clever and lazy

On the last Friday of each month I curate some of the observations and insights that were shared on social media. I call these Friday’s Finds.

The Four Classes of Military Officers (Or Office Workers): Clever, Diligent, Stupid and Lazy

Clever and Lazy: While most senior leaders will deny this classification, it applies well, and not just for the reasons cited by Hammerstein-Equord. These are the leaders who have the breadth of experience and depth of wisdom to ask the right questions, see the future for what it is, and make the right decisions under the greatest duress. They’re also renowned for finding the simplest solutions to the most difficult problems, and that drives a lot of people crazy.

AI is Coming for Canada’s Democracy

When AI can generate thousands of convincing comments, flood public consultations with fake input, or make it nearly impossible to tell real news from fabricated stories, the foundations of democratic participation start to crack … The problem goes even deeper. AI is becoming sophisticated enough to find loopholes in laws and regulations — exploiting gaps that were never meant to exist. And it can generate a flood of believable false content, making it harder for voters and governments to tell what’s real, and what isn’t … A version of the Internet dominated by bots and synthetic content is coming fast — that’s already underway. But it doesn’t have to mean the end of meaningful democratic participation. Canada can still build digital systems that keep real people at the center — if we start now.

Every Data Centre Is a US Military Base

For three decades, the goal of tech development has been not to improve our lives or to serve the public good, but rather to maximize shareholder value and to increase the power of the companies that control it.

It’s that nature of digital technology that is at the root of so many of the social harms the tech oligopoly has saddled us with in recent years. We need to recognize that was a choice, and we can choose to take a different path.

But we must also be aware of the pitfalls ahead. Some Canadian tech executives who, until recently, were pushing for a Conservative government are embracing a program of digital sovereignty as well, but it is explicitly not one that centres the public good.

Massive solar farms could provoke rainclouds in the desert

The model showed that moist, high-altitude winds from the Persian Gulf would suffice. When conditions were ripe, the model found, a 20-square-kilometer solar field would increase rainfall by nearly 600,000 cubic meters—equivalent to 1 centimeter of rain falling across an area the size of Manhattan. If such rainstorms occurred 10 times in one summer, they would provide enough water to support more than 30,000 people for a year.

“The use of ‘hallucinate’ is a stroke of true evil genius in the AI world. In ANY other context we’d just call them errors & the fail rate would be crystal clear. Instead, ‘hallucinate’ implies genuine sentience & the *absence* of real error. Aw, this software isn’t shit! Boo’s just dreaming!” —@CatValente

IEEFA: The misguided stampede to build gas power plants

Rising LNG exports will lead to additional price volatility in the U.S. and also could lead to persistent and long-term increases in natural gas costs, a double whammy for consumers. The price of new combined-cycle gas plants is roughly triple the cost of projects built in the early 2020s, and orders placed now likely will not be fulfilled until 2030, or later. The costs of wind and solar, paired with dispatchable battery storage, are not tracking the rapid climb of gas prices; hardware is readily available; and they have no fuel costs.

“The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire, just because they show up with a bucket of water.” —Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, via @RandahlFink

Image by Robert Ariail via @bifurq