Sara Small Town

Small Town Topics ⚓ 🇪🇺 Analysis is my profession. I explore technology, AI & culture & how social systems shape human experience

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@TheEconomist @harari_yuval @zannymb Scary, but there’s hope.

As of August 2, the EU AI Act enforces transparency and labeling rules for deepfakes.

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

In June, I wondered whether the mechanisms for slowing, steering and carrying the consequences of AI were keeping pace.

I got one part wrong.

The brake was inside the locomotive all along and OpenAI pulled it

https://t.co/qP0tPHo82X

But the watchtower is still watching…

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@FMannerheim Vilken fröjd att läsa ditt inlägg & alla kommentarer! Jag är själv ”bara” förälder, men min reflektion är att det är viktigt att i tidig ålder börja med just anteckningar. Att lära sig lyssna &skriva är verkligen en game changer för koncentrationen, inlärningen och öga/hand-koord

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

Sorry @Kristina God, MBA and @Substack I’m not quite ready for this love affair.

So I chose to focus on something else.

We worry about Al sounding too human, while quietly learning how to write so the algorithm likes us.

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

I consider myself a multitasking speed reader, so when I come across something that makes me pause and reflect, I truly treasure it.

In my weekly letters I collect those rare moments and I see them as small, shining pearls, slowly forming a necklace of memorable insights.
#ai

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@waitbutwhy Same here with math class, until I saw this iFLYTEK Spark Smart Blackboard demo

https://t.co/GYIUWyQZhK

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

I’m curious, what does this say to you?
#pangram

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

What I Almost Missed This Week W32 + W33
Summer break - Two weeks of summer, AI rabbit holes and a solar eclipse I could barely see

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

Not sure this is everyone’s idea of a hobby. But apparently it’s mine…

I spend about 90% of my spare-time research on AI, democracy & institutions. The other 10% is a small experiment in how AI affects my own thinking & writing.

My rule is simple: human in the lead
#governance

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

What carries the consequences in the age of Ai ?

https://t.co/fLQUwIZ3WP

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@JoyceCarolOates Oh, the Odyssey really got me thinking. The sheer lifespan of this epic is mind-bending - how can a story survive these eons of time and still feel relevant?

I wrote about it in my weekly log/newsletter :

https://t.co/2GcytAZlM2

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@maxlarss As I see it, first the system makes it hard for young engineers to combine the degree with a master’s in business, so they have to go abroad.
Secondly, how can jr bridge this engineering-business gap if companies don't give them the chance to learn on the job in hybrid roles?

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@waitbutwhy Such advanced VR technology, just to sell another piece of nature to the ultra-rich, so uncreative.

What if we used tech like this to design public nature parks with the lowest possible environmental impact, accessible to everyone, rather than a gated community?

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@Fidias0 Digital euro, Intresting! I love the concept of cashless society and the European independence from other nations companies.

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@anah_sahh That list measures one layer of the stack.

Underneath it sits ASML in Veldhoven with 100% of EUV lithography. Every chip below 5nm is printed on a Dutch machine, including the silicon running every model you named.

Europe holds the chokepoint there.

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@SMohamsson Instämmer! Regionala och kommunala ojämlikheter är ett gissel.

Men det viktiga är kanske inte bara vem som styr, utan hur ansvar, transparens och uppföljning byggs in i systemet.

Hur säkerställer vi att medborgare kan utkräva ansvar när vården eller skolan inte fungerar?

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

We often hear human in the loop, but what about Human in the lead?
Someone can still be in the loop without really exercising judgement
Human in the lead asks something else
Who actually owns the decision?
That’s what this week’s newsletter became about https://t.co/CRPzMHpZ6g

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

@vijayanest22031 4

[Sara Small Town @smalltownstyle]

Thanks to Andrea Chiarelli, Sam Illingworth and Leor Gayr, I think I’ve found a new favourite phrase: “Human in the lead.”
I write about why in my latest newsletter, What I Almost Missed This Week – W31.