The hottest Future Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Maybe women should design our sci-fi future

The Novelleist • 1411 implied HN points • 13 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Gender Technology Future Art Literature
  1. Reimagining the design of our technological future with more feminine perspectives can lead to more visually appealing, sustainable, and community-oriented innovations.
  2. Women-led tech companies often prioritize healthcare, environmental conservation, and community well-being over traditional futuristic themes like cars and spaceships.
  3. By encouraging more women sci-fi writers to envision the future and women technologists to build it, we can create a more diverse, inclusive, and beautiful vision for our technological advancements.
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Strategies for an Accelerating Future

One Useful Thing • 1033 implied HN points • 20 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Machine Learning Innovation Applications Future
  1. Advancements in AI, such as larger memory capacity in models like Gemini, are enhancing AI's ability for superhuman recall and performance.
  2. Improvements in speed, like Groq's hardware for quick responses from AI models, are making AI more practical and efficient for various tasks.
  3. Leaders should consider utilizing AI in their organizations by assessing what tasks can be automated, exploring new possibilities made possible by AI, democratizing services, and personalizing offerings for customers.

🎦🌌 Dystopian Hollywood vs. a tech-optimist, Up Wing future

Faster, Please! • 731 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
🎭️ Culture Film Technology Society Future Entertainment
  1. Popular sci-fi often portrays new technology harming humanity instead of helping, reflecting societal concerns and fears.
  2. Science fiction has shifted from optimistic visions of the future to dystopian and pessimistic outlooks, impacting our ability to strive for a better future.
  3. Movies and entertainment choices can reflect our core values and beliefs, influencing the success of different types of films in varying markets.

Google's Gemini Advanced: Tasting Notes and Implications

One Useful Thing • 861 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Artificial Intelligence Models Future
  1. Gemini Advanced is a GPT-4 class model, offering strengths and weaknesses compared to other advanced AI models.
  2. Gemini Advanced reveals the potential for emergent properties in large AI models, showing hints of 'ghosts' or unique intelligence.
  3. Google's Gemini Advanced hints at a future where AI serves as powerful integrated personal assistants, differentiating itself from other AI models.

Who to read to keep up with AI

Meaningness • 698 implied HN points • 06 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Blog Authors Future
  1. The post recommends three different authors to read to stay updated on AI: Zvi Mowshowitz, Arvind Narayanan, and Jon Stokes.
  2. Each of these authors brings a unique perspective to the discussion on AI, covering different aspects and opinions on the future of AI.
  3. The authors fall into different quadrants regarding their views on AI's future, touching on varying levels of power, impact, and potential risks in the field.

AI #45: To Be Determined

Don't Worry About the Vase • 896 implied HN points • 04 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Legal Future Innovation
  1. Many people are becoming increasingly concerned about the potential risks of advanced AI technologies, as the complexity of the alignment problem becomes more apparent.
  2. Some politicians, like Senator Cory Booker, are expressing worries about the societal impacts of AI technology and its current prevalence in daily life.
  3. Even with concerns, there are still lighthearted and creative discussions about the future of AI, including speculative scenarios involving children and AI-powered career choices.

Response to Tyler Cowen's Existential risk, AI, and the inevitable turn in human history

Don't Worry About the Vase • 2464 implied HN points • 28 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Predictions Ethics Innovation Future
  1. Predictions about the future are hard, especially about technological advancements like AI.
  2. Existential risks from AI should not be underestimated, as they can lead to potentially negative outcomes.
  3. It is important to carefully consider the consequences of advancing AI technology and not rush into decisions that may have long-term impacts.

🤖 AI and the economy: scenarios for a world with artificial general intelligence

Faster, Please! • 456 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Economy Future Automation Labor
  1. Artificial General Intelligence is a concept that doesn't exist yet and may never be achieved, but some experts believe it's coming soon.
  2. AI is viewed as a tool to enhance human capabilities and create new opportunities rather than a threat to job security.
  3. The impact of AI on the economy will depend on whether there is a limit to the complexity of tasks humans can perform.

Reid Hoffman on The Best Possible Future

The Generalist • 500 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Future Science
  1. Reid Hoffman discusses AI's potential and risks in the final edition of 'Letters to a Young Investor's' first series.
  2. The conversation delves into the importance of envisioning a positive future enabled by technology, rather than focusing solely on dystopian scenarios.
  3. Reid Hoffman emphasizes the need to proactively steer towards creating a future that is radically better than our current trajectory, despite acknowledging the challenges technology presents.

The Future of Travel Writing

Talking Travel Writing • 648 implied HN points • 03 Oct 23
🏝 Travel Future Narrative Diversity Evolution
  1. The future of travel writing involves a shift towards more diverse voices and a focus on sustainability and responsible travel.
  2. Guidebooks of the future will prioritize providing a human context to travel experiences that AI cannot offer.
  3. Travel writing is expected to see a resurgence, with an emphasis on self-reflection, diversity, and challenging traditional travel norms.

Our Slovenly Willingness

The Absent-Minded Professor • 275 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Devices Ethics Innovation Critique Future
  1. Apple's Vision Pro is pushing for a future of computing that may erode our sense of community.
  2. The increasing closeness of technology to us poses a new layer of distraction and potential harm to individual and communal well-being.
  3. Critically examining our reliance on technology can help us preserve our connection to nature and community over a machine-driven lifestyle.

When Slavery Came Home

Non-Boring History • 550 implied HN points • 20 Jun 23
💾 History Slavery Future
  1. The post discusses facing difficult truths from the past to create a better future.
  2. It mentions the dark secrets of a historical place in rural Cheshire, near Manchester, England.
  3. Readers can access more content and archives by subscribing for a 7-day free trial.

What is a Visionary?

The Joyous Struggle • 533 implied HN points • 22 Jun 23
📖 Philosophy Future Consciousness Humanity Transformation
  1. Visionaries see the future and offer direction, often through inspiring ideas and stories.
  2. Visionaries work to bring new worlds into being through language and action, shaping collective perception.
  3. Today's visionaries need to address challenges in a digital and planetary context, inspiring viable and desirable futures through qualities like fluency in different realities, questioning paradigms, and envisioning transformative struggles.

Stuff I still don’t get about AI

Samstack • 999 implied HN points • 15 Apr 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Impacts Security Future
  1. It's important for more people to understand AI risks for safety regulations and investment in alignment work.
  2. Consider the balance between AI getting out of control versus malicious actors having access to superintelligent AI.
  3. Think about the potential impacts of advanced AI on various aspects of human life in the future.

Work & Leisure, The Debrief

The Novelleist • 564 implied HN points • 29 May 23
🎭️ Culture AI Automation Future Education
  1. Elle Griffin finished a series on work and leisure discussing important topics like AI, automation, and 20-hour workweeks.
  2. Paid subscribers can engage in discussions and be part of debriefs exploring capitalism, sparking insightful conversations.
  3. Community members also shared thought-provoking essays on work and leisure, adding more perspectives to the discourse.

Twitter's transport experts are wrong, and I know better than them

Odds and Ends of History • 603 implied HN points • 30 May 23
🕹 Technology Transport Autonomy Safety Economics Future
  1. The writer disagrees with Twitter's transport experts about driverless buses and thinks they could revolutionize transport.
  2. Autonomous buses could lead to cheaper, more efficient public transportation and help reduce carbon emissions.
  3. The potential of autonomous buses lies in making public transport more convenient, increasing capacity, and reducing the need for private vehicles.

Why You Should Read Sci-Fi

Trantor Publishing • 299 implied HN points • 11 Feb 23
📚 Literature Sci-fi Genre Technology Future Humanity
  1. Sci-Fi is a genre that explores humanity's relationship with technology, showing how it can radically change human experience and impact society.
  2. Sci-Fi authors use the genre to examine potential futures, from utopias to dystopias, reflecting the times we live in and societal concerns.
  3. As technology evolves, Sci-Fi will become increasingly important, serving as a tool to set boundaries on technological progress and explore the impact on humanity.

We Need To Come Back From The Future

Cybernetic Forests • 199 implied HN points • 04 Jun 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Regulation Future Bias
  1. Norbert Wiener, the founder of cybernetics, emphasized the importance of studying feedback and response rather than seeking stability in systems.
  2. The discussions around AI and existential risks often prioritize hypothetical future scenarios over addressing present-day human suffering and feedback mechanisms.
  3. The culture of safety engineering in AI tends to focus on abstract future catastrophes, potentially overshadowing the immediate impacts on communities and individuals.

Sentinels

Wars Of Future Past • 196 implied HN points • 30 Jun 23
🎭️ Culture Cartoons Parenting Technology Future Sci-fi
  1. The X-Men cartoon serves as a helpful tool for new parents by being engaging yet not too captivating during caregiving routines.
  2. The mutant allegory in the X-Men cartoon effectively conveys themes of intolerance and discrimination that resonate with various real-life issues.
  3. The Sentinels in the X-Men cartoon symbolize the dangers of near-future technology and the potential threats of automated military machines.

Dealing with AI fatigue

Artificial Ignorance • 121 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Innovation Tools Content Future
  1. Living in the post-ChatGPT era led to a surge in AI news and development, creating a sense of fatigue among researchers and enthusiasts.
  2. Curate relevant and insightful sources to stay informed about AI without feeling overwhelmed by the constant influx of information.
  3. Experiment with new AI tools and technologies, but also know when to step back and not get caught up in trying to keep up with every single update and trend.

sunday evening musings

bad cattitude • 95 implied HN points • 25 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Creativity Artificial Intelligence Future Music
  1. AI presents a complex future - it may liberate or enslave humanity, enabling creativity or trapping us in repetitive cycles.
  2. Binary thinking about AI may limit us - we should consider broader possibilities beyond our current understanding.
  3. The future with AI will be an unpredictable and exciting journey - filled with promise, danger, aspiration, and frustration, much like a thrilling road trip.

3D Gaming Before VR

Ironic Sans • 248 implied HN points • 18 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Gaming Virtual reality Software Hardware Future
  1. 3D gaming was possible before VR with LCD shutter glasses that created the illusion of 3D by alternating between two views for each eye.
  2. LCD shutter glasses allowed playing existing games in 3D without special design, like Tomb Raider and Thief 2.
  3. While VR is now more common, there are efforts to bring classic games into VR, although converting them is challenging due to control and graphical limitations.