Iterate Weekly - Issue 107
This week we're looking at an artificial society, planning for a post-layoff career, shoes made of bacteria, HBOMax no more, and Flywheel helps us find used e-bikes!
Welcome to issue 107 of Iterate Weekly!
Hope you’re all doing well. This is just a friendly reminder that you can always reply directly to these messages or leave a comment on the Substack post. Feedback is highly encouraged and I’m happy to answer any and all questions that come up.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖 Tech
Google has created a “Westworld-like” artificial society
I’ve been a pretty big fan of the show Westworld. If you’re not familiar with the premise, it’s a story about an immersive world of artificially intelligent robots or “hosts” and their interactions with the human race.
Any futurist would find the plot compelling. It showcases both hardware and software advancements that seem just far enough out of our current reality but could be obtainable in the not-so-distant future. One of the key components of the show is programming the intelligence of the hosts in order to seem realistic while still being safe and repeatable.
Well, it seems like a team from Google and Stanford are working on a Westworld-like project to create an “artificial society.”
Don’t let the crude 8-bit image above fool you. The simulation has created 25 character avatars or inhabitants of the village of Smallville. Each character has been programmed to go about their days just as we humans do. They sleep, eat, go to work, etc.
It sounds like standard video game programming right? Well then of course ChatGPT had to get involved.
“The researchers input one paragraph per character into ChatGPT, describing their occupation, relationship with other agents, and memories they have, and then began the simulation, which they called an "Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior."
That sounds a bit more creepy than your typical 8-bit video game. In a nod to WestWorld, the characters in Smallville were able to reflect on their experiences and start to draw their own conclusions. They were able to recall stored memories and use a combination of current environmental factors along with the memories to shape their daily lives. Wow, sounds pretty human of them right?
Here are the 3 big observations from the study:
The characters, or agents as they were called in the research, were sharing information freely with one another. The first was that the agents shared information with each other that was passed from agent to agent.
Agents formed new relationships over the course of the simulation and were able to remember their past interactions with other agents.
The agents were also able to coordinate with each other; for example, one agent decided to throw a Valentine's Day Party, for example
These may seem like pretty ordinary things for an AI character to do, but they actually are pretty remarkable. Learned behaviors like this could make NPC (no playable characters) in video games far more realistic. That could create entirely new experiences that stray beyond the initial intention of the game’s main storyline.
And there are plenty of other use cases that could come up in the future. While we’ve all been pretty lukewarm on the Metaverse lately, it’s intelligence improvements like this that could make scenarios more believable and compelling to push further adoption.
It’s a strange and wild world of artificial intelligence out there. If you want to know more about this simulation, you can check out the full demo here.
🎓 Education/Productivity/Work
Planning for a post-layoff career?
Savvy tech workers are preparing for worst case scenarios if they are faced with potential layoffs during the economic downturn.
The Future Party did a great write up on what this may look like for displaced tech workers.
With layoffs from major tech companies on the rise, many tech employees are planning the second or third acts of their career accordingly. There has been a flux of tech workers seeking refuge in more stable industries like cybersecurity, hospitality or logistics.
Employees seem to be willing to forgo some of the perceived status of working at recognizable Silicon Valley brands in order to maintain a bit of job security and perhaps a steadier paycheck without the roller coaster of stock incentives or company equity.
It’s also clear that many laid-off tech workers are just skipping the notion of a new full-time career altogether. Roles as consultants and contractors can help to piece together the income previously recognized with just one prestigious tech job.
I’ve always been in favor of cobbling together as many roles as you can in a “career portfolio”. Nothing is certain in life, but your income will be far more resilient if you’re armed with other options if a lay off comes along.
♻️ Health & Environment
Growing bacteria into shoes
I’ve written about plenty of strange materials being made into shoes before. There were the baby shoes that could be boiled away when they were outgrown.
And who could forget about those downright stylish liquid cellulose shoes?
Call me a sucker for anything I can put on my feet that isn’t made of leather, rubber, or cotton!
How about a pair of shoes that are made of bacteria?
Yep, these are even trendier than the liquid cellulose versions! They come from a company called Modern Synthesis and they’re using: “sugar drawn from plant waste and other microbes in order to grow 'microbial textiles.”
They are certainly a conversation starter. The product is still in the testing phase at the moment but these babies could be on your feet in the coming months.
Anyone else ready to wear some bacteria on their feet?
🛍 Grab Bag
Just Max, no HBO
Just as we were getting used to all of the funny names of our streaming services, we have a change.
HBOMax will now be known solely as Max.
I kinda liked the name HBOMax. You knew exactly what you were getting yourself into right? It’s where you went to watch all of your HBO content, but then there were some other things too, that was the max part!
Brands are always looking for ways to make things shorter and catchier. Yes, the HBO name has a lot of prestige, but it also carries some baggage. It feels reminiscent of the old-school world of cable television. Even with its confusing streaming apps (remember HBOGo?) it never felt like the most hip and modern platform.
The update will also introduce some new content from the Discovery+ platform. As someone who used to be an employee of Discovery, I’m glad to see their content find a new streaming home that’ll be bundled with an established brand like HBO. It’s essentially merging two streaming platforms into one shorter, snappier product name.
Look for the official new platform to launch on May 23rd!
💬 Quote of the Week
"Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth."
-Henry David Thoreau
📧 Content Recommendation
Flywheel
This week I have another great Substack newsletter to recommend if you’re in the market for a new micromobility vehicle.
It’s called Flywheel and each week it highlights some of the best deals on ebikes, scooters, and other more unique means of transportation found on the second-hand market.
If you’re looking to buy your first two-wheeled electric vehicle, it can be a fantastic resource to gauge the market to see what you can expect to get for your money.
This week’s edition also had a really comprehensive look at how a few different U.S. second-hand markets compare in terms of the inventory, cost, and type of micromobility vehicles. Good to see my home of the Bay Area in the lead! Denver is really coming on strong with the help of some of the recent rebate initiatives. If you find this material endlessly fascinating as I do, you should really subscribe to Flywheel.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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Given that there's always some bacteria on the feet, what's the harm in wearing it in shoe form 😂