For every Boomer who hates Millennials and for every Millennial who hates Boomers just remember there's a generation in the middle who hates you both. ๐
Imagine what Americans would be saying and doing if 4,000 people were dying every day in an allied country because of a deadly enemy. We'd mobilize, send supplies and resources. We'd send troops. We'd call it "Operation Something." Our fight would be a source of national pride.
I'm sitting in the vestibule of a hospital ER. My dad's blood pressure spiked dangerously high and his heart rate dropped to 40. He has a genetic hypertension issue that I'm hopeful synthetic biology will someday solve. But that's not why I'm writing. Please read entire thread.
In an alternate history, we made different choices. We didn't commercialize the hell out of healthcare. We didn't whine about masks and spread lies about vaccines.
I'm pissed off and you should be too.
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Private models are good in some cases. But ambulances and EMTs? I hope for your sake you are never in a situation where a Lyft is your only reasonable option to get to an ER.
Our healthcare system in America is so, so broken. Unforgivably broken.
Finally: why am I sitting in the vestibule of a hospital's ER while I wait to see if my dad will be admitted?
Because too many people refused to get vaccinated, to wear masks and to stop the spread of Covid. I'm not allowed inside.
Two things
@AndrewYang
seems to understand more than all the other candidates running:
1. How to engage on digital platforms (like, really use digital)
2. That a ceiling has been hit for campaigning on fear, anger and retribution
A staggering number of cities and towns in the US are services by private ambulance companies.
Private ownership models for EMT services and ambulances are fundamentally at odds with the purpose of healthcare services.
The costs of an ambulance ride are so exorbitant that people are willing to risk taking an Uber or Lyft, which last time I checked don't come equipped with EKG machines or blood pressure monitors.
It's ridiculous that we're cheering YouTube for banning anti-vax content. That's like praising a child when he finally stops beating his sister with a tennis racket after being asked repeatedly. "Good job, Johnny! We're proud of you for not doing the dangerous thing anymore!"
Recommend you read this back and forth between
@AndrewYang
and
@paulkrugman
.
Yang is right here. The issue isn't techno-fatalism or techno-hype. Any data-driven model shows technological unemployment rising and social safety nets declining. We've passed equilibrium.
@paulkrugman
When I spoke to 70 major CEOs and asked how many were looking to replace backoffice workers with AI - 70 hands went up. Thereโs a reason that technologists know this is real and about to accelerate.
1 - Journalists, foundations that fund journalism, publishers, city officials, venture capitalists/ hedgies who've bought news orgs, and people who care about democracy, we need to have a chat this morning.
Like, right now.
1 - My dad is in the hospital, again, for the third time in four weeks. The reason? Various "problems" diagnosed by various specialists. Here's my diagnosis: the guys is on 14 different medications, prescribed by 4 different doctors, who aren't looking at the bigger picture.
1 -
@AndrewYang
's criticism of America's industrial debate complex was spot on last night:
"Weโre up here with makeup on our faces, and our rehearsed attack lines, playing roles in this reality TV show. Itโs one reason we elected a reality TV star as our president."
People who believe that mask mandates "take away their freedom" are the reason my dad is still, 11 hours later, laying on a gurney waiting for medical equipment.
People who are too stubborn to challenge their beliefs and believe lies about the vaccine are why he's suffering.
It's 6:22am. My dad was admitted but spent the night on a stretcher. His blood pressure hasn't stabilized. They have no beds and are short on staff. The ER is beyond capacity -- all because of lies spread by enterprising politicians and social media platforms.
ICYMI: I'm moderating the
@WestworldHBO
panel at
#SDCC2019
.
#Westworld
is my favorite show ever because the writing is so damn good - and also because it forces us to confront hard questions about humanity in an age of
#AI
.
Prepping for the panel -- what questions should I ask?
These Uber and Lyft drivers had to come in to the ER, hunt down a wheel chair, and then manouver their patients out of their personal vehicles...a Toyota Corolla, a Honda CR-V...without any help.
I have so far seen 8 drivers for Uber or Lyft pull up with patients in various conditions.
A high school kid with what looked like a broken leg--there was blood.
An elderly man, struggling to breathe, who couldn't walk on his own.
A family with a small child--looked bad.
This is something we ought to consider in America. And there's a way to test
@AndrewYang
's recommendation before you dismiss it -- future risk and opportunity scenario modeling. I've done it, and I'm still in favor of term limits.
We need to shift to 18-year term limits for Supreme Court Justices - it would make the rotation on and off the court more predictable and decrease the politics around each appointment.
I urge you to read this important, nuanced, smart piece in
@techreview
by
@_KarenHao
about what went down last week with
@timnitGebru
.
The researchers' concerns are exactly what I wrote about in my book on AI's problems The Big Nine.
Short thread...
Today in America, we celebrate our
#4thofJuly
revolution against the King of England and freedom from tyrannical, autocratic rule. This week,
#HongKong
citizens lost the independence they were promised and the freedoms they enjoyed. Spare a thought for them today. ๐ญ๐ฐโ๏ธ
This is an excellent, welcome move from
@IBM
@IBMResearch
and terrific, accessible writing by
@kharijohnson
. Hope other
#BigNine
tech companies will follow.
IBM Research introduced AI Explainability 360, an open source explainable AI toolkit.
1 - Good morning. I'd like to share something about myself that not many people know, because I think it could add some texture to the current debate about tax cuts and reforms. I'd really appreciate it if you read through to the end of this thread.
Love this story about the new Defector Media. Especially inspired by this: they're not pursuing VC-style growth. Instead target is paying themselves competitive salaries and building a sustainable business model. cc
@ONA
Generational distinctions lost meaning once we had access to personal technology. Since the mid-90s, we have each developed unique relationships to tech, and therefore to pop culture, work, and each other. Starting w Gen X, groups haven't had a singular experience.
We are transitioning from applied physics to applied biotechnology. My upcoming book is about the future of synthetic biology and what will happen when humanity soon gains write access to life. We are all made of stardust, and stardust is made of code. Coming in 2021.
For those who are still fixated on the future when robots coming to take all our jobs and then murdering us, you should know that the real danger posed by AI is already here. It's a concentration of power within just a handful of companies making decisions for us all.
This is our chance to push for inclusive, transparent, democratic uses of the AI technologies that will define the future. Watch
@CodedBias
by
@shalinikantayya
, now streaming on
@Netflix
.
And here's a resource page with recommended books, etc:
My new bookโTHE GENESIS MACHINEโcomes out on Feb 15. Itโs a book about how we can reprogram the machinery of living cells, and why thatโs both great and also really dangerous. Hereโs a short ๐งตon the book and why we wrote it. /1
Does anyone else feel like we're in late stage Sims City or Civilization and now, forced to confront all the bad decisions we've made over many generations, we realize that the only choice left is to restart the game?
The
@FTI
2021 Tech Trends Report has officially launched! With a twist... The cataclysmic events of 2020 led to hundreds of new signals. This year's report covers 500+ tech and science trends -- so we're publishing *12 separate volumes.*
Download โก๏ธ
One last
@ExpanseOnPrime
tweet. (I'm lying. I love this show and need to talk about it!)
All of the women charactersโโall of them (even the villains!)โโare strong, brave, brilliant and resilient. And the women playing those characters are insanely talented.
#TheExpanse
Hereโs what to know about the "Firefly Lane" book that inspired Netflixโs new show, as well as more on author Kristin Hannah and her hugely popular catalog of bestselling novels
Watching Star Trek with my daughter for the first time this morning! I've been waiting for this day since she was born. In s01 e01 there are wireless earbuds, video calls, flip phones, tablets and quantum computing. And a diverse (for the time) cast to boot.
While this sounds like speculative fiction or a futurist's scenario, it is real life. The present. That future has arrived.
New York City, after years of being considered a humid continental climate, now sits within the humid subtropical climate zone.
Itโs important to remember that while weโre all dealing with great disruption, there is also opportunity.
Disruption doesnโt have to be dystopian. It can be an excuse to innovate, optimize and evolve.
Aren't we all now scrappy and hungry? You going to throw away your shot?
Fox News is truly stunning right now. Unifying message, rational analysis, complete acceptance of the vote. A *total* reversal from last night. Completely different tone. Seriously, if you're home turn it on. Anchors have done a 180.
Think youโre aware of the forces that might disrupt your company? Your lens may be far too narrow. This is the simple tool I use to track and analyze disruptive forces, and it's easy to apply within your organization. Read/ download from
@mitsmr
.
This weekend is the perfect time to develop your longer-term thinking and plan for the future. Whether you're focused on risk, opportunity, or growth, you can use a framework I developed that measures certainty and charts actions.โ๏ธ
11 - Now more than ever in modern human history, we need quality journalism.
Now more than ever, we need quality journalists.
Now more than ever, we need trustworthy, actionable, informative news.
This massive undertaking is -- finally! -- complete! This is the most challenging research I've ever done. I read more than 700 academic papers and industry reports, interviewed dozens of people, and spent three years developing the architecture for this book.
My new book, The Big Nine, is a call-to-arms about the broken nature of AI and the powerful corporations in the US and China who are in charge of our futures. I'm on a mission to change the developmental track of AI. I hope you'll join me. Preorder at .
Did you know we have ~A LOT~ of free strategic foresight frameworks & tools on our
@FTI
site? They come with instructions. Aspiring/ practicing futurists, come on down. If you use them, I'd love to see your case studies on your own site/ blog/ LinkedIn.
I own a home in Baltimore -- adjacent to
@RepCummings
district -- and I live here half the week. This rat infested shithole of a city sure does grow some incredible vegetables!