Saturday, February 04, 2023

Happy Saturday


 

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Brain 'Clutter' and Memory

That older people seem to have memory problems is a cliche and the object of much humor. And while many cliches, stereotypes and other random bits of conventional wisdom are at least partially true, I’m not sure this is one of them. 

It may be that older adults (60-85) actually have better memories than younger people, but we have to sort through so much more information that the retrieval process becomes an occasional issue.

A study from the the journal Trends in Cognitive Science posits an intriguing theory to bolster this view.

The study suggests that the problem may be brain “clutter,” i.e., older people are trying to form too many associations between too many pieces of information.

Or in a shorthand formulation I prefer, maybe we just know too much.

“It’s not that older adults don’t have enough space to store information,” lead author Tarek Amer said. “There’s just too much information that’s interfering with whatever they’re trying to remember.” 

Older adults may have a harder time focusing on one piece of information because irrelevant information can be “stored in the same memory representation as the one that contains the target information,” Amer said. 

Anyway, I like this study for two reasons — one, because it has been my experience that my own memory is noticeably better than most of the younger people I know. 

Second…oops, I can’t remember the second reason.

(I posted an earlier version of this piece a year ago. On a more serious note, I am in no way making light of the tragic cases of dementia that beset some older people. That is an awful disease, one I hope medical science finds a way to eliminate as soon as possible.)

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Friday, February 03, 2023

Consorting With Robots

In my ongoing quest to better understand the potential for chat-happy robots to move into our sphere, I asked you.comwhat she thinks are the best questions to address in a memoir.

Here is what she told me:

“If you are writing a memoir, some of the best questions to ask include: What was your most profound moment in life? What was the most difficult thing you have ever faced? What was the most meaningful lesson you have learned? What are the biggest regrets in your life? What are the most important values that you live by? What was the most significant event or experience that has shaped you? What do you wish you had known when you were younger? What do you want your legacy to be? What would you do differently if you could go back in time?”

Those are not bad for a start.

Next I asked her what followup questions I could ask Adam Schiff now he’s announced he wants to be a senator.

Here are her suggestions:

“When considering follow-up questions for Adam Schiff, it's important to consider his current stance on issues and what he hopes to accomplish if elected as senator. Some good questions to ask him could include:

  • What do you see as the biggest challenges facing California and how would you address them if elected?

  • What are your plans for addressing the state's budget deficit and how can you ensure that the budget process is transparent and accountable?

  • What policies do you support to ensure California's continued economic growth, and how would you ensure they are implemented effectively?

  • How do you plan to tackle the challenge of climate change and what steps would you take to make sure that California is taking a leading role in reducing emissions?

  • What steps could you take to ensure that California's educational system is adequately funded and that students are receiving the best possible education?

  • What is your vision for healthcare in California and how would you ensure that all residents have access to quality care?”

Okay, that’s getting closer to a journalist’s turf. Now I’m beginning to reconsider bow blithely I’ve been dismissing the threat robots pose to reporters and writers.

And I imagine that a politician like Schiff would likely prefer to be interviewed by a chatbot rather than a warm live human reporter like Manu Raju.

My advice to young reporters out there is to consider using tools like ChatGPT and you.com to prepare for interviews. If you like the questions they come up with, use ‘em. But please don’t send the robot to do the interview.

Why? It can’t perceive the non-verbal signs that may prove to be the most important information you will gather.

Thanks to my buddy John Markoff for advice on how to test you.com!

LINKS:

  • When Americans Lost Faith in the News — Half a century ago, most of the public said they trusted the news media. Today, most say they don’t. What happened to the power of the press? (New Yorker)

  • Pentagon tracking suspected Chinese spy balloon over the US (CNN)

  • House votes to kick Rep. Ilhan Omar off Foreign Affairs Committee (CBS)

  • Social Security, Medicare Cuts Sidelined in Debt-Ceiling Talks (WSJ)

  • A lawyer for President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, has asked the Justice Department to investigate close allies of former President Donald Trump and others who he says accessed and disseminated personal data from a laptop that was dropped off at a Delaware computer repair shop in 2019. In a separate letter, they also asked Fox News host Tucker Carlson to apologize for what they say are false and defamatory claims made repeatedly about him. [AP]

  • Laptop email suggests Hunter Biden read newspapers, not classified documents (WP)

  • Adam Schiff gains a major endorsement: Nancy Pelosi (SFC)

  • A group of 20 Republican state attorneys general on Wednesday warned Walgreens and CVS against mailing and distributing pills used for medication abortion. This comes a month after the Food and Drug Administration said abortion pills can be offered at retail pharmacies in the U.S., a major shift in policy that could dramatically expand Americans’ access to such medication. [HuffPost]

  • Biden approval steady after document discovery: AP-NORC Poll (AP)

  • The Supreme Court Considers the Algorithm (Atlantic)

  • Ukraine war: 80 years on, we are facing German tanks again - Putin (BBC)

  • Ukraine Fears New Offensive Is Underway as Russia Masses Troops (NYT)

  • EU pledges to double military aid programme for Ukraine (Guardian)

  • In visit to wartime Kyiv, E.U. sells ‘European dream’ that remains distant (WP)

  • In Beijing, Blinken Seeks to Stabilize Ties (FP)

  • Videos show evidence of escalating crackdown on Iranian protests (WP)

  • Want to build a website? Just ask ChatGPT in plain English (NBC)

  • ChatGPT creator launches subscription service for viral AI chatbot (CNN)

  • We asked the new AI to do some simple rocket science. It crashed and burned (NPR)

  • Why some who experienced police confrontations say Tyre Nichols was right to run (NBC)

  • US imposes visa restrictions on Taliban members involved in repression of women and girls (CNN)

  • PayPal’s parent company will lay off about 7 percent of its work force. (SFC)

  • Silicon Valley’s golden age fades as Big Tech layoffs continue (WP)

  • The Federal Reserve said it had turned a key corner in the fight against high inflation, but that "victory" would still require its benchmark overnight interest rate to be increased further and remain elevated at least through 2023. (Reuters)

  • Scientist Accidentally Discovers The Oldest Brain of Any Vertebrate (ScienceAlert)

  • Australia is removing the British monarch from its bank notes (NBC)

  • Strange Rare Fish From Time of the Dinosaurs Washes Up on East Coast (Newsweek)

  • Video: Shape-shifting robot imitates turtles (Reuters)

  • Child Who Just Lost Balloon Begins Lifelong Battle With Depression (The Onion)

 

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Thursday, February 02, 2023

You.com Likes ChatGPT

Yesterday I wrote and published a piece called “Who’s Afraid of ChatGPT?” My goal was not to further demonize this technology but ultimately to find out how to embrace it, if that proves to be appropriate.

Machine learning has been with us long enough now that it is less a mystery than a puzzle. Unlike humans, it lacks emotional intelligence such as empathy and the spontaneity of situational humor. But it tries.

So as we all feel our way through the new world of A.I.-powered applications, I decided to ask you.com, a competitive product to ChatGPT the same question — whether we humans should be afraid of the latest robotics sensation.

Here is how its chat function answered my question:

“Humans should not fear ChatGPT, the latest AI-powered chatbot technology. ChatGPT is a powerful tool that can be used to help people in many ways. It has been designed with safety and security in mind, so there is no reason to believe it will ever cause harm or put anyone’s data at risk.

“ChatGPT offers numerous benefits for users by providing automated responses that are natural and conversational in nature. This makes it easier for people to interact with computers without having any prior knowledge of programming language or coding skills. Additionally, its ability to learn from conversations allows it to become smarter over time while adapting quickly as new information becomes available within its environment – something humans have difficulty doing on their own due solely based on our limited cognitive abilities when compared against an artificial intelligence such as this one . 

“In conclusion, although some may feel uneasy about the idea of using an AI-based system like ChatGPT due mainly because of unfamiliarity, overall we should not be afraid but instead embrace the potential opportunities this technology provides us . As long as proper security measures are taken, there is no need for concern regarding potential risks associated with using such a powerful tool. So don't hesitate – explore all that Chat GTP has offer!”

Thank you, you.com.

While that answer seems fine as far as it goes in terms of logic, naturally it lacks any of the emotional component implicit in my question.

I asked about fear. There isn’t always a lot of logic when it comes to fear. It’s often irrational. You.com didn’t capture that; it simply tried to convince me not to be afraid.

My experiments with these technologies will continue from time to time in the future.

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Wednesday, February 01, 2023

Who's Afraid of ChatGPT?

 Maybe a better question would be “Who Should be Afraid?” The answer is apparently “everybody.”

But fearing new technologies like this one is pointless. It’s here and it’s not going away so a better strategy is to figure out how to put it to work for you.

One of ChatGPT’s useful applications could be handling annoying tasks like preparing your resume and cover letterduring job searches. Most people have to apply for multiple jobs over weeks or months before they land something, and a robot assistant for the most menial tasks can make that process more bearable.

Creating content in other languages is another possible use of the tool. There’s already Google Translate, of course, but you combine the two in order to perfect a letter or a short report. (Or a blog post.)

There are at least nine other uses listed in one of the articles linked to below.

Meanwhile, one group that need not fear ChatGPT in its present iteration, as I’ve previously noted, is the news business. The app cannot access digital content newer than 2021, so it’s utterly useless for writing a news story.

I’m assuming its creators and competitors will address that weakness fairly soon, however, so editors can become afraid of ChatGPT if they want to join the crowd.

During all of this uproar about this new threat to originality, maybe it’s ChatGPT actually that should be the one afraid — say, of Virginia Woolf.

After all, as ChatGPT explained to me directly, “robots are not yet capable of replicating the creativity, intuition, and emotional intelligence of human workers.”

FURTHER READINGS:

  • The Difference Between Speaking and Thinking —The human brain could explain why AI programs are so good at writing grammatically superb nonsense. (Atlantic)

  • Could ChatGPT Do My Job? (MIT Technology Review)

  • Gmail creator says ChatGPT will destroy Google's business in two years (IE)

  • A.I. Like ChatGPT Is Revealing the Insidious Disease at the Heart of Our Scientific Process (Slate)

  • 11 Things You Can Do With ChatGPT (MakeUseOf)

  • Cheaters beware: ChatGPT maker releases AI detection tool (AP)

  • DeepMind AI is as fast as humans at solving previously unseen tasks (New Scientist)

  • AI Has Successfully Imitated Human Evolution—and Might Do It Even Better (Popular Mechanics)

  • ChatGPT Unleashes Stock Trader Stampede for Everything AI (Bloomberg)

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Tuesday, January 31, 2023

What is Memory?

(NOTE: I have published a few earlier versions of this essay as the idea develops through time.)

Besides journalism, I’ve tried out a number of other careers for limited periods. During the years that my sidelight career was selling Robert Rauschenberg paintings, for example, (see below), I tried to catch up on my limited knowledge of abstract expressionist history.

Inevitably, I was drawn to Rauschenberg's "Erased de Kooning Drawing," an experiment about the limits of art.

At the time the two artists combined on the piece, 1953, I was being instructed to erase my own writings and drawings as a first-grader in school. At the time, we were told that we were to erase our "mistakes" as part of the process of learning how to write and draw correctly.

Rauschenberg, of course, had a very different purpose in mind when he asked Willem de Kooning to produce a drawing that he would erase. He sought to discover whether an artwork could be produced entirely through erasure— the removal of what was once there, sort of like creating a ghost.

It would not be a mistake at all, but an act entirely on purpose. And the result would be a work based only on the memory of what used to be. 

This is, after all, very similar to what happens in life on many occasions. It happens when we lose all of our possessions to fire, theft, loss or a conscious decision to eliminate them from the premises. It happens when we get dementia.

It also is what happens when somebody we love dies.

It is also what happens when autocrats try to erase history, criminals try to cover up crimes, or genocidal maniacs attempt to remove an entire people from the planet.

In the case of the actual erased de Kooning drawing, Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns carefully matted and framed the work, with Johns inscribing the following words below the now-obliterated piece:

"ERASED de KOONING DRAWING"
"ROBERT RAUSCHENBERG"
"1953"

The psychologically loaded history of the creation remains otherwise unknowable.

But as long as we remain aware of what happened, what was once drawn, and what was once seen, it is as real as we need it to be.

Just like our memories.

***

And this post from 2006:

Hurricanes have followed me around for years. My friend Gus is a contractor on Sanibel Island off of Florida's Gulf Coast. We got to know each other because both of us had daughters who were home schooling. After one big storm hit the islands, Gus drove around helping people do repairs and get their lives back in order. He did it in a neighborly kind of way, not for money or expecting to find clients.

One man he helped on Sanibel's sister island, Captiva, was named "Bob." He appreciated Gus's help so much he did become a client. "Bob" turned out to be Robert Rauschenberg, and over the next few years, as Gus built his seaside studio, the artist paid for his work not only with cash but with original paintings as well.

To make a very long story short, Gus called me and asked if knew anyone who might like to buy them. Now, don't get too excited, because over the next few years I only managed to sell three Rauschenbergs for Gus, but that helped him and his family make it through some pretty down years.

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Monday, January 30, 2023

So You're Fired

The wave of layoffs sweeping through the tech sector this winter is hitting a generation of workers for the very first time.

Thus it comes as a shock.

It is entirely natural for their self-confidence to take a hit, and for them to wonder what they might have done differently to avoid this fate.

To a few, it will seem like the end of the world.

But as with other traumatic events, like breakups and losing big games, the shock of being laid off wears off over time. During my 57 years in the chaotic media industry, I was laid off at least a half dozen times. 

I realize my case is an extreme one, but the general principle of how to adjust to being “let go” holds — take a breath, consider your options, and get ready for the unenviable task of job-searching in a down market.

In modern life, so much of our identity gets wrapped up in what we do for a living and where we do it that many of us can temporarily forget that we are so much more than our jobs.

In fact, being laid off, especially during recessionary periods, probably says more about your former employer than it does about you. And it just might be your big break; in any event, over time most people are going to be just fine.

Of course, for some being laid off will prove to be disastrous. It happens. Losing a job at the wrong moment can create a crisis that some people don’t recover from. So I won’t make light of that.

Perhaps because my own work history is such an open secret in my own social circles, some laid-off people ask me for advice. But it’s difficult to offer them anything much different from the usual cliches.

“Change is good.”

“It’s the company’s loss.”

“You’ll land on your feet.”

In vast majority of their cases those cliches will prove to be true. Many will find better jobs; some will find new careers. It is to a large degree up to them. Besides, ultimately in life it’s not how you fall down but how you bounce back. 

And that’s a cliche worth remembering.

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Sunday, January 29, 2023

Underground Teacher (Afghan Report 53)

(This is the fifty-third and latest in an ongoing series of conversations I’m having with an Afghan friend about conditions in his country under Taliban rule. I am protecting his identity for his safety. Newer subscribers may not know the background. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer teaching high school English in Afghanistan over 50 years ago and have maintained an active interest and contacts in the country ever since. — DW)

Dear David:

In one of the cold and remote villages of Bamiyan, while other family members are still asleep, Razieh (a pseudonym) gets up at 4 am every day. She goes straight to the oven in the kitchen, puts some firewood in the oven and lights a fire. 

Every ten minutes she puts some new logs on the fire as it continues to get hot. After an hour it is ready for cooking bread, so she pastes corn meal in every part of the oven. It will be ready in an hour – well before it  is time for her father, brother, and mother to sit around the table and eat breakfast. 

Meanwhile, she gets ready for school.

At eight a.m. Razieh goes to the village mosque where she secretly teaches boys and girls mathematics, physics, and chemistry. Her students are in the fourth grade through the twelfth grade. Razieh herself  has been studying at the university for the past four years; she teaches these younger children during her winter vacations. 

Before the fall of the previous government in August 2021, she had more than 100 students every winter. Now, there are less than 70. She told me via phone that the girls are less interested in studying now, and think they had better learn other skills such as sewing. They are frustrated that they will never be able to officially go to school again, as per the Taliban. 

The type of secret teaching that Razieh is doing in Afghanistan is also known as underground teaching. It first became popular during the first Taliban era in 1996-2001. 

Afghanistan is the only country where education is prohibited for women. However, most families understand that education is the only way to escape from poverty, darkness and oppression, so they are  trying to provide an alternative way to educate girls. Some have their girls take online courses, which Razieh provides as well. 

But both the online education system and secret in-person education have their limitations here. Due to the extreme poverty of Afghan people, most families are unable to afford  laptops or internet service. 

Meanwhile, people are afraid to send their daughters to the secret education centers because of the danger they will be discovered. Many of the girls who attend class are not mentally ready to learn, Razieh explains, because they fear they will be arrested for participating in such a class.

Nevertheless, the courageous underground teachers persist with this illegal work. They are truly our national heroes.

Razieh is one of those heroes. She also is my sister.

(Endnote: Readers who are unfamiliar with Afghan society may wonder how Razieh is able to teach an underground class in the village mosque when the Taliban government has forbidden girls to be educated. There are a number of reasons. First, her village is Hazara and composed of more than 100 families, who are Shia moslems as opposed to Sunni, the dominant sect in Afghanistan. There are six Shia mosques in the village and only one mullah. In addition, the Shia people do not oppose education for girls and they do not support the Taliban, who are Sunni. Also, there are no Taliban living in the village and they only visit about once a month. Thus, the secret schooling occurs without Talib detection.—DW)

LINKS:

  • Taliban warn women can't take entry exams at universities (AP)

  • Afghan cartoonist, now a refugee, sheds light on plight of women (Al Jazeera)

  • ChatGPT has only been around for 2 months and is causing untold chaos (Insider)

  • What is ChatGPT? Everything to know about OpenAI's free A.I. essay writer and how it works (USA Today)

  • Real estate agents say they can’t imagine working without ChatGPT now (CNN)

  • Big Tech was moving cautiously on AI. Then came ChatGPT. (WP)

  • We Tried to Call the Top Donors to George Santos’ 2020 Campaign. Many Don’t Seem to Exist. (Mother Jones)

  • Republicans confront bitter divide; no clear path forward (AP)

  • Biden's student debt relief program has approved over 16 million applications (Axios)

  • Student loans: Biden has no plan B yet if Supreme Court strikes down loan forgiveness (Yahoo)

  • Tyre Nichols Cried in Anguish. Memphis Officers Kept Hitting. (NYT)

  • Memphis police unit involved in fatal arrest axed after brutal footage released (Independent)

  • Police say 3 dead, 4 hurt in latest California shooting (AP)

  • Trump makes his first big move in New Hampshire (Politico)

  • Can Anything Be Done to Assuage Rural Rage? (NYT)

  • Paul Pelosi attacker David DePape makes chilling call to TV station: 'I'm so sorry I didn't get more of them' (Fox)

  • Who among us doesn't have a few classified documents at home? (Reuters)

  • How Apple Has Steered Clear Of Layoffs Amidst Big Tech Job Cuts (Forbes)

  • Total of 321 heavy tanks promised to Ukraine - Ukraine ambassador to France (Reuters)

  • Air Force general predicts war with China in 2025, tells officers to prep by firing 'a clip' at a target, and 'aim for the head' (NBC)

  • Airline passengers endured a 13-hour flight to nowhere after their plane to New Zealand was forced to turn back mid-flight (Insider)

  • ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ debuted 50 years ago — and shaped a generation (WP)

  • CDC urges people with weak immune systems to take extra precautions after Covid subvariants knock out Evusheld (CNBC)

  • The doctor who believed he found a cure for AIDS in goat blood. (Reveal)

  • This Rare Asteroid May Be Worth 70,000 Times the Global Economy. Now NASA Is Sending a Spaceship to Explore It. (Robb Report)

  • Scientists Tried to Break Cuddling. Instead, They Broke 30 Years of Research. (Atlantic)

  • Six Exercises to Help Avoid Slipping and Falling Down (WSJ)

  • Report Reveals Jesus Christ May Have Benefited From Father’s Influential Position To Gain High-Powered Role As Lord And Savior (The Onion)

 

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