Sunday Reads and Listens - Eugene Levy, Second City, AI (of course) and How to Write Viral Essays

Happy Sunday everyone.

If you like my daily blog please do remember to share it with your smart friends.

The spring is finally here in Phoenix. My oldest (Phoenix) nephew Eli is getting married today and it is nice to have Rachel and Max home and have a full family formal (black tie) celebration.

This week I really enjoyed the Eugene Levy guest appearance on 'Smartless'. Eugene is a comedy legend.

I was born in 1965 in Toronto (even the AI git that right) and I was 10 years old when Second City television started in Toronto. It was impossible to be a teen growing up in Toronto and not be influenced by comedy. I got the bug early and used to frequent the popular comedy chain YukYuks and do open mic nights with what are now so many comedy legends.

Watch this in this old skit 'Night School High Q' and surf around YouTube for a while:

Onward...

Back to everyone else's favorite subject AI...

One look at this chart will explain why Microsoft has been so focused on AI:

The cost to train AI systems has gone down 95 percent in 5 years.

Beth Kindig has a good analysis of whats at stake for Google.

As you could see from my own AI obituary the other day, the AI mirror test is failing. That does not mean tens of billions won't continue to be invested in the space because AI is definitely coming and going to get exponentially better quickly.

Switching topics quickly to a living a longer life WITH NO HELP FROM AI...do not underestimate flossing.

Ellen and I watched the Netflix Series 'Full Swing'. It was pretty good. The New York Times explains why Netflix has embraced sports documentaries over live sports.

I loved this story about the husband and wife team that have built a 'dumpling empire'.

Finally, I enjoyed this piece on writing titled 'How To Write Essays That Spread'.

Have a great Sunday.