Peaking through the simulation

The second I heard Sam Altman talk about AGI, I knew something was off. No one could define it, not even today. It’s somewhere between god and human. It give’s direction, but feels like a friend. Fully personalized, and at your service.

However, a lot of early AI adoption has felt forced. Consumers don’t know how to use them, and no one wants to read 10 tips on how to write the perfect prompt (I bookmarked it). Corporations are giving it lip service for the stock premium, but are just as lost on how to implement it. Just a few lead the pack: OpenAI, Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta (let’s see how this list ages).

Although they haven’t figured out how to sell it, they do know it can’t claim reality. The glasses are still weird, the voices are too friendly, and the answers are suspect. I know these guys are missing Steve Jobs because he’s not around to save them from the consumer. It’s strange not to have Apple on the list. The Mac made the computer accessible, and the iPhone made mobile devices irreplaceable. It’s still a great company (I own stock), but it’s just not the innovator it used to be. Altman is already chasing after that spark with Jony Ive; can he be a better partner than Jobs? We’ll see.

With some inspiration from Baudrillard and Mad Men, I think I can see how things are shaping up.

The views expressed here are entirely personal and do not reflect the views of any employer, past or present.

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