You Want Your Mind To Be Boggled

Welcome to?The?Art?of?The?Impossible, a weekly newsletter where I unearth five pieces?of?content which I hope will both inspire?and?embolden you.

PODCAST

Why AI Is NOT The Manhattan Project

I enjoyed this conversation between Verity Harding and host Baratunde Thurston where they discuss the history of AI and the implications of what will happen if we let just one group of people shape it. They also discuss the gap of understanding between the tech sector and government, and what lessons we can learn about the future of AI from examples such as the Manhattan Project, IVF legislation et al.

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Verity is Founder of Formation Advisory, an AI consultancy company, and Director of the AI & Geopolitics Project at the University of Cambridge. Her debut book ‘AI Needs You: how we can change AI’s future and save our own’ was released earlier this year

She spent a decade at Alphabet, latterly as DeepMind's first Global Head of Public Policy, where in 2017 she co-founded the company's research and ethics unit as well as the independent multi-stakeholder organisation the Partnership on AI. She was also a member of the OECD's Network of AI Experts in 2018-19, the body which developed the first intergovernmental standard on AI, adopted by the G20 and beyond. Prior to this, she was Head of Security Policy for Google in Europe, covering issues such as online extremism and encryption. Before moving to the tech industry, she worked in 10 Downing Street as a Special Adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister Sir Nick Clegg.

Watch the full interview here.

QUOTE

"You want your mind to be boggled. That is a pleasure in and of itself.”

Professor Saul Perlmutter

INTERVIEW

“The creative process is fabulously unpredictable. A great idea cannot be predicted.” Jony Ive

I enjoyed this interview I found with Jony Ive - The Quarterly Interview: Provocations to Ponder. Jony Ive, the former design head of Apple, talks about what it takes for the creative process to thrive at any company.

The most important thing is that there is a true appetite to create—and with that, consequently, a motivation to really try to understand the nature of the process, to understand what curiosity looks like, and to understand what the impediments to creating can be.

Read the full interview with Jony here.

BOOK

Nonlinear: Navigating Design with Curiosity and Conviction

Friend of the pod, Kevin Bethune (founder, CCO, designer) has a new book coming out in Feb 2025 - Nonlinear: Navigating Design with Curiosity and Conviction.

In Nonlinear, Kevin Bethune shows us that we can reject trodden paths of digital or physical product creation by taking advantage of a nonlinear approach. To unlock meaningful innovation that breeds new and novel outcomes, he writes, teams need to embark on a journey into the proverbial forest of ambiguity, the result of a rapidly converging, dynamic, and exponentially changing landscape. The journey is less about getting it right or wrong, and more about using the information we have at our disposal to understand our choices and take steps to unlock new learning.

Nonlinear begins by taking the reader through Bethune's professional “zigs and zags.” The author explains that while his interdisciplinary leaps were rare at the time he took them, these varied experiences unlocked perspectives about design and innovation that uniquely prepared him for our present moment and for the future. He then showcases the role of quantitative information to strategically frame and set boundary conditions for our creative exploration, and the role of qualitative insights to provide the substance necessary to begin crafting solutions that address unmet needs. The book also identifies accelerants (or flywheels) that will help readers as they reflect on their journey navigating the forest of ambiguity, with a specific emphasis on diversity.

Pre-order the book here. Listen to my conversation with Kevin here.

FILM

Churchill at War

Many have their opinions on Churchill but what one cannot deny was the role he played during World War II and the lessons we can learn from his leadership.

Out on Netflix now, Churchill at War is a fascinating 4-part docuseries which examines Winston Churchill's pivotal role in World War II, and the formative events that made him an ideal leader for the era. Brought to life with his own words, the series explores Churchill's wartime strategy and the legacy that follows. Produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

Watch the trailer here.

Thank you so much for reading?the?newsletter?and?for listening to?the?podcast , and?if you enjoy them, please do share with your network - my goal is to have these stories reach as many as possible so that others can be inspired too. And if you have two minutes, please do leave a review for the podcast - it would mean the world to me and helps others to find it too.

Danielle