🤔 How can small changes create lasting impact? ⋆ AI of the week ⋆ The paradox of curiosity
Discover the power of feedback loops to transform systems and habits, explore groundbreaking AI advancements reshaping our world, and learn why focusing curiosity is key to achieving your goals.
I'm learning about systems and system thinking. So you are too 😛
("AI of the week" and "The Paradox of Curiosity" below)
Thing 1 - The Power of Feedback Loops
Understanding how small changes in systems can create lasting impacts.
You've heard of the butterfly effect...
Feedback loops are like that, but for systems - ecosystems, economies, or your everyday routine...
What is a System?
A system is a set of interconnected elements that work together to achieve a goal. Systems can be as large as an economy or as small as your habits. They are all around us and influence many aspects of our lives. (Examples: ecosystems, social structures, your productivity routine.)
Understanding Feedback Loops
A feedback loop happens when the outputs of a system circle back and influence its inputs. Think of how a thermostat keeps your room temp just right:
- when it gets too cold, the system kicks in to heat things up
- when it's too warm, it pulls back.
That constant adjusting creates stability.
Why Feedback Loops Matter
These loops are everywhere, and understanding them can lead to powerful insights. Your productivity is a system: each positive habit you build - a morning jog, journaling, focused work sessions - feeds into the next, creating a loop that boosts your energy and productivity. Small changes can lead to big results.
If you've struggled with bad habits, you've also felt feedback loops in reverse: one night of lost sleep can lead to fatigue, skipped workouts, unhealthy food choices, and the loop continues.
Using the Power of Feedback Loops
The power of feedback loops is real. Small tweaks, when consistent, lead to sustainable change.
Identify the feedback loops in your life, and you'll see how adjusting one element can create lasting, positive impacts.
Thing 2 - AI of the week
- Anthropic released Model Context Protocol (MCP) - new standard for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data lives. aka it can now fetch data from external sources.
- Alibaba released a preview of QwQ - an open model designed to advance AI reasoning capabilities (demo) that beats OpenAI's o1-preview and o1-mini on some benchmarks
- ElevenLabs launched a new feature called GenFM in its Reader mobile app that allows you to generate AI-powered personal podcasts from various text sources
- Onyx shared the next evolution of their systems - NAUT amphibious capabilities with SENTRY kinetic and ISR payloads
Was Black Mirror a documentary?
- New study in Nature shows LLMs outperform neuroscience experts at predicting experimental results before experiments (86% vs 63% accuracy).
They also state "LLM performance is not driven by data memorization", which is what you wanna hear.
There's also been a bunch of developments related to AI Agents. Tough to say which will be the "winner takes all" but with the amount of resources and progress, we win as users.
Thing 3 - The Paradox of Curiosity
How Trying to Do It All Leaves You with Nothing
It feels like Orange Book has a quote for everything...
Being curious about everything is also how you end up achieving nothing. It's tempting to believe that you can do it all, but if the years pass, and you are not getting closer to any of your goals, you've been biting off more than you can chew, and need to humble down and focus.
- Orange Book
What are you going to focus on?
Cheers, Zvonimir