glow notes: learning to learn, immersive imaginary worlds, an airplane crash survival system

Parenting in the AI Era

This quote really struck me this week, as did his full thought piece on his Substack, “The End of Thinking.” He highlights concerning trends, such as the declines we’re seeing in reading and writing, arguing these are core to deep thinking, as well as in mathematics.

He uses a metaphor from weightlifting: "Time Under Tension." Just as a muscle needs sustained tension to grow, our brains need sustained, uninterrupted focus to build knowledge, understanding, and, as he highlights, to build the skill of bringing together barely connected or unconnected ideas into something uniquely new. When we (or our kids) are constantly multitasking, our brains never get that "time under tension."

Relatedly, learning how to learn is the most critical skill for the next generation according to Demis Hassabis, Nobel Prize winner and head of Google’s AI work. Rapid technological change will demand a new approach to learning and skill development.- for example, optimizing our approach to new subjects and continually learning throughout our careers.

Connection Spark

Real life really matters. I discovered some stats/graphs this week focused on young people that were eye-opening as it relates to human connection and our relational health.

The first is that young people are spending more time alone on unfulfilling activities and less time socializing and doing things they find meaningful.

The study also shows that young people are less agreeable, less extroverted (we all are), more neurotic, and concerningly, far less conscientious.

So now what? Well, I think knowing this as parents is a helpful starting point.

I recently took a course from Harvard Medical School, “Building a Life of Wellness: The Science of Fostering Happiness and Health Span.” And while I won’t go deep, they emphasized that living our values, motivated by a purpose, and prioritizing relationships is the secret sauce to a long, happy, healthy life - which, while not surprising, could hopefully serve as a thought starter and some inspiration for all of us. ❤️

Breakthroughs worth sharing

Making Plane Crashes Survivable. I confess I got very intrigued when I saw this. Scientists have designed an AI-powered safety system that uses sensors to detect an imminent crash and, in under two seconds, deploys massive Kevlar airbags from the plane’s exterior. They claim the system could reduce crash impact forces by over 60%.

A Universal Cancer Vaccine? Scientists at the University of Florida have reportedly developed a new mRNA cancer vaccine that shows high promise: researchers stimulate the immune system in a way that tumors in mice simply disappear—not in a targeted manner, but universally. Researchers are pushing for acceleration to clinical trials.

Hands on with AI

Spark your imaginations: a new AI tool from (woman!!) AI pioneer Fei-Fei Lee’s World Labs called Marble can transform any image into an explorable, interactive 3d environment that people can navigate in real-time. It’s still in beta, but I got access right away and so hopefully if you want to try it, you can too.

What I love about it is that it is a tool that is fun to do with my boys in ways that sparks their imagination and fuels creativity. For example, is there a storybook with beautiful pictures you love to read with your kiddo? Snap a photo and step into the 3d imaginary world together.

Or, another example, Leo loves to play Candy Land with me and is always commenting on what it would be like to live there. Well, now we can find out.

To try it out, just go to marble.worldlabs.ai (and request access if you need to), upload a photo or describe a scene (it will optimize your prompt for you automatically). It’s obviously still early but already quite magical.