Phil Steitz
@psteitz.bsky.social
Animal lover, trail runner, mathematician, product and tech leader, open source developer
wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmemory.com?publink=2207...
🎶Nice work if you can get it. 🎵
- Sung with feeling, sitting on a crate of bootleg gin.
🎶Nice work if you can get it. 🎵
- Sung with feeling, sitting on a crate of bootleg gin.
OpenAI’s Pay Tops That Of Any Recent Tech Startup
OpenAI is paying employees more than any tech startup in recent histo
wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmemory.com
January 1, 2026 at 8:23 PM
wallstreetjournal-ny.newsmemory.com?publink=2207...
🎶Nice work if you can get it. 🎵
- Sung with feeling, sitting on a crate of bootleg gin.
🎶Nice work if you can get it. 🎵
- Sung with feeling, sitting on a crate of bootleg gin.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
Ok, we almost have observability now. It’s like we could see the call stack before but no actual parameters.
Ok, we almost have observability now. It’s like we could see the call stack before but no actual parameters.
The brain has a hidden language and scientists just found it
Researchers have created a protein that can detect the faint chemical signals neurons receive from other brain cells. By tracking glutamate in real time, scientists can finally see how neurons process...
www.sciencedaily.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:59 AM
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
Ok, we almost have observability now. It’s like we could see the call stack before but no actual parameters.
Ok, we almost have observability now. It’s like we could see the call stack before but no actual parameters.
“Journalism can thrive if it demonstrates, story by story, what a machine cannot: the courage to look directly at the world, the judgment to interpret it, and the willingness to stand behind every word. That is a value worth defending, because no algorithm can recreate it…”
#Design #Outlooks
In 2026, AI will outwrite humans · What it means when human content gets scarcer ilo.im/1692k1 by Davey Alba
_____
#Journalism #Publishing #News #Blogs #Writing #Content #Humans #Machines #AI #Slop
In 2026, AI will outwrite humans · What it means when human content gets scarcer ilo.im/1692k1 by Davey Alba
_____
#Journalism #Publishing #News #Blogs #Writing #Content #Humans #Machines #AI #Slop
In 2026, AI will outwrite humans
"It's a story about volume, value, and what journalism becomes when 'content' grows functionally infinite."
ilo.im
December 30, 2025 at 6:37 PM
“Journalism can thrive if it demonstrates, story by story, what a machine cannot: the courage to look directly at the world, the judgment to interpret it, and the willingness to stand behind every word. That is a value worth defending, because no algorithm can recreate it…”
Reposted by Phil Steitz
What Workers Really Want from Artificial Intelligence
hai.stanford.edu/news/what-wo...
hai.stanford.edu/news/what-wo...
What Workers Really Want from Artificial Intelligence | Stanford HAI
A Stanford study captures the gap between worker desires and AI’s abilities, and highlights areas ripe for research and development.
hai.stanford.edu
December 28, 2025 at 9:55 PM
What Workers Really Want from Artificial Intelligence
hai.stanford.edu/news/what-wo...
hai.stanford.edu/news/what-wo...
completeaitraining.com/news/salesfo...
Whenever I see the word “guardrails” regarding AI, I cringe. Here is a better idea: dump the bloated erp, do some hard analysis and write some simple code to drive your business. AI tolling can accelerate that but it can’t model your business for you.
Whenever I see the word “guardrails” regarding AI, I cringe. Here is a better idea: dump the bloated erp, do some hard analysis and write some simple code to drive your business. AI tolling can accelerate that but it can’t model your business for you.
Salesforce pulls back from LLMs, pivots Agentforce to deterministic automation after 4,000 layoffs
Salesforce is dialing back LLMs, leaning on deterministic automation and guardrails after reliability gaps. The aim: predictable outcomes, clean data, and no missed steps.
completeaitraining.com
December 28, 2025 at 2:06 PM
completeaitraining.com/news/salesfo...
Whenever I see the word “guardrails” regarding AI, I cringe. Here is a better idea: dump the bloated erp, do some hard analysis and write some simple code to drive your business. AI tolling can accelerate that but it can’t model your business for you.
Whenever I see the word “guardrails” regarding AI, I cringe. Here is a better idea: dump the bloated erp, do some hard analysis and write some simple code to drive your business. AI tolling can accelerate that but it can’t model your business for you.
A little holiday humor
December 24, 2025 at 1:54 PM
A little holiday humor
Reposted by Phil Steitz
Reposted by Phil Steitz
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
I had five fascinating conversations for this RPS piece, gathering perspectives on genAI chatbots in games, as seen in Where Winds Meet. Thanks to @meghna.bsky.social, @pyrofoux.bsky.social, @maxkreminski.bsky.social, and @chrisgardiner.bsky.social www.rockpapershotgun.com/horrible-bor...
"Horrible", "boring", and "cheap": Experts pan new chatbot NPCs, but some leave room for optimism
We speak to a collection of developers and AI experts about the potential impact of LLM-powered NPCs in videogames.
www.rockpapershotgun.com
December 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Essentially, I think that LLM-generated dialogue only makes sense if you believe that the product of writing is words.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
But the product of writing isn't words, any more than the product of justice is prisoners, or the product of love is weddings. The product of writing is meaning.
Reposted by Phil Steitz
Love this short opinion piece on “mechanical bypass” in analogy to “spiritual bypass”.
The “machinal bypass” and how we’re using AI to avoid ourselves | PNAS
The “machinal bypass” and how we’re using AI to avoid ourselves
www.pnas.org
December 21, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Love this short opinion piece on “mechanical bypass” in analogy to “spiritual bypass”.
Reposted by Phil Steitz
President Trump’s tariffs are taxes on American businesses and consumers.
Lather, rinse, repeat
Lather, rinse, repeat
Highly recommended!
"The Incidence of Tariffs: Rates and Reality" by Gita Gopinath and Brent Neiman.
"...tariff pass-through to U.S. import prices is almost 100 percent, so the United States is bearing a large share of the costs."
bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/u...
"The Incidence of Tariffs: Rates and Reality" by Gita Gopinath and Brent Neiman.
"...tariff pass-through to U.S. import prices is almost 100 percent, so the United States is bearing a large share of the costs."
bfi.uchicago.edu/wp-content/u...
December 20, 2025 at 8:20 PM
President Trump’s tariffs are taxes on American businesses and consumers.
Lather, rinse, repeat
Lather, rinse, repeat
Reposted by Phil Steitz
One of the things that make English an immensely interesting language, you can speak it, write it, use it at so many levels
Many English words stem from Latin.
But did you know there are Latin words that ended up in English two times - in two different forms? These are called doublets.
Over the next days, you'll see doublets in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Galician, Dutch, and English again.
But did you know there are Latin words that ended up in English two times - in two different forms? These are called doublets.
Over the next days, you'll see doublets in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, Galician, Dutch, and English again.
December 19, 2025 at 7:39 PM
One of the things that make English an immensely interesting language, you can speak it, write it, use it at so many levels
Shows how these guys are just playing on a different level. Imagine how stupid retailers must feel that they could have been calling 2 for one sales 200% price reductions. Even just taking a penny off is a 100% cut.
FOX: If you cut something by 100%, the cost goes down to 0. If you cut it by 600%, the drug companies are actually paying you
LUTNICK: What he's saying is if a drug was $100 and you bring it down to $13, it's down 7 times
F: Not a 600% cut
L: But it's 700% higher price before. It's down 700% now
LUTNICK: What he's saying is if a drug was $100 and you bring it down to $13, it's down 7 times
F: Not a 600% cut
L: But it's 700% higher price before. It's down 700% now
December 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Shows how these guys are just playing on a different level. Imagine how stupid retailers must feel that they could have been calling 2 for one sales 200% price reductions. Even just taking a penny off is a 100% cut.
Reposted by Phil Steitz
I don't know how many times this needs to be said, but apparently a lot: If you are not in a position to verify the accuracy of some synthetic text, the synthetic text is not useful/has a high potential to be misleading.
This is one of those cases.
This is one of those cases.
The rationale I was given for AI Summaries *alongside* ordinary abstracts:
* The AI-generated summaries are intended to be more accessible to non-experts.
(1/3)
* The AI-generated summaries are intended to be more accessible to non-experts.
(1/3)
December 18, 2025 at 3:39 AM
I don't know how many times this needs to be said, but apparently a lot: If you are not in a position to verify the accuracy of some synthetic text, the synthetic text is not useful/has a high potential to be misleading.
This is one of those cases.
This is one of those cases.
Reposted by Phil Steitz
The title of this @davekarpf.bsky.social review runs through my head at least once a week.
They still haven’t thought any of this through.
They’re like kids building a block tower that’s obviously gonna fall over.
But it’s civilization.
Even in failure, they are doing so much senseless damage.
They still haven’t thought any of this through.
They’re like kids building a block tower that’s obviously gonna fall over.
But it’s civilization.
Even in failure, they are doing so much senseless damage.
The Tech Barons have a blueprint drawn in crayon. They have not thought any of this through.
A review of Balaji Srinivasan's book, The Network State.
open.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 3:17 AM
The title of this @davekarpf.bsky.social review runs through my head at least once a week.
They still haven’t thought any of this through.
They’re like kids building a block tower that’s obviously gonna fall over.
But it’s civilization.
Even in failure, they are doing so much senseless damage.
They still haven’t thought any of this through.
They’re like kids building a block tower that’s obviously gonna fall over.
But it’s civilization.
Even in failure, they are doing so much senseless damage.
This is cool. One way to look at parameter change in NN training is as orbits in dynamical systems. Loss functions + training data induce basins of attraction. I would expect to see chaotic orbits near basin boundaries. Interesting to think about pre-images of these in training data.
While @lchoshen.bsky.social mentions linear connectivity being common, he doesn't mention that in practice, different finetuning seeds CAN lead to disconnected basins, which correspond to clusters of distinct OOD behaviors.
Linear Connectivity Reveals Generalization Strategies
It is widely accepted in the mode connectivity literature that when two neural networks are trained similarly on the same data, they are connected by a path through parameter space over which test set...
arxiv.org
December 13, 2025 at 7:45 PM
This is cool. One way to look at parameter change in NN training is as orbits in dynamical systems. Loss functions + training data induce basins of attraction. I would expect to see chaotic orbits near basin boundaries. Interesting to think about pre-images of these in training data.
Reposted by Phil Steitz
"Platform executives and their senior managers believed optimization was important, and they built internal reward structures that rendered it true. But this only lasted until they decided to discard it." YES. Excellent piece by @davekarpf.bsky.social davekarpf.substack.com/p/the-end-of...
The end of optimization
Some thoughts on a transition point in recent internet history,
davekarpf.substack.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:15 PM
"Platform executives and their senior managers believed optimization was important, and they built internal reward structures that rendered it true. But this only lasted until they decided to discard it." YES. Excellent piece by @davekarpf.bsky.social davekarpf.substack.com/p/the-end-of...
It is worth following this guy just to get these delightful book reviews
December 8, 2025 at 7:57 PM
It is worth following this guy just to get these delightful book reviews
Beautiful morning for a trot in the preserve.
December 7, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Beautiful morning for a trot in the preserve.
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Interesting article in Nov TAS. Not surprising (pun intended), but interesting.
Interesting article in Nov TAS. Not surprising (pun intended), but interesting.
Bayesian Inference and the Principle of Maximum Entropy
Bayes’ theorem incorporates distinct types of information through the likelihood and prior. Direct observations of state variables enter the likelihood and modify posterior probabilities through co...
www.tandfonline.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:32 PM
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Interesting article in Nov TAS. Not surprising (pun intended), but interesting.
Interesting article in Nov TAS. Not surprising (pun intended), but interesting.
I’ve been hearing the words “these aren’t serious people” a lot recently. DJT, JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr, Kevin Hasset, Kristi Noem… It’s easy to point and laugh. But at some point we have to ask, are *we* serious people?
December 6, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I’ve been hearing the words “these aren’t serious people” a lot recently. DJT, JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, RFK Jr, Kevin Hasset, Kristi Noem… It’s easy to point and laugh. But at some point we have to ask, are *we* serious people?
Reposted by Phil Steitz
Thoughtful review with some good recent historical perspective on the ongoing paradigm shift that is radically changing the way we think about what brain areas do.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
How distributed is the brain-wide network that is recruited for cognition? - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Both localized and distributed views on the functional organization of the brain have been put forward. In this Perspective, Rosen and Freedman examine the degree to which these two views account for ...
www.nature.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Thoughtful review with some good recent historical perspective on the ongoing paradigm shift that is radically changing the way we think about what brain areas do.
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Phil Steitz
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market
BOSTON—Stressing that the move would help keep digital currencies liquid through the coming year, crypto leaders called for an infusion of 20 million dopes Thursday to stabilize the market. “We’re cal...
theonion.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Crypto Leaders Call For Infusion Of 20 Million Dopes To Stabilize Market