AI tools like Anthropic, ChatGPT, and Perplexity generate text intended to mimic human writing. They’re pretty good writers. But they write with telltale signs that they’re not human; you might say they write with an “accent.” Any native speaker can tell when another speaker’s first language doesn’t match the one he’s speaking. If you’re speaking…
Newsletter 44: Getting old means not giving a damn about stuff that doesn’t matter. Also, why you shouldn’t buy at Amazon’s book sale, Google and OpenAI announce great steps forward, why Joe Mazzulla is a profound philosopher, plus three people to follow and three books to read. On not giving a damn If you’ve had…
Newsletter 43: Free advice is the lubricant of the business world; PRH proprietary AI tool; hybrid insights, plus three people to follow and three books to read. Beyond the old-boy network The working world runs on free advice. This may or may not have been visible to you when you started working, but unless you’re…
In South Dakota governor Kristi Noem’s new book No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward, she describes her meeting with a dictator: “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring…
Basic surveys are easy to learn and field. Learn to use them and your writing — and research — will be a whole lot better. I learned surveys on the job. One year into my tenure at Forrester, the company decided to start a consumer survey business. In a previous project for the company, I’d…
I’ve now seen AI panels at two events. They were disappointing and meandering; I didn’t learn much. It’s pretty clear why this happens. The event organizer figures out (or gets told) that there has to be an AI panel, because AI is hot right now, but they don’t know much about it. So they create…
Newsletter 42: Make an effort or fade away, labelling killer foods, don’t trust NPS braggarts, plus three people to follow and three books to read. The effort is the point Everything about our modern world — at least in the prosperous part of it where you probably live — is designed to make things easier….
I’ve changed the way I approach meeting people. Accomplishing my stated objectives is secondary. My primary goal is to answer this question: What can I learn? I’ve always been curious. But it took a long time to get to this point. It has made me a different kind of person. Better, I think. The smartest…
When considering possible book titles, two qualities matter: is it catchy, and does it describe the book? Catchy matters most. Why catchy? Consider your potential reader’s first encounter with your book. They may hear about it from a friend. They may read about in a news source, or see it in a television interview. They…