Excerpts from my feed reader #3

Here is my weekly roundup of interesting links from my feed reader over the past fortnight. This is an exercise in ensuring that my website is not a dead-end on the web and that it leads readers forward to other similarly interesting places.

At least my blogroll seemed oddly quiet over the last couple of weeks (summer holidays?) which is why this edition arrives later than scheduled.

• Juhis reminded us that Blaugust is here. The awkwardly (or cleverly, depending on whom you ask) named blaugust is an online event that is essentially NaNoWriMo for blogging. I have never participated in one although this has been runnnig for about 12 years now, mostly because I did not see much value in the idea of posting regularly for the sake of it. This iteration, however, promises some shake up which brings the event closer to our activities on the IndieWeb, promoting participation, contribution and a spirit of community across blogs. And for that alone I plan to get in on the action.
• Hidde de Vries wrote an excellent essay on the problem with humanising AI and how in doing so we are simply supporting the billionaires. I am also inclined to agree with Hidde that the inevitability of is largely an investor-driven construct. People who work with and around AI all day naturally end up thinking the world can hardly do without it. The essay also brings up an interesting argument that if AI is in fact so useful, why do companies always end up going out of their way to entice users to turn it on and use it? While Hidde makes several good arguments for this, I also think part of it has to do with the novelty. It took us a while before we started Googling everything; and it will take us a while before using AI becomes ‘natural’ at which point I suspect the enticement will stop and the punishing subscriptions will begin.
• Nico Solerieu wrote a short piece about complaining, negative emotions enabling positive ones and peanut butter. What else is left to say?