Melanie Michell is an AI researcher and professor at the Santa Fe Institute. In her book “Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans,” she seeks to make artificial intelligence understandable for laypeople, and for the most part, achieves that goal. She begins by discussing the history of artificial intelligence, starting from the “perceptron” and working up to deep learning for natural language. Michell explains each concept in concrete terms and apt metaphors, with minimal technical jargon and math....

Generative AI PC Build Log Why With the emergence of generative AI, I finally had a compelling reason to build a new PC. Most deep learning projects require a dedicated GPU, making them difficult to run even on an M1 MBP. While cloud options like Paperspace and Colab exist, the GPUs they provide access to are limited. Paperspace, for instance, only allows access to the most basic GPU and denied my request for access to the RTX 4000....

A Time Capsule of Startup Interviews “Founders at Work” by Jessica Livingston is a chronicle of startup stories, mostly from startups in the 80s and 90s. The book consists of a series of interviews between Livingston and the founders or early employees of various startups. It feels similar to tuning into a podcast from a decade or two ago, reminiscent of modern equivalents like “How I Built This” or “The SaaS Podcast”....

Summary Made to Stick, by Chip and Dan Heath, explores the art of crafting memorable and influential ideas by outlining six key principles: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Stories (SUCCESs). Through engaging examples and stories, the book demonstrates how to apply these principles to create “sticky” ideas that leave a lasting impact. By overcoming the “Curse of Knowledge” and employing the SUCCESs framework, readers can improve their communication skills across various fields and contexts....

Kodak was once the dominant player in the photography industry, selling disposable cameras, film cartridges, and developing photos. However, they failed to invest in digital cameras, which they had invented. They were making so much money on film that they didn’t want to speed up the process of making the old technology obsolete. This approach made sense to Kodak, but customers increasingly preferred instant digital photos. Now, most Gen-Zs have probably never heard of Kodak....