published, an AI pig, and can you work in VR all day?
Hello my fellow futurists! It's heating up, stay cool out there!
1 life update 👆
I got a new client a bit back, my first official writing gig. The client found me via my writing and approached me. I'm officially ghostwriting for the client now. We got one of my pieces for them published. Though it's published under their name, it's a strange feeling to realize I could get my writing published.
It's left me pondering things. I'd like more writing gigs, and I think I'll take a stab and pitching some of my own drafts to publications. I know the bar of online writing isn't super high, but apparently I can clear it.
Sorry for the little humblebrag here, but it feels good to have a writing client that pays well, and to have some of my words out there in reputable publications.
1 crazy thing 👆
AI, it's AI.
AI is one of those things that most people don't understand well, those that do are kinda freaked out, and they should be.
The implications are enormous.
What happens when there's computer software that writes it's own code? What if that software is smarter than us, faster than us, better than us in every single way except the capacity to feel?
The thing about AI is that there's no clear definition. Most of the time it's a moving target.
Specialized AI can already do astounding things, like generate Val Kilmer's voice for a movie (futurism.com). Or even create art, like this image of a pig riding a motorcycle (dall-e 2 insta).
AI is already seeping into out daily lives, helping us with finances, internet searches, recipes, directions, and more.
Soon it'll be driving big rigs down highways (Bloomberg).
It's just that we haven't quite yet created an AI with general intelligence, but we will. We're getting close and a lot of very smart people are working on it. That's when the doomsayers say humanity loses, SkyNet takes over, we have to send John Connor back in time.... and the optimists think we'll enter into a glorious new era of human history, a utopian, computer controlled one.
I don't know what will happen, but rest assured it will change everything. The society we live in 50 years from now will be so different from today it's impossible, actually impossible to predict how.
Keep an eye on AI.
2 Metaverse things ✌
🤕 you can't stay in VR all day
In a surprise to literally no one, researchers found that staying in VR all day is horrible.
They had 18 people wear an Oculus Quest 2 and hang out in a virtual office all day for 8 hours. Of course all the research subjects got headaches, said their eyes hurt, and that it was awful.
🥽 new headset prototypes
In slightly old news, Meta came out with a video showing off various prototypes. It's fascinating to see where VR headsets are going: sleeker, better resolution, etc, etc.
Maybe when all these prototypes are merged into the one headset to rule them all we'll be able to work in VR all day and feel great, till then keep your VR sessions to 90 minutes max.
If headsets were perfect, would you work in VR?
Let me know. Just hit reply, I read and respond to everyone!
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Have an awesome week and see you next time!
Daniel
Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by around 2029. Follow that out further to, say, 2045, we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.
Ray Kurzweil