The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads:
• Who Builds The Internet? Meet Wikipedia’s Architects: The world wide web of Wikipedia, as told by its editors. (Byline)
• Microsoft’s Sudden AI Dominance Is Scrambling Silicon Valley’s Power Structure: The company has quietly cornered the emerging software market, and it’s preparing to cash in. (Businessweek) see also How Nvidia Became ChatGPT’s Brain and Joined the $1 Trillion Club: CEO Jensen Huang’s big bet on AI went from hand-delivering processors to Elon Musk and Sam Altman in 2016 to joining today’s alpha pack of Silicon Valley. (Businessweek)
• Crypto collapse? Get in loser, we’re pivoting to AI: “Current AI feels like something out of a Philip K Dick story because it answers a question very few people were asking: What if a computer was stupid?.” (Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain)
• Don’t let them fool you: The fear of being duped is ubiquitous, but excessive scepticism makes it harder to trust one another and cooperate (Aeon)
• How a dose of MDMA transformed a white supremacist: Brendan was once a leader in the US white nationalist movement. But when he took the drug MDMA in a scientific study, it would radically change his extremist beliefs – to the surprise of everyone involved. Rachel Nuwer investigates what happened. (BBC)
• Is Apple’s weird headset the future? Apple’s new goggles aren’t for normals. Not yet, anyway. So why does Apple want to show them off? (Vox)
• When Doctors Use a Chatbot to Improve Their Bedside Manner: Despite the drawbacks of turning to artificial intelligence in medicine, some physicians find that ChatGPT improves their ability to communicate empathetically with patients. (New York Times)
• The Secret History And Strange Future Of Charisma: How our culture, politics and technology became infused with a mysterious social phenomenon that everyone can feel but nobody can explain. (NOEMA) see also Every self-help book ever, boiled down to 11 simple rules: The basic advice in hundreds of bestsellers is older than you think. (Mashable)
• Shiny Happy People is a great reminder of why cult documentaries should exist: Nearly every one of these films isn’t just about a cult leader and a scandal; they examine the subjugation, in particular, of women at the hands of charismatic men. Even more importantly, in these docs that deal with fundamentalisms of all stripes (Latter-day Saints, Protestant, or even “secular,” in the case of NXIVM), a question arises: Why didn’t you just leave? (Vox)
• Jack Johnson’s Oahu: The Hawaii-born singer-songwriter and activist recommends some places he loves on the island he still calls home. And yes, surfing and music are involved. (New York Times)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with NBC News and former WSJ reporter Gretchen Morgenson. The Pulitizer price winning investigative journalist is the author of a new book, These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs―and Wrecks―America.
How Summer Camp Became Such a Hot Mess for Parents
Source: Businessweek
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