Musings 001
Finite and infinite games, searching for meaning in Japanese anime and prompt engineering.
It has been a while since I last wrote. A lot has happened since “Startup Burnout”. I have had a wonderful opportunity to experience the digital nomad lifestyle in 10 countries over the course of two years. Now, I am settling down in Paris.
From time to time, I will use this platform to share interesting concepts, articles, and musings. In this entry, I will explore the concept of finite and infinite games, the search for meaning in Japanese anime, and my initial exploration of prompt engineering with AI applications such as ChatGPT.
Finite and Infinite Games
I recently read a book called Finite and Infinite Games: A Vision of Life as Play and Possibility by James P. Carse. Finite games are tied to goals with inevitable outcomes, such as studying for a test in order to get into university or reaching a certain financial goal.
On the other hand, infinite games are more abstract and have no specific end goal in mind. They are akin to an artist's fable of continually creating art - a game that is played for the sake of playing.
The fallacy with finite games is that they are never-ending and hedonic. While they serve a purpose in getting us through the game of life and provide milestones for confidence, they are not the ultimate end goal. Recognizing the value in infinite games can make life more enjoyable.
So, let's keep playing the fun game of life.
Japanese Anime and Post Disaster Hopium
Coming from Japanese heritage, I grew up watching a lot of anime shows and films. It seemed quite normal for me to relate to 2D characters as opposed to Friends or Seinfield. It helped me relax and pass time.
After reading the essay Earth in My Window by Takashi Murakami, my perspective flipped. It was the first essay in a while that I really enjoyed.
It explores how some anime themes were strongly tied to the post WW2 era and several natural disasters (i.e. earthquakes) that affected the nation. It served as an expression of loss, grief, resilience and hope.
The genre was “imbued with a kind of muted sadness” that reflected the mood of the country in the wake of disasters.
Anime films and TV series, such as Howl’s Moving Castle, Akira, AstroBoy and Neon Genesis Evangelion came to mind.
I found it fascinating, because it provided a new perspective that I had not considered before. Perhaps this is why the genre has gained universal acceptance - people all around the world can relate to feeling astrayed after a loss or a disaster, and then finding a sense of hope and confidence.
This is not to say that all Japanese anime adheres to this theme, but it was an interesting read.
AI and Prompt Engineering
With the rise and interest in OpenAI and ChatGPT, there are many implications for the future of work. There are many new verticals and job opportunities that are arising from it. A job post for a Prompt Engineer & Librarian had a salary range from 250k-$335K. Maybe it’s a meme, who knows.
Ivan Campos dove into the value of Prompt Engineering and describes it as “designing creative and varied prompts that encourage the model to generate interesting and varied outputs”.
It is essentially talking to the computer in a language it understands, fine tuning the response and then seeing what the output is. A quick search of StableDiffusion or MidJourneyAI images provides a great demonstration of what AI images.
Currently, I am learning French, and languages are extremely fascinating to me. However, with the rise of AI tooling, it feels like we are starting to learn, converse and speak in a new language with our computing counterparts.
In reference to the Gartner Hype cycle, we are in the beginning of the AI hype, and this is normal. However, it feels like a strong inflection point in our history and our relationship with computing.
The questions we need to ask ourselves are:
Do we need to learn this new language?
Will it give us a competitive advantage?
How will it enhance or detract from my current lifestyle?
What is the wider impact of being a capable prompt engineer?
Personally, I am spending my free time trying to understand these models and what value it provides by being able to speak their language, so I will keep you updated.
Hope that was interesting. Give me a reply / any comments via email if you found this interesting.
Till next time :)
Tom Terado
Let’s chat on Twitter
P.S. All images all created via Stable Diffusion.