108 - Event Working Title

"Stop capitalising on loneliness. Make friends with something ALIVE - everyone is as lonely as you!!!" Spotted in the NY subway, Sept '25. 

           

Hello everyone,

 

Keeping up with what is happening in the world of design and technology right now feels to me like watching a car crash in slow motion.

 

That’s not exactly the right framing. It’s more like watching your younger cousin burn through the $100 you gave them for a bad idea they’ve had. Except your younger cousin is computer science drop out whose best friend is a laptop and the $100 is actually hundreds of billions of dollars and their idea might harm the planet and rewire the brains of an entire generation.

 

The last few emails I’ve sent you have all been similarly critical of the current state of AI. I think that’s fair, but it’s also repetitive and honestly kind of boring too.

 

So while I will continue to closely track what who is launching what and why, I also wanted to let you know that I’ve been working on something that might be a helpful counter to the avalanche of AI hype-slop.

 

Early next year I’m planning to hold a conference/event in NYC where we bring together and hear from some really wonderful people who have important things to share that sit in opposition to the “AI will save us” crowd.

 

I’m currently reaching out too a wish list of academics, artists, musicians, philosophers, designers, writers, technologists, engineers and more, to gauge interest in taking part.

 

The event doesn’t have a name (help?!), but I think I’ve got a venue.

 

I think two days would be perfect.

 

A mix of talks, panels, show and tell.

 

It’s for the nerds.

 

Maybe we record it. Maybe we don’t?

 

It’s not anti-AI, but it’s also not blindly pro-AI either. Threading the needle here is difficult.

 

The few people I’ve spoken to about it so far and really enthusiastic!

 

Looking back on my career so far (PP, SDH), I do love creating and curating things that bring people together. And right now this feels important. I also don’t stop thinking about it which is always a good sign.

 

I have a 2 page Google Doc with the wish list, costs, overview etc. If you’d like to see it and give me feedback, please reply to this email!

 

I’ll keep you updated here as things progress.

 

This event needs a name! The name is so important.

 

Below is my (depressing) wrap up of the AI activity over the last month.

 

As always, thanks for reading.

 

Nick

 

One unmissable trend right now is routed the idea that loneliness is a problem (it is) that tech can solve (it can’t). I’ve written a lot about Friend.com, but now we have more entrants into the space. Both Born and Taya.

 

1) Right now, NYC is COVERED in print ads for Friend.com. They are being graffitied over and torn down faster than they can repair them. Avi, the 22 year old founder, thinks he’s nailed it. I think he’s lonely and is very good at setting money on fire.

 

2) The Born launch video (4:27) is…insane? Why do none of these guys have friends?

 

3) Taya is meant targeted at women. It’s a more beautiful device, but is no less sinister.

 

IDK, going a chess or run club. Go to a bar. Whatever. Just don’t talk to a ChatGPT wrapper about your problems.

   

       

Undoubtedly experiments, but still vile, both Meta and Open AI have launched what is basically TikTok x IG, but with entirely AI generated content.

  

Last Friday, Meta’s new 28 yr old billionaire head of AI announced ‘Vibes’, and Twitter had a field day (check the rt's)! The product was torn to pieces but almost everyone! Faith in humanity slight restored.

 

Yesterday, Altman at Open AI announced Sora. Similar but you can be like, “show me fight scene from the Matrix but make it Mario vs. Pikachu” or “show me @friend dancing with @me”. They think it’s amazing. And on a technical axis it is.

 

On the other axis, they’re meant to be curing cancer.

 

I was saying to my friend Emma this week that these guys just don’t get vibes. They don’t have taste. And she put it far better than I ever could by saying, “these people have an underdeveloped sense of aesthetics”. Nail on head.

 

Another good moment to suggest watching Brad Tromel’s excellent video on AI Slop.

💌 If someone forwarded you this, you can click here to subscribe.

 

1) Years ago I turned off my iPhone and bought the most featureless phone I could and used it for 3 weeks. At the end I was like, “that was great, but I missed maps, Spotify, uber etc.” The Lite Phone tried to solve that and now a new square phone thing called Meadow is trying to do the same thing. Want to connect with nature? Use your Meadow. Please do not tell the founders that you can also just leave your phone at home and not take their phone. (I like how in their launch video they didn’t show the screen on the device. Cheeky!)

 

2) An artists has made an AI actor called Tilly Norwood. Hollywood went nuts! The artists had to be like, “this is an art project please clam down and appreciate the art”, but the underlying thinking here is the same as the above. It’s weird and gross imo.

 

3) A new company is making 3,000 podcast AI generated episodes a week at $1 per episode. Jeanine Wright (ex-lawyer and Inception Point AI CEO says, “I think that people who are still referring to all AI-generated content as AI slop are probably lazy luddites.”

   

Let's end on a more positive note :)

There have been some amazing sets released in the past month. I want to call out two, both the Opening and Closing sets from Floating Points on his new Sunflower Sound System (which I had the pleasure of listening too in Amsterdam over the summer).

I think if I had one day left on earth and I could do anything, I'd watch Floating Points (real name Samuel Shepherd) play music. Enjoy.

Closing Set Link

(Oh, if you're ever stuck for something to listen too at work, check my 'likes' on Soundcloud. I curate it pretty carefully :)