WELCOME
A designerly behavior is keeping tabs on the impact of new technology, and issue 64 of Being Designerly has curated articles about "pausing" AI, impact of ChatGPT and a warning, AI generated time travel images, Innovative states, human centered design methods, new logos for NYC and Pepsi, visualization of the world's happiest countries and Apple's upcoming headset.
FEATURE
AI's great "pause" debate
An open letter calling for a 6-month "pause" in work on advanced artificial intelligence is dividing the tech industry — not just between AI boosters and skeptics, but also between different factions of AI's critics.
Driving the news: The letter — initially signed by Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and other industry luminaries — urged "a stepping back from the dangerous race to ever-larger unpredictable black-box models with emergent capabilities."
I personally don't think this will happen, but even if it makes people think about the implications or start addressing concerns related to ethical design of AI, it's a good start!
How ChatGPT will revolutionize the economy
ChatGPT is about to revolutionize the economy. We need to decide what that looks like.
New large language models will transform many jobs. Whether they will lead to widespread prosperity or not is up to us.
Will ChatGPT make the already troubling income and wealth inequality in the US and many other countries even worse? Or could it help? Could it in fact provide a much-needed boost to productivity?
ChatGPT almost got me fired by mistake: Learn from my ordeal
When this author's article was flagged as machine written by an AI detector, he set out to investigate.
"As we design these tools, (because remember, it’s us that are designing them) - and before it’s too late - we need to be thinking deeply about the unintended outcomes. We need to factor into the development process a healthy relationship that sees humans remain in control."
CREATIVITY
Man simulates time travel thanks to AI
Stelfie the Time Traveller has been crafting a time-hopping travelogue using generative AI. Thanks to Stable Diffusion and fine-tuning, an anonymous artist has created a fictional photorealistic character that he can insert into faux historical photographs set in different eras, such as ancient Egypt or the time of the dinosaurs.
"Stelfie" has taken historical selfies during the ice age (being chased by a woolly mammoth), in ancient Egypt (during the construction of the pyramids), in ancient Greece (with the Trojan Horse), hanging out with Leonardo da Vinci (while creating the Mona Lisa), in the old West, while running from a Tyrannosaurus rex, and while sailing with Christopher Columbus.
2023’s Most & Least Innovative States
The U.S. ranks second on the Global Innovation Index, behind only Switzerland. According to the results of the ranking, the sophistication of America’s market and businesses, as well as its knowledge and technology outputs, are the country’s particular strengths. Certain states deserve more credit than others for the dominance of the U.S. during the tech era, though. These states continue to grow innovation through investments in education, research and business creation, especially in highly specialized industries.
In order to recognize the nation’s biggest contributors, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 22 key indicators of innovation-friendliness.
Where does your state rank?
VISUAL
Why Is NYC’s New Tourism Logo Shouting at Me?
New Yorkers are famously belligerent when it comes to changes made to their beloved institutions. So when it came to something as timelessly iconic as Milton Glaser’s I ❤️NY logo from 1977, arguably the most recognizable and most-copied logo in the world, the reactions were predictably vicious.
Pepsi has a new logo
Pepsi unveiled a new logo and branding that will roll out in North America this fall and globally next year. It looks a lot like the 1990s version which seems to have stuck in people’s brain, but with new elements to make it more modern, including a different font and font color and a new border. The changes are designed to better align with people’s recollection.
Mapped: The World's Happiest Countries in 2023
The visualization is a global snapshot of life satisfaction around the world. It utilizes the World Happiness Report—an annual survey of how satisfied citizens are worldwide—to map out the world’s happiest and least happy countries.
To create the index the map is based on, researchers simply asked people how satisfied they are with their lives. Scores were assigned using these self-reported answers from people living within various countries, as well as quality of life factors.
How happy is your country?
UX
Human-Centered Design Methods
The LUMA System of Innovation is a framework of human-centered design that forms a toolset and shared language for innovation, even across countries and cultures.
Explore 36 human-centered design methods, organized into three fundamental design skills: Looking, Understanding and Making.
TOPICAL
Some Apple staff concerned about its high-tech headset
Apple is expected to launch its first mixed-reality headset in the next few months, but a report by the New York Times on Sunday suggests that some at the company have doubts about its potential for success.