梦爷儿：无知阁语

Preserving our digital memory with a personalized AI twin could be the future.

Recently, I rediscovered my passion for photography after a decade-long hiatus of taking casual iPhone photos. My previous enthusiast camera, a Nikon D200 made in 2005, still sat quietly in my storage container. As I was deciding whether to invest in another camera for an upcoming trip to Rwanda, where I hoped to capture stunning wildlife images, I pondered the role of photography and personal storage, and how they might evolve in the future.

In today’s world, owning a traditional camera may seem outdated. Most people rely on their smartphones, which now boast high-resolution cameras and advanced AI algorithms for exceptional results. Over the past several decades, for most people cameras have shifted from being tools of artistic expression to lifelong recording devices. We capture meals at fancy restaurants and picturesque views on our trips. We hand our phones to strangers to take photos for us, without worrying about their photography skills. Personally, I have amassed over 50,000 photos on my phone, rarely revisiting them. They serve as a visual diary of my daily life.

继续阅读“The future of our digital memory”

AI, GPT-4, etc… The past week was so eventful that it felt like a year had elapsed.

During my spring break, I spent a day exploring Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works, a place rich in history, nature, and community. The bricks produced here, utilizing the abundant clay resources in Southern Ontario, once shaped Toronto’s architectural landscape, contributing to iconic structures like Casa Loma, Osgoode Hall, Massey Hall, and the Ontario Legislature. As I meandered among the remnants of brick-making machinery and kilns, my thoughts gravitated towards the AI advances unfolding in our world. The brick factory’s century-old history echoes our current reality, urging us to re-think the technologies today.

继续阅读“The brick works of our time”

There is no fundamental reason why AI censorship won’t be able to understand the symbol of a piece of blank paper, and time is running out to save us from tyranny.

This past weekend, an unprecedented protest broke out in many cities in China. The people wanted to end their government’s notorious zero-COVID policy, the most draconian in the world, causing many non-COVID related deaths. Earlier this year in September, 27 died in a shuttle bus transferring to quarantine camps. Most recently on November 24, 10 died from a fire in a building that was physically locked, while the firefighters were stuck outside the gate.

继续阅读“A race between AI and humanity: Time is running out for the Chinese people and all of us.”