Durable Human (2 book series)

Tag Archives: wisdom

The AI Doc: From the Durable Human Perspective

Ad on a bus in San Francisco says Stop Hiring Humans

This is a synopsis of The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist:   

A father-to-be tries to figure out what is happening with all this AI insanity. The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist is a hand-made, eye-opening documentary about the most powerful technology humanity has ever created…and what’s at stake if we get it wrong.

The following review tells the whole story. With that spoiler alert, you may wish to leave this screen and watch The AI Doc, which you can easily do in the comfort of your home. Even if you stick around, be sure to see the movie. So, here we go:

Art reflected life as I stepped into the darkened theater.

I was in the heart of San Francisco, where all AI startups seem to be born.

In the weeks I’d been visiting the city, I’d pass people on the street and wonder: did they have a hand in a phenomenon compared to the discovery of fire? Billboards shouted AI’s benefits. Ads on busses screamed: “STOP HIRING HUMANS.”

I sit next to my daughter-in-law—herself an executive at an established startup. My son is back at their apartment recovering from upper jaw surgery. His art studio is blocks from the theater. From early days, he’d sketch in the margins of his school papers and notebooks. Soon after graduating from college with a degree in industrial design, Nike had hired him in part for how he could draw up great ideas on the fly.     

Co-director and on-screen narrator Daniel Roher draws or paints most of the graphics in the movie. Sketchbooks will play a central and active role.

As the movie begins, we see Daniel as a boy, learning about computers and having fun making his own videos. His relationship with technology seems sympatico until one day, he notices that computers have begun to churn out entire screenplays. His dander up, he determines to find out more about this precocious digital intruder.  

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A Plan for Humane Technology

woman holding pen with hands on top of notebook sits next to open laptop

With a new frame of mind, designers can create humane technology. Former Google tech ethicist Tristan Harris wants to teach them how.  

“This talk is about the wisdom we need to steer technology, and our future.” The words from his new message shone brightly from the screen at the 2022 mindfulness in technology conference, Wisdom 2.0.

Harris was back at the place where in 2015, he pulled back the curtain on how tech companies used “persuasive design.” They were in “a race to the bottom of our brainstems to seduce our instincts.”

Their products did not support human well-being, he claimed. “It’s like being on a diet, but you are only handed menus with burgers and fries.” 

Slide from Tristan Harris 2015 Wisdom 2.0 presentation
From the Tristan Harris presentation at Wisdom 2.0 2015

Design as Determinant

In How to Be a Durable Human: Revive and Thrive in the Digital Age Through the Power of Self-Design, tech usability expert Jared Spool defines Design as “the rendering of intent.”

Harris believes tech companies’ intentions were way off when they started Google, Facebook, and other platforms. He should know, having trained in the Stanford University Persuasive Technology Lab.

Since tech products could be accessed for free, users’ personal data were fair game, which companies made unprecedented sums from selling and re-selling. Individuals were hyper-targeted under the guise of “giving users what they want.”

Silicon Valley founders saw tech as a neutral vessel. That users became trapped in polarized filter bubbles was not the platforms’ problem.

The result today: the loudest and meanest social media opinions seem to be the majority. As Harris observes, “we start to believe the extreme voices and stereotypes represent the world.”

Slide from Tristan Harris talk at Wisdom 2.0 says "We start to believe the extreme voices & stereotypes represent the world."

Besides political turmoil, he blames early Silicon Valley attitudes for creating problems ranging from information overload and addiction, to synthetic charlatans including bots and DeepFakes. 

Over the years, it became standard practice to use psychological sleight of hand to keep users engaged.

Children have been especially affected. Since the dawn of social media, youth mental health has significantly eroded.

Even the brain development of babies has been caught in technology’s web.

Toddler using tablet

Toward Humane Technology

After much thought and consultation, Harris has come up with a plan: for tech designers to Think Differently.  Continue reading

Insights Behind the TEDx Talk Durable Humans are Smarter Than Their Phones

Kids with arms around huge durable Sequoia tree.

Top TED talker Brene Brown nailed it at the Mom2Summit when she declared: “I’ve never done anything that was worth much unless I was scared shitless and nauseous.”

That’s exactly how I felt stepping onto the red circle at TEDx Tysons in Tysons, Virginia. But as I delivered “Durable Humans are Smarter Than Their Phones,” I was uplifted by the inspiration of a host of brilliant people I want to thank here.

Copious credit goes to Hilarie Cash, co-founder of ReStart, the nation’s first Internet addiction treatment center. Hilarie invited me in to meet people like “Jeff,” the young tech addict whose heartbreaking yet hopeful story you can read about here.

ReStart’s track record proves that simple things like cooking dinner and mopping the floor can help young people break the stranglehold of addiction and return to success in real life. By creating and sustaining Attachment, Hilarie told me in this interview, parents can help kids Continue reading

Parent FYI Alert: What You Need to Know about Fortnite

Parents FYI Fortnite image of Game Play Child Hands on Controller

The usually ultra-cool marketing executive was over-the-top exasperated. “Every time we get together, the parents all talk about it. We don’t know what to do about Fortnite!” There’s much to learn about this wildly popular new pursuit and why it’s popping up at school, so let’s dig in.

What is Fortnite?

Fortnite: Battle Royale is a free-to-play, third-person-action online video game where players fight to the Continue reading

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