Techno-Politics and Tech Culture

Posts about Techno-Politics and Tech Culture. Subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you don't miss anything.
Metacademy Generative AI
There is a profound difference between losing your job to a machine (which has been going on since the advent of automation) and losing your job to another person who has developed skills you have chosen not to develop – which is why I am thrilled to introduce our new, free, online course: Generative AI for Executives. Continue Reading →

web3:// Access Protocol

An impressionist photo of ballerina leaping over the pacific ocean at sunset --ar 16:9 --v 5
The next generation of the World Wide Web (web3) is being built on blockchains using tools and technologies similar to the ones that empower cryptocurrency, NFTs, smart contracts, and the world of DeFi. While there is no agreed-upon technical definition for web3, my favorite philosophical definition is: "A decentralized platform that empowers both users and creators to share in the value they create." It's a nice idea, but how would it actually work? Continue Reading →
Gold Metallic Mad Scientist
Unlike existing, but newly popular, artificial intelligence (AI) systems which are designed to perform specific tasks such as image recognition, speech recognition, and natural language processing, artificial general intelligence (AGI) systems will be super-AI systems that will be able to learn anything and perform intellectual tasks at a level of expertise comparable to or exceeding that of human beings. Continue Reading →

Is AI Going to Take My Job?

Is artificial intelligence here to help me... or take my job? Shelly Palmer speaks with Vanessa Yurkevich on CNN about whether you should be worried, where artificial intelligence is already being used in the workforce, and lessons we can learn from I, Robot. Continue Reading →
Midjourney Second Empire Home
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 →
Midjourney - boy looking towards the future
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 →

The Top 10 Stories of 2022

Top 10
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 →

ChatGPT In Its Own Words

Stable Diffusion
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 →
crypto
In the wake of the FTX implosion, everyone is talking about the pros and cons of cryptocurrency. This week, for clickbait reasons, it’s mostly the cons. Before you offer an opinion about cryptocurrency to your friends or consider formulating a cryptocurrency policy for yourself or your business, you should take a moment to understand that cryptocurrency “crypto” is a catchall phrase, and a lazy one at that. Continue Reading →
Elon Musk
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 →

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