The hottest Technology Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Technology Topics

Introducing Chiplets

The Chip Letter • 6372 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Hardware Semiconductors Innovation
  1. The newsletter is introducing 'Chiplets,' shorter and more varied posts for the readers.
  2. Readers have the option to opt-in to receive 'Chiplets' in their inbox to avoid filling it with too many emails.
  3. The 'Chiplets' will cover a mix of historical and current topics in a more informal and fun way, offering a new format for readers.

substack f***'d up and now we have to talk about it

astrology for writers • 9512 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Tech Ethics Content Moderation Online Communities Digital Publishing
  1. There are Nazis on Substack, and the platform's founders shirk responsibility for content moderation.
  2. The issue of ethical consumerism is complex and challenging, with no pure choices under capitalism.
  3. Supporting marginalized artists may involve navigating difficult choices between audience support and distribution channels, like Substack.

No, Sora has not “learned physics”

Marcus on AI • 3589 implied HN points • 02 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Physics Modeling
  1. Sora is not a reliable source for understanding how the world works, as it focuses more on how things look visually.
  2. Sora's videos often depict objects behaving in ways that defy physics or biology, indicating a lack of understanding of physical entities.
  3. The inconsistencies in Sora's videos highlight the difference between image sequence prediction and actual physics, emphasizing that Sora is more about predicting images than modeling real-world objects.

Mantic Monday 2/19/24

Astral Codex Ten • 4473 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Prediction Markets Forecasting Blockchain
  1. AI forecasters are becoming more prevalent in prediction markets, with the potential for bots to compete against humans in forecasting events.
  2. FutureSearch.ai is a new company building an AI-based forecaster that prompts itself with various questions to estimate probabilities.
  3. The integration of AI in prediction markets like Polymarket could increase market participation and accuracy, offering a new way to predict outcomes on various topics.

Death of a Chatbot, body blow to an industry

Marcus on AI • 4693 implied HN points • 17 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Chatbots Ethics AI
  1. A chatbot provided false information and the company had to face the consequences, highlighting the potential risks of relying on chatbots for customer service.
  2. The judge held the company accountable for the chatbot's actions, challenging the common practice of blaming chatbots as separate legal entities.
  3. This incident could impact the future use of large language models in chatbots if companies are held responsible for the misinformation they provide.
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The Irony and the Agony of Elon Musk's Lawsuit against OpenAI

Marcus on AI • 3116 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Lawsuit Mission Ethics Innovation
  1. Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI highlights how the organization changed from its initial mission, raising concerns about its commitment to helping humanity.
  2. The lawsuit emphasizes the importance of OpenAI honoring its original promises and mission, rather than seeking financial gains.
  3. The legal battle between Musk and OpenAI involves complex motives and the potential impact on AI development and its alignment with humane values.

Product security: barking up the wrong tree

lcamtuf’s thing • 2332 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Security Software Enterprise Coding Vulnerability
  1. The focus on product security often overshadows the more critical aspect of enterprise security.
  2. Enterprise security faces challenges like employee actions that can bypass security measures, demonstrating the need for a paradigm shift.
  3. Successful security programs accept the inevitability of compromise and prioritize detection, response, and containment over aiming for perfect defenses.

On Devin

thezvi • 1963 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Software Coding Automation Safety
  1. Devin, an AI software engineer, is showcasing impressive abilities such as debugging and building websites autonomously.
  2. The introduction of AI agents like Devin raises concerns about potential risks, such as improper long-term coding considerations and job disruptions.
  3. Using an AI like Devin introduces significant challenges related to safety, reliability, and trust, prompting the need for careful isolation and security measures.

Eight More 8-Bit Era Microprocessors

The Chip Letter • 4111 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Hardware Design History Innovation
  1. Designs that were not commercially successful can still be interesting and hold value for learning.
  2. Intel's 8085 microprocessor, while not a bad design, was overshadowed by Zilog's Z80 due to lack of major improvements.
  3. Signetics 2650 microprocessor faced limitations such as delayed time to market and segmented memory, showing the importance of timely releases and memory efficiency.

No, RAG is probably not going to rescue the current situation

Marcus on AI • 3392 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Tech industry AI Ethics Research
  1. In Silicon Valley, accountability for promises is often lacking, especially with over $100 billion invested in areas like the driverless car industry with little to show for it.
  2. Retrieval Augmentation Generation (RAG) is a new hope for enhancing Large Language Models (LLMs), but it's still in its early stages and not a guaranteed solution yet.
  3. RAG may help reduce errors in LLMs, but achieving reliable artificial intelligence output is a complex challenge that won't be easily solved with quick fixes or current technology.

Why Did Social Media Go to War Against Writers?

The Honest Broker • 23970 implied HN points • 22 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Social media Platforms Writers Content creation
  1. Social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are becoming hostile towards writers, leading many to leave.
  2. Substack and similar platforms are providing alternative models that support writers and creators more effectively.
  3. The economics of social media platforms prioritize generating revenue from ads and scrolling, making it challenging for long-form content like articles to thrive.

Seven Predictions For Tech in 2024

Big Technology • 9632 implied HN points • 22 Dec 23
🕹 Technology AI Virtual reality Social media Market Analysis Autonomous Vehicles
  1. Generative AI will advance in 2024 with new capabilities like better conversation retention and reasoning.
  2. The year 2024 is predicted to be significant for mixed reality advancements, integrating AI avatars and assistants.
  3. Tech industry forecasts include Elon Musk selling X, Meta's market cap reaching $1 trillion, and NVIDIA facing increased competition.

A Year In Chips

The Chip Letter • 8222 implied HN points • 30 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Semiconductors Programming Languages Hardware Microcontrollers
  1. The Chip Letter had 75 posts, over 500,000 views, and gained over 7,000 new subscribers in 2023.
  2. Highlighted posts included the story of Erlang at WhatsApp, the disappearance of minicomputers, and a celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Integrated Circuit.
  3. 2024 will bring posts on the history of microcontrollers, Moore's Law, the Motorola 6800, '8-bit', GPUs, TPUs, and more, with a 20% discount available for new annual subscriptions.

Sora Can’t Handle the Truth

Marcus on AI • 3392 implied HN points • 17 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Data Errors Training Data Images
  1. Large language models like Sora often make up information, leading to errors like hallucinations in their output.
  2. Systems like Sora, despite having immense computational power and being grounded in both text and images, still struggle with generating accurate and realistic content.
  3. Sora's errors stem from its inability to comprehend global context, leading to flawed outputs even when individual details are correct.

The Popehat Report Is Moving To Beehiiv

The Popehat Report • 4611 implied HN points • 30 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Blogging Platforms Social media
  1. The Popehat Report is moving to Beehiiv, a different platform for blogs and newsletters.
  2. Ken White made the decision to switch platforms for several reasons, including the opportunity for design changes and a more 'bloggy' feel.
  3. The new platform will allow for easy subscription management and Ken White will still be present on Substack as a co-host on Serious Trouble.

Marshall McLuhan on Why Content Moderation is a Red Herring

After Babel • 2883 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Social media Childhood Content Moderation Online safety Tech Ethics
  1. Content moderation is essential, but focusing solely on it overlooks larger issues related to the harmful effects of platforms on kids
  2. The harmful impact of social media on children is not just about the content they consume, but also about the changes in childhood due to excessive screen time
  3. Implementing norms like delaying smartphones until high school could help in restoring a healthier, play-based childhood for kids

You Are Not The Man In The Arena

Where's Your Ed At • 24184 implied HN points • 30 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Startup Culture Tech industry Venture Capital Cryptocurrency Artificial Intelligence
  1. The man in the arena speech by Theodore Roosevelt emphasizes the importance of taking action over criticism.
  2. Chamath Palihapitiya symbolizes a detrimental mindset in Silicon Valley of valuing image over actual value creation.
  3. The tech industry's obsession with funding specific kinds of founders and companies has created a harmful monoculture that prioritizes profit over societal impact.

There's Probably Nothing We Can Do About This Awful Deepfake Porn Problem

Freddie deBoer • 4236 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Internet Censorship Communication AI Deepfake
  1. In the age of the internet, censoring content is extremely challenging because of the global spread of digital infrastructure.
  2. Efforts to stop the spread of harmful content like deepfake porn may not be entirely successful due to the structure of the modern internet.
  3. Acknowledging limitations in controlling information dissemination doesn't equate to a lack of will to address concerning issues.

How Do You Make Email and Texts Steal Less Time?

Culture Study • 2654 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Communication Productivity Social media
  1. Emails, texts, and messaging apps can make us worse at maintaining deep friendships by offering false comforts and distractions that replace meaningful connections.
  2. Efficiency in emails and texts is important, but it's crucial not to let these tools take over our lives and prevent us from engaging in activities we truly value like hanging out with friends or pursuing hobbies.
  3. The goal is to communicate in more present and meaningful ways, where our attention isn't constantly divided. Finding a balance between digital communication and real-life interactions is key.

The Panel Reacts: Is the Vision Pro for Everyone, or Just Enthusiasts?

Big Technology • 3878 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Tech news Virtual reality Apple Gadgets Podcasts
  1. The Apple Vision Pro headset has impressive technology like mixed reality and a comfortable design, but its high price raises questions on its target audience.
  2. Insiders believe that the Vision Pro may be more suited for developers and enterprise users due to its productivity potential, rather than appealing to the general consumer market.
  3. The Vision Pro's unique design and solitary usage may affect its adoption speed, with opinions split on its potential success in the long term.

Open Thread 311

Astral Codex Ten • 5574 implied HN points • 15 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI AI Alignment Machine Learning
  1. Weekly open thread for discussions and questions on various topics.
  2. AI art generators still have room for improvement in handling tough compositionality requests.
  3. Reminder about the PIBBSS Fellowship, a fully-funded program in AI alignment for PhDs and postdocs from diverse fields.

Gemini: how did we end up here?

lcamtuf’s thing • 2166 implied HN points • 02 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Language Models Big Tech Content Moderation
  1. The development of large language models (LLMs) like Gemini involves mechanisms like reinforcement learning from human feedback, which can lead to biases and quirky responses.
  2. Concerns arise about the use of LLMs for automated content moderation and the potential impact on historical and political education for children.
  3. The shift within Big Tech towards paternalistic content moderation reflects a move away from the libertarian culture predominant until the mid-2010s, highlighting evolving perspectives on regulating information online.

Introducing Your Weekly Stack

read • 38031 implied HN points • 07 Jun 23
🕹 Technology News Email Writing
  1. Substack is introducing a new email digest called Your Weekly Stack to help readers discover new stories and writers on the platform.
  2. Your Weekly Stack will be sent every Wednesday, providing a roundup of curated posts for subscribers.
  3. Readers can provide feedback on Your Weekly Stack and opt out at any time if they do not find it suitable.

Happy 1st Birthday, GPT-4

Marcus on AI • 1380 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Applications Progress Competition
  1. There seems to be a possible plateau in GPT-4's capability, with no one decisively beating it yet.
  2. Despite challenges, there has been progress in discovering applications and putting GPT-4 type models into practice.
  3. Companies are finding putting Large Language Models into real-world use challenging, with many initial expectations proving unrealistic.

The Open/Closed/Open Principle

Software Design: Tidy First? • 1565 implied HN points • 12 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Software Design Isolation Experimentation
  1. In software design, there are ordinary phases (small changes) and revolutionary phases (fundamental changes) - understanding when each is needed is important.
  2. Revolutionary design violates the open/closed principle by requiring new elements and relationships that don't fit with the existing design.
  3. Revolutionary changes in design require different values and care compared to ordinary design - they are essential for accommodating new types of features.

Take on the Kubernetes Resume Challenge

Cloud Irregular • 3104 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Cloud Computing Programming Training Community
  1. The Cloud Resume Challenge community is launching a Kubernetes Challenge throughout March to help individuals build their Kubernetes skills by deploying a basic e-commerce website.
  2. The challenge focuses on learning the operations of a K8s cluster such as configuration, scaling, monitoring, and persistence, offering guidance to prevent going off track.
  3. Participants will work through the challenge together over 4 weeks in the CRC Discord server, with special incentives for those who complete it.

Open Thread 317

Astral Codex Ten • 2340 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Social media AI Data
  1. Some users who were supposed to be unbanned were not truly unbanned, leading to a need for them to reach out to get it fixed.
  2. Substack acknowledges issues with page and comment loading speed, with plans to improve that in the future.
  3. GPT-6's training might require only 0.1% of the world's computers, according to Ben Todd's findings, a significant discrepancy from previous estimations.

Has Google gone too woke? Why even the biggest models still struggle with guardrails

Marcus on AI • 2603 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Data Bias Machine Learning
  1. Google's large models struggle with implementing proper guardrails, despite ongoing investments and cultural criticisms.
  2. Issues like presenting fictional characters as historical figures, lacking cultural and historical accuracy, persist with AI systems like Gemini.
  3. Current AI lacks the ability to understand and balance cultural sensitivity with historical accuracy, showing the need for more nuanced and intelligent systems in the future.

Big Tech Myths And Facts: Vision Pro, Google Culture, Digital Ad Market Edition

Big Technology • 3878 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Big Tech AI Digital Advertising Company Culture Revenue
  1. Big Tech companies are experiencing a mix of record revenue and deep layoffs as they navigate the costs of developing new technologies like AI and mixed reality.
  2. Apple may face challenges with the Vision Pro as it might not reach mass-market success until 2030 or beyond, despite initial hype.
  3. Google is acknowledging the need to address its slow-moving culture by simplifying its organizational structure and removing layers to improve efficiency.

🌍📈 The world is a less impoverished and more equal place than you think

Faster, Please! • 1736 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Business Policy Health Clean Energy
  1. Productivity and worker pay have increased together over the years, contrary to popular belief.
  2. Income inequality has actually decreased since 2007, suggesting concerns might be overstated or outdated.
  3. Global poverty and inequality have declined since the 1980s, even after adjusting for systematic survey misreporting.

The Panel Reacts: OpenAI Fires CEO Sam Altman

Big Technology • 10258 implied HN points • 18 Nov 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics
  1. CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, was fired due to lack of candid communication with the board.
  2. Altman's departure has raised concerns about the future of OpenAI and its AGI mission.
  3. Industry experts are surprised by the sudden firing and speculate on the impact of losing Altman's leadership.