Six Ideas That Made Us Think

1. When Video Calls Meet AI

Six months into quarantine, we have barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with video conferences—especially when it comes to selling. Venture capitalist Asheem Chandna believes an AI disruption is coming:

The implications are easy to imagine. During a video conference, a camera can “read” the faces of every meeting participant, analyze facial expressions, assess emotions and changes in speech patterns and quickly analyze whether a sales pitch appeals to decision-makers. Using predictive algorithms, a sales team could access insights in real time, allowing them to adjust their arguments on the fly or recognize more quickly when a sale can’t be closed. Technology could be developed to identify the “champion” in the room along with the skeptic—letting the salesperson focus their argument on the right person on a multi-person conference call.

2. The Rock 'n' Roll Lifestyle Revisited

In 1974, John Lennon produced Harry Nilsson’s album Pussycats. Pitchfork’s reassessment of the album amounts to a can’t-put-down retrospective of both Nilsson and the era’s rock star excesses he embodied:

If any one person could embody the notion of late-’60s rock stars going to seed, that person would undoubtedly be Harry Nilsson—one of the most talented songwriters of his generation, feted by all four Beatles, bedecked with Grammys, scoring hits while seemingly not even trying, squandering studio budgets and burning bridges while carousing with anyone who would join him…Wherever a famous ’60s icon was debasing themselves, Nilsson was there, supplying the drinks and collecting the stories.

3. Destination: Ashgabat

James Lomax takes a business trip to Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most secretive countries. Lomax’s travel diary offers a rare, gripping glimpse into dealmaking inside the central Asian republic:

Doing business here was almost impossible. Turkmenistan has huge oil and gas reserves but is extremely inefficient at getting any of it out of the ground. The country has one of the worst scores on the corruption perception index, the industry measure…But it is hard to tell just how corrupt Turkmenistan is because of the secrecy with which government business is conducted. The two national energy companies, Turkmenneft and Turkmengaz, are prime examples of the complex and opaque system whereby decisions over an inconsequential matter can be delayed for years, the reasons never given.

4. What’s Your Graph Doing?

In the midst of so many pandemic-inspired data visualizations, Wired offers a probing look at how to make them better. Invariably, a good graph requires a surprise:

The most effective graphs both anticipate and shape expectations. Regardless of how complicated the graph, the same general principle holds. We make graphs for two reasons: to learn the unexpected (“exploratory data analysis,” in statistics jargon) and to communicate findings to others…Even though visualizations occur in space, while music and stories unfold in time, they all rely upon this same dynamic, a balance of expectation and surprise. Even the most conventional and boring visualization—a chart of opinion polls, for example—must hint, at least, at the possibility of revealing something unforeseen.

5. How Computers Destroyed Go

Former professional Hajin Lee describes how advances in AI ruined the culture of Go in Korea. Her fascinating account describes how watching a computer play Go has become more interesting than playing:

Not a very long time ago, no one questioned that Go was a path you walk for a lifetime. The life of a Go player was considered similar to a philosopher, a scholar, an artist, or a monk. The belief was, as a professional player, you explore and endeavor to reach an ever higher level of understanding. The term “divine move” is used as a metaphor for an ultimate level of play. With AI, however, we all realized that the best way to reach the highest possible level of Go is not through thinking about it for a lifetime. It’s actually to buy more powerful GPUs and a well-trained deep neural network and have it play Go. So, suddenly, we players felt an enormous sense of loss. 

6. Around the World Without a Map

At age 66, geography professor James Creamer completed an 18-month sailboat voyage around the world without a computer, GPS, radio, compass, or even a sextant. When his ship returned safely to Cape May, NJ, he declared the voyage, “one small step back for mankind.” His death at 103 provided occasion for a masterful New York Times obituary:

The prospect of [navigating without instruments] on a round-the-world journey would consume him for the next decade, despite a flood tide of naysayers. “I talked to the Rotary Club in Woodbury, N.J., before I left: one of those luncheon things,” Professor Creamer said. “And one of the members said, ‘Professor’ — it’s always ‘Professor’ when they’re poking you in the chest with their finger — ‘What do you think your chances are?’ And I said, ‘About 95 percent,’ and the whole room burst into laughter.”

Websites Worth Reading

Meeting Money: Classic calculator of meeting costs 

Window Swap: Since we can’t travel

Zoom Work Station: Professor's online workspace

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