I'm a professional translator and I've written a lot about how machine translation has changed my work. I look at it the same way—as a productivity tool. (Also, re: the stat for exposure to AI among translators, I'm surprised it's not more. Machine translation has been integrated into every major translation tool for years now.)
I don't see it replacing translators any time soon. This is mostly because translation engines, like most AI-powered technology, operate without much meaningful context. A single word or phrase in English can mean any number of things, and may have subtle shades of meaning and nuance. But a specific meaning has to be pinned down in translation, and the best an MT engine can do is guess based on very limited context. So for the foreseeable future, it'll be a human’s job to correct its course (and, in the process, save some time on certain types of big boring jobs).
> If you click into thread you can see a breakdown of how they did it, but the TL;DR is they used TikTok. Because even a really small amount of engagement on TikTok is enough to completely overwhelm Truth Social.
Remember that time Trump had a rally (I think it was in Tulsa) and all the TikTokers snapped up the tickets, making the arena embarrassingly empty? My theory (supported by exactly zero evidence) is this is when the right-wing obsession with banning TikTok started.
“Sex Worker-Led Payment Platform Shuts Down After Being Cut Off by Processor”
Yeah no maybe using blockchain, AKA that technology banks uniformly associate with money laundering, isn’t the best way to get banks to be nice to you?
That Variety article is pure AMPTP propaganda!!! WGA goes radio silent in the months before & during negotiations. Any articles you see in the trades are coming directly from the AMPTP camp & therefore meant to sow discord and undermine writers' faith in their own unions. Take any forthcoming doomsday headlines about it with an ENORMOUS grain of salt.
A great read as always. The Chiles thing is a funny one. It’s almost certainly a complete fabrication (sample stories from the Sunday Sport: Ed Miliband lookalike is Britain's hardest bouncer; Gordon Ramsay’s Dwarf Porn Star Lookalike Found Dead) but had been enthusiastically gulped down by most of the supposedly serious British press (and Adrian Chiles) who almost certainly know that it’s almost certainly invented for shits and giggles. That doesn’t invalidate the strange phenomenon that is Adrian Chiles (and Chiles stans) but... odd.
> But, according to the Variety report, this would allow a studio to, say, ask a writer to touch up an AI-written script. I actually think this is a really bad and very scary idea. So I’m at a bit of an impasse.
Can you elaborate on this? Trying to sincerely understand it. Why is it bad and scary? My understanding is that, a writer touching up an AI script gets a full writing credit. That's it? What am I missing? It would be in line with your point that it's just a tool?
Compromise position on technology: children can only use VR headsets (not conventional screens) and have to open a window or go outside whenever they use them. Doing your math homework should involve getting lost in a forest while wearing a Meta Quest and bumping into trees this is the hill I will die on.
If you are using Twitter or FB for anything but friends and family contact, you are taking yourself out of the meaningful discussion of anything important. Twitter can be like the Tourette syndrome of political discussion. Same thing for Reddit.
I would like to invite you and your community to check out my newsletter, where I share content on productivity, self-development, and marketing trends. Feel very welcome to subscribe and thanks in advance for supporting my work!
Totally agree that it is a productivity tool, but about the jobs "loss" thing - the biggest mindset shift I've ever had related to loss of jobs from technology - robots will never take human jobs, humans will simply be free themselves from doing the jobs of robots.
Humans shouldn't have to do dull, repetitive, basic tasks. They are robot jobs.
Well, that coupled with looking at the history of technological innovation showing that there are always doom stories and actually technology leads to higher quality jobs (and MORE of them, counterintuitively)
I’m reading your newsletters out of order this week so my comment here connects to your next one. You mention that asking the Japanese about a social take on Twitter is equivalent to 4chan which is equivalent to Reddit. In your next newsletter you talked about how relatable everyday grimy content is the growing online trend which is leading to people (like Kim k) faking this kind of content which then defeats the whole purpose.
I relate this to Reddit because of a few reasons. One, Reddit is a much different place than it was even 2-3 years ago. Younger left wing people are a massive part of Reddit’s population (it has a very obvious left wing bias which I love to see but have to remind myself I’m in an echo chamber). Two, the anonymity on the site lends itself well to being more “normal core”.
You asked what happens when those large trends on social media become meaningless, what happens next? I think it wouldn’t be outlandish to suggest sites like Reddit that are reminiscent of the old anonymous internet make a big comeback.
“Let me know in the comments what you want your elected representatives to know what you live about TikTok.”
Because, sure, leaving comments on an internet video is a great way to reach your elected representative, as opposed to contacting them directly. Shou Crew, you should really know better than trying to Kony 2012 your way out of this lol.
Compromise position on tipping: just look up the local custom for wherever you are in the CIA World Factbook and follow that.
In the Eastern United States, the customary tip is 16.180339887…%, for reasons that are metaphysically inscrutable and classed as increasing gnostic knowledge, while in the Western United States the customary tip is the far more reasonable 15.915494309…%.
Europe is probably either of these divided by 2.54 because of the metric system. idk, math is hard.
I'm a professional translator and I've written a lot about how machine translation has changed my work. I look at it the same way—as a productivity tool. (Also, re: the stat for exposure to AI among translators, I'm surprised it's not more. Machine translation has been integrated into every major translation tool for years now.)
I don't see it replacing translators any time soon. This is mostly because translation engines, like most AI-powered technology, operate without much meaningful context. A single word or phrase in English can mean any number of things, and may have subtle shades of meaning and nuance. But a specific meaning has to be pinned down in translation, and the best an MT engine can do is guess based on very limited context. So for the foreseeable future, it'll be a human’s job to correct its course (and, in the process, save some time on certain types of big boring jobs).
> If you click into thread you can see a breakdown of how they did it, but the TL;DR is they used TikTok. Because even a really small amount of engagement on TikTok is enough to completely overwhelm Truth Social.
Remember that time Trump had a rally (I think it was in Tulsa) and all the TikTokers snapped up the tickets, making the arena embarrassingly empty? My theory (supported by exactly zero evidence) is this is when the right-wing obsession with banning TikTok started.
(edit: this thing -- https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/after-trump-rally-falls-flat-tiktok-teens-take-victory-lap-n1231675)
“Sex Worker-Led Payment Platform Shuts Down After Being Cut Off by Processor”
Yeah no maybe using blockchain, AKA that technology banks uniformly associate with money laundering, isn’t the best way to get banks to be nice to you?
That Variety article is pure AMPTP propaganda!!! WGA goes radio silent in the months before & during negotiations. Any articles you see in the trades are coming directly from the AMPTP camp & therefore meant to sow discord and undermine writers' faith in their own unions. Take any forthcoming doomsday headlines about it with an ENORMOUS grain of salt.
A great read as always. The Chiles thing is a funny one. It’s almost certainly a complete fabrication (sample stories from the Sunday Sport: Ed Miliband lookalike is Britain's hardest bouncer; Gordon Ramsay’s Dwarf Porn Star Lookalike Found Dead) but had been enthusiastically gulped down by most of the supposedly serious British press (and Adrian Chiles) who almost certainly know that it’s almost certainly invented for shits and giggles. That doesn’t invalidate the strange phenomenon that is Adrian Chiles (and Chiles stans) but... odd.
> But, according to the Variety report, this would allow a studio to, say, ask a writer to touch up an AI-written script. I actually think this is a really bad and very scary idea. So I’m at a bit of an impasse.
Can you elaborate on this? Trying to sincerely understand it. Why is it bad and scary? My understanding is that, a writer touching up an AI script gets a full writing credit. That's it? What am I missing? It would be in line with your point that it's just a tool?
Compromise position on technology: children can only use VR headsets (not conventional screens) and have to open a window or go outside whenever they use them. Doing your math homework should involve getting lost in a forest while wearing a Meta Quest and bumping into trees this is the hill I will die on.
If you are using Twitter or FB for anything but friends and family contact, you are taking yourself out of the meaningful discussion of anything important. Twitter can be like the Tourette syndrome of political discussion. Same thing for Reddit.
AI be saving people's time
Speaking of the speed AI is evolving, is it possible that we are at the begining of the Singularity?
Great overview, Ryan!
I would like to invite you and your community to check out my newsletter, where I share content on productivity, self-development, and marketing trends. Feel very welcome to subscribe and thanks in advance for supporting my work!
https://thelearningcurvenewsletter.substack.com/about
Totally agree that it is a productivity tool, but about the jobs "loss" thing - the biggest mindset shift I've ever had related to loss of jobs from technology - robots will never take human jobs, humans will simply be free themselves from doing the jobs of robots.
Humans shouldn't have to do dull, repetitive, basic tasks. They are robot jobs.
Well, that coupled with looking at the history of technological innovation showing that there are always doom stories and actually technology leads to higher quality jobs (and MORE of them, counterintuitively)
I’m reading your newsletters out of order this week so my comment here connects to your next one. You mention that asking the Japanese about a social take on Twitter is equivalent to 4chan which is equivalent to Reddit. In your next newsletter you talked about how relatable everyday grimy content is the growing online trend which is leading to people (like Kim k) faking this kind of content which then defeats the whole purpose.
I relate this to Reddit because of a few reasons. One, Reddit is a much different place than it was even 2-3 years ago. Younger left wing people are a massive part of Reddit’s population (it has a very obvious left wing bias which I love to see but have to remind myself I’m in an echo chamber). Two, the anonymity on the site lends itself well to being more “normal core”.
You asked what happens when those large trends on social media become meaningless, what happens next? I think it wouldn’t be outlandish to suggest sites like Reddit that are reminiscent of the old anonymous internet make a big comeback.
“Let me know in the comments what you want your elected representatives to know what you live about TikTok.”
Because, sure, leaving comments on an internet video is a great way to reach your elected representative, as opposed to contacting them directly. Shou Crew, you should really know better than trying to Kony 2012 your way out of this lol.
Compromise position on tipping: just look up the local custom for wherever you are in the CIA World Factbook and follow that.
In the Eastern United States, the customary tip is 16.180339887…%, for reasons that are metaphysically inscrutable and classed as increasing gnostic knowledge, while in the Western United States the customary tip is the far more reasonable 15.915494309…%.
Europe is probably either of these divided by 2.54 because of the metric system. idk, math is hard.