Curated Commons // Edition 112
Thank you for subscribing (if you haven’t, subscribe now!). Welcome to the 112th edition of Curated Commons. Happy reading, and do pass on the newsletter and share it on your social networks if you find it interesting! It’s free! Dollar-free, ad-free, and algorithm-free.
Let’s dive right in ($ indicates potential paywall).
AI-Generated art, and the response it elicits
Interesting modern-day algorithmic dilemma in this good story on generative AI. When a machine learns from an artist, what is to differentiate it from the human? - Read here
Powerful AI systems are all around. What about people that understand them?
The annual State of AI report says there are only about 300 researchers working full-time on AI Safety. Is open-sourcing AI systems a solution? - Read here ($)
Move over synthetics, sustainability is in
India’s jute industry has struggled for decades thanks to cheap synthetic alternatives. Now that we are hopefully transitioning to a world that’s more thoughtful of our carbon footprint, things might be changing - Read here ($)
Electric bicycles are growing in popularity
Can e-bikes ever replace cars. In a country like the US? Some manufacturers are trying, by adding on car-like features. Interesting photo feature - Read here($)
Related read here
On a related note, another interesting piece on the potential for the disruption of the big auto market from…a golf cart? - Read here
Online mobs and bird flocks - one similarity too many
Fascinating piece highlighting how human behavior on social media — coordinated activism, information cascades, harassment mobs — is strikingly similar to collective behavior seen in nature. - Read here
Internet cables as the new frontiers in wars
This is a worrisome read. It appears Putin now recognizes that disrupting the world’s Internet infrastructure has plausible deniability written all over, and has significant impact - Read here ($)
Dump that Teflon-coated non-stick cookware
New study says that a single crack in the Teflon coating of a frying pan can eject as many as 9,100 plastic particles, more than enough to enter the human body. Our bodies are becoming repositories of microplastics - Read here
The future of travelling back in time
This is amusing, and interesting to observe - A website where two AI Chatbots representing a German director and a Solvenian philospher go at one another - https://infiniteconversation.com/
More details in this story here
Lest you have underestimated the impact of Stable Diffusion
What is your metaverse strategy?
Thoughtful piece from Ben Evans and helping you think better about what the metaverse might mean and might not. - Read here
Do instant grocery startups have a future?
US focused piece, but worth reading to understand from Webvan’s failures, and for this thoughtful kicker at the end. - Read here ($)
More interesting reads:
Generative AI has an attribution problem - Read here
Sports venues around the world increasingly use biometric surveillance - Read here
Apparently virtual land worth as much as two billion dollars has been sold in the past twelve months across various metaverses - Read here
China sending monkeys to space to have sex. For science, obviously - Read here
For those who have followed Tumblr’s story for long, got to love this headline - “Tumblr Says Clothing Is Optional Again” - Read here ($)
Human curation is not all out of fashion. TV content recos from HBO Max and Discovery+ leveraging humans - Read here
Feel old. Age of Empires is now 25 years old! - Read here
Productivity is down - the worst drop in U.S. worker output since 1947 - Read here($)
Taylor Swift and the music industry is one case study for years to come - Read here
Public cloud, energy consumption and what it means. Very interesting post - Read here
Some great pics in this review of iPhone 14 Pro - See here
Stay safe, and happy reading! And if you liked the newsletter, thank you, and maybe consider sharing it? My DMs on Twitter are always open for any feedback.