How to Manage the AI News Firehose without Drowning*

I haven't posted a YouTube video in about a month now. Same for Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, etc.

Which is weird, because a month ago, I was really excited about this new direction for my content, and had a bunch of ideas that I was itching to bring to life, and loved the enthusiastic response that I got from all of you about this new chapter.

But first, I needed to figure out how to manage the firehose that is AI news, and it turns out that's a non-trivial problem.

Supposedly, one of the signs foreshadowing the imminent coming of the singulairty is that the pace of AI developement will rapidly increase. And while that's certinaly been true over the past year (also I'd argue that we have many more current AI issues that deserve our attention, but that's a whole other alignment vs fairness faction debate), I suppose I expected the coming of the end of human civilization as we know it to be more... cinematic? Instead, it has so far turned what was already basically a full-time job of keeping up with AI news into a full-time job for 2-3 people, which is problematic considering that I'm just one person.

In other words, if you've been curious about the reason behind my lack of uploads, the answer is that I've filmed multiple videos over the last month that were current at the time but became outdated within 24 hours of filming. Creating semi-evergreen AI content has always been challenging, but right now it feels almost impossible.

And I'd imagine that I'm not the only one trying to tread water in this space - I'd imagine many of you are too.  

So, after several filmed videos that went nowhere, and several weeks of stressing over how to start this new chapter of stepping away from chasing the latest news while still making timely and useful content, here's my plan for treading water without drowning:

You Don't Actually Care About Everything, So Don't Try

The main reason why I started this new chapter was because I never wanted to read another paper on large language models ever again after the past year, and  instead wanted to put my energy towards topics that I cared more about.

Over the past few weeks, I've realized that should also apply to my AI news consumption. I still scan Twitter and check my Google Alerts to get a broad sense of what's happening in the field, but I only dig into the topics that I actually care about. Sometimes, that does mean reading another LLM paper, but most of the time, it doesn't.

Get Off Of Twitter (After 30 Minutes)

Speaking of Twitter, that platform is the definition of a firehose that I'd really like to stop drinking from, especially on #AITwitter. And while I have been posting more often lately, I've also been making a point to (1) have fun with it and (2) cut myself off after I've spent a total of 30 minutes on it.

Lean on Other Trusted Creators/Researchers

One of my big challenges re: divesting from the firehose is not being able to help my audience with whatever is happening with AI at the moment. But chasing the latest updates is exhausting, and frankly unproductive. Instead, I've been trying to share the load.

Over the past few years, I've met a bunch of other amazing people who use social media for AI education, and they all have different, fascinating niches. They put hours into researching their ideas, and make a point to remove hyperbole from their content, while keeping it engaging and informative.

Plus, they cover their niches way better than I ever could if I tried.

So, instead of trying to cover all the bases, I share their work with my audience, and they share mine with theirs. And when we're all feeling wiped out from the latest week in AI news, we can lean on each other via FaceTimes, Zoom hangouts, and text messages. We laugh and cry and commiserate, and by leaning on each other, we wake up the next morning feeling empowered to make the content that we actually want to create, knowing that we've got each others' backs.

This is what has been working for me so far, and what has gotten me back into the swing of filming videos and posting on my other socials. But, I'd love to know how all of you are handling the influx of AI news!

Are you struggling to tread water too? How are you dealing with it? I'd love to hear from you.

--J

*no promises 😅

👩🏽‍🦱 things that are helping me be a human

• Moving: There's truly nothing like having to declutter and pack up all of your worldly posessions to make you feel more human, so of course I've been doing that for the past two weeks. But, I'm mostly settled in my new place, so stay tuned for an apartment tour vlog!
• This Talk on AGI: It's so good. You should watch it. I'll leave it at that.
• Dictating Instead of Typing: Yes, I am still using Otter.ai, and yes, it is still one of the best AI tools I've ever incorporated into my life.

🖥 Things I Put On The Internet

no videos, obviously, but here are some other things that I've been in!

Increasing AI Literacy - Session 4 at the GenAI Conference

Jordan Harrod briefs the audience on how to increase AI literacy.

Jasper for Business