Second Thoughts

AI progress is racing along, but virtually all of the visible progress is in the realm of knowledge work, i.e. activities that can take place inside a computer.

Our plausible cyber future, if we don’t make some changes We have a cybersecurity problem.

In the first two installments of this “state of AI” series, I reviewed the pace of change and the factors driving that change.

This is a repost of one of my favorite essays, which I originally published back in 2022.

Attention all progress-minded aspiring bloggers: The Roots of Progress Institute is accepting applications for its annual blog-building fellowship.

In the first installment of this “state of AI” series, I reviewed the pace of change.

A quick aside: I was recently interviewed on The Cognitive Revolution.

This is the second installment in a series examining the potential for AI to lower the bar to creation and use of bioweapons, written by Golden Gate Institute for AI’s Abi Olvera.

We talk about “AI capabilities” as if there are things AI can do, and things it can’t.

When people discuss potential risks from advanced AI, the list usually includes bioweapons.

There’s a lot of debate as to exactly where we are in this progression One of my most popular posts ever was 35 Thoughts About AGI and 1 About GPT-5, a grab bag of musings about the path to AGI (plus a snarky aside about GPT-5).

A new AI agent recently had its 15 minutes of fame.

It’s often been observed that taking full advantage of AI will require changing work practices, just as taking full advantage of electric motors in manufacturing required changing the way factories were laid out.

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Leaders in the AI world are not shy about hyping the technology’s potential.

We’ve already shared three posts about The Curve 2025, each by a different attendee.

Recently, I’ve been hearing of a new phenomenon: teams reportedly using agentic AI tools to “enter takeoff” – achieving astounding feats of productivity that escalate each week, with no limit in sight.

Here’s another guest post inspired by The Curve.

Midjourney, AI Struggling With Time Management, 2025 Today, AIs can do some things.

After The Curve, Eli Pariser wrote an extensive account of things he learned at the conference.