I read a blog post over the holidays from my friend, Michael Whitaker, in which he shared a concerning trend: students are intentionally “dumbing down” their work in order to avoid being accused of using AI.

For example, they’ll deliberately insert typos or grammar errors, avoid big words, and use awkward sentence structures in response to AI policing. Moreover, an NBC News report shares some students are using AI “humanizer” tools that suggest ways to alter the work so they aren’t read as being AI created.

My thoughts: if kids are purposefully reducing the quality and authenticity of their writing and work, that’s the wrong outcome. Ask your kids if they’ve been feeling this pressure, and if so, it probably warrants some bigger conversations both at home and with the school.

Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, published a provocative essay this week called “The Adolescence of Technology.” Just as teenagers gain power before they have full maturity, humanity is about to wield "unimaginable power" through AI before our social and political systems are fully ready.

The biggest risks he highlights include: systems acting autonomously in unpredictable ways, bad actors using AI for destruction (particularly bioweapons), and authoritarian governments using AI for surveillance and control.

He also emphasizes that we're entering a critical 1-2 year window where AI could become more capable than humans at essentially everything which will lead to significant economic disruption - in his view, AI could displace half of entry-level white-collar jobs within 1-5 years.

He calls for governments and companies to step up and take action: building AIs with strong values and safeguards, incorporating thoughtful regulation (transparency legislation, export controls), and most relevant to us, we must prepare for economic disruption and a world where our careers will not define us. Prioritizing human purpose and connection becomes more important than ever.

My thoughts: there are a lot of extreme views with regard to the opportunities and risks of AI and its trajectory of innovation, and so it’s hard to know what to listen to, but I do think that Dario is a credible expert with strong moral character. Worth a read.

Building on the conclusion above, I wanted to share a very lightweight but enjoyable article I read recently about the notion of “joyspan.” We spend billions trying to live longer, but what’s the point of extra years if we aren’t enjoying them?

Joyspan focuses on the quality of our experience, and Dr. Kerry Burnight argues that what’s great about joyspan is that it’s largely a skill that can be practiced. She breaks it down into 4 actions:

My thoughts: this feels relevant right about now. ❤️

Spotify is rolling out a feature they call “prompted playlists” in beta across the US and Canada. It allows people to describe exactly what they want to listen to, going far beyond a specific genre or artist.

For example, “songs that feel like my late nineties high school years mixed with upbeat tracks from the TV shows, movies, and pop culture moments that defined that decade, “ or “mood-boosting indie-pop for getting ready to go out with friends including songs recently featured on hit competition and reality shows that fit my taste, along with songs I love but haven’t played this year.”

If you’re like me, and hum and haw for way too long before deciding what playlist or album you feel like listening to, this feature feels like music to the ears.

To try:

The first human trials of age reversal therapy are approved: Life Biosciences, a startup co-founded by longevity researcher David Sinclair, has received FDA approval to begin the first human trials of a cellular rejuvenation technique called reprogramming.

The therapy resets the epigenetic markers in cells, effectively restoring them to a younger, healthier state. The initial trial will focus on treating glaucoma in about a dozen volunteers, attempting to reverse vision loss caused by optic nerve damage.

While starting with the eye, this trial is viewed as a critical proof-of-concept. Success here could open the door to treating other aging organs and advancing the broader field of age reversal. 🤯

I confess I get a kick out of sharing the latest demos of robots doing housework - in some cases because they seem woefully unhelpful, but in others you can see a glimmer of hope that one day, one day, we may not have to fold laundry and load and unload the damn dishwasher every day.

Figure is one of the leading humanoid robotics companies and they just introduced their latest model, Helix 02, which has “full body autonomy.” See it in action here.