The Narrative Trap
Human beings tend to comprehend the world through stories; we learn about the Trojan War from Homer and view the Napoleonic Wars through Tolstoy. We are inherently susceptible to the influence of narratives. When a compelling story captivates us, it can turn us into believers or skeptics, leading us to overlook critical facts and even selectively seek data that supports our preconceived notions.
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
During their childhood, my two daughters and I shared many delightful moments watching Disney movies, with the 1940 classic "Fantasia" as a cherished favorite. Delighting in its magnificent music and visual spectacle, one segment that always stood out was "The Sorcerer's Apprentice".
Silicon Cambrian Explosion
Around 541 million years ago, Earth witnessed a mysterious moment in its evolutionary saga: a period of explosion in the diversity of life forms. Today, we stand on the threshold of a parallel epoch, the Silicon-Based Cambrian Explosion of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a time of the Big Bang for silicon-based intelligence.
Crow a Little Bit Early
Once upon a time in medieval Italy, In the rolling hills of Tuscany, Florence and Siena were two rival city-states, they were locked in a dispute over the Chianti region. To settle it, they devised a unique competition. Each city chose a rooster whose crow at dawn would signal their riders to start racing towards each other. The meeting point would determine the new boundary. Florence chose a hungry black rooster…
Don’t Code Before Reading This: A Developer's Pairing
Having recently delved into late Anthony Bourdain's “Don’t Eat Before Reading This”, I was captivated by his raw honesty, wit, and the literary finesse that makes his writing as delectable as his dishes. This piece, much like a finely curated menu, left a lasting impression on me, not just as a reader, but as a fellow craftsman in a different realm.
Montezuma's Revenge
— Curiosity, Humanity’s secret algorithm
Why can AI excel in all video games except Montezuma's Revenge? AI systems, built solely on rewards and punishments (such as maximizing scores and avoiding death), are bound to fail. The secret to creating an intelligent AI turns out to reside in the emulation of human curiosity - the secret algorithm of humanity.
Let there be Light
— The Genesis of Data Sapiens
The Architect created Silicon Sapiens with his own image, smart, easy to use, and a collaborative partner to co-govern the data and your business dominion. The Architect said to the AI, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the business need”.
Software becomes Humanware
As software transits from a mere tool to a collaborative partner and guide, it evolves into what we now call Humanware. This development ushers in a new era of symbiotic relationships between humans and machines. These relationships possess emergent properties that are poised to have a profound impact on the future.
Cognitive Biases, Data and Decision Making
Yogi Berra once famously quipped, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." As perplexing as this advice may initially seem, it serves as a fitting reminder of the many decisions we face throughout our careers and lives. Each choice, whether made intuitively or deliberately, shapes our journey and defines our path.
AI: White Walkers or HAL 9000?
It seems all of a sudden, AI White Walkers breached the Wall and infiltrate the human realm, sending shockwaves throughout the seven kingdoms…
When examining potential AI threats, I would like to propose categorizing them into two broad categories: White Walkers and HAL 9000.
Through the Looking Glass
As a proud father of two daughters, over the years, I have become — initially reluctantly — somewhat of an encyclopedia of fairy tales, particularly those featuring girls as protagonists.
A Tale of Two Jasons
Jason and the Argonauts' adventure to find the Golden Fleece serves as an inspiring example for modern founders who wish to embark on their entrepreneurial journeys to find their own version of the Golden Fleece.
The Quixotic Quest of Building a Tech Startup
In a co-working space not so far away, there exists a peculiar breed of individual, the tech entrepreneur. Much like the determined Don Quixote, these dreamers are driven by a blend of idealism and ambition, setting forth on a quixotic quest to build their very own tech startups.
Saturday Tech Night: CTO Christopher Walken at Golden Section Studios
At Golden Section Studios, I was lucky to host Christopher Walken, the newly minted CTO of a B2B SaaS Startup. While I was privileged to witness the speech and managed to write down every word he said, unluckily, the cameras weren't rolling.
The Get-ridof-bugs Address
At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Isaac drew inspiration from Abraham. Wrote this Get-ridof-Bugs Address.
Fourscore and seven moons ago, our co-founders brought forth, on this cattle-ground, a new VC company, conceived in capital efficiency, and dedicated to the proposition that some tech startups are created superior.
The Tower of London and Cybersecurity
Last year I visited GST’s Scotland office in Aberdeen, during the trip I made a stop in London to visit the Tower of London, the fortress built by William the Conqueror. As I marveled at the thousand-year-old castle’s sturdy walls and impressive moat, I couldn’t help but notice how similar the castle’s fortifications were to GST’s own robust cybersecurity effort.
America’s Business Model
America’s founding fathers were great entrepreneurs, after winning the Independence War, they created a weak Union under “The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union” of 1777, but it did not work out. The founders had the courage and audacity to pivot to the “The Constitution of the United States” in 1789 — a new business model, that bold pivot saved the Startup called the USA.
Constant and Constant Changes
We live in a world of constant changes.
More than 3000 years ago near the Yellow River basin, early Chinese language was invented. It was called Jia Gu Wen (means “shell bone writing”) because it was often carved on turtle shells or animal bones; that’s why Chinese characters are full of straight lines and no circles - it was simply created for easier carving. That was the publishing technology of the era.
eBook Self-Publishing
When the German goldsmith Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1450, the world was a different place. The knowledge of that time was scribed on parchment or animal skins. A book cost about as much as a small house.
Gutenberg’s movable type printing single handedly ushered in the Renaissance and Reformation by lowering the barrier of knowledge spreading in our civilization.
Walking with Two Legs and Capital Efficiency
A few years ago, anthropologists identified Energy Efficiency as the main reason for the evolution to upright walking. The study suggested that humans walking on two legs only used one-quarter of the energy than that of the chimpanzees who knuckle-walked on four legs, providing support for the hypothesis that human bipedalism evolved due to the fact that it used less energy than walking with four legs.