Fred's Views - Issue 1
Fred's Views
Issue 1
Welcome to the first instalment of this newsletter, a weekly (aspirational) review of things that piqued my interest. Topics will usually span finance, technology, the intersection of both, and wider topics affecting society at large. It will be more or less structured from week to week, and things are likely to evolve as we go, so who knows where we'll end up.
Wide angle
Sometimes AI comes up with strange results in our understanding of reality, but what may actually be happening is that the algorithms are picking up characteristics that we're not aware of. We're entering 'Allegory of the cave' territory here... “Artificial Intelligence May Not 'Hallucinate' after all" (Wired)
Eric Ries (of 'Lean Startup' fame) has secured regulatory approval to set up the Long Term Stock Exchange, which aims to free startups from the constraints of short-term financial gain. Sounds a bit utopian, but interesting nonetheless. Link (Reuters)
The lengths to which US companies will go to counter organised labour are amazing. Link (Twitter)
Close-up - Facebook
Facebook prominently in the news again over the last week, with the narrative around the company becoming increasingly negative, including calls for a break-up and other regulatory interventions. Not sure a break-up makes a lot of sense, but more regulation is a no-brainer, and long overdue. The idea that tech companies should be allowed to do whatever they want and the government should get out of the way is dead (as it should be), and the EU's efforts with GDPR are looking far-sighted.
Facebook says it shouldn’t be broken up because it is very successful (The Verge)
Facebook obviously sees which way the wind is blowing and has started a PR campaign: an ad touting their efforts to fight election manipulation, in an FT story about Nigel Farage… Link (Twitter)
AI is not the way to fix Facebook's problems, for now at least. “Facebook Is Finding Problems With Artificial Intelligence Too” (Wired)
The writing was on the wall for Instagram for a while now, unfortunately. "Facebook Is Turning Instagram Into The New Facebook" (Buzzfeed News)
Close-up - Crypto
Another idea that seems to have run its course for now: that crypto will change the world and put all financial institutions out of business. I found myself at a blockchain conference the other day, and it was, erm, puzzling, like entering an alternate universe, and not in a good way.
My investment thesis is that there's a huge market for startups that steal ideas from ones using blockchain and do it with a faster, more secure and easier to implement plain vanilla database
— Christopher Mims 🎆 (@mims) May 9, 2019
"The libertarian fantasies of cryptocurrencies" (Financial Times)
When is the last time you heard of hackers stealing $40m from a retail bank? “Hackers Steal $40.7 Million in Bitcoin From Crypto Exchange Binance” (CoinDesk)