Slop

Hi {{first_name|dear reader}}. I hope this email finds you warm and safe amid the ice…and the ICE. It’s been a devastating weekend following what’s happening in Minneapolis. I had a whole other post ready to go about software etc but I didn’t feel right to send it out today. And then last night I saw this post on LinkedIn:

I’ve been following Cutler for several years now, he is a brilliant writer on software product development. At first I was confused because Cutler is a big critic of AI “slop” and this post is 10/10 on the slop meter. It sounds Important but means Nothing. And then you see the screenshot he included on the post, and realize what he did.

LinkedIn notoriously suppresses anything it deems political. The only way LinkedIn would allow Cutler to “get the truth out about” Alex Pretti’s murder is if the post content sounds work-related. Even if that content is utterly meaningless.

Cutler’s post is a sharp critique of LinkedIn’s algorithm. But after extensive contemplation and several cups of thoughtfully brewed coffee, I kept thinking about a deeper layer here.

As aggravating as the algo might be, the truth is that every media outlet has their own rules about what is “fit to print.” LinkedIn is no different. Agree with them or not, like them or not, these are just the rules of the platform.

The part that keeps stinging me about John’s post is how disconnected technology hype is right now from the real issues humans are dealing with.

Imagine the technology section of the newspaper next to the current events section. Has the gap in optimism ever been this large?? You read about AI developments and people talk like we are headed toward a bright shiny incredible future of automation and ease. You read what’s happening around the world and our country and it feels like we are on a regressive slide toward polarization, fascism, violence.

I feel it on a personal scale too. I am truly excited about AI’s potential for humanity, and I eagerly keep up with all the latest and coolest AI capabilities. Yet I am deeply concerned with the direction of our country and the world in general. When I think about what life will be like for my kids when they are my age I oscillate between equally vivid senses of joy and fear. The cognitive dissonance is substantial.

We are wading through a tenuous liminal moment now. The slop is all over social media, but these days life feels sloppy too. We yearn for a crisp societal narrative to which we can happily attach ourselves, yet there is none to be found.

I wonder if this is part of why the AI hype is so intense right now despite it being quite early in figuring out how this technology might actually help us: we are all craving some sense of clear forward progress, and rapid AI developments give us that. I worry too many of us - especially our leaders of big tech companies and big countries - are opting to hide inside technological progress rather than deal with the harder societal forces at play right now. Again choosing surface-level technical next steps over tackling adaptive challenges.

Don’t hide!! The antidote to slop is leadership. Real intentional courageous leadership, the kind that shines light on a path out of the muck. Each and every one of us can choose to shine that light.

I hope this week you build something that connects, that heals, that holds.

Whistles.

Good art is leadership too.