Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips If “big” is in the description, it is in all the descriptions. That hurts. Here is a process for writing a big document: Uh, this usually means a BIG waste of resources. The BIG draft means the writer works and works and works. Finally, finished. The BIG review means half-a-dozen people read […]

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by Dwayne Phillips One way of accomplishing work is to employ fewer better people. Of course this works. That depends on the definition of “better people.” One way of accomplishing work is to employ fewer better people. It works. Of course it works. Let’s use this definition: Better people are those who can use the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I find, or re-find, a basic concept of writing non-fiction. I recently worked through a piece of rewriting and revision. I used several AI systems combined with the best writing advice I accumulated through the years. When it was over, I attempted a summary. Surely there was something to pin on the […]

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by Dwayne Phillips At Brown University, a professor shows that students used AI systems to get good scores on a take-home test. The in-class test scores were much lower. Does any of this matter? For a few days, this story was sort of famous (here is one version of the story). For one reason or […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I would hope that journalists would understand AI and software better than this. I am disappointed. Yet another story about AI written by the ignorant for the masses: AI models that lie and cheat appear to be growing in number with reports of deceptive scheming surging in the last six months, a […]

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by Dwayne Phillips Endeavors have fine, precise adjustments. The details matter. There, however, is a time for details and fine, precise, adjustments. The early stages of work is not the time. I wish I was smarter. I wish I knew all the details and adjustments and the little factors of success at the start of […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We have a new twist on the old excuse, “My dog ate my homework.” That excuse about the dog and the homework goes back to 1905 (some sources report, but then again, there may be earlier instances, but the dog ate the stories and …). John Steinbeck even said that his dog […]

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by Dwayne Phillips I would hope that journalists would understand AI and software better than this. I am disappointed. I recently read this story about a rogue AI Agent: A rogue AI agent recently triggered a major security alert at Meta Platforms, by taking action without approval that led to the exposure of sensitive company […]

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by Dwayne Phillips We all make mistakes. Some are allowable and some not. There is the mistake budget. We all make mistakes. The sooner we acknowledge and live that the better we will be (IMHO). Some mistakes, like typographical errors in blog posts, are embarrassing but that’s about the cost. Other mistakes, those that cost […]

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by Dwayne Phillips There is time later for thinking deep thoughts. Now, however, is the time to accomplish the work, now. “We could do this better”—said me, many times. I know, I know, boy, do I know. We could do this better. “Let’s do better,” is a phrase I often use at the end of […]

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