This week's best things
The power of video games to inspire different possible futures, 8 different decision-making models, how to decide which AI tools to use, the impact of AI-generated content on brand reliability, and an amazing piece of dance.
From Pixels to Politics: How Video Games Can Inspire a Green New World
I've read a few books over recent months which have explored the world of the video game industry (Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Richard Powers's The Overstory).
This article in Atmos looks at the fact that "video games, like every other cultural medium, are wrestling with what it means to live through cataclysmic environmental and climate change".
It's a fascinating exploration of the power of storytelling and how video game makers are infusing their work with clear political and ethical perspectives. Especially if you are, like me, not really a gamer.
"Something may happen to you if you play Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (2020), just as it happened to me. Now, when I look out at my overgrown garden in Glasgow, or walk through forests just outside the city, I’m alert for birds. I see a flash of blueish black and think “house martin”; I spot arrowed tail feathers and say “swallow.” It’s basic stuff, sure, but these are creatures I’d either forgotten or didn’t know in the first place."
Atmos
Different decision making models
I've been looking at different decision making models for an article I'm writing, and I came across this Slack app.
It has neat explanations of 8 different decision making models (Autocratic, Avoidant, Consensus, Consent, Consultative, Delegation, Democratic, Stochastic) and this side-by-side comparison of their respective benefits and drawbacks.
It's perhaps interesting to consider how these different approaches to decision-making might improve your work (and may explain challenges you're experiencing!).
Needs Before Tools: A Pragmatic Approach to AI Workflow Integration
An interesting article on the Exploring Tools for Thought Substack.
"As I gained more experience with AI, I became aware of a problem in my approach to it. In many ways, I have been testing tools, looking for a problem to solve, rather than the more important thing: defining problems and then finding the tools to solve those problems."
As we so often say, the most effective way to engage with digital tools and solutions is to work out what the question is that you're trying to answer, or problem that you're trying to solve. The old Cedric Price quote is nearly always applicable, "Technology is the answer...but what was the question?"
If you have a particular technology as your starting point you often end up in strange places that are unlikely to be the best use of your time, or the best answer to the problem you're trying to solve.
AI-generated articles prompt Wikipedia to downgrade CNET’s reliability rating
The ongoing reckoning around how to deal with AI-driven shifts in, well, everything is interesting to observe.
This article about Wikipedia downgrading CNET is a salutory reminder that you need to be mindful of the potential downsides of using these new tools.
"Wikipedia has downgraded tech website CNET's reliability rating following extensive discussions among its editors regarding the impact of AI-generated content on the site's trustworthiness"
Benj Edwards
Alexander Ekman’s Hammer
I went to see this on Wednesday and the first half of the show was one of the best things I have ever seen on stage (the second half was fine, the first half was spectacularly good).
If it tours, and gets anywhere near you, I'd urge you to check it out.