This week we focus on cryptocurrency, TikTok, digital dementia, conversational AI, industrial metaverse, M2M (machine-to-machine) economy, Enabling Metaverse project, Pixel Canvas, & more!
Welcome to Spatial News™ 46, where we believe that 4 6’s are better than 3! “What’s a bit of light roasting when the world is burning?” — Joh
Video Corner: If Cryptocurrency Was Honest | Honest Ads
"Just because something was created for a specific purpose, doens’t mean it cant be co-opted for an ouroborosian cycle of raw capitalism that recycles real resources into planetary waste for the sake of ever more ethereal non-creations that only exists as mirages in our minds."
‘Nuff said.
(I’m not sure if that’s a proper paraphrase for the article’s title, but I like it anyway.) Sci fi author Cory Doctorow breaks down the “auto-annihilation” of digital platforms like Amazon and TikTok.
“[P]latforms die. That’s fine, actually. We don’t need eternal rulers of the internet. It’s okay for new ideas and new ways of working to emerge. The emphasis of lawmakers and policymakers shouldn’t be preserving the crepuscular senescence of dying platforms. Rather, our policy focus should be on minimizing the cost to users [like stay connected to the communities that you left behind, enjoying the media and apps you bought, and preserving the data you created] when these firms reach their expiry date.”
This sounds like a direct response to what Michael Barngrover was saying in the last SN.
(“Crepuscular senescence”…? Bruh…)
Gurwinder analyzes how TikTok and similar platforms turn human skulls into toilets.
First, it shrinks then flushes gray matter. Second, it replaces it with, yup, you guessed it, brown matter.
“[W]hether or not it’s actively intended as a weapon, [TikTok] is only moving the West further along the course it’s long been headed: toward more effortless pleasure, and resulting cognitive decline.”
(So it’s an unintentional super weapon, Gurwinder? Bruh… Stick to a lane) There’s a reason China regulates TikTok and India has banned it. (The US, in the meantime, is mulling it over. At a balloon’s pace, right?)
The article’s worth the long read.
(Thanks for sharing, Mikko Alasaarela.)
It was this article that pointed me towards the term
Coined by German neuroscientist Manfred Spitzer, the term describes how people who rely too much on technology can have their cognitive abilities (short term memory, the ability to focus and pay attention, and so on) weaken in the same way as people with head injuries, mental illnesses, or strokes.
Dementia is not just for old folks anymore as it’s being seen in ever younger people. All is not lost, though, (unless it’s your shrunken gray matter) as the article gives some tips on how to break the cycle.
At least, I still have the second brain in my stomach to fall back on. (You need healthy gut flora for that, you say? Hmmm, maybe I can learn how to bring them back on YouTube Shorts…)
Or maybe I’ll ask ChatGPT…)
(Nevermind…)
Image Credit: Louis Rosenberg using Midjourney
(The first thing that popped into my head when I saw this image is Zapp and Roger’s “Computer Love”. Oh, you haven’t heard it? It’s the quintessential 80’s song… 2080’s.)
This article by AR vet and SN mainstay Louis Rosenberg is a must read.
“[It] is not just about spreading dangerous content — it is about enabling personalized human manipulation at scale[…]
What chance does an average person have to resist being manipulated by a conversational influence campaign that has access to their personal history, processes their emotions in real-time and adjusts its tactics with AI-driven precision?”
That’s actually not a rhetorical question. He answers it in the conclusion.
Fudge weasel… first, my gray matter, now, my data?
“Along comes generative AI apps such as ChatGPT. The news about the AI app goes through the roof and gets widespread attention. A frenzy arises. People in these companies that have all these cybersecurity protections opt to hop onto a generative AI app. They idly play with it at first. They then start entering company data. Wham, they have now potentially exposed information that should not have been disclosed.”
It should go without saying that the same goes for private individuals, but, just in case, repeat after me, “ChatGPT is not my therapist”.
What’s the metaverse without a little dystopia? (I already know what the next quote for SN #047 will be. <Smirking slyly>)
Image Credit: cognite.com
“Whilst the industrial metaverse may not be so different from a digital twin, we should take caution to not repeat the pilot purgatory of digital twins. This means design with scalability and monetization in mind from the start. Most importantly, design for:
Ubiquitous access from any connected device for all employees
User experience over technical sophistication hardly anyone can use
Substantially non-linear cost of use case scaling
Data and model product marketplaces”
(So, I guess the answer to the question in the title is ‘Not really’?)
“The M2M (machine-to-machine) economy refers to a system of interdependent, networked devices that appear to carry out some sort of economic activity autonomously.”
The love child of the internet of things (IoT) and blockchain ♫ “Computer looove…” ♫
“While still in its infancy, industry experts predict that the M2M economy will become a trillion dollar pursuit in the years and decades to come.” <Say ‘Trillroonies…’ the way Homer Simpson says ‘Doonuuts…’.>
Spatial News from Finland:
The “Enabling Metaverse” project
Anarky Labs and Augumenta, two partners of the Spatial8 ecosystem, are working together on the EMETA (Enabling Metaverse) project. This three-year project (2023-2025) is funded by Business Finland, led by VTT and includes a variety of other companies and institutions.
The goal of the project is to better understand metaverse requirements in the ICT sector and to develop a metaverse environment based on 5G standards. This environment will combine multi-user real-time Digital Twin, XR tech, and Blockchain solutions.
This project will also develop test environments and demos to show how smart building functionalities, resources, and spaces can be controlled, as well as how users can collaborate through virtual and physical space.
<Your Spatial AD Here>
Pixel Canvas Sizzle Trailer
The newest Pixel Canvas Sizzle Trailer is out! Showcasing industry specific examples of how Pixel Canvas’ platform can be used for Music & Entertainment, Universities & Education, Convention Centers & Virtual Events, E-commerce & Virtual Shopping, Sports Stadium, and Digital Fashion! With Unreal Engine 5 quality and Ready Player Me avatars, Pixel Canvas has live multiplayer and built-in video chat networking and is playable on the web or on any device.
We are also hosting Digital Fashion Week NY’s Global Panel Discussions on February 10th, 11AM-5PM EST.
Sponsored by Pixel Canvas
Spatialists, say see signs so soon.