This week we are leaning into multiple metaphors: AI as a mirror, UX design as a window or room, and life as information. Plus: read about Michael Levin's upcoming presentation at the Imagining Summit, Helen's Book of the Week, and our upcoming events.
It’s easy to fall prey to the design illusion that because LLMs look sleek, they must be well-designed. But aesthetics alone do not equal design. As Steve Jobs once said, “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”
It’s curious that these two papers, tackling such similar ideas, came out at the same time. Is this coincidence, or does it tell us something about where the study of life and intelligence is heading?
An interview with Michael Bungay Stanier about his book How to Work with (Almost Anyone).
Michael Bungay Stanier has an extraordinary talent for distilling the complexity of human relationships into easy to remember and follow frameworks—doing so with just the right amount of Australian humor and plenty of vulnerability. Despite his remarkable success with books like The Coaching Habit, The Advice Trap, and How to Begin, Michael never comes across as one of those gurus who thinks they have all the answers. That mindset comes through perfectly in the title of his newest book, How to Work with (Almost) Anyone—not absolutely anyone, almost anyone. The book is built around five questions for building the best possible relationships which we have found to be very helpful in our working relationship.
We have grown to be friends with Michael through our repeated gatherings at the House of Beautiful Business. I know all three of us would encourage all of our listeners and readers to join us at the next House as well.
In this interview, we talk about Michael’s new book, how to use a keystone conversation to build the best possible relationship, and we even consider how to apply Michael’s frameworks to working with generative AI.
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Thanks to Jonathan Coulton for our music
The Artificiality Weekend Briefing: About AI, Not Written by AI
