Episode 100, Apple Intelligence, Elon's Pay, Mouse Jigglers, and NASA

Weekly Review of News in Technology, UX and AI

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Here’s the latest news, resources, and use cases from the world of product, UX, AI and technology. Let’s go:

• 💯 Episode 100!

• 🍎 Apple Intelligence

• 😈 Elon Pay

• ⚫ Alexa

• 🖲️ Mouse Jigglers

• 🦾 Nanobots

• 🛰️ NASA

Podcast

Episode 100 Celebration! Five Lessons from the Last Five(ish) Years

It's hard to believe we're at episode 100! Who would have thought? Not me. So to celebrate, we've decided to talk about a few things we've learned through the past 100 episodes and highlight some of the discussions that have been part of the journey so far.

News and Useful Reads

Here’s everything Apple announced at the WWDC 2024 keynote, including Apple Intelligence, Siri makeover

Apple made a ton of announcements at WWDC 2024. Apple AI is a big one that we’re all talking about, but Apple Messages is finally going to stop sucking, as is Siri, and I’m really excited about Notes.

Each year Apple kicks off its Worldwide Developers Conference with a few hours of just straight announcements, like the long-awaited Apple Intelligence and a makeover for smart AI assistant, Siri. We expected much of them to revolve around the company’s artificial intelligence ambitions (and here), and Apple didn’t disappoint.

Tesla shareholders vote to reinstate Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package

It doesn’t override the court’s earlier ruling, but it’s a big PR victory for Elon. And why shouldn’t we keep making the richest people in the world even richer?

Tesla shareholders on Thursday voted to ratify CEO Elon Musk’s mammoth 2018 pay plan, five months after a judge in Delaware ordered the company to rescind the package, finding it had been improperly granted by the board.

How Amazon blew Alexa’s shot to dominate AI, according to more than a dozen employees who worked on it

When we think about companies who should dominate AI right now, Amazon should be at the top of that list. Almost all of us have Alexa devices, and Amazon has had years to work on conversational AI. But it dropped the ball, much like Apple did. It is partly a case of the Innovator’s Dilemma, where they didn’t see the next generation of technology coming, partly their bureaucracy, and partly prioritizing AWS over other areas.

Amazon has also, former employees say, repeatedly deprioritized the new Alexa in favor of building generative AI for Amazon’s cloud computing unit, AWS.

And, of course:

The problem is, as hundreds of millions are aware from their stilted discourse with Alexa, the assistant was not built for, and has never been primarily used for, back-and-forth conversations. Instead, it always focused on what the Alexa organization calls “utterances” — the questions and commands like “what’s the weather?” or “turn on the lights” that people bark at Alexa. 

Wells Fargo Fires Over a Dozen for ‘Simulation of Keyboard Activity’

Wells Fargo apparently fired a bunch of people for using mouse jigglers. I, of course, think Wells Fargo, and any company that creates a culture where people feel like they need to constantly be present at their computer, is the problem, not the employees. This is toxicity by Wells Fargo and I hope more employees get software-free mouse jigglers and realize now that Wells Fargo is watching you.

The staffers, all in the firm’s wealth- and investment-management unit, were “discharged after review of allegations involving simulation of keyboard activity creating impression of active work,” according to disclosures filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The Secret to Living Past 120 Years Old? Nanobots

This week I reviewed the book God, Human, Animal, Machine and discussed what it means to be human in the age of AI. In an upcoming book, The Singularity is Nearer, Ray Kurzweil believes that we’re very close to merging with robots. I’ll add this to our book list.

The only solution, longevity researchers argue, is to cure aging itself. In short, we need the ability to repair damage from aging at the level of individual cells and local tissues. There are a number of possibilities being explored for how to achieve this, but I believe the most promising ultimate solution is nanorobots.

Other Interesting Finds

NASA's Voyager Has Made a Full Recovery After Glitch Nearly Ended the Historic Mission

It’s crazy how long ago we launched Voyager 1, and yet we’re still able to fix it from so far away.

NASA announced that its iconic mission is back to normal operations, with all four of its instruments returning science data for the first time following a technical issue that first began in November 2023.

Voyager 1 launched in 1977, so it’s operating on vintage tech. The storied spacecraft is exploring the outermost edge of the Sun’s domain, combining its observations with data from newer missions to get a better understanding of how the heliosphere interacts with interstellar space. For decades, the spacecraft has been a reliable source of data on the universe, discovering new moons, active volcanoes, and planetary rings.