After last year’s three-month break, I jumped back into an exciting time. It was hard to stop myself from blogging with so many things happening. But I needed the time off to regenerate.
First and foremost, the pandemic lessened. I resumed some of my activities. However, the new pace reminded me of an old trick “Making Things Modular.” This strategy maximizes time by minimizing effort.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) made incredible leaps towards the end of 2022. The rapid pace of change continues, disrupting and changing everything. In particular, generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT), has made it easy for AI to, well, generate new stories, art, images, etc. based on what it learns from existing sources, and more. Lots more.
This led to some interesting questions, such as “Is AI-generated Art, Still Art?” Are we now living in “The Era of Beethoven’s 10th?” As a fan of Beethoven’s 9th, I certainly hope not! There’s something sacred about people creating art. Hopefully gen AI will not be “The End of Originality.” And “The Ethics of Big Data” remain part of the story.
Although, new AI advancements demonstrate many noteworthy benefits, especially in the medical profession. Who wouldn’t want to get test results sooner? AI can work 24/7, doesn’t get fatigued, and has proven to be highly accurate in some scenarios.
The heavy emphasis on technology in the past year left me with a hankering for “The Glory of the Analog Days.” In one post, I reminisced about “The Independent Act of Playing Records” as a young child. I was completely in control of what I listened to, when I wanted to. In another post, I speculated on the non-age related reasons my memory doesn’t work as well as it once did in “Things We Used to Remember.” Now the technology is so prominent that parents register for email accounts in utero!
On a personal note, a new player entered my ongoing internal debate of paper vs ebooks. Somebody in my new book club introduced me to Audiobooks.
And finally, last year we celebrated my father’s 20th deathday. A sad milestone, but I had some help getting through it by “Discovering Joni.” Right around that time, Joni Mitchell resurfaced with a live show. She was one my father’s favorite musicians. A few months later, the start of the school year provided me with another powerful memory of my father “Grading Homework.“