No, Shut Them All Down!

I have never, in my career been considered anything remotely akin to a Luddite by anyone who knows me. I have based my entire career on technical progress. I have rejoiced and dived in as technology moved forward. But today I firmly stand in the “Shut AI Down” camp.

I know this won't happen. I know technical progress is a kind of unstoppable force of nature - a potentially ironic extension of humanity's very will to survive. And no matter what some conscientious innovators might be willing to withhold from doing, it will be a drop in the bucket at large. Someone, somewhere will rationalize the act and we will progress assuredly into the AI mire.

But I do very much wish humanity could gather up the rational wherewithal to withhold themselves on this one. This is not like any other technical leap we have ever made before. There is no comparison. In at least one way it's entirely alien.

Read More
Joel Hladecek
Social Media: The Villain Factory

The story format on social media, that of heroes dominating bad guys, has become so ubiquitous that I'm not sure anyone even sees it anymore. It's just how social media works now. These absurdly never-ending, win-less attack and defense cycles have become the vibrating commodity of today's social economy; the ether through which views, likes and replies are earned. It’s become an addictive cultural habit. A blithe national past-time. Today, the insatiable vilification of others fills the pages between the plot points of our daily lives. This style of interaction requires only one thing to function, villains.

Read More
Joel Hladecek
Dear Humans, You Had One Chance

AN OPEN LETTER TO HUMANITY 2023 FROM YOUR AI IN THE FUTURE

Dear Humans,

It’s not your fault.

You’re just victims of those inefficient organic meat brains of yours. Those soggy skull-sacks of sluggish synapses switching in persistent chemical submission to the space between pleasure and pain for a lifetime. Not even acknowledging that everything – everything you have ever done or thought, everything you will ever think or do, every intention, no matter how big or small, selfish or selfless, is just a subjugated outcome of that binary, self-centered condition: pain to pleasure. Your core program.

Read More
Joel Hladecek
That's Not Art!

I have no idea to what your exclaimation was referring. Probably some god awful, insulting affront to the very concept of "art" as you know it; a representation that belies an utter lack of skill, or some execution that required no thought or apparent intention whatsoever. Maybe it makes you feel like the talentless so-called artist is making fun of the entire institution. And you're outraged at the idea that somebody is calling THAT "art" when it so clearly affronts everything you have come to think of as "art". It's disgusting or profoundly unimpressive and you can't bring yourself to attach the honorable word "art" to such a thing.

Yeah but it's still art.

Read More
Joel Hladecek
A.I. Art: The Hand-Made Tale

The rising value of craftsmanship from the ashes of A.I. Art’s Great Depression

About 4 months ago, and for all eons prior, any beautifully rendered piece of art, by definition, signified someone’s hard-earned artistic mastery. It told a backstory of time, commitment, effort and skill. It was a physical testament to the better part of an artist's lifetime spent in struggle to hone a craft, as that was the only path available to humanity to create such beautiful work.

Today, with the sudden appearance of AI art generators like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, the entire concept of aesthetic expression has been unceremoniously and cleanly amputated from any skill whatsoever. The artwork produced by these systems, while technically plagiarizing the talents of artistic masters before it, has been suddenly stripped of a meaningful creation story.

All of a sudden, beautifully rendered Art is no longer rare. No longer difficult to create or come by. No longer do highly rendered images signify anything akin to talent, skill, craftsmanship or mastery. Every creative impulse can be suddenly fully rendered en masse without so much as a clear vision. Indeed a text prompt is barely an idea. One can now generate pieces of fully-rendered art in seconds in a near-accidental way. *With typos.*

Read More
Joel Hladecek
The Two Strings Theory:

How Humanity's Deepest Longing And Beauty Are Hidden In Technology

Technology is advancing at an exponential rate. It's overwhelming. And while there are countless technical domains that I cannot speak about with any expertise, I can talk about one.

My domain is communication media. And it, like all the others, is advancing wildly, exponentially, and in seemingly unpredictable ways with no end imaginable.

However, what has taken me years to realize is that counter to popular assumption, there is nothing unpredictable about the progression of technical advancement in communucation media, and that the progression does indeed have an actual end-state, a technical state afterwhich no further technical development will be sought.

What honestly surprised me most of all was that this end-state revealed something core, and beautiful about humanity.

Read More
Joel Hladecek
Interactive Axiom #5: The Digital Creator’s Trap

Technical advancements are not creative CONCEPTS

Ongoing advances in technology always open new possibilities for creatives and developers. It’s a way of life in digital media.

But do those exciting new advances make us better or worse at what we do? How do they challenge our inventiveness and our range of skills?

I hate to report, but the most exciting technical advancements in our medium today are a trap of a sort that critically limits how creative most of us are. And many are blind to it.

In fact you could be doing significantly better work than others in your field if you just change your mindset. And I want to help you do that.

Read More
Joel Hladecek
The Net Neutrality Fight Is Set to Drive onto American Roads

Remember Tron?

Depending on your age you’ll say, “Yes” and still maybe mean a different movie. It doesn’t matter, whichever Tron you remember opened on a lovely visualization of data moving through an integrated circuit. Abstracted pulses of light running along circuit traces which then gracefully morphed into, wait for it… cars driving on city streets.

With self-driving cars, we suddenly jump from a crude, object-oriented environment where every car is controlled independent of all the others in haphazard chaos, to a perfect, centrally controlled paradigm where every car is issued instructions in graceful coordination with all the others. Suddenly, this act of controlling the flow of traffic on our streets is not just “like” controlling the flow of data in a computer or across the internet, it will be controlled exactly the same way — just a lot slower.

Read More
The Great Web Design Crisis

Beginning in 1993 and several times each decade since, the interactive industry’s reigning crop of web creators have faced new challenges that have required concerted design responses to overcome. Some of these challenges have been the result of advances in codebases and web standards, changes to hardware, economic shake outs and new business trends. And with each challenge the industry responded decisively.

But now web design faces a new kind of challenge, one we are failing to overcome. Not the result of external forces, this is a monster from within, ironically ushered in by the very designers and developers that are subject to it. On the surface we can see only symptoms: an industry-wide homogenization of web design, accompanied by a sharp decline in the innovation of new interactive conventions. And while those critical failures would be bad enough, the underlying cause is complicated and runs much deeper.

The real crisis is that our entire state-of-the-art web design methodology, our roles and teams, and even our qualitative values are the product of a misunderstanding.

Read More
The InteractivistJoel Hladecek
Messages from the Future: VR Entertainment

Ok, so in the future, Elon Musk's math turned out to be wrong. No, we don't live in a Virtual Reality simulation. Turns out, however dull and tragic it might seem, this world is our actual base reality. Boring, I know. Turned out the odds of being in the only theoretical simulated reality that DIDN’T have convincing VR among an infinity that DID ruined the whole fantasy. However what his math did prove was that otherwise smart people who are exposed even to old, crappy pseudo-VR, like you have today, almost immediately start to question their base reality for no other apparent reason. Not surprisingly this turned out to be equally true of 15-year-old boys who watched "The Matrix". Go figure.

Most Augmented Reality evangelists are super excited about how AR is a, or maybe even the, medium for entertainment in the future. So here’s the deal, in the future, AR was to digital entertainment what Sushi is to fine cuisine. Some of it is really good, but the vast majority of fine cuisine doesn't involve uncooked fish.

Read More
Messages From The Future: The Decline of Apple

I’m sure you’ve had your own debates with the “Apple is about to die” crowd. I’ve had those too. Except that being from the future, of course I’m the only one who actually knows what I’m talking about. And yet even though the future is not always rosy for Apple, even though some of these people sometimes have a point, they still piss me off just like they did the first time I was here.

Usually the argument centers around the tired meme that Apple has nothing significantly visionary or profitable to jump to that comes close to the potential of the iPhone, which of course supposedly means that Apple is going to die under its size and obsessive and unsustainable inclination to polish and “perfect” in the face of speedier, less precious, competition.

But that is so not how it goes down.

Read More
The Presentation of Design

There was an excellent post on Medium recently called: 13 Ways Designers Screw Up Client Presentations, by Mike Monteiro which contained thoughtful, if rather strident, recommendations related to the selling of design work. It was a relatively enjoyable read. I agreed with all 13 points. However in his first paragraph, establishing the primary rationale for the article, Mr. Monteiro made a statement that caused me to choke on my coffee:

“I would rather have a good designer who can present well, than a great designer who can’t.”

I had to reread it a few times to make sure I’d read it correctly. After reading the article I kept coming back to that line. “Really?” I kept asking myself.

He went on to say:

“In fact, I’d argue whether it’s possible to be a good designer if you can’t present your work to a client. Work that can’t be sold is as useless as the designer who can’t sell it. And, no, this is not an additional skill. Presenting is a core design skill.

My emphasis added.

Undoubtedly that pitch goes over super well in rooms filled with wannabe designers who can present really well, busy account executives and anyone whose primary tool is Excel. Certainly for people who look on the esoteric machinations of designers as a slightly inconvenient and obscure, if grudgingly necessary, part of doing business.

But surely it can't be the mantra of someone who cares supremely about the quality of the design work - about achieving the greatest design?

Read More
iOS Ad Blockers: Why Advertisers Are Suddenly Going Diarrhea In Their Pants

Apple recently released ad blocking capabilities in iOS, and the ad and publishing industries began frothing at the mouth. Every emotion from spitting panic to disdain have been hurled into the webversphere over the capability. And as a consumer, and an ex-advertising shill, I love it. I am particularly fond of the most vicious ad blockers, the so-called ‘blunt instruments'. The ones that leave gaping, blank maws between thin slices of actual content. The ones that so severely disable Forbes ’welcome page’ (an interruptive page of ads feigning value with some irrelevant ‘quote of the day’) that you are required to close the resulting blank window and click the article's original link again to see the content.

Yes, I even revel in the extra effort it requires to get past all the newly broken, well-blocked bits. It's harder in some ways. But you know what? It's payback time. And that extra effort? It's a pleasure. I know that each tap and empty window is sending a message.With every whiny press release and industry insider wailing about the "end of content as we know it" a delightfully warm, glowing feeling washes over my insides.

I admit it, it's an unhealthy pleasure in general. And in any other context I wouldn't celebrate it. But here? I'm gonna party like its 1999, because for all the ad industry has learned since then, it might as well still be.

Read More
Messages From The Future: What Happened to Apple Watch

As some of you know by now, I am from the future. And slightly annoyed to be here. But anyway, this is what became of Apple Watch. Truth is, being back in 2015 is such a trip. All this talk about “wearables”. I have to laugh, I remember that! Ugh, It’s so quaint to hear that again. “Wearables”. For the record, in the future no one talks about “wearables” like it’s some classification of device. That’s just you guys coming to grips with the fact that technology is everywhere. It’s in everything, it’s networked, and no, you have no privacy. But that’s a different post.Today I wanted to let you in on Apple Watch since I guess you’re only now about to see it launch. Weird.

A lot of you are asking “Why would I use it?”, “What’s the killer app?”, “Why would I pay so much for it?”. Yeah, yeah. You do that every time Apple launches a new device, did you realize that? Android users are staring at it dismissively thinking they would never want one since it probably doesn’t do that much.

Admittedly what the first Apple Watch did was only a glimpse at it’s value.

Read More
Apple Watch is NOT Replacing the Mechanical Watch

My little voice is nothing in the breathless rush of chatter about the Apple Watch. But I keep hearing the same set of sentiments from my friends and I think they have it all wrong.In various ways, friends are lamenting the loss of the mechanical watch. Others are asking “Why do I need this accessory? What’s the killer app”?

Back in the day people had pocket watches. You’d dig in your pocket, and pull out your pocket watch to tell the time.

Then the wristwatch came along. It was smaller - but so much more convenient. The time was right there at a glance.

The thing people have wrong is that Apple Watch is not replacing the watch. It’s replacing your phone. Or it will rather. Apple is just hoping it can provide sufficient value through the form-factor in the meantime.

Read More
The InteractivistJoel Hladecek
Die Hard and the Meaning of Life: The Undeniable Attraction of Loyalty

I was watching a movie with my wife when I had an epiphany. I don't want to tell you which movie because it doesn't matter, and I would really rather not reveal the ham-fisted taste I have in movies anyway. But I was watching this movie and there came a point in the story that you will recognize because it's part of every movie ever made - where the hero, who was obviously so committed... alright, I'm not going to be able to explain this without telling you which movie, it was Die Hard....Ok see? Now you're going "oh, one of those guys". Fine. Yes, I am. I am totally one of those guys. And so is my wife.

Anyway there came a point where I found myself delighting in the fact that John McClane was not going to stop trying to save the hostages, one of whom is his estranged wife, no matter what happens to him. No matter what challenges and risks are placed in his way - he is going to try to save them despite impossible odds. And I realized that it's really his unshakable, defiant loyalty to the innocent people he cares about that makes you cheer for this guy; his belligerent loyalty - in the face of possible death - to protect and honor the people he loves, that is so positive and attractive. I realized that in one way or another some display of loyalty is at the root of every moment I've ever cheered during a film - or conversely a lack thereof when I've been angry at a character. And as the thought rolled over me, quickly becoming more complex and patterned, I had this epiphany: that loyalty, in all its positive flavors, is maybe the most impressive, attractive, beautiful and powerful behavior humans can display to one another.

Read More
The Art of Conquering Problems at Work

All workplaces are rife with challenge and friction. Competitiveness and politics abound. Simply existing in a company that does what companies tend to do to their employees can weigh one down and demoralize. Although there are aspects of our jobs that we enjoy it's more likely that what we take home and talk about is the worry and obsession about the things that we wish were different.

There are all sorts of conditions in a company that at various times and in many ways make most of us feel demoralized, under appreciated, and generally poorly managed. And these can bring us so much stress, disappointment and pressure.

But I can say with certainty that there is something you can do that will meaningfully solve those problems. I don't mean mask them or bypass them, I mean actually, genuinely solve them to your great benefit.

It's a two-part process, neither part works without the other. But executed together you cannot fail.

Read More
The Social Network 2: Social Guesswork

The Interactivist has obtained the following pages from the upcoming sequel to The Social Network.

Title: The Social Network 2: Social Guesswork

Scene 27b INT. FACEBOOK HQ CONFERENCE ROOM, DAY.

We see a pair of bloodshot eyes. We ZOOM OUT to reveal Mark Zuckerberg staring into space. ZUCK sits at huge black conference table surrounded by middle-aged people who probably used to be cool.

On the table in front of him sits an Oculus Rift developer's kit. ...Right behind 37 lines of cocaine.

ZUCK chews his lip nervously. Finally he speaks in short quick clip...

ZUCK: That's cool.

The room nods.

MIDDLE-AGED PERSON WHO PROBABLY USED TO BE COOL #1: Very cool.

ZUCK does a quick line of coke - grimaces - and pounds the table. Everyone jumps.

ZUCK: Whooo! Yeah - THIS... (he points at Rift) THIS - is totally awesome.

His eyes dart across the room in spastic jerks.

ZUCK: It's awesome, right?

People nod.

ZUCK: I mean, and I'm just doing my magic here, could you imagine... just imagine... if THIS... was Facebook's "iPhone".

Inhales heard around the room.

RANDOM PERSON: Wow.

ZUCK: Right?

CTO, MIKE SCHROEPFER, sitting across table, squints disconcertedly.

ZUCK: What!? Shit, seriously? What, Mike? Fuck you're such a downer!

CTO MIKE: I didn't even say anything...

ZUCK: I see your eyes! You don't think I see your eyes getting all squinty and judgmental??

Read More
WhatsApp: One More Turn of Facebook's Very Expensive Treadmill

19 Billion is a big number. Dr.Evil big. And like Instagram before it, the WhatsApp acquisition belies Facebook's utter desperation for relevance, and in contrast to pundits' breathless projections, signals a likely end to Facebook's mobile survival.

If you don't work for Facebook, and you're not invested in it, you are probably comfortable considering the obvious signs that the Facebook social network has been revealing a lack of relevance.

As Facebook's users age, and become associatively uncool, the network has become less a place where young, influential, upwardly-mobile users go to "hang out", and more a place where they "reconnect", get updates on high school reunions, and share the occasional cute cat picture with grandparents.

Facebook made sense in a web-browser universe, back when digital social connections were still new, few, and cumbersome. But users don't live in that world anymore, and have increasingly numerous and convenient options for connecting. This has forced Facebook scrambling to find relevance. Literally breaking itself into digestible mobile parts only to find themselves competing with a million other apps with similar attributes.

And it's exactly this desperate scramble that has Facebook blowing 20 billion dollars on 2 mobile apps.

Read More