Category: nonfiction

  • Who me?

    Who me?

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    Looking back, I think I have been trying to write all my life. I can remember as a child earnestly explaining to my Mother that I wanted to write a book, but that I was going to need something that would put the words on the paper (typewriter? cold metal…

  • Are AIs Intelligent and does it matter?

    Are AIs Intelligent and does it matter?

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    Years ago, I asked a very intelligent friend what he thought of Artificial Intelligence. After the briefest pause he replied, “I think we are a pretty good simulation of it.” It took me a moment to understand what he meant. I guess Turing had it right in 1950 (or Denis…

  • Can we build our own AI?

    Can we build our own AI?

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    Yes we can! What we have today is a form of AI that is trained to solve a particular problem. (Let’s save Chat-GPT et al until later.) We’ll focus on machine learning using neural networks. We start with a set of data about a particular problem. It could be handwritten…

  • Why use AI in creative tasks?

    Why use AI in creative tasks?

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    I first considered this question forty years ago. In the early 80s I had become fascinated with the use of computers in art and design. Studying architecture, I was frustrated with the process of drawing my designs and intrigued by the promise of computer aided design. I have always had…

  • Are your products on cruise control?

    Are your products on cruise control?

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    What some of those furloughed employees have been up to during lockdown… Boy are we looking forward to getting out of lockdown! One of the coping tactics that I use, and I know others do too, is imagining what life will be like in a post-covid world. Putting aside the…

  • Thank You

    Thank You

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    All of us leave a trail of small impacts on others as we travel through life. A kindness here, a mistake there, a product that helps, a book that makes a reader cry. We often know nothing of these little touches on others’ lives. Sometimes, these nudges turn out to…

  • Quality Product Time

    Quality Product Time

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    Having decided to give up full-time work my successor and I decided that we should make a final trip together to visit key customers in the US. It was a great trip to NY and LA, visiting many of the major post-production, film and television production facilities. At one such…

  • Why Autonomous Vehicles Will Never Live up to the Promise

    Why Autonomous Vehicles Will Never Live up to the Promise

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    The problem of 99% products and what to do about it.

  • Who’s your hero, David Bowie?

    Who’s your hero, David Bowie?

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    Who’s your hero Mr Product Manager?

  • Taxing Brands

    Taxing Brands

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    Do your tax lawyers and brand marketers agree strategy?