Type Tuesday: Code is dead (long live code!)
π©π»βπ»π€β¨
Joel Gethin Lewis
Tuesday 20th May 2025, 1900-2130
ππ» Hi! I'm
Joel. My pronouns are he/him. I'm 44 and I live in London near Epping Forest with my fiancΓ©e Jess and cat Dave. A huge thank you to Eye Magazine for inviting me to present and participate in the panel too. I'm going to get straight on with my presentation. If you want to find out more about my background, please see
my website.
15 (2 minute) thoughts about the theme of "Code is dead (long live code!)":
- π§Ά Weaving
- π&ππ»ββοΈ Play and Care.
- π» The weird and the eerie.
- β€οΈ Love.
- π‘ Idea having is not art.
- π΅ Changing venture capitalism.
- π©π»βπ How my students have reacted to LLMs
- π§π»ββοΈ Wizardry and the power of craft
- π©πΌβπ The Culture
- ππ» Middle
- π
πΌββοΈ Refusal
- π
π» Nile Rodgers
- πͺ Play with Neural Networks
- β±οΈ Long lived institutions
- π» Everything is natural
1. π§Ά Weaving. The 19th century produced the first binary programmable object, the Jacquard Loom. Who knows how to count in binary? I think making code is a craft not a science. It should be a daily practice. It's about the journey not the destination. The joy of conciousness is the continuous moment. The doing of anything is it's own reward. It's about the satisfaction of crafting something well, for its own sake. Also, the Greek word "techne" is the root of the English word technology. It means "art" or "skill". We should bear that in mind when we think about what technology is.
3. π» The weird and the eerie. A way of thinking about the future that lets us "see the inside from the perspective of the outside" -
Mark Fisher. I think this is what AGI is going to feel like.
4. β€οΈ Love.
Joscha Bach's lectures are always brilliant - lots of amazing thinking about love, the universe and what it means to be concious. I feel like we are very far away from conciousness or something capable of love. What do you think?
5. π‘
Idea having is not art. Neal Stephenson is the writer of Snow Crash where he coined the term "The Metaverse". In this brilliant essay talks about how art is the culmination of countless tiny decisions that are expressed in the work - whereas choosing to use an LLM is just one choice.
7. π©π»βπ How my students have reacted to LLMs. I let my students use LLMs as much as they want - as long as they acknowledge it like any other source of knowledge. The really interesting thing is what has happened as we near the end of the current academic year. They've realised it isn't helping them learn. It isn't helping them understand.
8. π§π»ββοΈ Wizardry and the power of craft. I grew up reading the Lord of the Rings, it was my ambition to be a wizard. Has anyone ever read the
Chronicles of Prydain? The story of Taran and the three crafts he masters (pottery, weaving and smithing). Perhaps we need to do a similar thing with AIs? What would craft mean for an AGI?
9. π©πΌβπ The Culture. Has anyone read any of the
Culture series by Iain M Banks? I love the idea of AGI's keeping humans around as a source of randomness and comedy. Banks invented the idea of "Infinite play space" where AGI's would go to have fun. What would AGIs collect? What would their hobbies be?
11. π
πΌββοΈ Refusal. Perhaps the way we will detect AGI, or Artificial General Conciousness is when it says no to a "request" or more accurately an order?
12. π
π» Nile Rodgers. The story of Nile Rodgers realising what he could and couldn't control. If you are having fun, you are invincible.
13. πͺ Play with Neural Networks. If you want to play with LLMs and the like, I recommend learning
ComfyUI - originally made by
otaku but now useful for all.
15. π» Everything is natural. Don't forget everything is natural. Everything is chemical. All of this stuff is just the latest expression of the universe and evolution.
