Finding Good Information About AI (Part 2)

A model to filter down AI information sources to find the ones that are the most interesting to you

With the changes at OpenAI this week, I'm assuming your newsfeed is being flooded with speculation and drama. Maybe you've been missing Game of Thrones and that's exactly what you're hoping to see. However, if you'd rather find other sources of information about AI outside the tabloids, then I have a model for you.

OpenAI DALLE3 - ChatGPT generated prompt: “Alter the image to show a woman deeply engrossed in her book, her focus solely on the pages in front of her, perhaps underlining or taking notes, with an expression of intense concentration. The man is on the other side of the room, actively looking for a book on a high shelf, unaware of the woman's presence. He is in his own world, focused on his task. The modern Impressionist style should be retained with clear lines and a bright color scheme. The background is simplistic, emphasizing the independent activities of the two individuals.”

This continues our prior post from last week that covered the first part of this model. Those were the Commentators, Professionals and Innovators creating AI content. This week's post covers the remaining two groups: Leaders and Misadopters.

Leaders

These are engineers and scientists from industry-leading AI companies who form the direction of AI advancement. Seeking to compete with other companies, these groups look for highly scalable solutions that promote their businesses. The latest major releases from OpenAI this week fall directly into this category.

There are some seriously incredible things being done by the major companies leading AI. But you can't separate the work from the motivations. Those companies have a specific mission and may look toward that mission over exploring the space that they're helping to develop. Sometimes this can make their announcements feel disconnected from the real world or more important than they actually are.

Industry leaders are the best at marketing information about what new technologies are being created. The content is entertaining and informative and provides a good introductory view of these concepts. But if you're looking for a more objective measure of the technology, you might not find that view being publicized by those with the most to gain.

Leaders to watch:
OpenAI - Pretty clear driver of major change and has "GPT"-of-things as its brand, which has become somewhat synonymous with AI.
GitHub Next - A team at GitHub looking at developer applications of LLM software to determine what is possible.

Misadopters

This group largely focuses on shouting down the hype surrounding AI. While some of the content that they create is diligently documented or reviewed, much of the content can be opinionated or situational. Similar to other interest groups, this group is often looking for a place to lead the conversation on technology and the development of a brand.

As with many technologies, people question the need for a new technology and its ability to solve problems better than the "tried and true" way. In infancy, the technology seems to have many limitations, and that can often make it seem like we should abandon any further investment. However, those with longer-term vision can see that there is opportunity, despite the advice of Misadopters.

This advice can be well-intentioned for many reasons as well. A feature may not be well understood or incorrectly posted on a forum. Teams of engineers may try to take AI practices and integrate them into their existing applications. If it doesn't work as intended, they feel they have evidence that "AI doesn't work". These teams instead need to take a step back and look at their approach to see if maybe there is something that is missing. But that can be hard when you need to release software on a deadline.

AI today can be a gimmick that gets rudely tacked onto an existing application like Notion or Snapchat. The service doesn't feel like it fully aligns with the mission of the application and isn't bringing something that the users were looking for. Product leaders need to reevaluate their objectives and find solutions where AI fits more naturally into the product, rather than shoehorning it into their existing solutions.

Misadopters provide a great place to find negative opinions about AI. There will continue to be a growing wealth of this type of knowledge on the internet. However, these conversations aren't the most inspirational or pragmatic. As with any of the information produced by any of these groups, be careful to evaluate why the information was created and for what purpose.

I try to forget Misadopters exist.
While it would be great to have a few negative points to look at, I generally don't get that excited about shouting down ideas even if they're wrong. I don't believe AI fits every niche or possibility, but I also don't think it's just hype.

My assumption is that you, the reader, can sniff out what kind of content I'm referring to. If not, that's ok too. Start looking and second-guessing broad statements about how "AI is this" or "AI will do that". Keep in mind that there is a wider range of possibilities if you know where to look.

Bringing It All Together

Now that we have the definitions out of the way it's time to decide what kind of content speaks to you. You've probably already checked out one or more of the sources included, but if not, let me try to point you to where you'll be interested.

If you're interested in discussing AI in general and don't want to get too technical, I think Commentators are a good source for you. You'll get conflicting viewpoints often, but that can also be the exciting drama you're looking for.

For news straight from the source and to better understand the latest updates that are being released, Leaders offer a one-stop shop. Most people with some interest in AI will be keeping up to date here, and it's good to stay apprised of the latest announcements coming from this group.

As someone looking to dive deep into one topic or learn something particular about AI, Professionals are the best to look towards. They've turned teaching a skill into a business and there are a lot of people hungry for your attention and putting a lot of effort into ensuring that you succeed, so you can maybe buy a course or two.

If you're looking to be inspired by the things people are building and better understand how and why, look to Innovators. These are the people testing the outer limits of AI and trying things nobody has tried before. You'll feel inspired and maybe a little dumb part of the time. But that's always good motivation to get started building your own thing.