I have kids, I have a full life, lots of stuff to do like .. work, chores. Private stuff includes learning ancient Greek and practicing cello both of which need zero tech, in case of the Greek, and minimal tech in case of the cello (tuner). No amount of “software” will accelerate human processes like these. Using “apps” for Greek is a distraction at best. Just read and practice. Sit down and practice with a book, it’s not a hard concept and it’s the fastest way to where you’re going.
My kids? They need books, play, chess, puzzles, outside. They have zero and I emphasize zero need for technology. It’s all distraction at best.
I am a developer. I grew up with technology and I loved it, but I recognize its toxicity if not properly contained. Use tech where it makes sense: at work and wherever there are cognitive chores of questionable inherent value. Anything else? It’s a distraction at best and a huge waste of time and resources at worst. AI makes this divide even worse. We have armies of people building nonsense like “household management systems” for a family of two. We have dog walking management, grocery management, temperature sensors in two bedroom apartments. All this is a complete and utter waste of time and resources.
What we need to do? Standardize, consolidate. Like electricity and fuel etc, software is an utility. Standard way of messaging, standard way of datawarehousing, APIing. More tech ain’t the solution, consolidation is. We have enough tech already, more than we know what to do with.
Most organisations and people just need to focus on doing the basics right. There's an obsession with optimisation and we see this in all aspects of life.
We end up spending a lot of time and money on things that aren't really that important and don't move the needle that much, or actively making life much worse for people.
I read someone’s realization here and it’s dawning on me as well. My ideas, they suck. I can’t be ambitious if my life depended on it.
For work though I think many of the same applies - keep it simple - but there is actually some progress to be made. Processes always can be improved (for now) and even just improving the UI of some sad but necessary systems that employees have to suffer through everyday is still worth it.
Similarly, you can try something like:
> Break down aspects of the economy by amenability to state control high/medium/low, based on what we see in successful economies. Include a rationale and supporting evidence/counterexamples. Present it in 3 tables.
It should give you dozens of things you can look up. Eg it might mention successful Singapore and Vienna-style public housing, and there are some nice videos on that on Youtube. Teach your kids how to do nuanced large-scale research, while everyone else is at "communism is bad".
The bot might also miss something, or get something wrong, and they should be able to catch it. I think auditing LLM output will be very important in the future.