Hello! Ciao! Hola! Salut! Doei!

Thank you for signing up, it really means a lot!
It's great to keep in touch. This newsletter has been in my mind for at least two three four years: it's the result of social media frustration, the death of my community on Twitter/IG, a move to another continent, and a nostalgia of blogs when we were free from algorithms.

Expect opinions and curation, and no AI: I think you all will prefer a little convoluted but authentic prose than a polished but very average text. More on this soon.
My hope is that this will become a little community, it’s time for small well-crafted things. Thank you for being here.

I am launching the first issue soon, in the meantime a few interesting things.

///// ART

This month I fell in love with the illustrations of Italian artist Giacomo Bagnara and the Precisionist watercolors of local artist Z. Vanessa Helder (1904–1968), currently on display at SAM Seattle Art Museum. Such a talented woman, and what a cool signature!

///// BOOKS and AUDIO-BOOKS

AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference. Halfway through, I am learning a lot from this book (though I don’t always agree, but who does). I am trying to understand more about LLMs, generative vs predictive AI, etc.

The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. Glad I read this first before the one above: interesting first chapter, I appreciated their overview of the history of work automation. Some readers complained about the snarky tone, I personally liked it. It's sometimes a bit too academic (very detailed). If you are interested but don’t want to commit to a whole book, they have a podcast (same link as above) and gave many interviews. Review from The Guardian.

Una questione privata / A private matter Beppe Fenoglio
The Path to the Nest of Spiders (Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno) Italo Calvino.
I have decided it's time to read/re-read Calvino and other Italian writers that experienced the rise of Fascism in Italy, WWII, and the post-war years. They were mandatory reading in high school in Italy, but it's very different to read them today, as an adult. They are great books and I am so glad I am doing this.

///// SEE YOU IN PERSON?

Atypi is coming to Stanford at the end of May, if you are attending please come and say hi! Report from the conference on the next issue.