Category: AI

  • Retro Futures: “Wag the Dog” and Deep Fakes

    A classic 1997 movie about technology-fueled misinformation shows how democratized deception has become in 2024, and why we shouldn’t call them “deep fakes” in the first place. Typically, when I write about retro futures I’m exploring what a classic work of science fiction got right and wrong about the future and what that says about life today.…

  • Experience Stacks and Matthew Perry (R.I.P.)

    When social media surfaced a clip of the late “Friends” star on “The West Wing,” it activated crashing contexts that explain how Experience Stacks work and why they can be powerful. I am more aware of Matthew Perry after his premature death last October than I ever was while he was still alive. In part…

  • 20 Years of Innovation!

    This week, I share a new infographic tracking two decades of transformational companies and products. Plus, “13 Ways of Looking at Las Vegas.” (Issue #101) I had a ball leading StoryTech tours of the show floor at CES in Las Vegas last week. This year’s distinct theme was AI. My favorite exhibit was Timekettle from China: it’s one of…

  • Dueling Intelligences

    How realistic is the idea that flesh and blood actors will soon find themselves performing alongside long-dead movie stars? Image created by DALL-E. Last time, I shared a microfiction (1,000 words or less), a short science fiction story called “The Only Living Boy,” about an actor, Tom, who is the only flesh and blood performer…

  • The Only Living Boy, a Microfiction

    What happens when real and virtual actors join forces in a new production of Shakespeare’s “Othello” on Broadway? As regular readers already know, I’ve been experimenting with microfictions, short SF stories (1,000 words or less) that help me explore and illustrate aspects of how our lives might evolve within digital transformation. Here, then, is another microfiction. Next…

  • Truth in a Filtered World

    We already live in a polarized society, so what happens when technology makes our filters even stronger? Image created with ChatGPT4. Last time, I shared a microfiction (1,000 words or less), a short science fiction story called “Filtered,” about a man, Phil, who found his wife Cynthia’s pet name for him so irritating that he…

  • Filtered, a Microfiction

    If you never had to deal with your partner’s annoying verbal tics because your AI could just edit them out, would you do it? Image created with ChatGPT. Hearing his wife Cynthia say the word “Sweetie” tightened the corners of Phil’s mouth into a sour grimace. He hated it, and it was Cynthia’s chief way…

  • Bubbles

    What happens when economic incentives coax people to choose a single digital ecosystem?  I’m trying something experimental this issue: a microfiction, short Sci Fi story (under 1,000 words) to illustrate something about how our lives might evolve within digital transformation. Please take a look and let me know what you think. (FYI: the “bubbles” of…

  • What Will an AI Hardware Device Look Like?

    Sam Altman, Jony Ive, and Masayoshi Son have announced a new “iPhone of Artificial Intelligence,” but what will such a device actually look like? Late in September, breathless stories hit about a new “iPhone of Artificial Intelligence” hardware device collaboration among Sam Altman (OpenAI’s CEO), Sir Jony Ive (the guy who designed the iPhone), and…

  • AI and the Productivity Lie

    Think twice about the pervasive idea that Generative AI is going to make you more productive. A look back on how email transformed our lives gives a hint about what’s coming with Gen AI. A notion that pops up in many conversations about the benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI)—particularly Generative AI (Gen AI)—is that this…