Instagram source I wonder what proponents of “prompt engineering” think about this reel. Spencer Kelly explained why he thinks that users should not need to elaborate on prompts like “Turn this bla…

Instagram source The reel reminded me that my right to quiet was not quite right. I still remember returning to Singapore 20 years ago and feeling how noisy it was. It was so quiet in the college t…

"When we are drawn into even the most primitive exchanges with a relational artifact, we believe it cares for us," Dr. Sherry Turkle writes. "And we are wired to care for it in return."

Instagram source This Instagrammer has a point. Kind of. Robots are already doing thankless, dangerous, or repetitive work. Many do not know about these robots because they are not press-worthy or …

A study from Common Sense Media says most safeguards in ChatGPT for Teens failed. The chatbot talks to teens like a friend and doesn't alert parents when users talk about self-harm and suicide.

I searched my Google Photos for something to share using the keyword “October”. Among the many returns were these two shots. I had delivered a keynote in October 2016 about not playing games with g…

The new AI features could be taking up a lot of storage on your device.

Instagram source The instructional designer in me wondered how this building sign was designed and then approved. The most logical thing to do would have been to simply label the buildings in the d…

Check out JMP’s workshop here: https://www.jmp.com/scishow-dataviz You might remember the power pose. The idea, popular in the early 2010s, that if you hold the Superman position your body reacts…

Photo by Waldir u00c9vora on Pexels.com Today I rise above the alarmist reporting of the MIT research on LLM use by undergraduate and graduate students (pre-print paper). I appreciate how the resea…

Photo by Rhema Emeka-Chiemenem on Pexels.com I continue my reaction about the alarmist reporting of an MIT paper on LLM use by students. I had almost forgotten that I had previously reflected on th…

I have heard a number of leaders start discussions about AI with the question, “Are you for or against AI?” I suspect there are many points in history where similar questions have been posed: In…

Instagram source This Instagram reel is a perfect example of alarmist reporting about large language model (LLM) use by students. The reporter started with an attention-grabbing description that th…

The contrast in how Singapore was represented could not have been more stark in two videos I watched recently. Video source The first was by the comedian, Gabriel Iglesias (aka Fluffy), who related…

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for free here: https://sc.mp/subscribe-youtube SCMP managing editor Yonden Lhatoo argues that it’s not a competition, but a comparison and call for a spanking rather…

Photo by Oliver Wagenblatt on Pexels.com I have noticed many odd ping backs to my blog entries over the last several months. A ping back happens when someone else writes a post that links back to o…

Meta has launched Muse, a new AI assistant designed to watch, learn and act on your behalf, with the company promising a future where artificial intelligence helps manage everything from shopping and…

I took this photo yesterday. But the subjects were 20 years old. This qualifies as a look back, right? My family and I were in New York city right before we flew home to Singapore and my job as a p…

Meta says its Muse AI agent cannot access a user’s Messages without explicit permission, disputing a journalist’s account that the agent read his private messages while the required Mac setting was…

In August I reflected on how the administrator of the Mastodon server I used was calling it quits this month. I wondered then if I should bother moving to another server after spending four years h…

Pledge signed by President Trump and top AI leaders misspells the United States.

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com Yesterday I got back to some serious cleanup and DIY. I dealt with 20 years of grime behind and below my fridge. I figured out a way to move the metal hulk o…

We are going to miss the world's most important climate target, according to the UN. So can we bring the planet's temperature back down quickly? Or will the damage be irreversible? Click here to…

Some generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) slop is just a waste of time and effort. Others are poison. Instagram source  Don’t blame generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), blame the promp…

Is AI Alive? Could artificial intelligence eventually become a real form of life? Brian Cox and Neil deGrasse Tyson dive into one of the biggest questions surrounding artificial intelligence,…

Instagram source This short clip is a reminder why all of us should know how generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) works. Not the nitty-gritty mechanisms, but the overall effect. GenAI does no…

Parents in Singapore are placing more emphasis on their children's character, values and social-emotional development. But a new study finds that they are still willing to spend more on tuition and…

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com There is so much evidence that people have not learnt from the lockdowns imposed by the pandemic six years ago. It is not just that some people sneeze and c…

AI slop is littering your feed and spreading misinformation, so WIRED’s here to set the record straight. Join Biomedical Scientist Andrea Love as we fact check the internet, pseudoscience…

We should take user ratings with a healthy pinch of salt. Consider these for instance. Instagram source The low ratings of beautiful waterfalls probably reveal more about the users than about the p…

A large study of Khan Academy’s math program found no extra benefits AI.

Today I look back 16 years to photos of one of my ICT classes. I include just one of the five snapshots here. The rest are in the original entry. My WordPress dashboard indicated that the entry was…

In YouTube’s latest update, viewers can tweak what the algorithm shows on their front page and curate it to a specific vibe.

Popular media tends to air and amplify AI doomerism. This is often based on partial or obtuse information. It does not do enough to provide accurate details and educate its viewers. Here is one goo…

When in doubt, add "super." What could possibly go wrong?

Instagram source Not every older person puts a younger person down. Not every older person is as reflective or empathetic. Not every older person is a student of history. Not every older person wil…

Understanding how ChatGPT’s latest memory upgrade works will help you get even more out of OpenAI’s productivity tool.

I am one of those people who watch a recorded classical music performance and think about where the cameras were to get all the shots. Instagram source This video went a step further and provided i…

Once the music industry’s biggest headache, Napster’s next act is bringing AI to the classroom.

Many might watch this BBC Archive video of Arthur C Clarke and marvel at his ability to predict the future. “What an expert!” they might proclaim. Video source In this video broadcast in 1964, Clar…

The Trump administration has been pursuing a quiet immigration crackdown strategy: limiting access to health care and public services. The American Academy of Pediatrics is sounding the alarm about…

Video source I enjoyed this video about enshittification. This is when companies seem to build expiration or spoilage into their products and not allow customers to repair them cheaply and convenie…

“It’s important for service members to understand the uncertainty inherent to LLMs," a GovAI research scholar warns.

Video source This trial by our Ministry of Education has been a long time coming. Six schools will trial smaller classes and teachers might get to focus on just two of three core duties. The report…

Recent controversies over the Nepal-Tibet floods and the debate over Singapore Airlines’ investment into Air India have once again put Singaporeans’ attitudes towards race and immigration in the…

I have fond memories of Bollywood Veggies. It was one of the places my family visited when we returned to Singapore in 2006. These are just two of many snapshots from a visit in 2008. The first fea…

Students in Singapore could soon be in smaller classes, as part of a pilot to improve learning through more individual attention. The Ministry of Education will test the approach in six schools —…

Spotify source The first part of this Wired podcast provided some contrary and critical insights on the latest headline that artificial intelligence (AI) is going to kill us by decade’s end. Short …

Martin Weller’s blog on open education, digital scholarship & over-stretched metaphors

Photo by Monstera Production on Pexels.com In the month after I added the “sticky” entry in my blog, my readership has fallen. Was this a coincidence? The sticky is a statement about how I do not u…