1. The Weekly Dose of Optimism highlights positive news and events from the week, including a podcast called Possible that explores the brightest version of the future, a discussion on the democratization of software creation through LLMs, and a call to make positive outcomes vastly outweigh inevitable negative ones in the AI safety debate.
2. The article also discusses the age of average in creative fields, where conformity and cliché dominate, but sees an opportunity for creativity to thrive as more work is aided by AI.
3. Biology is transitioning from a natural science to an engineering discipline due to exponential progress in genetic technologies, according to Elliot Hershberg's essay on accelerating genetic design.
The Weekly Dose of Optimism #36 by Daniel McCormick is a collection of five articles that cover various topics, including technology, creativity, and genetics. While the author attempts to balance the bad news with good news, there are some potential biases and missing points of consideration in the article.
The first article discusses a new podcast called Possible, which explores the brightest version of the future. The author praises the optimistic storytelling and exploration but fails to mention any potential downsides or criticisms of this approach. Additionally, while Trevor Noah's quote about optimism and technology is inspiring, it does not address any potential negative consequences of blindly pursuing technological progress.
The second article discusses LLMs (Language Model Libraries) and their potential to democratize software creation. While this is an exciting vision for those who are not professional developers, the author does not explore any potential risks or downsides to this democratization. For example, if anyone can create software without proper training or oversight, there could be security risks or unintended consequences.
The third article discusses AI safety and the debate around whether we should pause or shut down giant AI experiments. The author presents Tyler Cowen's argument that our previous stasis is going to end anyway and no one knows how it will turn out. While this is true, it ignores the fact that some experts believe we should proceed with caution when it comes to AI development due to its potential risks.
The fourth article discusses the age of average in creative fields and argues that there is an opportunity for creativity to thrive in a world where everything looks the same. While this may be true, it ignores systemic issues such as lack of diversity in creative industries that contribute to homogeneity.
Finally, the fifth article discusses accelerating genetic design and its potential benefits for medicine and agriculture. While these benefits are mentioned, there is no discussion of potential ethical concerns or unintended consequences such as exacerbating existing inequalities or creating new ones.
Overall, the article presents a mostly one-sided view of the topics discussed and fails to address potential risks or downsides. Additionally, the promotional content for Create, a company founded by the author, could be seen as biased.