Treat AI News Like a River, Not a Bucket

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the recent developments in the AI industry, including the announcements by OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, and the author's perspective on the overwhelming amount of AI-related news and information.

🙋 Q&A

[01] AI Industry Developments

1. What were the key announcements made by OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft in the past week?

• OpenAI announced GPT-4o and the disbandment of their superalignment team, with the resignations of Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike. They also faced controversies over strict ex-employee NDA requirements and Scarlett Johansson's revelation that she never agreed to OpenAI using her voice for GPT-4o.
• Google announced several AI-related products and features at their I/O conference, including Gemini Flash, Veo, Project Astra, and a new AI feature for generating responses to queries.
• Microsoft had the Copilot + PC event, where they announced the "Recall" feature, an AI-powered surveillance tool that takes screenshots of the user's PC every few seconds.

2. How did the author feel about the overwhelming amount of AI-related news and information?

• The author felt like they were trying to "empty an infinitely deep bucket of AI news" and found the amount of information and controversies to be tiring.
• The author recognized that while the high-quality content, both good and bad, provided valuable material for writing articles, they also felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it.

[02] Coping with Information Overload

1. What approach did the author find to be a better solution for dealing with the "haystack-sized pile of AI news needles"?

• The author found the approach suggested by Oliver Burkeman, which is to treat the "to read" pile like a river (a stream that flows past you, and from which you pluck a few choice items) instead of a bucket (which demands that you empty it).
• The author found this mindset to be more liberating, as it recognizes that it's not possible to consume all the available information, and that it's not one's job to do so.

2. What was the author's conclusion on dealing with information overload?

• The author concluded that if something is impossible, it's best not to try to do it, and to avoid beating oneself up for failing to clear an inherently unfeasible backlog of information.
• The author found this to be a "productivity technique to beat all productivity techniques" - finally internalizing the fact that what's genuinely impossible cannot actually be done.