Zag To The Zig #33 :: Responsible Tech, AI can't follow & Cassettes on Blockchain
🙏 Lots of new subscribers this week. Welcome! Truly happy to have you. 🙏
My name is Gerrie Smits & I consider myself to be a Chief Curiosity Officer. I’m intrigued about digital & technology and how they are (and aren’t) influencing business, economy, people,… Every week I collect a few things worth reading/viewing/bookmarking-for-later. And my favourite emoji is 🙏.
Thanks also for the recommendations and shares. It really does help with expanding the Zag To The Zig audience. 🙏🙏😁
In the Economy Room this week
A reader asked why I didn’t include anything about the bitcoin halving last week. I hadn’t really seen much that went beyond the technical or the speculative. Until I read that the message included in the last block before the halving was pretty symbolic. It read:
NYTimes 09/Apr/2020 With $2.3T Injection, Fed’s Plan Far Exceeds 2008 Rescue
If you know your blockchain or bitcoin history, you may remember that that mirrors the message hidden in the first ever bitcoin block created, which read:
The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.
So, if anything, read about Bitcoin halving, from a spiritual point of view.
While the traditional financial system is using its available tools to create more money (click and chuckle), there are sudden signs of overlap between traditional systems and the bitcoin-world. There was ‘legendary’ (apparently) hedge fund manager Paul Jones backing bitcoin as a plan against inflation (note: he did it publicly - could also mean he’s trying to sell).
And JP Morgan, whose CEO is a legendary crypto-hater, is now extending its services to crypto exchanges. Strange times.Chart of the week. While California is suing Uber and Lyft for not classifying their drivers as employees, this survey shows that 71% of the (American) drivers prefer to remain an independent contractor. That number has gone down after Corona, but still, that’s a major share of drivers.
In the Ethics Corridor
Based on their UK study about people’s attitudes and understanding of digital, the people at DotEveryone are calling for an independent Office for Responsible Technology. Lots of good stats in this too. One to tease you:
Most people have checked their privacy settings (73%), looked for news outside their filter bubble (67%) or used an ad blocker (56%) but people tend to take these actions only occasionally.
In the Tech Basement
Regular readers may know that I’m intrigued by blockchain for its tokenisation- and incentivisation potential. And this week, the Reddit platform announced they are launching a blockchain-based community rewards system. On Ethereum, in case you were wondering. Geeky? Check!
But it’s interesting to see the narrative they’re using. In their cartoon-style intro, they’re using terms like ‘A better future’ & ’Taking back control’. Note: Reddit is geeky, but not small with 430 million active users.
You can’t predict from the future. How our un-mapped and unexpected behaviours during Covid-19 are messing up the AI models.
Machine-learning models trained on normal human behaviour are now finding that normal has changed, and some are no longer working as they should.
Hip-hop artist RAC used blockchain to sell $TAPE-tokens, with each token representing a unique edition of 100 cassette tapes (how ironic). It was an experiment about creating scarcity in a digital world, but DeFi Rate had a good take, asking was it good for Fans or for Profit?
In Singapore the infamous Boston Dynamics robots are being used to remind park visitors to keep a distance (watch the video). The creature also uses its camera to estimate the number of people in the park. Authorities say it won’t collect personal data or use the video to identify individuals.
In the Mirror
Thoroughly enjoyed this old article about the psychological tricks restaurant menus use to make you choose things that are good for them. We’re such suckers!
🏃♀️🏃♀️ How Corona is making us realise the speed at which we are/were living. Apparently, pedestrians have started walking 10 percent faster, just in the 10-year period from 1995 to 2005. Imagine what that must be now!
I’ve been asked by a project for the Archives of the city of Gent to write a letter about/to the post-corona (?) future. I’m prone to give it a try, but at the same time, I hate predicting. Because the present is still so strange. 🔮🔮
Anyway, if you want to indulge in some well-written letters about/to that odd present, check out these meandering thoughts by the likes of Mel Exon. Mel is someone who once invited me to interview for a job in the advertising world, for which I was totally under-qualified. So she’s an inspiration.
Random ZTTZ
On a less introspective note, you know those lonely YouTube Channels, with 1 view-videos. And crappy titles (MOV-9739 anyone)? They now found their rightful place on the Interwebz, through the Astronaut project, which randomly shows a short clip of almost-unseen videos. Hit that Stop Switching button at your own risk.
🏁 End note: 1 thing I’ll be doing this week
I’m interviewing some tourist destinations about how they are trying to stay relevant in these digital times.
🙏