4 things a week: IT outages and the latest AI friend
1.World
It’s become a thing that my wife does to point out whenever there is an IT outage that takes down some system or another. And either she has developed an unhealthy obsession with DownDetector or they are really are happening more often. In April it was WhatsApp. A month back you couldn’t pay with card at any local cafes, and last week it was Windows that was affected by an update from cyber security provider CrowdStrike. This latest IT outage affected over 8.5 million windows devices, grounded flights, took our hospitals, banks and schools and is said to have cost $1.5 billion in insurance payouts for damages and lost earnings.
I’m no expert, but this seems a bit concerning. As our reliance on a few interconnected big tech companies has grown over the past two decades there is an increasing risk that if they experience a problem then the ripple effect can affect millions of people. We are increasingly dependent on the internet. At a local shop last week, the staff couldn’t even accept cash because the cash register itself wouldn’t physically open without the computer. We rely on technology for speed, convenience and connectivity, yet even a few unexpected hours without it can come at a high cost.
Yet the benefit that technologies bring on every other day far outweighs the odd day of outages. So is this just the price we have to pay?
2.Technology
Another AI wearable has just dropped and its all manner of Black Mirror. Friend (formerly referred to as Tab AI) is a project by Avi Shiffman a 21 year old Harvard drop-out and tech whizz-kid. It is an AI powered pendant with an always-on microphone that speaks to you via text messages. Considering that AI chatbots have been around for a while, this device is little more than a microphone. Surprisingly simple for the massive $2.5 million Shiffman raised to develop it. Although it appears he actually spent $1.8 million of that on the domain name friend.com.
Reading the comments on Friend’s introductory Youtube video, the response is anything but positive. However, I’m reserving judgement. Considering the phenomenal success of AI companion apps such as Replika, that has been downloaded millions of times, it’s hard to put a figure to the number of people who are lonely. Shiffman is certainly on to something, but there is a big difference between secreting texting an AI boyfriend and wearing an ‘I’m lonely’ sign around your neck. From a design perspective, it’s looks like the emergency call button that my gran wears incase she has a fall. But maybe that's the look they were going for.
3.Inspiration
A month ago I wrote that I had better things to do than follow American politics. I take it all back. As of the last two weeks I’ve been on the edge of my seat watching the political drama unfold across the pond. The run up to the American election has got to be the most exciting soap opera of 2024 and in the last week I’ve become 100% team Harris. Her speeches are flawless, her passionate promotion of the freedoms “to live without bigotry and hate”, “to love who you love openly and with pride” are “for a woman to make decisions about her own body” are a far cry from the increasingly hate-filled rhetoric that Trump shouts from the podium.
It’s incredible the number of people who have come out in support. She raised a record $200 million in the first week of her campaign, much of it, not from big billionaires, but from small donations from ordinary people; 66% from first-time campaign contributors. Another 170,000 people have volunteered to help the campaign. This grassroots energy, has been spurred on by a series of giant Zoom calls. And when I say giant I mean giant. First a group of black women through a collective called Win With Black Women staged a Zoom call that brought together 44,000 people in support of Harris and raised $1 million in just 3 hours. This was followed by a group called White Dudes for Harris that ended up with 190,000 people on the call and raised $4 million. It’s inspiring to see the support for Harris from ordinary people fighting for something they so passionately believe in. Last month I very much referred to Trump as the almost guaranteed winner. Now Harris is in the race, I’m increasingly optimistic that I was wrong.
4.Morrama
Entering our 10th year, it’s incredible to think that Morrama has been going for almost a decade. I’ve been thinking about how we are going to celebrate our anniversary. Maybe write a book, have a party, launch a product… but I’d love to hear from you. What do you reckon?
