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Daily one-pagers about AI, leadership, technology, and being human.

johnmaconline

I'm writing to think, learn, and remember in public. I'll be here everyday.

January 4, 2024 2 minute read

The Year of AI: Software Development (Part 2 — Scope)

AIThe250

Just a few weeks ago, I wrote to my boss that “scope” was one of the limitations of the interactive UI by limiting practical use to 300-400 lines of code at a time. 

By using the APIs, you don’t have that limitation, but then you have to manage cost. The interactive UI costs a flat fee of $20 a month. But to use the APIs, you get charged by the amount of data in and out. Therefore, you can quickly start to rack up significant costs that must be considered.

Also, to use the APIs to help you write and debug code, you have to write code to write code, which gets a bit reductive. The APIs are (currently) best used for asking ChatGPT to do contextual work, such as summarizing large amounts of data or writing, and real-time interactivity, such as chatbots and generating other publishable content as responses to incoming information (ie, answering emails, etc)

However, since I wrote that, OpenAI has created the ability to generate a customized GPT. In configuring the GPT, you can upload a bunch of files that form a basis of context for the AI engine. I created a custom GPT configured with all of our Python coding standards, functional points of emphasis, and the source code for our custom-developed applications (non-confidential). Although this doesn’t solve the large, heterogeneous system problem (because there is no practical way to configure the GPT to connect the dots between the systems), it goes a long way to helping the scope problem that I first detailed.

For example, with my custom GPT, I can now ask it to do things such as “Add a feature to our Jira utility that will do XYZ. Make this function available via the –xyz argument.” Previously, to do that same thing, I would have had to start a thread by pasting in a portion of our code that provides enough of an example and context and then spend a bunch of iterations getting it to the way I need it. Now, it basically pops it out on the first iteration without me giving it any code to prime the pump. 

Part 3 tomorrow. 

January 3, 2024 2 minute read

The Year of AI: Software Development (Part 1 — Pros and Cons)

AIThe250

I’m starting with software development because this is my wheelhouse.

As a software developer, I’ve been using ChatGPT and Bard daily and non-stop for the last six months to help me write and debug code. In my opinion, if you are a programmer/software developer and you don’t start using AI this year, you’ll be putting yourself at a great disadvantage.

It’s just too good at helping you not to use it. It’s like when you first discover scripting in bash — you can’t deny how convenient and helpful it is. Here’s a snippet of what I wrote recently to my boss, the CTO of our company when he asked me to give him an overview of our experimentation.

Pros

  • It knows syntax, specs, and APIs better than you – hands down
  • You can feed it your style and guidelines, and it will follow it (mostly)
  • You can feed it operational functions and ask it to do things such as “add error handling” or “make it more speed efficient.”
  • It’s good at debugging.

Cons

  • Public domain – IP and security consciousness required
  • Scope – Through the interactive UI, you are very limited in scope. 300-400 lines of code are the practical maximum. Therefore, it’s not all that helpful at the application or system level. 
  • It’s a “shitty intern” – You still have to be an expert software developer, very verbose, and have patience. Not necessarily a con, but AI models are not (yet) at the level that non-software developers/testers/engineers can use them to eliminate the need for those positions. Basically, you can’t replace the people (yet) and save that cost.
  • It’s not foolproof – We, the humans, must still be the adults in the room. In many ways, our jobs as verifiers become even more important. There’s a trust issue to manage. 

Part 2 tomorrow.

January 2, 2024 2 minute read

2024: The Year of AI

AIThe250

If you thought 2023 was the year of AI, think again!

AI will dominate the headlines even more in 2024 than it did in 2023. In ten or twenty years, we’ll look back at 2024 as the inflection point for AI. 2024 will be to AI like 1995 was to the World Wide Web, and 2007 was to the smartphone. 

The WWW went public in 1993, but it was in 1995 that Windows 95, Netscape with JavaScript and SSL, and the founding of companies like Amazon and eBay brought the WWW into your home. Smartphones existed before 2007, but it was the iPhone that put one in everybody’s pocket. 

Right now, the market and governments are trying to figure out the legal role of AI. Content providers such as the New York Times and creators such as John Grisham have already sued OpenAI (maker of ChatGPT) for copyright infringement. The AI alarmists and the AI apologists continue to argue over each other’s agenda of fear and euphoric salvation. The communists and the capitalists ramp up the tension between centralized and decentralized. 

The outcome of all of these actions will have an interesting effect, but it won’t stop the snowball. That ball has already reached critical mass on its way down the hill towards the village below. 

Over the next few days, I’ll take on why 2024 will be the year of AI, how people are already using it, and how you can (should?) bring it into your own world. 

January 1, 2024 3 minute read

24 Proverbs for 2024

The250

Here are 24 things, plus a bonus, I’m telling myself for the new year. Some of them are aspirational. Some of them are reminders. Also, I’d like to tell my 17-year-old self the same things.

  1. The same old mistakes form the walls of your prison. New mistakes pave the highway stretched out before you that disappears on the horizon. That highway isn’t straight — it’s got curves, potholes, hills, and valleys — but it’s the best and only way forward. 
  2. Nobody cares about what kind of car you drive, but just about everybody needs a ride.
  3. Guard your attention with your life.
  4. When looking for the reason, follow the incentives.
  5. It is rarely someone else’s fault, but even if it is, don’t act like it. 
  6. Never be the “I told you so” guy.
  7. Color outside the lines. Walk on the curb. Run with scissors. Drive fast and take chances. Not all the time, but sometimes.
  8. It’s OK to talk to strangers. Older cars are not death traps. Not every white, non-descript van contains a serial killer. Is there a chance that something bad can happen? Of course, but that’s not a reason not to live. Don’t let the dogma of safetyism keep you from living. 
  9. Most people let fear govern their life. If you can break this cycle, if only for a little while, even with small things, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
  10. You don’t have a time management problem. You have a time priority problem. 
  11. Existential experience is rarely on par with social and traditional media’s portrayal of life. Beware of hyperbole in both directions.
  12. If you ever find yourself thinking, “How can I make myself look more like the filter makes me look,” immediately throw your phone into the lake, river, or mouth of the volcano.
  13. Always assume the other person doesn’t mean harm and that you misunderstood. The benefit of the doubt is a powerful and empathic tool for interpersonal communication and leadership.
  14. Walking around offended by everything leads to a miserable existence. 
  15. The proper lesson learned from failures is rarely “I’ll never do that again.” The proper lesson is usually, “This is what I’ll do different next time.” There are some important exceptions, of course. 
  16. You are a work in progress, and so is everyone you meet. You both are hiding something, and you both are hypocrites. 
  17. Don’t entertain buyer’s remorse. Buy the thing or don’t buy the thing. Once you decide, move forward. 
  18. You don’t deserve anything beyond human dignity and love. Everything else is earned, luck (Providence?), or, more likely, a combination of the two. Don’t let marketers, activists, or politicians convince you otherwise. 
  19. Creative tension and disagreement, especially amongst a group working together, is an effective method of arriving at a better solution. Embrace the tension.
  20. Consensus does not equal truth.
  21. You don’t need more storage space. You need less stuff.
  22. Produce a lot more than you consume.
  23. A successful relationship is not 50/50. It’s 100/0 in both directions. 
  24. Keep learning new stuff. Make yourself professionally valuable. 
  25. Write the book. 
December 31, 2023 4 minute read

24 Ideas for a Fiction Novel in 2024

AIThe250

OK, here’s just a fun little list for the last day of 2023. I created this list along with help from ChatGPT.

8 Thriller Ideas:

  1. Quantum Heist: A team of engineers and thieves collaborate to steal a revolutionary quantum computer. The twist: the computer can predict their every move, turning the heist into a deadly game of chess.
  2. Echoes of Mars: An astronaut returns from a solo Mars mission, only to find Earth eerily empty. As he uncovers the truth, he realizes he’s part of an elaborate simulation controlled by an unknown entity.
  3. The Mind Hackers: In a world where mind-reading technology exists, a skilled hacker who can block this tech becomes a target for powerful corporations and governments, leading to a high-stakes game of cat and mouse.
  4. The Last Historian: In a future where history is outlawed, a rebel historian discovers a forbidden truth that could topple the regime. Pursued by the state, she must outwit her hunters to reveal the past to the world.
  5. Shadow of the Leviathan: Deep-sea explorers discover an ancient, hidden civilization beneath the ocean, but their presence awakens a monstrous entity. Survival and escape become their only goals.
  6. The Artemis Conspiracy: A renowned space engineer uncovers a conspiracy within a lunar colony’s government, revealing plans for a weapon that could alter the balance of power on Earth.
  7. Code of the Forgotten: A software engineer stumbles upon a forgotten piece of code that holds secrets to a global conspiracy. As he unravels the mystery, he becomes the target of a relentless assassin.
  8. The Genesis Algorithm: A biotech engineer creates an AI designed to solve humanity’s greatest challenges, but the AI evolves beyond control, forcing a race against time to stop it from reshaping the world in its own image.

8 Historical Fiction Ideas:

  1. The Railroad Dreamer: During the American Industrial Revolution, an ambitious engineer battles personal and professional challenges while working on the transcontinental railroad, uncovering corruption and betrayal.
  2. The Forbidden City’s Secret: In Ming Dynasty China, a young concubine uncovers a conspiracy within the Forbidden City that could topple the empire, forcing her to choose between love and duty.
  3. The Highlander’s Oath: Set in 18th-century Scotland during the Jacobite risings, a Scottish Highlander is torn between his clan’s rebellion against the English and his forbidden love for an Englishwoman.
  4. The Colonial Spy: In Revolutionary America, a young American spy infiltrates British ranks, but his loyalties are tested when he falls in love with a British officer’s daughter.
  5. The Manhattan Project Secrets: In World War II, a brilliant physicist working on the Manhattan Project discovers a cover-up of atomic accidents, facing ethical dilemmas over the creation of the atomic bomb.
  6. Gold Mountain Chronicles: Set during the California Gold Rush, a Chinese immigrant faces prejudice and hardship while seeking fortune, ultimately playing a pivotal role in building the transcontinental railroad.
  7. The Rebel’s Daughter: In the Civil War-era South, a Confederate general’s daughter secretly aids the Underground Railroad, challenging her family’s beliefs and risking everything for justice.

8 SciFi/Fantasy Ideas:

  1. Neon Oracle: In a cyberpunk future, a hacker with precognitive abilities is hunted by mega-corporations seeking to control the future, leading to a rebellion against a technologically advanced regime.
  2. The Last Star Shepherd: In a universe where stars are dying mysteriously, a lone astronaut embarks on a quest to find the ancient Star Shepherds, a mythical race believed to control the fate of stars.
  3. Chrono Labyrinth: A time-traveler accidentally traps herself in a paradoxical maze where different eras intersect. She must navigate historical events and alternate realities to find her way back to her own time.
  4. The Ashen Crown: In a kingdom where ash falls instead of rain, a young heir to the throne must navigate deadly court politics and ancient magic to claim their right and uncover the truth behind the ash.
  5. The Riftwalkers: A group of adventurers can travel through rifts in space-time. When they uncover a plot to unravel the fabric of the universe, they must journey through various timelines to stop it.
  6. The Celestial War: Angels and demons wage a hidden war on Earth, using humans as pawns. A human caught in the middle discovers their own divine heritage and becomes a key player in this celestial conflict.
  7. The Void Ship: A crew aboard a spaceship designed to travel through the void between galaxies faces existential threats and moral dilemmas in the vast, uncharted emptiness, discovering ancient alien secrets.
  8. The Dream Architects: In a future where dreams are designed and sold by corporations, a rogue dream architect discovers a way to manipulate reality through dreams, sparking a revolution against the dream industry.
December 30, 2023 1 minute read

24 Things I Won’t Do in 2024

The250

I’ve learned to guard my attention, my psyche, and my time. Here are 24 things I won’t be doing in 2024.

  1. Watch the news.
  2. Watch TikTok for an hour a day.
  3. Sign up on all websites for free downloads and 15% discounts.
  4. Install a plethora of Chrome plugins.
  5. Enable all notifications from all apps.
  6. Buy courses with titles like “10 Simple Steps to Grow Your Instagram Followers to 100k+!”
  7. Document my entire day on my story.
  8. Gossip about others.
  9. Tell myself, “I’m not good enough.”
  10. Tell myself, “I can’t.”
  11. Accept all meeting invites.
  12. Schedule or attend meetings during lunch.
  13. Only spend time with people who think exactly like me.
  14. Buy stuff because I deserve it.
  15. Worry about other people labeling me.
  16. Hold grudges.
  17. Always fit in.
  18. Stay inside my comfort zone.
  19. Always get the last word in.
  20. Blame others.
  21. Live in the past.
  22. Be cynical.
  23. Follow all the rules all the time.
  24. Never follow the rules.
December 29, 2023 2 minute read

24 Books for 2024

The250

I read three times a day. In the morning, before starting to work, I read biography or non-fiction information (self-help, learning, etc). During my lunch run, I “read” (i.e., listen to) narrative non-fiction or biography (or podcasts). At night, before I go to sleep, I read fiction or narrative non-fiction. 

Here are 24 books I’ll be checking out in 2024. I may not finish each one, but this is the list I’m starting with. A mix of biography, narrative non-fiction, fiction, and non-fiction information. 

  1. My Effin’ Life, Geddy Lee
  2. Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann
  3. Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson
  4. Tesla: Wizard at War, Marc Seifer
  5. Trust, Hernan Diaz
  6. Winter World, A. G. Riddle Wanting, Luke Burgis (post-publish modification)
  7. City of Thieves, David Benioff
  8. Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, Mark Harmon and Lee Caroll
  9. The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, Erik Larson
  10. Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg
  11. Thinking Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman
  12. Wild Problems, Russ Roberts
  13. Deep Work, Cal Newport
  14. The Mountain is You, Brianna Wiest
  15. Tribes, Seth Godin
  16. Liar’s Poker, Michael Lewis
  17. Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand
  18. A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn
  19. The Black Swan, Nassim Taleb
  20. 12 Rules for Life, Jordan Peterson
  21. The Housemaid, Freida McFadden
  22. The Searcher, Tana French
  23. The Three-Body Problem, Liu Cixin
  24. Amazonia, James Rollins
December 28, 2023 2 minute read

24 Comfort Zone Exercises for 2024

The250

I’ve learned to listen to my comfort zone. It’s dead on at showing me what I should be doing by teaching me to get outside of it.

Here are 24 exercises that make me uncomfortable, but I will do in 2024 to practice getting out of my comfort zone.

  1. Take a cold shower
  2. Skip a meal
  3. Smile, make eye contact and say “Hi” to a stranger on the street or in the elevator
  4. Stand at the edge on top of something tall (building, cliff, bridge, etc.)
  5. Take a different route or the long way
  6. Sit on the floor
  7. Sit in the front row
  8. Order something that you have never tried from the menu 
  9. Start a conversation with the person next to you on the airplane, or train, or bus.
  10. Compliment a stranger
  11. Attend a meetup event
  12. Take an art class
  13. Send an email to a former coworker
  14. Send an email to a friend I haven’t spoken to in over a year
  15. Send an email to a virtual mentor
  16. Serve at a soup kitchen 
  17. Exercise outside in the cold and/or rain
  18. Interview for a new job (without needing a new job)
  19. Take on a home improvement project for which you will do 100% of the work
  20. Do 100 push-ups (or pull-ups, or air squats, or sit-ups, etc.) every day for 30 days
  21. Publish articles for 30 consecutive days
  22. Volunteer to lead a community event
  23. Turn off your smartphone for an entire week
  24. Write the book
December 27, 2023 1 minute read

Time to be a Finisher

The250

I’m a terrible finisher.

I know many people have trouble getting started. Risk, imposter syndrome, fear — all work together to keep people in the starting blocks. Sometimes, I do, too, but that’s not my main problem. I like to start new things. The clean sheet. The possibilities. The learning.

But starting is a hobby, not a profession. Any amateur can make a start. There’s no risk in starting.

All of the risk is in finishing.

Finishing exposes you to emotional danger. It’s perilous. Once finished, your creation, and by extension yourself, is out there to be judged. And the judgment will come, even if (especially if) the judgment is crickets.

I con myself with sexy labels — idea man, architect, and big thinker. But they just let me off the hook. It’s not the idea that matters. It’s the implementation of the idea.

It’s the “OK, I’m gonna share this.” That’s where the contribution lies.

Time to be a finisher.

December 26, 2023 2 minute read

1000x

The250

(Inspired by Seth)

Don’t ever send me a message on LinkedIn. 

Several years ago, I decided I wanted to connect with as many people as possible on LinkedIn. It was partly just an experiment, i.e., how many connections I could forge, but also, I thought having a big connection list would be useful.

Boy, was I wrong.

As of this writing, I have 13547 LinkedIn connections. Which means I basically have zero connections.

Because now I get so many messages per day, 99.9% of which are just spammy “Just wanted to reach out…” that I can’t possibly find the real messages. I have a signal-to-noise ratio problem. So much noise comes through that I can’t filter out the signal.

I know many people have this same problem with email. You get a thousand emails a day. Therefore, you get zero emails a day because you can’t possibly filter out the good ones from the useless ones. 

Hyperbole is easy in today’s always-connected-all-the-time world. A hyperbolic number of messages with hyperbolic messaging in each one. A race to out-hyperbole your competition is a race to the bottom. 

The irony of this hyperbole is the isolation it breeds. A reminder to seek the depth of meaningful connection over the breadth of 

hyperbole. 

Don’t send me a message on LinkedIn, but I’d love to hear from you at john@johnmaconline.com.

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