By Ash Mann in ai — Aug 16, 2024

This week's best things

A new AI statement for the National Library of Scotland, AI writing detectors, the cost of deceptive design, the triumph of podcast technology, the commodity cage, confused cars, and rideable suitcases.

Photo by Erwan Hesry / Unsplash

A new AI Statement for the National Library of Scotland

My colleague Katie and I have been talking for a while now about the importance of cultural organisations (and indeed all organisations) starting to form some guidelines or principles around how they engage with AI tools.

Rob Cawston at the National Library of Scotland has shared NLS's new AI Statement which was put together "by a group of Library staff, including representatives from metadata, development, digitisation, collections and research, maps, rights, and digital scholarship".

It is at the 'guiding principles' end of things rather than a voluminous policy document.

I think that - given the emergent nature of these tools - that this 'lighter touch' level of guidance is infinitely more practical at this stage.

On a related note, the folks at William Joseph released this 'AI policy template for charities' which some people may find useful.

OpenAI confirms that AI writing detectors don’t work

More AI-related things, this one from last year but it feels relevant and, as far as I can tell, is still valid.

"In a section of the FAQ titled "Do AI detectors work?", OpenAI writes, "In short, no. While some (including OpenAI) have released tools that purport to detect AI-generated content, none of these have proven to reliably distinguish between AI-generated and human-generated content.""

How to Overcome Your (Checks Email) Distraction Habit

I don't know about you but I am partially distracted quite a lot of the time, and I hate it.

This article from HBR digs into why being distracted is so exhausting and suggests some ways of dealing with distraction.

"In most professional jobs today, multitasking has become a coping strategy. We are constantly shifting our attention from trying to complete assignments and projects, tracking and responding to endless communications, and managing interruptions from colleagues and the office bustle.

Constant distraction leaves a trail of scattered thoughts and partly done tasks in its wake. It leaves us feeling overwhelmed and tired."

Counting the cost of deceptive digital design in e-commerce

I spotted this via the always-excellent Rachel Coldicutt.

Dark patterns are deceptive design tactics which are used to make users take an action that is not in their best interests and one they would otherwise be unlikely to take.

This report from Citizen's Advice in the UK looks at the scale of the problem.

"Design isn’t neutral, and the tactics used to guide customer choices online have real world consequences. This report finds that huge numbers of consumers are being pushed into purchasing things that they don’t want, need or later regret because of digital design tactics. In the last 12 months alone, consumers spent a total of almost £2.1 billion on things they didn't want, need or later regretted, because of digital design."

Pushed to Purchase: Counting the cost of deceptive digital design in e-commerce

Digital design can be used to push consumers into purchasing things they don’t want, need or regret, and our latest research sheds light on just how much these design tactics are costing consumers.

Citizens Advice

“Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical statement.

In a week where there have been yet more reminders of the depressing downsides of monopolised technology ownership I revisited this post from Anil Dash

"being able to say, "wherever you get your podcasts" is a radical statement. Because what it represents is the triumph of exactly the kind of technology that's supposed to be impossible: open, empowering tech that's not owned by any one company, that can't be controlled by any one company, and that allows people to have ownership over their work and their relationship with their audience."

It's always good to remind yourself of the good things on the internet, and the structures behind them that make them possible.

The commodity cage

I was revisiting some old bookmarked things yesterday and came across this post from Jay Acunzo (originally spotted via Hugh Garry).

In it he talks about the issue of just churning out content at scale, instead he makes the case for more thoughtful, original, valuable work.

"More valuable, more original work is the way forward. When you matter more, you can beg for attention less."

Waymo cars honk at each other throughout the night, disturbing SF neighbors

In the latest 'visions of the future that are actually a nightmare' news, a San Francisco neighbourhood is being plagued by driverless cars getting confused and honking at each other all night.

Waymo's response? "We are aware that in some scenarios our vehicles may briefly honk while navigating our parking lots. We have identified the cause and are in the process of implementing a fix."

Why is Japan cracking down on rideable motorised suitcases?

Why is Japan cracking down on what?

This entire article was one surprise after another for me.

"But the rideable suitcase craze is getting pushback in some Japanese airports because of safety concerns and due to some foreign visitors using them illegally on public roads."

There was a rideable suitcase craze? And people are riding them on the road!?

This week's consumption

I'm reading The Nix by Nathan Hill, thus far it's very good.

I saw Trap by M Night Shyamalan, it was not very good.

I watched Race to the Summit, a documentary about Swiss speed climbers Ueli Steck and Dani Arnold which is great if you like vertiginous footage of mountains.

I listened to Flyder by Casper Clausen and sir Was, which is quite lovely.

This week's consumption

Subscribe to Ash Mann