writing

start with the context window

whether that external context is stored in files or folders, or in a database or a graph, matters less than the externalisation itself - that the context exists externally, and that it can be easily and efficiently updated and retrieved when required.

superpowers and stupidity - who gets the leverage?

ai is going to make some people incredibly proficient. it's also going to make a lot of people very stupid.

creating shared language is hard

on naming, metaphor, and whether language creates reality.

bending the slope of slop

the proportion of valuable and insightful output needs to grow faster, or at least as fast as, the slop.

why obsidian and markdown is the wrong approach for personal knowledge management

if agents are going to manage your knowledge, you should be building systems for agents, not humans. markdown is the wrong foundation. sqlite is the better backbone.

alphafold - better mental models of ai progress

understanding ‘alphafold’ is a good way to help make sense of the non-linear trajectory of ai progress.

day 1: getting qwen3-4b running on modal

my attempt to get an open-source model running on modal and what i learned about the abstractions.

day 0: project setup & my coding agent workflow

building an open-source knowledge management system for hugo and stefan's llm course students - documenting my setup and workflow with coding agents.

modelling the model

what happens when being able to model the model becomes a stronger predictor than raw intelligence?

the contextual user substrate

why collecting and curating rich contextual user data will soon matter more than cranking up model intelligence

why context matters

a follow-on piece about the growing importance of context and personalization in ai

when human intelligence stops mattering

how to think about human/ai collaboration when raw human intelligence stops mattering

why it's so hard to "just say the thing"

on the difficulty of clear communication and what it takes to explain ideas simply.

why we need to protect the 'what is intelligence?' debate

(and) the people and platforms who facilitate them.

writing for immortality

thoughts on writing for ai and the future of human consciousness