Fujifilm X-S10 + Sigma 56mm f/1.4
Last year or so has been a time of inspecting my own consciousness, seeing how it gradually shifts and changes. The realization that is not that new, but never ceases to amaze me, is how much of the change actually happens under the radar. We go on about our lives, of course putting a lot of time and effort into being aware, noticing what is going on, what changes are happening to us and our surroundings. But at least for me, no matter how much I try, I'll always end up reflecting that so much has happened anyway that I did not notice—just in retrospection.
It's also not uncommon for me to wonder how much and how well we adapt to these changes—even, or especially those that go unnoticed at first. The power of the unconscious, I guess. Trying to comprehend it consciously is beyond me: the amount of interdependent variables, processes happening internally and externally, emotion and the sheer number of life events. Oh, life, when will I have enough of you?
Having said that, there's still an immense value one can take from trying to remain conscious and aware, and reflecting on one's life—both internal and external.
The AI Revolution
Working in the IT industry, I've been watching the ongoing AI revolution for quite a few years already. The technology is not new, but the last few hears saw it taking the world by storm. There's probably not a single domain of life which has not been affected by it in some form or another.
I've been using AI code completion for a couple of years now, but recently we've seen a surge in platforms which can bootstrap entire full-stack applications with the help of AI. v0 or bolt.new are just some examples of that.
I am also building a new habit of journaling not just with my pen and paper, but also recording lengthy voice notes, which are automatically transcribed and can later be used to generate summaries, list of tasks to do. Heck, thanks to Voicenotes, I can even chat with an AI agent in a natural language, with the AI agent having the context access to all my notes. I am and surely will never been to keep such vast amounts of information in my brain buffer.
Even now we have an ongoing project in LOŻA Oficyna that makes have use of AI. An artist approached us with his unreleased electronic music album—we're talking good old school electronic music, reminiscing the golden classics of 80s—that he wants to release. However, we enhanced his vision with an entire sci-fi space mission story, which one of us writes. We then use AI to generate matching images, change these images into 10-seconds-long videos, and combine them into a music videos for the artist's tracks. Moreover, we plan on using AI to generate some promotional content as well. The best part is: it's a self-referencing project, as the content of the album speaks about an unknown space technology, which infected a system of a top-secret 50s space mission. We do not, however, try to hide the fact that we use AI. Instead, we embrace it, celebrating all the weird quirks and glitches that AI produces in the process.
These are just some of the interesting projects that I have, that make use of AI in this way or another. However, at the same time I have huge concerns on the influence of the AI technology on our culture and society.
Important thing to keep in mind is that large language or generative models are not creative and inventive in the traditional sense of these words. They have been trained on large datasets (think of each piece of data as a dot), and what they do when producing answers, is to find statistical connections between these dots, and combine these dots with the help of these connections. How much that differs from how a human generates thoughts, words and images—it's hard to tell, especially that the neuroscience doesn't have this all figured out.
But what the first-hand experience suggests, is that the content generated by AI that is more and more prevalent on the Internet, is rarely introducing new thinking patterns and memes (see: Memetics theory), but usually reinforcing the same cultural and intellectual patterns. This should not be surprising. Digesting new pieces of information requires time and effort from our brains, but we are lazy creatures and prefer to consume that which we already now, or that which at least resembles it.
But I believe that there's still place for human-made content. That's why I am writing this post in the first place. Hive has actually become my go-to place when I want to hear what's going on in lives of people that I like and respect (think @deepresearch, @hallmann, @mligeza). Some of them I do see in real life regularly, but still—there's just so much depth when you can also read what these people have written down. It's just a completely different type of communication.
I've basically ditched all other social media, as they are good for nothing in this age. They are designed to keep you mindlessly scrolling for eternity, and all the content is very generic and repetitive. I think that's because people tend to add content, which will be promoted by the AI-powered algorithms, which in turns powers very short-lived memetic phenomena (these are called virals for a reason, right?).
But it is what it is, and I think it is the only way forward to try to adapt the best I can. One of these adaptive strategies could be using Hive more often—which I plan on doing!
Word of the Year: A Calling
during Camino de Santaigo in Spain
A good friend of mine, which I respect immensely for her introspection skills, has this ritual, where at the start of the year she reflects on her life and chooses a single word, which will lead her throughout the rest of the year. She regularly meditates on the word and thinks about how it applies to her life. That's basically it. She has got some additional exercises that she does, but the main thing is to have this word in the back of your head and constantly wonder on how it applies to you and your life.
Last year in February she inspired me to do the same... I did not even have to think about choosing the word, it came to me right away: change. At first I hadn't made much of it, but lo and behold: from that point in time I feel like I was put into an existential freight train. What has happened in the next year is short of unbelievable. I spoke about that in my re-introduction post.
This year a different word came to me in January: a calling. When it first came I felt anxious, my heart beating quicker. It's such a powerful word, it could mean anything and everything. But that's the point, I thought. A good word for the year is the one that terrifies you a bit, because you already know that it will transform you in ways that you cannot envision.
Thus starts my journey of deepening my understanding of what is my calling and how can I work towards realizing it in my life.
One of my reflections that I already have is that writing is important to me. I decided to be more active on here again, hoping that it will help me clarify some of my thoughts and provoke worthwhile discussions as well.
Maybe the time is coming to return to a few of my unfinished novels and finish them. Yesterday I thought about sharing some parts of them here—I took inspiration from @mligeza, who shared some of his short novels as well. You can let me know in the comments whether you'd be interested.
But first things first, and that is I have to sort out my financial status. Without a stable source of income everything else feels like building on sand. The industry changed in recent years, though. With many layoffs and not great economic outlooks, it's harder to find interesting and well-paid projects. At the same time I do not want to just accept any offer that comes my way, but instead work on a project that I can put all my skills into and develop—both commercially and as a person.
I've lived long enough to get a sense of what is happening: a slow, gradual shift within my life, and within my mind, too. But in the middle of the process it's hard to navigate, as you can only see what's directly around you. It feels like trying to find a path, but your completely blind. I also know, that once I am on the other side of that process, in retrospect it will all look coherent and inevitable in the way it happened. Until then—I'll just keep on swimming, and see you there. I'll be sure to report on my journey.
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By the way, I am looking for new projects to work on. If you are looking for a talented full stack developer and leader for your project, let me know! You can learn more about me at mietek.dev.