Finished reading: Feel-Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal 📚
Finished reading: Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Yo… by Tiago Forte 📚
Knowing Your Workflow for Note Taking
🔖 In my quest to become more knowledgeable in topics and subjects that are either relevant to me or my career, I like to use tools such as Obsidian and Google Keep to just down notes and reflections.
📗 In conjunction with my routine of ingesting insightful blogs and journalism, I’ll peruse Reddit (for example) to brainstorm blog ideas or retaining useful facts to whatever project I’m considering. When following the appropriate subreddits, consider the comments as a way to consider others' opinions to challenge your own. Lastly, I will synthesize it for later use.
🧠 Personal Knowledge Management, or PKM, is only becoming more important in the age of GenAI (filtering LLM considerations from original sourcing). I have a lot of work to do in this area, but it takes practice to grasp a workflow that works for you and your needs.
Finished reading: No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings 📚
Making Siri Great Again
If true, this Bloomberg report would be one of those rare instances that Apple would admit defeat – at least for the time being. Partnering with OpenAI or Anthropic for Siri may buy them some time. Then again, it could be analogous to Apple ceding the ad market, which is why they claim to be ‘privacy first’.
In recent weeks, it has been circulated that many firms have been interested in Anthropic such as Meta and Apple itself. If Meta were to be successful, they would gain valuable real estate on the MacOS and iOS platforms, likely ending Google’s multi billion dollar a year contract for search.
This would also confirm that Apple was unable to purchase the company, thus, moving to the next best thing – a partnership that would vastly boost Anthropic’s already sky-high evaluation.
In the past few weeks, OpenAI has not expressed its feelings with Microsoft as positive, so a decoupling from the software giant would result in new revenues from Apple. Nobody ever went broke from diversification, which includes the customer base.
Finished reading: Desi Arnaz by Todd S Purdum 📚
I Have LLMs Critique My Writings and Posts
Continuing on the theme of LLMs enhancing your own work rather than replacing it. I had several platforms sift through and critique my writings on my posts and blogs. Some of the results were interesting, and unexpected to say the least. For this test I prompted Gemini 2.5 and Claude Sonnet 4 the following: “Critique the writings of michaelmartinez.co.”
This is yet another tool in my workflow. I could take or leave the suggestions, but as always, it’s an option. After reading through the “experiment” I want to know what you – the reader would like to see more of from me in future posts and writings.
Gemini 2.5 talked of the following strengths:
Breadth of Knowledge: Martinez exhibits a wide array of interests, seamlessly transitioning between discussions on cybersecurity, the nuances of digital advertising antitrust cases, and historical analyses of xenophobia. This breadth enriches his perspectives and allows for interdisciplinary connections.
Topical Relevance: His chosen subjects are highly relevant to current global discourse, addressing pressing concerns in the tech industry (LLMs, AI, antitrust) and societal issues (xenophobia, foreign policy).
Clear and Concise Communication: The articles are structured well, with clear headings and a direct writing style, making complex topics accessible to a broad audience. He effectively summarizes key points and arguments.
Thought-Provoking Insights: Martinez often delves beyond surface-level observations, offering insightful critiques and raising pertinent questions, such as the effectiveness of breaking up large tech companies and the future impact of AI on advertising. His willingness to express concern about negative rhetoric and connect it to historical patterns of xenophobia adds a moral and ethical dimension to his foreign policy discussions.
Personal and Reflective Tone: Elements like his “Reading Updates” and experiences with Micro.blog add a personal touch, making his content more relatable and authentic. His emphasis on continuous learning and reading widely underscores a commitment to self-improvement and intellectual growth.
Use of External References: He frequently references external sources, such as TechCrunch’s “Cyber Glossary,” Jesen Huang’s views on AI, Mark Gurman’s criticisms of Apple, and Clayton Christensen’s “The Innovator’s Dilemma.” This demonstrates research and supports his arguments with credible insights.
The second part of the output were the “Areas for Potential Enhancement”.
Deeper Dive into Specific Arguments: While he touches on various aspects of each topic, providing more in-depth analysis or expanding on specific arguments with additional evidence or case studies could further strengthen his positions.
Original Research or Unique Perspectives: While he synthesizes information effectively, incorporating more original research, unique data points, or highly distinctive viewpoints could elevate his critiques to a more authoritative level.
Engagement with Counterarguments: Presenting and directly addressing potential counterarguments to his positions could lead to more robust and nuanced discussions.
Claude provided me with almost the same strengths and weaknesses as the Gemini prompt but went further in two ways. First, is a “Content Assessment”.
Technology Commentary: His AI/LLM analysis is generally sound but not groundbreaking. He correctly identifies key limitations but doesn’t offer particularly novel solutions or frameworks for thinking about these issues.
Political Commentary: His piece on American xenophobia attempts to draw historical parallels between treatment of Japanese Americans, Muslims post-9/11, Russians during the Ukraine conflict, and current Latino deportations. While the historical connections are valid, the analysis lacks nuance and depth that such complex topics deserve.
Educational Insights: His observations about AI in education are practical and well-reasoned, particularly his emphasis on teaching critical thinking alongside AI literacy.
Lastly, Claude provided an “Overall Assessment”.
Martinez’s blog represents competent but not exceptional commentary on technology and society. His strength lies in providing accessible, practical perspectives on complex topics, particularly around AI adoption and digital literacy. However, the writing lacks the depth of analysis or original insight that would distinguish it in a crowded field of tech commentary.
The blog serves its apparent purpose as a personal platform for sharing thoughts and maintaining an online presence, but it doesn’t rise to the level of must-read commentary on the topics it covers. For readers seeking practical, moderate perspectives on AI and technology adoption, it offers value. For those looking for cutting-edge analysis or original research, they would likely need to look elsewhere.>The author’s commitment to continuous learning and reading is admirable and likely keeps his commentary reasonably well-informed but translating that input into more distinctive analytical output would strengthen the overall impact of his writing.
I will keep retooling and refining my methods in the future based on this feedback. What do you, a human, think of the assessments from two of the biggest GenAI tools out there?
GenAI is Still Not Replacing You
Back in 2023, when LLMs and GenAI was still in its infancy, I argued that GenAI will be a tool for those in the job market and change the workflow of the way we spend our careers. In the time since I wrote that piece, not much has changed and I still stand behind the rationale.
It is essential to clarify that LLMs, including GPT-4, are not true AI. Despite their impressive capabilities, they lack true understanding, consciousness, and self-awareness. LLMs rely on pattern recognition and statistical processing rather than genuine cognitive reasoning. They do not possess subjective experiences or emotions. They are tools designed to process and generate text based on patterns learned from vast amounts of data. Therefore, LLMs cannot fully replicate the complexities of human intelligence, nor replace the multifaceted skills that humans bring to the workforce.
The core to my argument is the lack of reasoning and thinking. To this day, I do not “like” those terms and believe we should choose better words to describe the tokenization aspects of it all.
Recently, The Economist published a piece entitled, “Why AI hasn’t taken your job”. It takes the argument that AI has changed the nature of some careers such as those in translation (See Duolingo) and learning, but postulates that upskilled careers such as interpretation of language learning has increased. Upskilling and upshifting of productivity are still key to future successes in sectors such as this.
Klarna is also given as an example where a choice is given between GenAI based customer service or a human:
“There will always be a human if you want,” Sebastian Siemiatkowski, its boss, has recently said.
More importantly (nothing is definite with new technologies), given the massive technology layoffs with claims that AI is replacing work by CEO’s, the data tells a different story.
Across the board, American unemployment remains low, at 4.2%. Wage growth is still reasonably strong, which is difficult to square with the notion that AI is causing demand for labour to fall. Trends outside America point in a similar direction. Earnings growth in much of the rich world, including Britain, the euro area and Japan, is strong. In 2024 the employment rate of the OECD club of rich countries, describing the share of working-age people who are actually in a job, hit an all-time high.
The conclusions are the same – GenAI replaces redundancy and not people. As the technology matures, it may change if new unforeseen breakthroughs were to surface, but as of now it’s still best to teach yourself how to use these tools so that you aren’t replaced by an employee who is already familiarized with it.
Finished reading: Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen 📚
Finished reading: Quantum Supremacy by Michio Kaku 📚
AI and Learning: There's a Major Disconnect Occurring in Education
Just like with all industries and applications, the use of LLMs is literally rewriting all of the best practices with education currently being the largest social sector being disrupted at the moment. Rather than using LLMs to ‘cheat’, educators and public administrators must teach students how to use and coexist with them rather than relying solely on them.
A lot of students have abandoned critical thinking all together and resulted in outsourcing all of their knowledge to these LLMs just to make answers and save time without learning or even conducting reasoning of their own to consider what the prompts are or what they’re telling them. As a result, teachers, administrators, and parents are beyond frustrated and returning to the good old blue books as cited by this Gizmodo article.
Students need to learn how to properly research while understanding proper time management. I won’t say laziness is at work on the part of all parties involved, but the quickest way to get from A to B is often using tools at your disposal – this is true in education or eventually the workplace, however, a lot is lost in this process including how to critically think about what output LLMs are displaying or what it might mean for the overall context of the subject.
Education has always been a lagging indicator of technological trends, and this is no different. LLMs and other types of GenAI are tools, not the end all be all solution in the classroom. Using it as a partner in research yet taking a critical view of what it’s telling you is paramount to making research easier for all, without compromising the time-honored tradition of writing research papers and a child’s knowledge retention.
A full education, as always, should concentrate on a child’s soft-skills – learning how to critically think, put together proper research, how to write for life, and home in on communication skills to make them successes in their careers and lives. Tools can do that, pouring prompts into an unchecked LLM cannot.
Google's Gemini will Contain Ads -- It's Only a Matter of Time
It’s common knowledge that Google is an advertising company first and foremost. All of the products weave together this ad network that a lot of governments and organizations consider to be anti-competitive. If you query a standard Google search, you’re starting with sponsored posts, followed by more advertising – which can be hard to navigate when you need accurate and actionable information fast.
Gemini, Google’s AI and LLM platform is just that. It’s a tool for consumers and businesses alike, which can be marketer’s dream. Recently, it was announced that marketers can use the service to insert more strategic ad placement into YouTube. The use of agentics, that is, using GenAI on your behalf to make decisions, automate decision making based on the user’s parameters, and adaptability – is now becoming commonplace among browsers, LLMs, and other AI tools and infrastructure. Marketing and advertising firms will have to adapt to serve these minimally invasive asks with minimal human intervention. The trick is serving ads through these means.
In the first paragraph, I’ll reiterate that Google is an advertising company, thus this is just one more avenue they must figure out to use its closed ad-network to bring in more revenues. They must walk a tight rope though due to antitrust concerns currently before the US federal government and EU agencies. While the early 2000s was dominated by SEO; GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is firstly built to be utilized properly on AI platforms.
Anthropic recently announced that Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix has joined their Board of Directors. This may seem strange on the surface but makes perfect sense when we realize that Netflix has a robust advertising platform as the world’s top streamer. Hastings expertise in this arena will fit in perfectly to what Anthropic wants to pursue – becoming its own advertising platform to rival that of Google, which is no surprise given if the courts rule that Google has to divest Chrome; that Anthropic was a party interesting in purchasing it.
Google’s strategy has always been that of the tech industry as a whole; gaining as many users as possible with a new product, then turn on the spicket of advertising. We can only hope that the sheer number of ads inserted won’t damage the Gemini product as it has Google search. We might not need a government to dismantle the firm, the vast competition within the LLM space and all tech wanting a piece of the pie may force them to retool to strike a balance between users and AdSense. Thus, Google wielding its vast ad network to other products might become a coherent strategy – much as Microsoft focused on cloud rather than Windows throughout the 2010’s.
Article Recommendation: "Want to Use AI as a Career Coach? Use These Prompts."
🏫 Harvard Business Review published an excellent article on using LLMs (GenAI) as a career coach.
🧠 As usual, be careful and watch out for hallucinations and be certain to fact check any information and utilize citations (if given).
🤝 In the end, do your own homework and remember, it’s a companion, not a monolith.
🎒 The added benefit is that you will home in on your own unique skills and make you reflect all the while, creating the basis for the utilization of LLMs, which will put you above those who do not yet use this technology.
✏️ It’s not going away, so you might as well make it work for you, in more ways than one!
This was originally a post on my personal LinkedIn page.
The Real Danger of Misinterpreting AI
Believing AI is sentient leads to false expectations—some may trust AI’s recommendations without skepticism, assuming they are the result of independent reasoning rather than probabilistic predictions. In policy discussions, regulators struggle with defining AI responsibility, misplacing ethical accountability onto models instead of the humans who deploy them. The danger is not AI itself but how we perceive and integrate it into decision-making, security, and governance.
‼️ Don’t Be Like Everyone Else:
🧠 Understand AI’s Limitations – It predicts and mimics, but it does not think. Recognizing this distinction helps avoid misinterpretation.
📖 Stay Informed on AI Ethics and Policy – Governments are trying to regulate AI’s role, but misconceptions could shape flawed laws.
🔨 Use AI as a Tool, Not a Decision-Maker – It can enhance productivity, but critical thinking must always come first.
The future belongs to those who understand AI for what it is—not what sci-fi wants it to be. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or a policymaker, mastering AI’s true capabilities is no longer optional—it’s a necessity.
This was originally posted on LinkedIn on May 30, 2025.
Finished reading: Illiberal Trends and Anti-EU Politics in East Central Europe by Astrid Lorenz 📚
Reading Update: The First Half of 2025
Below are some of the highlights of my readings for the first half of the year. As I’m always on a journey of knowlege of self-improvement, I enjoy delving in to a variety of topics. Society has pinned the individual as becoming an expert in one field, while neglecting the whole person, including the humanities and soft skills!
If you’ve been following my micro.blog (this site), you’ve noticed that the Bookshelves features allow me to post when I’ve completed a read. This is a culmination of those.
Who Knew by Barry Diller: A fresh read completed just yesterday! The biography of a media mogul who ran companies such as ABC, Paramount, Fox, QVC and more.
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari: A thought-provoking, delving into the challenges of our current era.
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder: A crucial and vital read on safeguarding democracy.
Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence by James Clapper: Gaining insights from the accomplished intelligence professional who ran the ODNI and other agencies.
America’s New Map by Thomas P.M. Barnett: Exploring geopolitical shifts and their implications discussing free-trade, climate change, and international cooperation.
Beneath a Surface by Brad Sams: A deep dive into the intricacies of introducing and developing the Microsoft Surface, at the time, a new line of product.
Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror by Michael Hayden: Understanding the complexities of intelligence operations.
Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams: A compelling narrative about ambition and its consequences at Meta and it’s various properties.
The Sirens' Call: How Attention Became the World’s Most Endangered Resource by Chris Hayes: A timely reflection on our most valuable resource.
The Gutenberg Parenthesis: The Age of Print and Its Lessons for the Age of the Internet by Jeff Jarvis: Connecting historical media shifts to our digital present.
The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity by Amy Webb: A critical look at the future of AI and its impact; highly focused on the United States vs. China.
From Cold War To Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia by Michael McFaul: Essential reading on modern international relations.
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella: Inspiring leadership and corporate transformation.
The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology by Amy Webb and Andrew Hessel: Exploring the frontiers of synthetic biology.
Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment by Jason Schreier: A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the gaming industry.
Autocracy, Inc. by Anne Applebaum: A crucial examination of the rise of authoritarian regimes.
Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller: Understanding the geopolitical battle for semiconductors.
I’m currently reading two more titles, and hopefully I’ll find the time to keep it up through the remainder of the year! I will be looking forward to making a second half ‘25 post on what’s next.
MIT Technology Review Comment: Don't Ban ChatGPT in Education
Like all new technologies in education, the initial response is to ban them. Consider Wikipedia, for example. Over a decade ago, the resource was chastised for the chance that a student may plagiarize an entry. On the contrary, it’s become a well sourced tool for initial research on a subject, with well sourced citations.
Fast forward to today – LLMs are tools to be used in critiquing arguments, the creation of ideas, and a second opinion to inform the writer or reader of salient points that may have been missed. Never truly trust a technology on face value, but proper use cases must be taught (by faculty and parents) or students will fall behind.
My comment was originally posted for LinkedIn.