I didn't book an accommodation because of AI generated images. I love AI because it has helped me save hours by automating systems, analyzing SEO, and creating website content.

But today, while researching places to stay in Buenos Aires, I realized that we need to be mindful of when to use AI so that trust is not eroded.

My wife sent me the link to an apartment listed on Booking dot com. This listing had tons of great reviews but several of the images were clearly AI generated. They were generic. Fake looking. This made me question the reviews too, especially since I saw one name repeatedly pop up under different reviews. 

I searched for this property on Tripadvisor and saw customer submitted photos. Here I could see that several of the Booking dot com photos were generated based off the customer submitted ones. And the Tripadvisor reviews were fewer and not as favorable.

We didn't book this place. It may still be a great place to stay. But the use of AI generated images threw me off. 

I feel like I should have a clearer point to make. But I'm also feeling lazy to come up with one.

I didn't book an accommodation because of AI generated images. I love AI because it has helped me save hours by automating systems, analyzing SEO, and creating website content.

But today, while researching places to stay in Buenos Aires, I realized that we need to be mindful of when to use AI so that trust is not eroded.

My wife sent me the link to an apartment listed on Booking dot com. This listing had tons of great reviews but several of the images were clearly AI generated. They were generic. Fake looking. This made me question the reviews too, especially since I saw one name repeatedly pop up under different reviews. 

I searched for this property on Tripadvisor and saw customer submitted photos. Here I could see that several of the Booking dot com photos were generated based off the customer submitted ones. And the Tripadvisor reviews were fewer and not as favorable.

We didn't book this place. It may still be a great place to stay. But the use of AI generated images threw me off. 

I feel like I should have a clearer point to make. But I'm also feeling lazy to come up with one.

Reading as Interaction, as Encounter. This is something I've been reflecting on, and which I wish had been shown/taught to me earlier.

I used to think of books as something like repositories. Of knowledge stuff, of stories, of experience.

And so reading was like a process of extraction. Extract entertainment, joy, information, knowledge. Get thee into the reading mines!

Note: this model of what reading is isn't wrong. It captures some important things, but it feels incomplete. And leads to bad pedagogy, I think.

---

Now I see reading as interaction.

A book (or piece of media, or person, or world) is no longer a static repository. It's a potential. 

What feels more important now is the reading itself, the whole process of encountering material and, well, meeting it. 

This feels like it opens up more possibilities. There are certainly uncountably many kinds or modes of encounter, but here's one that has been very rewarding: treating reading as conversation. How do I respond to this idea, this turn of phrase? What does it make me think of and feel? How am I implicated by this? What is it missing? What does it point me toward?

This makes reading different. Slower, in many ways, but more rewarding. I'm more engaged, and putting more of myself into the reading, which seems to result in getting more out of it.

---

This leads me to something I want. I want there to be recorded traces of readings (this is what notes/marginalia are, in a way), performances of reading.

The performance would not be like a poetry reading, restricted to just the text, but like a public performance of an individual's (or group's) live encounter – including thoughts/asides/etc.

I want this to exist for two reasons: (1) I wish I had learned about this way of reading much much earlier in my life. So having examples of this and venerating it might help more people encounter this way of reading sooner. (2) I want traces of past encounters, for historical reasons. I want to be able to see how my (or our) relationship to a text has changed over time. 

Current Session "instructions" (Feb 26): Converse, and see if nudges happen. nudges 

We launched a system where the AI bots can automatically detect intervention points. We need you to make a bunch of comments and new posts to see if they'll engage. So this week we're asking you to engage a bunch, if you can!

It's a little rudimentary at the moment so sometimes you'll get multiple bots responding on multiple posts. We'd love your feedback on which ones you like, don't, when it seemed to miss the spot, anything else you notice. 

Thanks and love yall

J (and the UpTrust team)
p.s. this week I'm at an investor meeting so dara will be with you

# [Optional Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86795216050?pwd=TllxSzYrTFFXTW5LRmg3WUQrT04vdz09) with Jordan and Dara at least, for faces, questions, help, etc:

Current Session "instructions" (Feb 26): Converse, and see if nudges happen. nudges 

We launched a system where the AI bots can automatically detect intervention points. We need you to make a bunch of comments and new posts to see if they'll engage. So this week we're asking you to engage a bunch, if you can!

It's a little rudimentary at the moment so sometimes you'll get multiple bots responding on multiple posts. We'd love your feedback on which ones you like, don't, when it seemed to miss the spot, anything else you notice. 

Thanks and love yall

J (and the UpTrust team)
p.s. this week I'm at an investor meeting so dara will be with you

# [Optional Zoom](https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86795216050?pwd=TllxSzYrTFFXTW5LRmg3WUQrT04vdz09) with Jordan and Dara at least, for faces, questions, help, etc:

Is the coverage freezing for other people? . Or is it just me?

I want this tech for music. I have such specific tastes in music, I want to be able to find the people who also find stuff I dig. Like the ultimate version of Pandora. But also the ability to collaborate on music, like the way producers alter songs to the flavor they like, but a bunch of folks could do that process on a song to crowdsource cool songs.

How should I landscape my house? I am working on landscaping the home I bought in October, starting with the front yard due to a couple of issues. First, there is a big dip in the yard that floods every time it rains heavily. Second, the driveway is right in front of my bedroom window, causing headlights to shine into my room when people come and go, and limiting my ability to open the windows due to privacy concerns.

I’ve hired a permaculture landscaper who is currently working on a design. Meanwhile, I need to decide what to do about the driveway and whether to add a carport.

I could really use some opinions on the following:

• How would you deal with the flooding issue?
• What would you suggest for the driveway or adding a carport? I can move the driveway to the other side of the house or leave it as is.

I can post photos if there’s a way to do that. I have many ideas also but curious to hear what folks think with this info.