March’s Link Raindrops

AI and writing content galore + Lauren's subtle overtures to Dario Amodei

Hello, dear readers. The end of March really crept up on us, which is why you are getting this on April 1st. Considering the amount of hamfisted gags currently sitting in your inbox, we won’t add to the clutter. That said, Lauren was sorely tempted to announce that she was leaving the newsletter (and Splash) to take on a ridiculously high-paying yet amorphous gig at Anthropic like “narrative wrangler” or some such ridiculousness. We may get there folks, but not today! (Dario, if you’re reading this: everyone’s got a price, babe.)

Photo by Taylor Kidd on Unsplash

After the paywall, we’ve got the usual round-up of thought-provoking content for you to consume while you patiently wait for fields of tulips to chase away your existential dread!

Articles

• Lauren Weber at WSJ reports on what AI execs tell their children about how to prepare for a career in a world full of unknowns that they themselves are ushering in. To the surprise of no one, they say to get a wide-ranging liberal arts education. The power of Lauren’s inner voice yelling DUH is forceful enough to launch Sam Altman straight into the sun.

• In “The Human Skill that Eludes AI,” Jasmine Sun investigates for The Atlantic why chatbots still suck at writing despite the pace of their improvements in other areas. An interesting take on why designing chatbots for mundane tasks prioritizes traits that directly undermine creativity.

• Alexandra Alter writes for The New York Times about how woefully unprepared publishers are for the onslaught of AI-assisted writing that might be slipping through their gates. (Cough–Shy Girl–cough.)

• A recent column by Ezra Klein about what the AI vanguard is up to was shocking (if not surprising) in terms of how quickly we’re hastening a post-human future. Klein brings up some salient points about the dangers of believing that an AI can be used as a helpful appendage without also changing us in ways we didn’t bargain for.

• The one article Lauren read this month that actually gave her a sliver of hope was about player pianos and the unlikelihood of art-by-humans ever being completely replaced by machines. Adam Ozimek, for The Atlantic, isn’t arguing that AI won’t radically alter the labor market, but rather that humans will always value each other’s output in some arenas.

• And lastly, the latest surreal real-life comedy in WIRED from Evan Ratliff, who previously tried to build a unicorn startup with AI agents and now is invited to give a talk with his AI CEO at LinkedIn. Antics ensue, followed by interesting reflections.

Podcasts

• Credit to Aaron’s mom for telling him about this episode of Kill Switch in which an editor at first falls for an AI-generated pitch, then uncovers a journalist who has not just pitched but published many such articles in reputable places.

• We have no need for AI agents so haven’t played with them, but Ezra Klein’s conversation with Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark on the coming impact of agents was nonetheless fascinating and urgent.

• And on Odd Lots, we’ll just leave you with the title of the episode: “James van Geelen on His Viral AI Doom Scenario.”