Thomas Alan
Coffee & Curiosity | Creative Technologist | Photographer | Mixing decades of business insight and tacit knowledge with philosophy and the latest in tech. Ever an early adopter, forever a student.
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Today I Learned: Named Entity Recognition
Named Entity Recognition (NER) makes simple NLP projects much more interesting by helping them understand real-world meanings, not just words. It’s a small addition that makes a big difference—taking your project from a basic overview to something more useful.
Kaizen and Letting Go to Move Forward
Today’s One Thing is about a quote I recently read by Michelangelo, "The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high, and we miss it, but that it is too low, and we reach it." It got me thinking about the mental anchors we drop in life that hold us back – fear, self-imposed narratives, and limited perceptions of ourselves.
Living In a Temporary World
Today’s One Thing is a quote that’s on my mind: “In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” —Eric Hoffer, Philosopher, from his book The True Believer.
Understanding AI’s Role-Playing
Today’s One Thing is about understanding AI’s role-playing nature and why it’s important to remember this when using these tools. Chatbots, like ChatGPT, are often perceived as human-like, but these advanced tools are better viewed as skilled actors on the digital stage engaged in a role-playing dialogue with humans. A recent paper in Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06647-8) shed light on this fascinating aspect and inspired this article.
How AI Thinks: Neurons Demystified
Today’s One Thing I’m thinking about involves artificial neural networks and understanding the distinction between a neuron and a connection.
Time and Identity
Today's One Thing I'm thinking about is a quote by John Mayer: "I like watches that remind me of a person that I've never been." This quote resonated with me and made me think about how objects, like watches, are not just tools or accessories but vessels of creativity, self-expression, and self-discovery.