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Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social) Profile
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)

@qethanm

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consultant/researcher on AI and risk | emerging/disruptive tech | newsletter https://t.co/lHn6NNcaN5

Reverse-engineering the world.
Joined July 2011
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
10 months
Latest update on "where to find @qethanm , since he rarely posts here":. - newsletter (AI+risk): - Radar articles: - blog: - social media:
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
2 days
So yes, that's the story. You can read the full article on Radar, or you can read it at Complex Machinery. If you like what you see, subscribe to get it in your inbox a couple times a month:.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
What the computerization of Wall Street can teach us about AI
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
2 days
Another lesson is that the machines were not a free lunch. Computerized trading brought new opportunities but also novel risk exposures and new responsibilities. Traders had to learn how to handle this in order to reap the rewards of automation.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
2 days
One key lesson is that the machines didn't win because they were machines. They won because they were faster and more capable than their human counterparts at certain tasks. If the machines had been terrible at those tasks, we'd still have open-outcry trading today.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
2 days
The short version is that computers entered the stock market, and human-driven (open-outcry, pit) trading faded soon thereafter. That seems like a dream scenario for today's AI-hungry execs, but there's more to the story:.
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Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
2 days
Execs are eager to replace people with genAI bots. They'd do well to learn from another example of machines entering the workplace: the computerization of Wall Street. My latest in O'Reilly Radar (which doubles as today's Complex Machinery newsletter):.
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oreilly.com
What the Computerization of Wall Street Can Teach Us About AI
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
1 month
In the latest Complex Machinery:. GenAI companies desperately claim that there are enough nails around for their fancy hammer. They may have convinced each other. But the rest of the world isn't buying it.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
GenAI companies keep cooking up wild use cases. Here's how to spot the winners.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
2 months
Our interactions with genAI chatbots run the gamut. Sometimes the bots really hone in on what makes us tick. For good or ill. In the latest Complex Machinery: I look at ways we get hooked on genAI bots, and how we listen to them when we shouldn't.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
When genAI chatbots and tools get into our human wiring.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
3 months
"Check the genAI bot's outputs" has proven a terribly difficult lesson for companies to learn. The Chicago Sun-Times is just the latest example. In the latest Complex Machinery: problem, the risk/reward tradeoff, and a possible solution.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
On checking your genAI chatbot's work, and playing the blame game.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
3 months
In the latest Complex Machinery:. Our relationship with robots should be simple. But advisor-bots? Friend-bots? Bots that speak in the voice of the departed? . Creepy, commercial genAI has really complicated things.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
Our relationship with robots should be simple. Creepy, commercial GenAI has made it anything but.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
5 months
GenAI bots tell execs what they want to hear, and in the way they want to hear it. That's not always a good thing. A nuanced issue is still a nuanced issue, even if the bot oversimplifies it. In the latest Complex Machinery:.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
I'll emphasize: "best" friend. Not always "a good" friend.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
6 months
In the latest Complex Machinery: . Implementing an AI solution involves a variety of costs. What are the big-ticket items? And what happens as those costs point to zero? .
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
What happens when AI's various costs dwindle?
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
6 months
The idea of "free" leads to economically predictable outcomes but may also trigger unexpected, widespread events. In the latest Complex Machinery, I ask what history can teach us about DeepSeek giving away its R1 genAI model.
newsletter.complex-machinery.com
What history tells us about giving things away for free.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
7 months
The #DeepSeek news landed just days after the announcement of the #Stargate AI infrastructure project. One represents $1T in losses, the other $500B in investment. What's been the impact on the #AI space? And what's next?.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
Two competing pieces of AI news landed within a few days of each other. What does this mean for the space?
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
7 months
GenAI keeps promising more than it delivers. One reason is that the people buying AI live in the present, while those selling it live in the future. I explore this and more in the latest Complex Machinery:.
newsletter.complex-machinery.com
GenAI product companies live in the future. Too bad their customers are in the present.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
8 months
For the last Complex Machinery of 2024, I wrote about genAI companion bots and a certain risk/reward tradeoff in building AI products.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
A subtle risk/reward tradeoff sheds light on AI product companies.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
8 months
RT @dottxtai: Engineering with LLMs doesn't have to be complicated. Check out Outlines.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
8 months
In the latest Complex Machinery, I look into:. - a genAI bot that cuts itself off in mid-answer. - building resilience. - Yet Another GenAI Text Summarization Use Case.
newsletter.complex-machinery.com
Fixing a genAI bot after it's been released into the wild. What an app failure can teach us about AI and risk. And more text summarization bots (because why not?).
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
9 months
In the latest Complex Machinery, I draw parallels between Geocities and modern-day genAI. (No, seriously. Both put the fancy new tech of their day in the hands of everyday people.). Oh, and there's a cat pic.
newsletter.complex-machinery.com
GenAI is in its Geocities moment. Shocking bots. And learning to be quiet.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
10 months
We expect a lot out of AI. Sometimes it delivers, and it's like magic. Other times it's an illusion, more of a magician's trick. In the latest Complex Machinery I wrote about five AI magic acts.
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newsletter.complex-machinery.com
AI is magic. Or, AI performs magic. Here are five acts.
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@qethanm
Q McCallum (@qethanm.bsky.social)
10 months
RT @BrandonTWillard: FYI: @dgerlanc and I were the other founders behind this raise.
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