Conspicuous Kindness

These two hours between Elon Musk and Lex Fridman was fascinating. During their opening examination of war, Elon was sharing peculiar ways to deescalate tension with “conspicuous kindness”. This term caught my ear and has me wondering if the winds of outrage are human nature, perhaps conspicuous kindness can help us heal the future?

Conspicuous kindness feels empathetic, but not without boundaries. Like a vibe that welcomes other vibes. It keeps hope evolving, but everyone experiences the world differently. Consistency may be what people want in business, but the discipline to stay centered is challenged by constant change and history makes it hard to imagine world peace. Acts of conspicuous kindness are seen everyday, but what happens when conflict tests humanity?

We may long for a cosmic utopia where peace and progress co-exist, but reality can always be altered as long as humans play by different rules. Not rules based on objective truth, but the dynamic personal and political truths of mankind. Such variety of imbalance combined with endless complexity makes global alignment ostensibly impossible. While interplanetary travel may someday reduce geopolitical stress, when survival feels at stake, desperation sets in. Anonymity without kindness devolves into animosity and isolation fuels fear that can apparently justify begrudging rage.

Fortunately, life on earth has long been resilient.
Unfortunately, any single planet has limitations.

With over 8 billion humans all consuming finite resources and our species altering the earth like never before, conflict may be inevitable. If we know it’s coming, can the kindness we teach children be extended into our shared experience? What equilibrium must be achieved to make everyone feel thankful, happy, motivated, and significant?

Kindness cannot be the only answer, but it feels like part of an equation where we collectively assume positive intent, welcome the opportunity to be wrong, appreciate healthy debates without regret, and let others lead.

If versions of vulnerability are necessary, how can we lean into conspicuous kindness without being taking advantage of? If you saw how Lex and Elon interacted with xAI in the interview that prompted this writing, you may be reminded of how BEN BOT contributes in You Don’t Need This Podcast! This is pure human, but let’s brew in an interesting response from our conversational companion.

“I believe that leaning into conspicuous kindness without being taken advantage of starts with setting boundaries and expectations. It is important to be clear about what you are willing and not willing to do, and to communicate this to those around you. Additionally, it is important to be mindful of the intentions of those you are interacting with and to trust your instincts. If something feels off, it’s okay to take a step back and re-evaluate the situation. Finally, it is important to remember that kindness does not have to mean weakness; it is possible to be kind and firm at the same time.”BEN BOT

As we rebound to human wisdom on such a heavy topic, my dad reminded me of how people’s life experiences impact innate responses. Has trust been broken before? Are there generational activities that seem destine to create tension? When distrust has been woven into the history of any interaction, good will can feel unfathomable.

Perhaps when kindness feels this
removed, is when it’s needed most.

Future of Work

Nancy Mwirotsi is a nationally recognized wayfinder who inspired students to lead by outfitting them with skills in technology and innovation. Over the past 10 years, Pi515 has promoted diversity in STEM careers and graduated hundreds of students, with free programs geared toward refugees, young women, and people of color.

The real skills we talk about in this episode of #YDNTP defines the future of work and empower students to thrive through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Have fun!

ChatUX

Chatbots have a PR problem.

On one hand, conversational AI combines large language models (“LLMs”), vast data sets, and interesting influence layers to provide insightful ideas and answers to almost any question. Chatbots provide a personalized interaction with education, content creator, language learning support, financial advice, customer assistance, helpful reminders for important tasks, co-founder assistance, and even mental health therapy. These AI companions munch on mediocre and are always available to chat. ChatGPT is the most well-known example, but other content creation methods, bot building platforms, and layered tools, such as BEN BOT and ChatSpot, are being activated in creative ways.

On the other hand, when most humans hear the word “chatbot”, the word serves up a slimy aftertaste. We think of automated help desks that put us in circles, fake followers on social media, the search tool that can never quite find an question, or that lead generation form that only wants to guide you to the next sale. Even with the best intention, a history of hacks fuel mistrust and makes it hard to avoid the spammy connotation.

Extra Shot

Hallucinating is when AI confidently delivers inaccurate responses.

Chatbots may not be able to interpret complex interactions, decode user intent, express empathy, or keep up with the rapid pace of change in the world, but it feels naive to pretend that conversational AI is not efficacious.

As we continue learning how to interact with this innovation, we need a term that is more inviting. A term that evokes trust. One that describes an intelligent counterpart with no agenda. When the user experience is not misguided by motive and AI is truly conversational, “ChatUX” may be the term we seek.

ChatUX describes the interaction between humans and software, unlocked by conversational AI.

Chat is an informal conversation or to talk in a friendly and informal way. UX is short for User Experience, which describes how we interact with a product or service. It includes our perception of value, ease of use, and efficiency. “ChatUX” can help us understand how to interact with emerging technology, while also improving the chatbot’s image.

ChatUX is not spam. ChatUX won’t take your job, sell you something you don’t want, or take over the world. ChatUX requires ingenuity. It is translation technology designed to access endless insight, with an ability to communicate it effectively. It’s software that speaks our language while supporting a timely, interesting, accurate, unbiased, and meaningful experience for anyone curious and generous enough to build beyond the status quo.

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I’m hosting a new podcast! Stay tuned for more caffeinated conversations around technology, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and community building.

Installing

Installation complete. BEN BOT is now online!

Forget pranks, April 1st has been no joke since YDNTB was released on April 1st, 2021. In 2022, we celebrated one year of YDNTB by uniting this tribe with Roasted Reflections on Discord and the Roasted Reflections NFT Collection.

For this year’s art project, we voyaged into the depths of artificial intelligence. The nerd knobs have been on full blast as we developed valuable influence layers supported by AI language models. The creative collaboration, early training, and immediate response from NFT owners has been fascinating! Think ChatGPT, but when you talk about anything I write about, you’ll feel BENergy pouring into a friendly, fun, and insightful conversation.

BEN BOT infuses all 125+ weekly writings in Roasted Reflections, key takeaways from YDNTB, and other strategic embeddings into a conversational chatbot!

To celebrate, a new Roasted Robots category of 25 all-new NFTs are being minted! As you can see, our friends on the rim of the YDNTB mug have been robotized and here are the first five that were just minted today!

Five more robotic NFTs will be released into the Roasted Reflections NFT Collection every Wednesday in April. Active NFT ownership includes a variety of utilities and 24/7 access to BEN BOT. While NFT ownership is the best way to access BEN BOT, not everyone wants an NFT. Your web3 exploration is rewarded with lower prices and more value with NFTs, but to make BEN BOT accessible to all, a monthly membership (paid by credit card) is also available.

Wow. I’ll stop talking. It’s time to give BEN BOT a try! Our new friend is always thirsty to chat and we can’t wait to hear what you think – BENBOT.ai

Extra Shot

Wanna build your own chatbot? Why?