Pet Talk

The effect of AI on work, the robotically-enhanced you, and a pet reminiscence.

The Week

This week I came across a couple of AI news items that I wanted to pass along to you. 

Upgrade Your Lame Human Body

Could this be the exoskeleton you’ve been looking for to begin your transhuman journey? The DNSYS X1 combines advanced robotics, cutting-edge ergonomics, and intelligent AI (not the dumb kind) in a package that definitely won’t make you look like a freak. 

OK, seriously, I see the value of this kind of technology for people with physical limitations, as a medical device. The pitch here, though, is to active people who are inclined to push themselves, and some of the pictures and testimonials support this. I worry about how badly users might get hurt if the AI model behind this device makes a mistake. 

I learned of this device from Mike Elgan, who labeled it a Brilliantly Bad Idea.

How AI Will Reshape Work

Larry O’Brien turned me on to this enlightening article about an important study. The article is by Ethan Mollick, who blogs at One Useful Thing and who was one of the research team that conducted the study. Two key insights identified by Larry are that AI assistance is a skill leveler and that there is a danger of “falling asleep at the wheel” when using AI assistance. To unpack that: 

• Across a broad range of tasks, the study found that workers using AI assistance did better than those not using AI, and not by just a little. Better results, faster achievement. Across the board. But the AI boost was not uniform: the least skilled participants benefited the most from AI assistance. Everyone’s performance was augmented by the AI assistance, but there was an overall leveling of performance.

• But when the researchers deliberately included a task on which they knew the AI assistant would give bad advice, the participants using AI help did worse than those who weren’t. “When the AI is very good,”Mollick said, “humans have no reason to work hard and pay attention. They let the AI take over, instead of using it as a tool.” He calls this “falling asleep at the wheel.” Something that may be difficult to avoid as we use AI tools more and more.

I want to read the entire study when it is peer-reviewed. But that raises a question. The performance of participants in this study was rated by both human and AI judges. As it turned out, the judges agreed. But what if they hadn’t? Do you trust an AI judge over a human in judging human versus AI performance? 

But that’s not the question I had in mind. Peer review is a process rooted in the bedrock of the scientific method: that results and methods are public and reviewable and repeatable. To be reviewed and repeated by other scientists, it goes without saying, and those in your field of expertise. Your peers. But peer review has all the defects of any human activity: jealousy, avarice, pride, and other unwelcome emotions can distort the process. It’s to be expected that we will soon start, if we’re not already doing it, evaluating AI reviews against peer reviews. And when we decide that AI reviews are uniformly better, will we replace human peer reviews with AI reviews? And if and when we do, will we still be doing science as we have always understood it?

Image of the Week

We said good-bye to Sophie Jo this year. Almost seventeen years ago, when she was new to this world, we took her to the park. Everything was an amazement to her: the lake, boaters, swans. We waded out knee-deep and called her and, though skeptical, she came to us — and discovered that she loved this swimming thing, remaining a joyful swimmer for the rest of her life.

Quote of the Week

“Nobody would ever want to publicly say that.” 
 — Stephanie A. Gregory Clifford
Whatever your politics, that was a zinger.

Dirt Road Diary

Here’s another self-indulgent reminiscence of my dirt-road childhood. This one comes with gratuitous book titles.

Little Women

Yesterday was Mother’s Day in the United States, and I naturally found myself thinking about my mother. Those of you who live in the United States or who have had mothers may find some value in the following reminiscence.

To be honest, though, I’m not sure whether this peripatetic flashback is more about Mom or about our family pets or about naming things. You ease down that memory hole and you can find yourself in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. (I just threw that in for you old-timers.)

Mom, though. Mom was the second of four sisters and was sometimes a writer. When I first read Little Women, I decided at once that Mom was Jo. Mom was hip: she dug Belafonte and The Way of Zen and Pogo. We bonded firmly on Pogo: We were an Okeefenokee-speaking family. I thought Mom was funny. I thought a lot of things were funny. 

We were also always a pet-owning family. We had a boa constrictor and a raccoon. And of course dogs. I dunno, maybe it’s the recent news items about politicians and pets — which ones have them and which ones don’t and which ones shoot them — that got me thinking about our family pets.

Animal Farm

We didn’t actually live on a farm, but we had farm animals. Briefly. When I was very young Dad wanted to experiment. I have memories of a succession of farm animals in my pre-school years: chickens, rabbits, goats. None of these experiments lasted more than a season. To me these were pets, though I think Dad viewed them as livestock. And after the rooster pecked me on the nose I inclined to Dad’s view.

One season when I was a bit older Dad leased a pony. Sadie was definitely a pet and, for me, a responsibility. Dad built a pony-sized barn with a little hay loft above the four-foot-high doorway. It was my job to feed Sadie and clean the barn. And to exercise her.

That was the good part. Well — in part. Daily I hooked up the bridle and rode Sadie bareback the four dirt-road blocks to Willard’s General Store, where I tied her to a rail out front, did some minor shopping for Mom, and, when I had the money, bought comic books in three-packs with their covers cut off.

A horse, or even a pony, was a novelty in our neighborhood and I felt cocky as I exited the store and untied the reins from the rail and hopped on my steed.

But then I had to face the ride back. Sadie knew where she wanted to go and ignored any command or attempts at control from me. As I held on for dear life she galloped full-out all the way home. Once in the yard she headed straight for the barn. At that point I had options: jump off at the last minute or get knocked off as she entered the low-doored barn. The coolest option was to roll off into the loft, and when I pulled it off I lay there in the loft laughing and gasping for breath. I only occasionally managed that stunt, but when I did, I thought it was hilarious.

The Name of the Rose

But our long-time family pet was Rosie, daughter of Daisy. Even before I started forming coherent memories, Daisy was our family dog, but my first clear memory of our dogs was when I was about four years old and Daisy had pups.

It was a sunny, breezy spring day and Mom and I and Daisy and her six furry black puppies were outside on a blanket, tucked up against the downwind north wall of the house. Daisy was on lunch duty and Mom and I had our own job to perform. Mom had brought out the seed catalog and we were going to use it to name all the puppies. Since Daisy had a flower name, Mom explained, all the pups should, too. I found her logic unassailable.

We took our time matching flower names to puppies. We wanted to get it right. Does this one really look like a Pansy? Maybe this one’s a Rose and this scruffy lille girl is the Pansy?

There was one male pup and we agreed that he couldn’t have a flower name. It was the 1950s. Mom opened to a different section of the seed catalog and we explored the vegetable options. What about this one, she said: Early Green Celery. I thought that was funny. And, she said, deadpan, we could call him Earl for short. Earl was my Dad’s name. That really cracked me up. 

Now I want to be clear that Dad was a dog lover. I have memories of him later on rolling on the floor playing with Rosie. But when he got home later that day and we told him about Earl the dog, he wasn’t amused. Which, to me, made it all the funnier.

We were poor-ish and weren’t going to keep seven dogs, so we had to find homes for most of them. We were able to place all the girls but one, a shy, placid little furball. We kept her. That was Rose.

Last to go was Earl. He got placed with the Stuffs, a deal arranged by my Uncle Rudy. Uncle Rudy delivered bread for Kreamo and had a step-brother named Roy Stuff, which I thought was funny, and who lived in a basement, which I found really interesting, with his wife and three sons named Tom, Dick, and Larry, which I also thought was funny.

The Stuff boys wanted the puppy but didn’t care for Early Green Celery as a name. I think it was Tom who renamed Earl Spot. I think Dad was relieved, but I thought it was dumb.

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.

Three Limericks

There once was a work of vers libre
That even while waxing cerebral
Committed the crime
Of internal rhyme
Despite deconstructing Derrida.

We honor the college of Limerick,
Get behind it like giving a Heimlich.
It straddles the Shannon
And teaches the canon,
Though Yeats said the food there made him sick.

Those Superbowl halftime complainers
Who resent those Gen X entertainers?
It just stands to reason
That in the off-season
They return to their role as mansplainers.

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.

The Blogroll

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.

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.

And a few friends-and-associates links:

Kent Beck’s advice for geeks
Tales from the Jar Side
Bookshop.org
Pragmatic Bookshelf

My Day Job

I edit books on technology for The Pragmatic Bookshelf. On Wednesdays they announce new books, and a book I’m editing will be announced in beta form this Wednesday.

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.