repair and remain, humanity in the age of generative AI, just ask for help

Happy saturday, friends.

 

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Mood

Cool things curated in our universe

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Instead of new year's resolutions, I like this past year review template:

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An epic read on how to do the slow, hard, good work of staying put.

 

 

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We're deep down the generative AI rabbit hole thinking about how it will change things. Some thoughts we've collected:

 

 

I largely agree with this: I really think how you feel about AI comes down to whether you believe art is about producing things (images, objects, data files, “content”) or about a way of operating in the world as an intellectual, spiritual, and emotional creature.

 

Also this - because the world is messy: There are problems that humans rather than computers will have to solve not because computers couldn’t eventually solve them, but because in real life, and especially in organizational life, we keep changing our conception of what the problem is and what our goals are.

 

*To me, the scariest thing about generative AI is that predicting its impact is so hard. Just a year ago, we thought AI would come for blue collar jobs. Now, it looks like it will replace many white collar jobs long before robotics replace people who clean. Part of the challenge is that the creators themselves (OpenAI and others) don’t know what these systems are for. The time is ripe for more inspiring, coherent narratives of how this technology should fit into our lives. The technology exists - but what do we want from it?

 

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Reminds me of death to bullshit and how i experience the web today.

 

 

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From Steve Jobs: Asking for help is a superpower. 

Reminds me of this great excerpt from Amanda Palmer's fantastic book: Asking for help with shame says: You have the power over me. Asking with condescension says: I have the power over you. But asking for help with gratitude says: We have the power to help each other… Those who can ask without shame are viewing themselves in collaboration with—rather than in competition with—the world

 

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Curator spotlight

 

trend forecaster & cultural futurist

 

Rabbit hole: Emotional Hygiene

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According to the American Psychological Association, stress returned to pre-pandemic levels earlier this year, a situation that is mostly affecting Gen Z cohorts. As the first generation to be true digital natives, this demographic is - among other, multiple worries - constantly exposed to highly distressing social media content. Even within this punctual context, practicing good mental hygiene is gaining attention as a continuous process, as the matter rapidly attracts mainstream awareness and support. Ideally, this leads to more open, communicative, aided, and vulnerable communities; in time, culminating in societies where mental health becomes increasingly addressed and normalized. In the coming decade, emotion regulation and management will become a standard daily practice, a normal matter of hygiene.

 

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Renowned physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté is a sought after expert on addiction, trauma, and childhood development. In this brilliant episode of Pulling the Thread, he discusses various themes revolving around the relationship between stress and illness, a subject he's clinically explored over the course of four decades.

 

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Granted Wondermind falls somewhere half way between a reading and a viewing, it's a substantial platform to explore the topic. Launched in late 2021 by Selena Gomez, the project is an impressive effort to change the way in which her large fan base thinks about mental health. A company she's created with her mother, the effort centers around destigmatizing and democratizing the access to valuable information and resources to improve mental health.

 

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A plethora of new services currently exist to help people monitor their emotions. Thyself is worth noting given its unusual format. Acting as a browser extension, Thyself supports users in mastering their mental health by encouraging them to track their daily emotions by encouraging self-awareness and using emotional labeling. When it comes to more physical - brick and mortar like - projects, Self Space is setting a new standard. The health shop just opened a storefront location in London to provide anyone with flexible and on-demand mental health care, allowing people to pop in for a session in the same way they would for a manicure or a haircut. Other noteworthy ventures include Flow Lab, a personalized training app that increases emotional and mental fitness, or Sit with Self, an unorthodox counseling service based in Australia.

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