Mental models
Over the years we build up all sorts of mental models of how the world is.
One of the ones I have been using recently is that it is relatively easy to speak face to face, notwithstanding shyness, social anxiety and more.
Writing is harder, much harder, especially concise writing.
Blaise Pascal in 1657 wrote:
Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.
“I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.”
Hardest of all is communicating visually, with images incredibly difficult and other forms of visual communication like presentations incredibly painful.
In a presentation (hoho) a while ago I did this slide to show how it is:
Now with generative AI it is going to be more like this:
Maybe. Friends like Tome and others are working hard to make this a reality.
One of the main things here is that it is good to create and get stuff out.
Under pressure
As the CEO of one of the more differentiated companies in one of fastest growing and likely world-changing sectors we have ever seen its really not easy.
I’ve had loads of failures despite doing a bunch of interesting things, but never lived up to my own expectations of myself.
With Asperger’s & ADHD it’s been quite difficult and it’s only recently I’ve been getting to grips with my own mind.
Aphantasia and a lack of an internal voice also make the world strange versus others.
It’s a privileged position, although a bit lonely, that I find myself so I thought it might be nice to take my own advice and get things out, something I think may be interesting to folk out there.
This is part of a broader shift I want to bring at Stability AI where we will start building language and other models in the open - lots of folk want to help and its good to get things out there.
I am also going to be experimenting with different AI tools to see how the communication process can be eased - this post has no AI but future ones will.
Nerves and imposter syndrome
Even while writing this out right now I am feeling quite nervous - what if folk judge what I write, I say stupid things, I bore them etc
I think this is a very human thing and I am going to try not to let it stop me.
I’ll write about whatever I find interesting and maybe you will too.
Away we go.