Arnold Kling: “My sense is that the near future belongs to the sorts of people who thrive at Alpha. Having the ability to work with AI and the ambition that comes from internal pressure will enable some people to accomplish far more than they could have previously. Those who resist AI and/or fail to set high expectations for themselves will have to settle for lower income and status. The next several years are going to find us living out “average is over.””
TheMaxSource: “McKinsey surveyed 1,200 business leaders and found that 61 percent say at least half the time they spend making decisions is ineffective. Fewer than half report that decisions are timely. The problem isn’t lack of information or bad analysis. The problem is waiting for everyone to agree. Organizations treat consensus as the gold standard for decision quality. Get everyone in the room. Hash it out. Make sure nobody objects. This sounds reasonable until you measure what it costs. Companies that optimize for agreement optimize for delay. Delay means competitors move first. Markets shift. Opportunities close.”
David Brooks’ book recommendation: ““Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl. He teaches that the animating human drive is not the desire for money, fame or popularity. It is the desire to feel that your life has purpose.”
Vasant Dhar: “In the new era of modern AI, I am forced to consider whether I am becoming obsolete, both as a practitioner and professor. Many of us should be asking ourselves the same question: how do I stay ahead of the machine?”
FT: “Digital advertising now accounts for about three-quarters of the more than $1tn global ad market and Google is the dominant player in the sector, with advertising revenues of $82.3bn in the fourth quarter of 2025, up about $10bn from the previous year. However, having siphoned off revenue from traditional TV and print advertising markets, Google and other giants such as Meta and Amazon are now facing threats to their well-oiled advertising machines. Google has already introduced advertising into its AI mode, a chat interface that sits within traditional search, and AI overviews, its summaries posted at the top of search results.”
