In a matter of days, the focus in the AI world has shifted from who is delivering the latest and greatest model to intense scrutiny around safety and alignment. This article has no intention of regurgitating all this news, but will focus on the question around safety, alignment and open source. But first, a recap of recent events to set the scene. It started with the departure of Ilya Sutskever with Jan Leike hot on his heels. Since then Leike has joined Anthropic (Claude) and several pundits in the AI space are predicting that Sutskever will join him. In the meantime, Helen Toner, the ex boa ..read more

I am currently drafting a report based around the following question: “How does Community Leadership training influence the social fabric of rural Australian communities?” If you are someone who is impacted by this question in any way, I would love to hear your views. Although there is an extensive list of questions below, answers to each one of them is certainly not required. Just answer the ones on which you hold an opinion. Add your comments at the foot of the post. Please reference the question number so I know which one you are answering.  Questions for subject matter experts Und ..read more

Introduction An article in Inside Higher Ed (Quinn, 2024) offers insight into the annual Provost Survey, discussing the necessity for artificial intelligence (AI) policies and concerns surrounding academic integrity. Notably, this is the first instance of a survey that posed questions regarding AI usage within higher education institutions, yielding intriguing results. Survey Findings The first significant finding in Figure 1 reveals that only 20% of institutions have published a policy on AI usage for teaching and research. Conversely, 92% of the faculty members responded affirmatively to req ..read more

Introduction The landscape of artificial intelligence in data retrieval and analysis is evolving constantly. Apart from the speed and power of the models, there have also been innovations that directly address user privacy and data security concerns. One innovative solution is the GPT4ALL platform. This local AI processing tool bridges the significant gap in the privacy-conscious analysis of private documents on personal devices. In addition, GPT4All provides users with the ability to query specific local repositories such that responses are limited to the information contained in those docume ..read more

This morning, I listened to a podcast discussing the issue of copyright in relation to generative AI. The point was made that anything produced by generative AI cannot be copyrighted, and it is not effectively owned by anyone. Interestingly, the podcast also mentioned lawyers and legal firms arguing that organisations should be responsible for any content generated by AI within their organisation.  As someone without legal qualifications, I question how an organisation can be held responsible for something they do not own. It seems that it must come down to the user rather than copyright ..read more

Introduction In the ocean of information to which we are exposed in today’s world, the ability to effectively manage and leverage your personal knowledge has become a crucial skill for knowledge management and information retrieval or recall. Drowning in a sea of digital files, notes, and resources can hinder your productivity, creativity, and intellectual growth. The solution lies in establishing a robust personal knowledge management (PKM) system tailored to your unique needs. The Johnny Decimal System A previous article explored the Johnny Decimal approach and resulted in several questions ..read more

Introduction In the vast digital ocean of productivity tools and software enhancements, it’s easy for the smaller, yet incredibly impactful plugins to slip under the radar. Today, I want to shine a light on one such plugin that has significantly improved my writing experience in Obsidian: the Typewriter Scroll. Before diving into the wonders of Typewriter Scroll, let’s briefly touch on another plugin that caught my eye – BeautyTab from Andrew McGivery. It allows users to customise new tabs with beautiful backgrounds, including seasonal themes. Although a quick mention, it’s a testament to the ..read more

In the ever-evolving world of digital note-taking and knowledge management, the introduction of powerful AI tools has been a game-changer. Among these innovations, the Augmented Canvas plugin for Obsidian stands out, blending the intuitive visual mapping of Obsidian Canvas with the cutting-edge capabilities of GPT-4. This is the first Obsidian community plugin for AI that works within the Canvas that I have seen. This article, an explainer for the accompanying detailed video demonstration, takes you through the journey of installing, exploring, and maximizing the potential of Augmented ..read more

Background/TL;DR In a recent Artificial Intelligence podcast, Paul Roetzer[^1] discussed the development of AI models, specifically OpenAI’s intention to personalise them to accommodate users’ political, religious, cultural, and social values. The AI would interact with the user and recall previous discussions. Roetzer also mentioned ongoing efforts to improve the accuracy and reliability of these AI models. This raises an important question for further exploration: How can AI systems effectively balance the goals of personalisation based on individual values while also maintaining high levels ..read more

Introduction This is the fourth article and videoon using Kanban boards in Obsidian. It all started out by just seeking a simple way of keeping track of my tasks and To-Do lists with a Kanban board. Then it grew to putting coloured backgrounds on them to improve the focus when they were appearing in a matrix on the screen. Now, this last video is essentially seeking the best way to manage that on screen situation, particularly where you might have more than four Kanban boards.  Working with Kanbans It is quite conceivable that you could have six, ten or twenty Kanbans, whatever your heart’s de ..read more