Iskander Smit

The degree to which the US economy now runs on open bribery continues to amaze

July reflections: think with us: friction, agency, and the networked self - Cities of Things The weekly reflections on the news in human-AI co-performances are brought to life via a story from the future of living with agentic things in the city. Morning, with headlines Maya scrolls the morning headlines with her thumb, the screen casting a cool light across the kitchen table. War, elections, the price of olives. She pauses on […]

Every month I think of a speculative thing that can representate the weekly thoughts from my newsletter, published via Cities of Things. In a collab with my AI writing buddy.

citiesofthings.nl/july-reflect...

Humanity in the Age of AI Co-Performance Weeknotes 351 - Humanity in the Age of AI Co-Performance - A fresh newsletter this week, with a new look and setup. Covering the same themes and topics. With reflections and captures of the news on human-AI-things partnerships.

Weeknotes 351 - Humanity in the Age of AI Co-Performance - A fresh newsletter this week, with a new look and setup. Covering the same themes and topics. With reflections and captures of the news on human-AI-things partnerships. Check it out!

www.iskandr.nl/humanity-in-...

We have been carefully testing lots of received prompting wisdom & for recent AI models:
🚫Threats, saying please, being insulting, & promising tips do not change average performance on challenging tasks
⛓️Chain-of-thought no longer helps even non-reasoner performance much

Don't make it complicated.

Quite obstinate. These tools become more human like :-)

Paradox of ambient intelligence: between certainty and shadows Weeknotes 350 - Can AI truly perform critical thinking as it does not have a clue? How to bring in humbleness through our own interactions? This and more from last week's news on human-AI-thing collabs.

Paradox of ambient intelligence: between certainty and shadows

Weeknotes 350! - Can AI truly perform critical thinking as it does not have a clue? How to bring in humbleness through our own interactions? And more news on human-AI-thing collabs.

target-is-new.ghost.io/paradox-of-a...

A void AI might make tangible Weeknotes 349 - There is often more said in the in-between than in the real; is that void hidden from data capturing? What will be the role of AI here? That thoughts were triggered from the news of last week. Read more captures.

A Void AI Might Make Tangible

Weeknotes 349 - There is often more said in the in-between than in the real; is that void hidden from data capturing? What will be the role of AI here? That thoughts were triggered from the news of last week. This and more.

target-is-new.ghost.io/a-void-ai-mi...

Hm, my M1 Macbook is not liking Comet browsing so much; compare CPU use. Back to Dia for now.

Articulated frictions for engaged presence Weeknotes 348 - Do we want to remove all frictions in a seamless AI presence, or do we need this for being human? Thoughts and captures from the news in human-AI-things.

Articulated frictions for engaged presence

Weeknotes 348 - Do we want to remove all frictions in a seamless AI presence, or do we need this for being human? Thoughts and captures from the news in human-AI-things.

target-is-new.ghost.io/articulated-...

Think with us, not for us Weeknotes 347 - Preventing the Moloch trap of collective intelligence through designing the right intentions. And more on last week’s human-AI-thing news and beyond.

Think with us, not for us.

Weeknotes 347 - Preventing the Moloch trap of collective intelligence through designing the right intentions. And more on last week’s human-AI-thing news and beyond.

target-is-new.ghost.io/think-with-u...

YouTube video by Dezeen Circularity on the Edge AI finds reusable materials in rubble of Ukrainian buildings

It's visually (and audio) well-made, featuring an archetypal interface for AI analysis. I'm not sure if it's meant to be real, but I think it's more of a different way to convey the impact of ruthless destruction felt. And it works.
youtu.be/gI7dRDUdlS4?...

June reflections: the tension between control and emergence in our technological future Annotating a future agentic thing from June news reflections

“A fidget spinner meets connecting bracelet meets quadratic voting.”

Every month, I conduct a brief speculative design exercise to envision an object that represents the past month's thoughts on human-AI-things collaborations.

Check it out here:

citiesofthings.substack.com/p/june-refle...

What happens when the civic economy meets the protocol economy?

Join us 15-17 September for a design charrette modeling mediation for civic economies via: currencies - tokens - current-sees.

First deadline for entries call for participation 6th July.

civicixdproject.com/civicprotoco...

Wild internet and knowledge hyper-inflation Weeknotes 346 - Triggered a thought connecting the thinking about rewilding the internet and knowledge hyper-inflation. And more news.

Wild internet and knowledge hyper-inflation

Weeknotes 346 - Triggered a thought connecting the thinking about rewilding the internet and knowledge hyper-inflation. And more news.

target-is-new.ghost.io/wild-interne...

Slime Mold Computer and the Language Machine Weeknotes 345 - Software 3.0 and slime molds, what do they have in common? This and other captured news of last week, events, etc.

The Slime Mold Computer and the Language Machine

Weeknotes 345 - Software 3.0 and slime molds, what do they have in common? This and other captured news of last week, events, etc.

target-is-new.ghost.io/slime-mold-c...

Bummer to miss you too!

@parismarx.com :-)

From earlier today. The always clever @parismarx@mastodon.online on history and now of tech cementing dominance.
Innovation is not limited by regulation.

We should build something new.

#PubConf2025

first post tags, plazes, ajax, flex, blogs, triple play, mobile life, ubiquitous computing… Zo’n blog; lang voorgenomen, nooit van gekomen. Deze blog gaat niet over mezelf, maar wat me opvalt als …

20 years ago I started blogging; the “new” of that time:
“Tags, Plazes (location based services), Ajax, Flex (the technologies), triple play (innovation in broadcast), all rather timely. Mobile life and ubiquitous computing, here to stay :)

targetisnew.com/2005/06/11/f...

RIOT 2025 – ThingsCon

Last Friday we (@thingscon) officially launched RIOT 2025 report “State of Responsible Tech”. With 16 insightful articles and 15 provotypes from a generative future.

You can find more information and download the report from the website:

thingscon.org/publications...

Can a human entity ever become an AGI? Weeknotes 343 - There is a strange habit of seeing AGI linked to a goal to overtake humans; better respect differences. And the news captures from last week.

Can a human entity ever become an AGI?

Weeknotes 343 - There is a strange habit of seeing AGI linked to a goal to overtake humans; better respect differences. And the news captures from last week.

target-is-new.ghost.io/can-a-human-...

Looking forward to meet the authors and readers!

Picture of the test run of the new RIOT report by ThingsCon

Wohoo! The test print looks stellar. The new RIOT 2025 report is waiting to be presented this Friday!

thingscon.org/events/riot-...

Embodying physical AI simulations What is the impact of creating a contained environment of physical AI for future realities? Read more in the triggered thoughts. And much more.

Embodying physical AI simulations

Weeknotes 342 - What is the impact of creating a contained environment of physical AI for future realities? Read more in the triggered thoughts. And much more.

target-is-new.ghost.io/embodying-ph...

We launch the RIOT 2025 report - State of Responsible Tech on 6 June in Rotterdam during Salon, and organise an unconference to dive deeper into the topics addressed by the authors of the 15 articles.

Join us (and get the report)!

thingscon.org/events/riot-...
www.meetup.com/thingscon-sa...

New value mechanics for the agentic web Weeknotes 341 - New value mechanics for the agentic web What is the consequence of an agentic web for the mechanics of values? And a lot of other news after a week of announcements by Big AI Tech.

Weeknotes 341 - New value mechanics for the agentic web

What is the consequence of an agentic web for the mechanics of values? And a lot of other news after a week of announcements by Big AI Tech.

target-is-new.ghost.io/new-value-me...

In 2 weeks, we will officially launch the 5th edition of the “State of Responsible IOT” report: RIOT 2025.
16 inspiring articles, a catalog of provotypes “generative things”.

Join us for the festive launch Salon and/or unconference on 6 June in the heart of Rotterdam!

thingscon.org/events/riot-...

So what will it look like? “An AI device that is an aesthetic merge between an iPhone, a titanium wristband, and a metal blob”

Midjourney thinks this.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Immersive AI Orchestrating Agentic Prompt Systems Weeknotes 340 - Digital twins that become infused by AI might impact everyday life substantially. This and more notions from the news of last week in human AI relationships.

Immersive AI as Orchestrating Agentic Prompted Systems

Weeknotes 340 - Digital twins that become infused by AI might impact everyday life substantially. This and more notions from the news of last week in human AI relationships.

target-is-new.ghost.io/immersive-ai...