Data-driven Decision Making

After dinner last night, three generations of my family were sitting in the living room discussing the possibility of finding a movie we could all watch together. While this passionate debate about which movies won an Oscar and which were just fan favorites was heating up and heading nowhere, I asked ChatGPT to, "list some great movies that would be appropriate for kids 12-14, parents 32-46, and grandparents." In just under 30 seconds, it helped us find our movie. Amazing! Except… we didn't visit any websites to accomplish our search. As someone who writes and publishes 5,000-7,500 original words each week, the ramifications of this new workflow are profound. Continue Reading →

Yes. This is another article about ChatGPT. But it is also career advice for those of you who love ChatGPT, hate it, fear it, think it's a fad, and wish everyone would stop writing about it and those who are simply not paying attention. No matter where you fall on this spectrum, I want you to think about the following. Continue Reading →

Synthetic media, sometimes referred to as "deepfake" technology, is the use of AI and machine learning to generate realistic, digital media such as images, videos, and audio. This technology is already revolutionizing the creative process as both artists and artisans conscript AI-coworkers for production assistance. But in the coming months, we are likely to see this technology evolve into Generative Synthetic Media (GSM) which we will define (for this essay) as data-driven synthetic media (created in near real time and surfaced in place of traditional media). When fully achieved, GSM will revolutionize human communication. This is a bold claim, so it requires bold evidence. Let's review. Continue Reading →

Can you really use ChatGPT to write better blogs? Unsurprisingly, the work done in partnership with my AI-coworker outperformed work I did alone. Here's the process. Continue Reading →

I have two slides at the end of most of my presentations. One is my investible theses for the upcoming year and the other is stuff that has my attention. As we head into 2023, I thought it might be fun to look at a deck from 2018 and see if I got any of it right five years ago. I'll let you be the judge. Continue Reading →

As 2022 winds down, I thought it would be fun to review the 10 most popular stories by page views on shellypalmer.com. Obviously, 2022 was a transitional year for crypto, the world of decentralized finance, Web3 and the metaverse. It was also "the" year of AI. These stories reflect those trends, although some of the topics may surprise you. Continue Reading →

If you haven't already uploaded your 10-to-20 selfies to Lensa and let it turn you into a superhero, or a rock star, or an astronaut, you should give it a try. It's fun, but it's also instructive. You'll learn about the type and quality of inputs generative AI needs in order to obtain satisfactory results, and you'll experience the workflow and process of consumer-grade generative AI. But most importantly, when the model transforms you into a mystical creature in a cosmic setting, or an anime character, or a cyborg, you will find yourself asking one question: How far can this technology go? Continue Reading →

ChatGPT has been all over the news. Last week, I asked it to help me write a blog post about Facebook – it did a very good job. Yesterday, just for fun, my son Brent and I asked it for 250 word answers to questions about history and philosophy. ChatGPT returned college-level answers. What exactly is ChatGPT? I asked it. Here's its answer to the input "a five paragraph essay describing ChatGPT in your own words." Continue Reading →

I've been joking that my blog has become the "Elon Channel," where it's "All Elon, All the Time." In case you missed it, the organization we knew as Twitter is gone. It took Elon less than a week to fire half the staff and demolish years of goodwill. All that remains is a tech stack and a skeleton crew. Oh, and the threat of thermonuclear name & shame. Continue Reading →

Elon Musk recently wrote, "Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences," he followed with, "Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world." Twitter cannot serve two masters. So, which will it be, "a free-for-all hellscape," or "the most respected advertising platform in the world." Continue Reading →