Andrew Yates

Journalist, content strategist, digital/broadcast leader. Vancouverite turned Torontonian. All tweets are off the record. ;)

[Matt Shumer @mattshumer_]

https://t.co/ivXRKXJvQg

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

80s Nostalgia AI Slop Is Boomerfying the Masses for a Past That Never Existed https://t.co/19AH5v9PJh

[mvsyyz @mvsyyz]

@Raptors Collin my agent to get me out of here

[BNO News @BNONews]

FLASH: ISRAEL SAYS IT'S LAUNCHING A PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGAINST IRAN

[The Globe and Mail @globeandmail]

Canadian Medical Association to file legal challenge over Alberta law limiting access to treatment for transgender youth https://t.co/clAlQZek20

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

https://t.co/DpYJQpeuzA

[PharmAla Biotech @PharmAlaBiotech]

PharmAla is thrilled to formally announce the launch of the Phenesafe AI platform, an AI technology stack specifically designed to derive novel substituted phenethylamine molecules for patent and subsequent development.

Press Release: https://t.co/v9g4NEy4Go

$mdma

[VERTIGUY @vertiguy]

The Volonaut Airbike from Poland.
By using micro turbojet engines, its form factor is extremely compact compared to eVTOLs like Jetson One. Probably the closest thing we’ve seen to Star Wars speeder bikes.

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

You’re hearing the first howl of a dire wolf in over 10,000 years

Back from extinction

using ancient DNA from fossils up to 72,000 years old, Colossal reconstructed a full genome , through precise CRISPR edits, and brought this species to life

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

https://t.co/nXDnSJuPJr

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

New Nasa data hints we could be living inside a black hole https://t.co/Jd7oA4fj9i

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

Italian newspaper says it has published world’s first AI-generated edition https://t.co/9PBBUtePNO

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

BYD unveils a new system for electric cars that the Chinese automaker says will allow them to charge almost as fast as it takes a regular car to refuel https://t.co/K1rfkSvkHO

[Balaji @balajis]

FROM MAGA TO CHINA
Here are four things MAGA is getting wrong, and why it's handing over the world to China.

(1) First, MAGA correctly understands that America’s economic position is in decline but thinks this is due to economic competition itself, rather than lack of competitiveness.

(2) Second, MAGA also understands that the US has wasted trillions abroad in foreign wars, but thinks the problem is global leadership itself rather than poor leadership.

(3) Third, MAGA knows that their Blue American enemies have allies abroad, but has incorrectly overreacted to this by treating every non-Red-American as an enemy.

(4) Fourth, MAGA sees the billions of dollars flowing from the US to foreign recipients, but isn't grasping that the US can only print those dollars in the first place so long as it's the hub of a global empire.

When you put these together you can both understand MAGA's actions and understand why they will not lead to the intended result.

Basically: MAGA is hyperfocused on cutting off any apparent flow of funds from Red Americans to Blue Americans and non-Americans. And they only have ~500 days in power. So they're trying to quickly shut off imports, close down institutions, and exit all wars.

OK.

Except the reason the imports exist in the first place is because US products aren't competitive relative to Chinese products (or Fed printing). The reason those institutions exist is because the US set them up to run the world. And the reason those wars are happening is not because of American leadership per se, but because of the absence of good leadership.

If you shut all of that down at once — if you abandon global competition and global leadership — you shut down American Empire, and with it the ability to print money. And then everyone in that empire has a very bad time.

[GRITCULT @GRITCULT]

Chinese ai agent running 50 different instances it looks like.

Many of them just social media bots.

[Maxwell Meyer @mualphaxi]

Airports these days are a perfect picture of American affluenza. The US upper-ish class has too much money, but never enough.

Lots of suspicious “pre-boarders,” teens in designer clothes, $500 headphones muttering ‘what?’ to flight staff. There are like 50 people in “boarding group 1” now, as well. You can see the confusion on people’s faces who’ve clearly been boarding first for a while, who now wait 20 minutes standing just to have their spot in line!

The lounges are overrun, and again, you can see the exasperation on the faces of people waiting for them, thinking they’d paid for a service and realizing that now it’s like Disneyworld.

Prices across the board have gone up, and demand keeps up. This is one of the effects of mass affluence, I guess. Airline taxes are as high as ever, and as a result actual “budget” flights (à la Ryanair) are not allowed. At this point, a budget flight is anything under… $300?

People are amazingly unforgiving. They get violent looks in their eyes when staff announce that overhead bin space will run out. For many flyers, being asked to check a bag is like being asked for one of their kidneys.

So many people look at children like they’re rodents that have infiltrated the house, rather than our treasures and our future. Parents are the scapegoat of every flight.

Funny enough, the TSA feels like the one thing that has gotten better. Maybe I choose my airports and flying times well, but I don’t remember the last time I waited more than 15 minutes to get through. Sometimes the CLEAR line is comically longer than the regular line next to it. And for whatever reason, people will just _not_ move over to the shorter line.

It’s pretty rare to see actual brawling, but you do hear about these things.

As a writer and chronicler of America, this entropy interests me. I’m almost immunized from feeling the pressure, because I’ve taught myself to laugh about it and observe. I see the story, and as a result the chaos isn’t so bad. And to me, mass affluence is the biggest story in the country. People who thought they’d “made it” are stuck in a Commons that they feel has degraded.

They’re in a race to constant fly all around the country, and even the ones with quite a bit of money are feeling the squeeze. At the Santa Barbara airport recently, about to board an upsetting expensive, 38 minute flight to San Francisco, I saw this in its purest form. Everyone flying from SB to SF is “rich.” Nearly all live in multimillion-dollar houses. And there they were, watching private jets take off through the windows, about to board a full commercial flight themselves. Affluenza.

Me? I try to always feel the wonder. Isn’t it amazing how quickly we can get basically anywhere? It seems so soul destroying to develop an entitlement here. The US is what it is. And it’s a machine to make services widely available at a market price. The chaos begins when a lot more people get pretty wealthy; you see this same pattern in ski resorts, housing markets, etc.

Already we see lots of cultural messaging encouraging people to “exit” from all this — either by amassing enough money, or by voluntarily choosing slower things (trains, small towns, camping). I think we’ll see more of that.

What do you think of my theory?

[David Perell @david_perell]

The world of writing has changed forever.

AI is getting really good, really fast. ChatGPT is already a better writer than most humans and some professional writers. So, what’s the future of writing?

18 thoughts from Tyler Cowen:

1) Don't let AI smooth out your idiosyncrasies. Let your writing stay weird and uniquely yours.

2) Generic content is dying and the burden is on you as the writer to be distinctive.

3) The more personal your writing becomes, the more future-proof it is. Nobody wants to read memoirs from AI, even if they're technically "better."

4) Use AI as your secondary literature when you read — not just for quick answers, but as a thinking companion. As Tyler puts it, "I'll keep on asking the AI: 'What do you think of chapter two? What happened there? What are some puzzles?' It just gets me thinking... and I'm smarter about the thing in the final analysis."

5) Hallucinations aren't the crisis everyone makes them out to be. No matter the source, if you're going to use a piece of information, you should double-check it. This is true for both books and AI.

6) Secrets will become more valuable in an AI-driven world.

7) One way to use AI as a writer is to research fields you aren't as familiar with before you start writing about them. Tyler said: "I just wrote a column about declassifying classified documents. I don't know that law very well. I asked the AI for a lot of background... now I feel like I'm not an idiot on the topic."

8) AI changes what books are even worth writing. "Predictive books and books about the near future. They don't make sense to write anymore."

9) Editing trick: Try running your writing through AI and asking what some people might find obnoxious. It’s a surprisingly powerful editing trick.

10) When prompting AI, put humans out of your mind and imagine you're talking to an alien or a non-human animal.

11) Many of the most significant AI advancements are likely happening behind closed doors. For example, I hear that Google allows employees to use Gemini with virtually unlimited context windows.

12) What possibilities do large context windows open up? Researchers will be able to load entire regulatory frameworks, historical archives, or massive datasets like "tax records from Renaissance Florence" into a single query.

13) The rate of AI improvement matters more than its current capabilities. As Tyler puts it, "This is the worst they will ever be" is key to understanding their trajectory. "A lot of people don't get that. They're impressed by what they see in the moment, but they don't understand the rate of improvement."

14) The best way to appreciate the current rate of improvement is to use the latest models.

15) Being non-technical can sometimes be an advantage when thinking about AI. Here’s Tyler: "If you're not focused on the technical side, you will see other things more clearly... You just focus on what is this actually good for? And not, am I impressed by all the neat bells and whistles on this advance with AI?"

16) How Tyler uses AI to prep for podcast interviews: Don't waste time asking AI for generic interview questions or broad topics. Tyler says that's the worst question you can ask an AI. It’s “too normy.” Instead, ask specific questions about historical examples and get context. Then, let your own creative questions emerge.

17) Your relationship with mentors and peers becomes more crucial, not less, in an AI world. "Two pieces of general advice with or without AI in the world." Tyler says: "Get more and better mentors and work every day at improving the quality of your peer network."

18) The divide between AI and humans creates a striking paradox. As Tyler puts it: "On one hand the AIs are getting so much better, so learn how to use the AIs. On the other hand, the AIs are getting so much better, so invest in these other things that aren't AI—pure networks. You've gotta do both."

I've shared the full conversation with @TylerCowen below.

In the replies, I've also linked to a full transcript and relevant links to YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts if you want to listen there. And if you want a bite-size entry to the episode, I've shared some clips in the replies too.

[Canadian Medical Association @CMA_Docs]

The CMA endorses @Albertadoctors concerns about the Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force report. This report promotes misinformation and risks undermining trust in medical and scientific communities.
Our statement ⬇️
https://t.co/Y5FvLhpjJ0

[Andrew Yates @yatesey]

Google Maps to rename 'Gulf of Mexico' to 'Gulf of America' for US users https://t.co/JmIFOs7ac6

[Dr. Joss Reimer @jossreimer]

When we spoke to over 10,000 Canadians about our health system, one message came through loud and clear: access to care is their #1 priority, and it should never be compromised by someone's ability to pay. Read more in my conversation with @globeandmail 👇 https://t.co/Gy4NBl0rJC