There's a kind of undercurrent to hacker, rave, and modern techno-pessimist culture. Something like, use the machines to smash the machines, then make more human-friendly machines out of their pieces. I'm not sure many of the participants are really aware that this is what they're doing. It's been a very long time since I read Program or be Programmed, but I've the vague recollection that it had the same undercurrent.
If there's anything to be salvaged out of the number sequence predictors that pass as "AI" right now, it will be through this approach. Which is why I've got a partially disassembled and reassembled LLM sitting on my hard drive, poking and prodding at it in my spare time to see if I can get it to do anything legitimately interesting. Results TBD.
This stays true to the hacker ethos Rushkoff popularized. Looking forward to hearing about the results. I think Program or be Programmed should be required reading for anyone who wants to navigate the online world today. It has become more relevant than ever.
Love Doug Rushkoff. Read his book Survival of the Richest, highly recommend. Having met a few high profile figures myself, I can attest to the rarefied air some of them breathe. Luckily, they're not all like that. The Rolling Stones for example are absolute gentlemen, contrary to what might be popular belief 😜
Thanks Rachel for a wonderful interview! Greatly enjoyed this.
Thank you, Sara. Douglas Rushkoff was the guy who inspired me to get into digital media from the perspective of both a participant and philosopher. This interview was a big deal for me.
There's a kind of undercurrent to hacker, rave, and modern techno-pessimist culture. Something like, use the machines to smash the machines, then make more human-friendly machines out of their pieces. I'm not sure many of the participants are really aware that this is what they're doing. It's been a very long time since I read Program or be Programmed, but I've the vague recollection that it had the same undercurrent.
If there's anything to be salvaged out of the number sequence predictors that pass as "AI" right now, it will be through this approach. Which is why I've got a partially disassembled and reassembled LLM sitting on my hard drive, poking and prodding at it in my spare time to see if I can get it to do anything legitimately interesting. Results TBD.
This stays true to the hacker ethos Rushkoff popularized. Looking forward to hearing about the results. I think Program or be Programmed should be required reading for anyone who wants to navigate the online world today. It has become more relevant than ever.
Love Doug Rushkoff. Read his book Survival of the Richest, highly recommend. Having met a few high profile figures myself, I can attest to the rarefied air some of them breathe. Luckily, they're not all like that. The Rolling Stones for example are absolute gentlemen, contrary to what might be popular belief 😜
Thanks Rachel for a wonderful interview! Greatly enjoyed this.
Thank you so much! Happy to find another person into Rushkoff here. A diamond in the rough.
REALLY loved this, thank you
Thank you, Sara. Douglas Rushkoff was the guy who inspired me to get into digital media from the perspective of both a participant and philosopher. This interview was a big deal for me.
Pleasant interview, glad to learn about this guy in this format.
Surprised you hadn’t heard of him before. Happy I could make the intro!
Full agree.