Edition #164 – Oct 27th, 2022

Artificial creativity

Hello friends,

Thank you again for all the feedback on the design of the newsletter, and welcome to a cleaner, fresher look! Please hit reply to let me know what you think and/or if you notice anything wrong.

This week, I've been obsessed with AI writing tools. If you're doing any kind of creative work, you should also pay attention. Those tools are improving fast — very fast — and it won't be long until they can write in a way that's indistinguishable from a human.

Three years ago, Ness Labs started as a little experiment: I challenged myself to write 100 articles in 100 days. It was hard work, but rewarding, and I learned so much in the process. This week, I asked myself: how long would it take to write 100 articles using today's tools?

The answer: two hours. You read that correctly. All 100 articles on this mini-website were created in two hours. Not one word was written by a human. Here's a short video walkthrough of the process:

My first thought as a writer was: I'm out of a job!

Which led me to wonder: when AI drives our trains, makes our meals, teaches our kids and creates our art, what will we do with our newfound freedom?

What will animate humans in a world where there's no work left only a human can do?

I'm actually hopeful.

Humans love creating for the sake of creativity itself. In a world without busywork, I imagine more entrepreneurs — maybe with an AI as a cofounder. In a world where robots can invent any scenario, I imagine people sharing their gripping life stories — maybe with an AI as a coauthor.

While we wait for that future, I have lots of interesting insights for you in this edition. Dr Hannah England wrote an in-depth article about the science of motivation, and I interviewed the founder of Walling, the perfect tool for visual thinkers.

Thank you for reading,
Anne-Laure.

🧠 Brain Food

​The science of motivation: how to get and stay motivated (6 min)​
​Written by Dr Hannah England​
Why is it so hard to stay motivated? We like to think of ourselves as curious learners, but many of us will have experienced a sense of apathy at some point in our personal or professional lives. Learn the different causes of demotivation and how to get back on track.

​Bringing clarity to your ideas with Masry, CEO of Walling (9 min)​
​Interviewed by Anne-Laure Le Cunff​
In this interview, we talked about the challenges of traditional note-taking and project management apps, how visual thinking increases productivity, how to combine flexibility with efficiency, the benefit of choosing the path of least resistance, and much more.

🍬 Brain Candy

✨ Brain Picks

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Until next week, take care!