Ken's Blog

I had everything exactly where I wanted it in my room. But then the painters came, and I needed to move everything into a big pile in the middle.

Afterwards,I was so happy that I could put my room back together, with everything exactly where I wanted it. Except that’s not what happened.

As I started to reassemble my space, I started to see all the things that had been wrong with my “perfect” arrangement. And I started to make changes.

Now everything is much better, and I am very happy in my space. And it would never have happened if I hadn’t been forced into a reorg.

There is a lesson here somewhere.

Suppose we were to conduct a poll of everybody on the earth to ask them whether they would wish to live forever. I wonder what the results would be.

Perhaps a more interesting question is how the results would break down by demographics. Who would want immortality, and who wouldn’t?

For example, does the desire for immortality increase or decrease with age? Is it dependent upon household income?

As far as I know, we all have that one thing in common — one day we will all face the Grim Reaper. But I imagine that among the roughly 8.3 billion people currently on this planet there are many and varied opinions about that event — or the possibility of avoiding it.

As I attended the UIST conference this past week, it became more clear to me than ever that there are two distinct kinds of AI. One kind is trying to be your best friend. The other is one you never meet, but every day it makes your world better behind the scenes.

I understand that there are many billions of dollars to make by selling consumers a powerful drug in the form of a make-believe best friend. Eventually people will catch on, and everyone will understand that like any powerful innovation — think automobiles and opioids — chatbots will need to be regulated. Appropriate regulations will follow.

But meanwhile, there is a different kind of AI everywhere, below the surface. The fact that you can buy inexpensive sensors which used to cost hundreds of dollars or more, that your mail is efficiently and accurately sorted, that your monthly utility bill is much less than it might otherwise be, all of this is due to machine learning working away for your benefit, in places where you never see it.

As we rightly come to grips with the epidemic of make-believe humans unleashed on an unprepared public, we might take a moment to appreciate the distinction. It’s not AI itself that is the problem — in fact it’s great. The problem is people who are profiting off particular varieties of it in arguably unethical and questionable ways.

Breaking news in The NY Times:
The President Elevates Hannibal Lecter, a Hard-Liner, to Chief of Staff

The president is elevating Hannibal Lecter, his powerful domestic policy adviser, to be his next chief of staff in the wake of shattering Republican losses in the midterm elections. The decision to replace Susie Wiles, set to take effect on Monday, will fundamentally shift the circle of advisers around the president.

Mr. Lecter, a deeply ideological loyalist and noted gastronome, has been the architect of some of the most polarizing domestic policies in Mr. Trump’s second term. His promotion signals an aggressive doubling-down by the president days after voters delivered a decisive rebuke of his handling of a range of issues, including the economy, the war with Iran and the aggressive deportation campaign directed by Mr. Lecter.

Bill Pulte, the administration’s finance housing chairman who Wiles allies believed was undermining her with the president, was quick to praise Lecter as the new choice. “Congratulations to my dear friend and colleague, Hannibal Lecter, on your promotion to Chief of Staff,” Pulte wrote on social media. “I can’t wait to work with you!”

When reached for comment, Mr. Lecter said “That’s a very kind thing for him to say. I look forward to having him for lunch.”

I have been having a lot of conversations with friends and colleagues since the election. Of course everyone is elated and relieved, but there is also something deeper at work.

The nearest analogy I can think of is something personal. Suppose you learned that someone close to you, somebody you love, had been beaten up by a vicious gang of thugs.

When they were found, they were suffering from broken bones and internal injuries. You go to visit them in the hospital.

You try to say something reassuring, to let them know that you love them, that the worst is over. But you both know that they will carry those wounds with them for a long time. Bones will heal, but psychic wounds run deep.

They now understand that safety is an illusion. You feel helpless, knowing that no matter how much you love them, you cannot restore what has been taken from them.

This is how I feel about what has been done over the last two years to our beloved country. A gang of vicious thugs broke into its house, and harmed it in ways that might take years to heal.

Yes, the monsters have been vanquished, for now. But we also know, with terrible clarity, that safety is an illusion.

The electoral sweep in the U.S. this week was wonderful, but it definitely had help. The Democrats had the good fortune to have a powerful ally.

The stakes were high, given that the president is clearly senescent, erratic, and generally losing it at an alarmingly rapid pace. There was real danger that he would wake up one morning and decide to knock down another historical building, impose another harmful tariff, or start another unwinnable and economically devastating war.

But fortunately, the Democrats had a powerful weapon to assist in their appeal to the hearts and minds of American voters. And I think that single factor made a major difference.

Namely, the Democrats had help from a president who is prone to knocking down historical buildings, imposing harmful tariffs, and starting unwinnable and economically devastating wars. You can’t ask for better help than that.

So in the midst of our celebration about democracy being saved, let us take a moment to give thanks where thanks is due. We could not have won this election without the considerable assistance of the greatest enemy of the president. Namely, the president.

Since I am in Detroit today for the UIST conference, I took the opportunity to renew my Global Entry. That’s the thing which lets you cross national borders without needing to stand on long lines at airports.

In particular I signed up for NEXUS, the variation which expedites travel between the U.S. and Canada. To do that, I took an Uber to an address which turned out to be a little mobile office trailer right on the border.

My interview with U.S. Customs was very easy. When it was finished the Customs officer pointed me toward another desk and told me I now needed to do an interview with Canadian Customs.

So I walked the fifteen feet from the U.S. Customs officer’s desk to the Canadian Custom officer’s desk. When I reached that second desk I realized I had just crossed the border.

So I can truthfully say that today I walked all the way to Canada. And I managed to do it without even leaving the room.

Today, at the UIST conference in Detroit, just before my workshop keynote, I asked a colleague whether he thought it was worth telling the audience that my talk would be using procedural graphics that I had built entirely by hand, without the use of any AI.

He gave me a funny look, as if to say “Why would those young people in the audience care about something as odd as that?”

I realize that it was as though I were saying “Hey folks, I walked all the way here from New York.”

The reaction to that would probably have struck the same kind yet condescending tone: “Way to go Ken. Hey, you do you.”

Starting tomorrow I am going to be very busy all week at a conference, which I know will be a whirlwind of activity. Today is the day before the conference — the calm before the storm.

I spent most of the day quietly working on my talk, and enjoying the peace and silence. When we manage to get those rare moments of calm, they are precious and wonderful.

Taking a deep breath now, before heading into the whirlwind.

Today, walking around Greenwich Village and seeing all the happy people wearing costumes, I finally made the connection between Halloween and Election Day. The connection was always there — I just hadn’t seen it before.

Halloween is the last official thing that happens before everybody here goes to vote. Voting, unlike Halloween, is a very serious and grown-up thing.

In Brazil they have just made the collective choice not to vote into office a corrupt authoritarian who seems to want nothing more than to squeeze the joy out of human existence. I am happy for the Brazilians.

This coming Tuesday we Americans have a similar opportunity. We can vote to take power out of the hands of corrupt authoritarians who seem to want nothing more than to squeeze the joy out of human existence. If we manage to do that, I will be happy for us.

Halloween is great fun. But it is useful to remember that there are, after all, real monsters.