Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46995140

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

1. An app for personalized interactive audiobooks for kids - https://www.vivid.cx

2. A book about the edge of the thinkable - https://www.unthinkable.net

I was reminded of this when the discussion about "AI is a horse" came up again. The horse metaphor is great, because it – besides more 'horsepowers' under the hood - has its own will.

But if I had to pick one metaphor that feels right, it would be the car. Not for automation alone, but because of systemic impact: cars reshaped cities, labor, health, social life, inequality, and people's understanding of "freedom". Once cars were everywhere, opting out became difficult.

At the same time, the car metaphor breaks quickly. AI affects many areas of life at once, often with conflicting tradeoffs.

- Smoother relationships vs. authenticity and vulnerability (AI-mediated communication, companions)

- Automation of cognitive work vs. meaning and self-efficacy

- Infinite, pre-processed knowledge vs. mental obesity

- New freedom vs. responsibility for what we choose not to automate

(This is also the rough outline of a TEDx talk I gave last year — back then I called it "AI – A Car for the Mind?" [3]. I’m very glad I put the question mark in.)

How do you explain AI to those who ask, if they need a simple answer?

[1] https://emilkirkegaard.dk/en/wp-content/uploads/SJ-Gould-What-if-anything-is-a-zebra.pdf

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46686402

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IYqhdJuRfU

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46854497

Points: 2

# Comments: 1

https://www.escape-team.com

It‘s making about $700 on iOS and $300 on Android, solely from $2.99 IAPs for the later missions in the game (the first 2 missions are free).

I think a main reason for this is that escape rooms (and games) don’t „saturate“: you play them only once, because then you know the solutions. So another escape room (place, game, app) doesn’t cannibalize the market - it may rather strengthen the others by fostering it as a group activity.

I also put 0$ into ads- it solely spreads itself by being a group activity (3-5 people are best) and through its mission editor (people can make their own missions, used in school and for birthdays etc).

Curious to see where it goes next!

https://www.unthinkable.net

(I made a small newsletter sign-up form, feel free to join the wait list for betas and a free e-Book!)

I disabled Safari (via parental settings), use an email account that auto-forwards everything to my main email, thus I can only send email from my phone, but not receive any (the inbox is always empty and I don't check my main email on it).

I only have apps that I use to input things into the phone (writing, taking photos) and I eliminiated everything that isn't designed to end at some point.

No Instagram or any of the likes, only WhatsApp, but muted so I have to proactively check it. I do use a news reader, which is subscribed to the RSS feeds of the sites I want to follow. No algorithmic curation of that content, and no ads (unless I open the sites that the RSS items link to).

Keeping one's sanity away from the side effects of tech these days is quite a technical job, somehow ;)