There is a specific type of article, almost always posted on Medium, that is clearly intended to be included in a LinkedIn post for personal branding purposes. I hate those articles. They drive me insane.

You shouldn’t just write because you want to brand yourself, because if you do that you won’t have anything real to say. Figure out something to say first! It is not that hard.

And these articles all have the same stupid upbeat marketing energetic tone. It drives me crazy. Does anyone actually read and enjoy these things? Who are they for?

The cool thing about asking questions no one else is willing to ask is that you get answers no one else gets, especially if you ask the right people.

The problem with doing this is that you’re probably also perceived as an annoying person who asks too many questions. I think one of the most useful skills when you’re like this is learning to vibecheck people to guess whether or not you can ask them certain things and get real answers.

One of my new favourite ways to write blog posts, especially the ones that contain advice, is to write them as an imagined conversation with someone who won’t stop asking questions.

I think writing the questions is fun, I think answering them is fun, and I get to take myself way less seriously than when I answer questions in real life. Plus, then I get to answer the questions that people should ask but don’t.

I have been compiling a list of articles and academic papers I come across about AI, since trying to understand what it’s doing to society is now one of my obsessions. There is, alas, no good way to review all of these articles. I now have a four page document filled with links to articles about AI, and it’s still getting things added to it at least on a weekly basis. So, uh. This might become an ongoing series.

Really, most meetings should be 15 minutes, 45 minutes, or an hour long.