checking site online, widely regarded by journalists, folklorists, and readers as an invaluable research companion.
Media Bias / FactCheck is your go-to site to fact-check the fact-checkers. From CNN to Breitbart and even browser extensions like Newsguard, MBFC rates them all.
FactCheck is a non-partisan fact-checking website that focuses primarily on US politics. It is a non-profit project and regularly debunks claims by politicians and viral fake news.
Lead Stories focuses on trending stories, images, videos, and posts with false information. It includes fact checks, analysis, and corrections. The site also provides fact-checking services to social media companies TikTok and Facebook.
SOURCES ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
One Useful Thing
Wharton professor Ethan Mollick shares research-based views on the implications of AI.
The AI Edge
A daily newsletter to help you keep up with the latest news and trends.
Big Technology
A newsletter about big tech and society by independent journalist Alex Kantrowitz.
Creators’ AI
AI insights, tools, guides for creators and entrepreneurs.
AI Supremacy
News at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, technology, and business. Includes Op-Eds, research summaries, guest contributions, and info on AI startups, by Michael Spencer.
Artificial Intelligence Made Simple
AI made simple by Devansh.
AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans
A blog about interesting developments in artificial intelligence by Melanie Mitchell, Professor, Santa Fe Institute.
marcwatkins
How generative AI is impacting education, by Marc Watkins, Academic Innovation Fellow, Director of the Mississippi AI Institute, Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric at the University of Mississippi.
The AI Optimist
Exploring the possibilities of AI, against the drawbacks. By Declan Dunn.
Machine Society
Mike Elgan’s technology newsletter, formerly known as “Mike’s List.”
Ahead of AI
Machine Learning & AI research by Sebastian Raschka.
Mark Watson’s AI Books and Blog
Read his books for free online.
GOOD GUYS
Doctors Without Borders
Every day, Doctors Without Borders teams deliver emergency medical aid to people in crisis, with humanitarian projects in more than 70 countries.
World Central Kitchen
WCK is first to the frontlines, providing meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.
FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES
Kent Beck’s advice for geeks
Tales from the Jar Side
Bookshop.org
Pragmatic Bookshelf
ICYMI
Thanks for reading. You can read all the back issues of Swaine’s World at my blog home.
Coming Attractions
In the coming weeks, more Swaine’s Flames flashbacks, Dirt Road Diaries, bulletins from the AI revolution, tech history, books, and random verse.