I wanted to significantly more from the “CTO of Microsoft.”
this is mostly collection of feel good AI/ML use cases, low-grade Microsoft propaganda, anI wanted to significantly more from the “CTO of Microsoft.”
this is mostly collection of feel good AI/ML use cases, low-grade Microsoft propaganda, and some average storytelling. There’s some sweeping statements about how the technology is going to reshape everything that we know about work, and so on and so forth. other people have done it better. The use cases with agriculture I agreed with, and there was an attempt to kind of bridge the technical to the human, but It just didn’t quite work.
I thought the attempts to wrestle with national and regional economics around rural communities and across the US mostly failed. Most of it is super service level and seem to mostly the window dressing. It’s like hearing ESPN statistics about football players. They’re kind of cool I guess but they don’t really tell you anything deeper about what’s going on in the game.
there’s some nods to how Microsoft is trying to work with local communities and encourage people to go into a career at Microsoft. Cool I guess. Mostly a miss and at worst these parts felt like PR nonsense.
And lastly, there’s some personal stories that were decent, but realistically not super well written or incredibly compelling. The rest of the book was pretty mediocre, so I wish this had been the focus and I might have at least learned a bit about what it takes to be CTO of a multinational tech company.
I think this book tried to be too many things and ended up not being very good at any one thing. It’s interesting at times but not anything special....more
It’s a good overview of a brief moment in technological advancement.
There’s a common thread in machine learning (AI, I'm going to use these terms intIt’s a good overview of a brief moment in technological advancement.
There’s a common thread in machine learning (AI, I'm going to use these terms interchangeably) research that “oh man we got to be really careful and think about how we set up these machines because they may end the world as we know it.” Thankfully this seems to be counterbalanced by the actual empirical research being done, which mostly seems like a lot of fun tricks. Similar to impressing people with your ability to open a jar by smashing it on the ground.
I love the new models coming out. As of April 2022, Open AI's DallE and GPT-3 models are super cool, (hell, I used their Davinci model to help me write a homework assignment last week) but computer “intelligence“ is intelligence the way a stick you found on the ground is like a forest. I’m sure it represents a tiny little part of it, and there’s some really cool stuff happening in the AI field right now, there’s a phenomenal convergence between computing power and new research methods, just a mind-boggling amount of funding, and a lot of brilliant people going into the field. But every time I read a book like this, I get the impression that “intelligence “is just brute force. It’s like breaking into a bank vault by unleashing a large nuclear explosive. Which is cool. But it’s not intelligence. And it’s not close to intelligence. And it always seems like the answer that these authors have is to dissect the wholeness of consciousness and human experience into constituent parts and then try to reconstruct the parts of the whole.
And that’s what this author does, compellingly. He breaks apart a lot of parts of human consciousness and thought and problem solving and then goes on to show how those have been deconstructed into machine learning algorithms. And I’m sure we can go back-and-forth with me saying that this isn’t intelligence, the author saying “ya ha,” and so on, but I find myself unconvinced that we are even on the right track. We are creating some really impressive tricks out of silicone chips, and the field is advancing it’s such a rapid state that it’s hard to keep up. But it seems like a combination of errors in that we don’t understand what’s happening anymore than we really understand ourselves. It’s like driving down a country road that says there’s a town in 10 miles. You drive on for what feels like 20 minutes, the town should be there, and then there’s another sign saying that the town is in 10 miles.
That said, this book was great. It’s a fascinating tour of the state of machine learning circa 2022. I feel like this field flips itself on its head every year, and in five years it will probably be quaint and mostly outdated. But for now I thought it was a great book. With the title “The Alignment Problem,” I thought I’d be a little more oriented towards Nick Bostrom type warnings about the dangers of AI. Instead it’s essentially a tour of an AI museum of modern machine learning models.
I thought it was well told and generally stays between the lines of speculation and hyperbole. There were some times when talking about evolutionarily psychology, I thought the author was getting a little off what my impression of modern research is. It seems like in psychology whenever we say “only humans can do this“ that thing is contradicted by some sort of niche exception almost immediately. Tool use, language, generosity. We think we are really special as humans and are so willing to come up with reasons why we are unique. I just haven’t typically seen that backed up in significant ways in replicable research. That doesn’t necessarily contradict the core of the book, but it’s becoming a pet peeve of mine. I do think the point the author is trying to make is that what separates us from say a reptile or bird is potentially what would separate us from, on the other side of the spectrum, AGI or some sort of intelligent computer. I’ll grant that, but I think there’s a better and more truthful way to portray it.
That said it this is a good book if you’re willing to get into the weeds of how modern AI is set up, the types of different structures a system can be assembled in, who did what where, and why we’ve been using those structures. It’s a fantastic overview and a strong aggregation of what I understand to be an up to date tour of the field.
This set itself up as a book I would really enjoy. It’s written by someone with deep industry knowledge. Brad Smith has been a high-level lawyer at MiThis set itself up as a book I would really enjoy. It’s written by someone with deep industry knowledge. Brad Smith has been a high-level lawyer at Microsoft and eventually promoted to president after 20 years. I’m deferential to authors who have extensive experience in the subjects they talk about. This could have been a banger. Sadly it felt like it fell short.
I guess I naturally end up comparing it to other books by CEOs and corporate presidents. Next to Satya Nadella’s Hit Refresh this was incredible. But that’s in part due to Hit Refresh being terrible. Compared to a narritavely focused book like Shoe Dog I found it lacking. I don’t know if that’s fair to this book because Shoe Dog was very clearly ghost written. I just know I wanted more from this book. There were a few interesting tidbits. But most of it is just stuff you can find on any tech oriented HBR think piece or surface level Bloomberg article.
If you want to read this, I think you should read this as a survey of the mainstream tech industry in the late 20 teens. And as that is a solid book. But I’m not sure that I’m taking away any deep specific insights or unique knowledge here. Most of the takes are very safe and end with saying how, or sort of framing how Microsoft is doing great. And they might be, I own a chunk of Microsoft stock because I think it’s a good company (this is not investment advice. Just wishing to illustrate that I have drunk the Kool-Aid) and I think there’s value in being able to confidently kind of update your mental models around emergent technology. Some of the stuff that I haven’t been as directly involved in or aware of definitely has progressed. The rural broadband Internet TV channel stuff was fairly interesting. Because this book doesn’t take any risks on what they think the future is doing. It’s all current day capabilities and very realistic recent histories.
The tech industry, or at least my engagement with it, often seems very prone to hype and bombbast. Six months ago it was NFTs, today and seems to be web3 companies. There’s always a “new new“ thing to quote Michael Lewis. I do think it is valuable to be able to hear from someone at the pinnacle of one of the largest technology companies what the sort of safe conventional tech wisdom is. Now do I wish for more? Yes. This is like going to a boring industry conference. It’s like hearing a professor without tenure talk about it. There’s no real risk and it’s very clear that most of the opinion when it happens to sneak through is calculated not to offend.
There are plenty of bits and pieces that are interesting. Brad writes clearly and portrays his ideas sympathetically. I thought that it was interesting to hear from the Microsoft side of things how they interacted with and handled some of the Snowden revelations. I think if you work around tech it’s valuable to understand how someone like Brad thinks. But constantly having to mentally fact check everything against what is obviously a very pro Microsoft take can be exhausting. And the structure of the book is such that each issue presented goes through a discussion of the topic and then spends the second half of the chapter on how Microsoft is doing such a great job with it.
So realistically, if you want to get the most out of this book, you read the first half of every chapter and then use the second half of every chapter as doodle paper. It’ll save you time, you’ll maximize your knowledge intake, and the doodling is probably good for your mental health. ...more
Very interesting. Jaron is a great communicator and a brilliant guy.
I struggled a bit with the level of abstraction the book uses to explain and predVery interesting. Jaron is a great communicator and a brilliant guy.
I struggled a bit with the level of abstraction the book uses to explain and predict concepts. It’s a necessary evil if you don’t want to get bogged down with technical details. But at times it felt like rounding the corners of concepts changed the concept itself.
Still, for a book written about technology in 2010, it’s incredibly impressive how much is still directly relevant in 2021. ...more
Less of a treatise on human-computer hybrid approaches, and more of a general musing about technology, life. With a wonderful in-depth dive into KaspaLess of a treatise on human-computer hybrid approaches, and more of a general musing about technology, life. With a wonderful in-depth dive into Kasparovs match against Deep Blue.
Fancy sounding drivel, unfounded speculation, and hype. The authors clearly don’t understand the technology. For example, in part two they discuss a mFancy sounding drivel, unfounded speculation, and hype. The authors clearly don’t understand the technology. For example, in part two they discuss a mining truck in Australia that is fully automated. They say it’s because there are less “externalities” that it is able to be fully autonomous vs a car or road faring truck. This is nonsense. A mining truck on a single dirt road is a significantly easier programming problem. Truck goes to point A, turns around, goes back to point B. No people, other cars, dogs, or errant baby strollers to avoid.
This type of misconception permeates the book. Essentially the authors are smart sounding but without any sort of reasonable technical foundation to stand on. ...more
Searing condemnation of the Chinese surveillance tactics against the Uighurs. A fascinating view into what implementation of a police AI system looks Searing condemnation of the Chinese surveillance tactics against the Uighurs. A fascinating view into what implementation of a police AI system looks like. What a total surveillance state looks like. And while this is an aggressive implementation of such a system I don’t think it’s that far off of what United States police forces have engaged in just in a more clandestine manner. I believe it was the New Orleans police force and their relationship with Planitir in regards to predictive policing is very similar to the relationships described within this book.
I think the actual core of the story is well done and the author has an impressive level of access to those inside the system. But I think that the decisions made and what parts of the story to tell and how to emphasize them were flawed. We spent a lot of time going into details about who messaged who and on what platform and I’m not sure that it’s relevant most of the time. Still a very compelling read....more
I think that Andrew Yang is one of the few people out there accurately talking about problems associated with technology that are going to increase inI think that Andrew Yang is one of the few people out there accurately talking about problems associated with technology that are going to increase in severity over the next 10-20 years. Well I don’t think this book should be the ultimate authority on what we should do about automation and the coming wave of change. It is the best easily accessible book out there for where to start talking about it.
I think some of the time frames are off, in some cases too soon, in other cases much further away. Self driving cars/truck have seemed to be “just around the corner“ for the past 5 years or so. I imagine it’ll be another 5 years until they change over to “pulling into the driveway.” I worked with selling software to lawyers in a former job, and they are the slowest technology adopters known to mankind. ...more
Quite good when talking about computer science, data, or machine learning. Significantly less good when the author digresses into philosophy, economicQuite good when talking about computer science, data, or machine learning. Significantly less good when the author digresses into philosophy, economics, educational policy, or law. ...more
This book is smart, and definitely worth a read. But I’m super skeptical of the “inevitability“ claims that it makes. There is nothing inevitable abouThis book is smart, and definitely worth a read. But I’m super skeptical of the “inevitability“ claims that it makes. There is nothing inevitable about the patterns and ways that technology will develop. I find myself unconvinced that there is any singular focal point that networked technology is developing to. The volatility inherent in human behavior makes me believe that we will never reach a stable equilibrium with one direction or platform or company. Booms and busts are an integral part of any ecosystem.
like so many of these “what’s gonna happen with the future of technology” books, it’s entertaining (more so than most), it’s thought provoking (more so than most), but ultimately not really that actionable....more
What an interesting book. I feel like I’m going to be mentally chewing on this one for a while. It’s good, with the caveat that I actually don’t agreeWhat an interesting book. I feel like I’m going to be mentally chewing on this one for a while. It’s good, with the caveat that I actually don’t agree with the conclusions the author has. This is kind of like reading the most compelling case against betamax circa early 1990‘s. The arguments are well-made and very convincing, but I can’t help but feel it’s a warning from a snapshot of the pre-pandemic world that doesn’t exist anymore.
The author points at the rise of big data and advent of artificial intelligence, and then sounds a warning siren against the collection of that data and it’s use to steer human decisions. She does this by looking at Google and Facebook primarily, but Amazon and others are thrown in there. The language gets a bit hyperbolic and at times over the top(if you’ve read my other reviews you know Im not one to talk here). There’s a compelling case made that the overwhelming ubiquity of these platforms and their data collection is detrimental to the long-term health of society.
I think the core problem with this book, is that even a few years removed, it seems a lot like Tipper Gore complaining about “explicit language in rap music.“ it was published in 2019 and it already feels out of touch. And I can’t quite tell if it’s because all of these technologies have crossed the Rubicon and are so enmeshed with our daily life that I can’t disentangle it from any sort of imagined alternative, or if the author actually missed the boat. Because of some issues I’ve had and my personal experiences I’m inclined to believe the latter.
Its strange because I started this book over a year ago and set it down. Only to pick it back up from the beginning this week. I remember my initial read through I struggled with the language and agreed with the concepts. This time I actually thought the opposite. The language is the typical obtuse buffoonery I would expect from a Harvard professor, but once you get into it you can develop a rhythm and cadence. It was actually the ideas this time around that struggled for me.
Back from 2016-2018ish I worked at a marketing company that was very briefly on the bleeding edge of digital lead generation and ended up being acquired by a company you’ve probably interacted with. I’ve seen the behind the scenes, witnessed the great and magical OZ, and it’s really disappointing. It’s just a bunch of dudes. And these guys are typically smart, but not that smart. And while they prioritize making money over say, global peace and prosperity or even the betterment of mankind, there’s not some pernicious blood ritual focused on grinding behavioral surplus into cash. At least I was never initiated into it.
So hearing the arguments against in this kind of technology is interesting. But it seems kind of detached from the core of what’s actually happening. Artificial intelligence isn’t a thing. Machine learning is improving but nowhere near the point where it can have malicious intent. There was a story going around a couple years ago about how a teenage girl changed her type of face moisturizer and Targets “marketing AI” figured out she was pregnant because of that. She got ads for pregnancy stuff and her dad got all upset. And everyone was so astounded at the level of intelligence that targets marketing department had. But what came out about that story later is that she literally bought a pregnancy test with her debit card. Her debit card that was tied to her account. Like this stuff is not that advanced. It’s creepy. And I think we should be seriously discussing where the limits are, talking about public and private spheres. The ability to opt out, and more visibility into what’s collected about you. Apple has taken a baby step in that direction. On a macro level there should be a level of consumer protection the same way we used the FCC to regulate television when it was emerging as the dominant form of information and entertainment.
Professor Zumoff gets into this sort of conspiratorial tone where Google is painted as big evil and Facebook is this great puppet master that controls you without you even realizing it. I don’t buy it. I don’t have any love lost for either of those companies. And I think they both probably should be dismantled under antitrust law. But I’ve worked with Xooglers and ex-Facebookers, And while they’re usually smart, in my experience they’re also usually kind of weird and not super aware of anything on a macro level beyond their very narrow band of expertise. I would’ve found a lot of the arguments more credible if instead of this sort of conspiratorial tone of “Stalin plotting against the naysayers“ there was more of a caution about dorky code jockeys maximizing their own KPI‘s. I think the author is a little too convinced of just how far BF Skinner can take us here.
That combined with the last two years of pandemic world left me shaking my head at the end of this book. I think three years ago, if I had read this book when it first came out, I would’ve agreed inherently with just about everything that was said. But having some distance from the industry and seeing some of the buffoonery that tech companies have engaged in, I think my concern is less this maniacal slide into FAANG controlling and knowing your every action. And more of a comedy of errors and mistakes that will lead us into what I would consider the destabilization of society. I think the scarier thing to me is not that Zuckerberg or Bezos have some master plan, it’s that there is no plan beyond trying to keep their empires afloat.
So I’m left with I think a real feeling of confliction. I think there are issues raised here that are very present and vital. I also think that some of this really misses the mark and the fact that it doesn’t hold up less than three years after it was written, that’s really concerning to me. What I hope is that this book can be a warning that never has to be empirically tested. There are definite deep-seated issues with the technology that we are so rapidly creating. The author does a great job of laying those out. This technology is advancing at a hyper sonic speed. I’d rather be overly cautious of the doomsday scenario painted here, than to be wrong and only realize it too late....more
A fantastic look at AI & ML from a blogger who does a variety of AI projects. Excellent discussion of the limitations and applications of the state ofA fantastic look at AI & ML from a blogger who does a variety of AI projects. Excellent discussion of the limitations and applications of the state of AI as of 2019. Writing is funny and clear. Points are made in an organized and thoughtful manner. All around a great read
I think the book is slightly limited because a) the industry is moving at the pace of a cheetah on adderall and b) the author is using mostly a homemade approach to her programming, it seemed like most of her projects were done on her personal pc vs a commercial or research application of the technology on much larger servers.
This is the book I would recommend to anyone and everyone interested in the space....more
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