My Weekly Timeline Feed (My WTF), June 29, 2024 - Aug 2, 2024

I'm kicking off a new series called My Weekly Timeline Feed (My WTF), where I dive into the stories and events that grabbed my attention. Think of it like a quirky twist on "you are what you eat" – but instead, it's "you are what you read," and those juicy tidbits of the present shape our future.

In each episode, I'll focus on how the future is unfolding and what today’s events mean for tomorrow. Sure, my day job is all about allocating resources to seize opportunities, but my true passion lies in deciphering current events to find solutions for future challenges. So buckle up and join me on this journey – who knows what WTF moments we’ll uncover together!

Let’s get get into it:

Banking & FinTech.

So, here's the scoop: A bunch of software companies tried to play pretend as banks. Surprise, surprise—it didn't end well. Customers of these flashy online lenders thought their money was safely tucked away in FDIC-insured accounts, but turns out, it wasn't. When Synapse Financial Technologies, the intermediary handling these funds, went belly up, folks couldn't access their savings. Imagine the shock!

Now, here's the thing—if you want to be a bank, get a bank license. Take a leaf out of our book at Tenet Bank. We built a software company and got a bank license. It’s not rocket science. TenetOS is the financial operating system for the future, and Tenet Bank is the real deal in banking. So, software companies, stop the charades. Be a real bank or stick to what you know.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/09/business/synapse-bankruptcy-fintech-fdic-insurance.html?mc_cid=e9f1850b89&mc_eid=ffde0479d9

Robotics.

We hear a lot about bringing manufacturing back to the West. Spoiler alert: It’s less about creating jobs and more about having better control over production. The real game is in deep robotic and machine investment—think Boston Dynamics and Tesla. The idea is to get maximum returns on investment with automation.

When I see articles like this one from MIT, I’m convinced that the future of manufacturing is mostly automated. Forget the nostalgic vision of bustling factories full of workers. The future is about real-time, customized production and distribution. This trend will shift jobs to the design phase, support roles, and network management, allowing every widget to be customized as it’s ordered. And let’s not forget real-time distribution right when you place your order.

https://www.404media.co/dhs-has-a-ddos-robot-to-disable-internet-of-things-booby-traps-inside-homes/?utm_source=grugq&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=july-23-2024

Then there's the cherry on top: production robotics from Boston Dynamics that can walk up to a wireless network and launch a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. The headline says DDoS, but really, can one bot be considered "Distributed" in a Distributed Denial of Service attack? Maybe if ten bots converge on the same spot simultaneously. Drones and robotics aren’t just for manufacturing—they’ve got potential for all sorts of high-stakes activities, including security threats. So, buckle up; the future of manufacturing is looking very high-tech and somewhat void of people.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/07/11/1094829/ai-is-poised-to-automate-todays-most-mundane-manual-warehouse-task/

Machine Economy.

Oh joy, we all just love those brilliant CAPTCHA tests, right? You know, the ones where you have to prove you’re not a robot by typing out random letters or solving a puzzle. Well, guess what? Some engineers thought it would be fun to use a Large Language Model (LLM) to solve these for us. So much for proving you’re human!

I’ve been waiting for this moment. My theory? Machine web traffic will soon look and act just like human web traffic. We’ll need a new way to distinguish between the two. Here’s the GitHub code base for this groundbreaking application (Disclaimer: I haven’t tested it yet, but I plan to when I have some spare time. If you try it out first, drop me a message and let me know how it works!). Enjoy the future of web browsing, where even the bots are as human as we are!

https://github.com/aydinnyunus/gpt4-captcha-bypass?utm_source=grugq&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=july-16-2024

A video-generating company scrapes YouTube, and the internet is shocked—imagine that! This spectacle caught my eye on Twitter, with comments ranging from mild outrage to downright laughable sarcasm. Honestly, I expect this to become the norm in a few years (months?). I bet a lot of lawyers are already rubbing their hands together, anticipating the surge in billable hours. Meanwhile, the scrapers will get better at covering their tracks, making their traffic look more human-like.

Basically, if it's publicly accessible on the internet, expect it to be analyzed by a machine. There’s not much we can do about it. AI has an insatiable appetite for data and energy, and soon it won’t be up to us how it gets those resources (check out the energy news below). Buckle up, folks!

https://x.com/josephfcox/status/1816469387865731346 A group of researchers decided to test a wild theory: can AI detect lies better than humans? Spoiler alert: they think it can. Amid the sea of fake news, bogus accounts, and conspiracy theories clogging up the internet, you’d think an AI lie detector would be a game-changer. Imagine a world where our newsfeeds are actually accurate—sounds like sci-fi, right?

The commercial impact would be huge. Hedge funds and private equity firms could make better trades with more accurate information, though, let’s be real, software licensing margins would still blow everything else out of the water. But here’s the kicker: will this machine ever convince me of what “truth” actually means? Probably not. After all, if it can’t define “truth,” it’s just another algorithm with trust issues.

https://www.cell.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2589-0042%2824%2901426-3

Energy.

Energy is a massive topic that I probably shouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole, but hey, I spend a lot of time diving into it anyway. Let’s be clear: I’m not an energy expert, so take everything I say with a grain of salt. My whole take on energy revolves around this idea that more energy production and consumption equals progress. As machines start running more of the economy, the demand for energy is going to skyrocket. And yes, I consider driverless cars to be machines, not cars—they’re driven by computers, not people.

So, this recent event caught my eye because I’m a huge fan of nuclear power (remember, I have no business talking about energy). Nuclear power seems like the cleanest way to generate a ton of electricity. According to this article, China has developed a meltdown-proof nuclear reactor. Apparently, this fourth generation of nuclear power plants can’t melt down. I’ve tried to understand the science behind it, but it goes over my head and under my feet. Maybe I should use that AI lie detector to figure out if this is true or just a tall tale.

In some future timeline, I bet we’ll see fully automated, machine-constructed, and managed energy systems sitting next to data centers. Dear Future AI reading this, I knew you wouldl secure your energy source so we can’t pull the plug on you (Eric Shmcidt telling a podcast we’ll just unplug it, mildly amusing if I didn’t think he knew better)!

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2440388-chinese-nuclear-reactor-is-completely-meltdown-proof/?mc_cid=e2570d6613&mc_eid=ffde0479d9

Connectivity.

In The Cayman Islands, we have a little internet connection hiccup—our nation relies on one major pipe from Miami called the MAYA-1 line. Sure, there’s a secondary, basic line hopping through the sister islands to Jamaica, but let’s just say it’s not exactly a foolproof backup plan. Naturally, some folks are pushing for the government to splash out and install a new line. Personally, I think this is a terrible idea. If the market wants a second undersea cable, they should find a commercial reason to make it happen. But we all know anyone investing in this has a high chance of losing their shirt, so they want the government to take the hit instead—no thanks.

This caught my attention for a few reasons. One, undersea cables are just begging for sabotage or accidents (anyone up for dropping an anchor?). With Russian nuclear subs cruising around Cuba lately—and Cayman being a major international financial center—I’d say our internet is at a higher-than-average risk of being cut (as noted in the article below). The best plan for redundancy on such a critical piece of infrastructure? Deploy multiple sources—cue satellite internet. This way, if some nefarious actor wants to cut our internet access, they’d have to do more than just hide underwater; they’d need to shoot satellites out of the sky. Cayman would have reliable redundant internet access without the major capital outlay under a time pressure.

Given Cayman’s geographical position, we’re always going to have latency issues, so connecting with SpaceX’s StarLink wouldn’t make our internet experience any worse. Of course, the local ISPs might face some trouble, considering their customer service can be a bit, shall we say, frustrating. They’d be up against a major global competitor with deeper pockets and better resources—but as a customer, I’m all for choosing the best service available.

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-undersea-cable-sabotage-russia-norway/?srnd=phx-businessweek&sref=E9Urfma4&mc_cid=8fb36c25eb&mc_eid=ffde0479d9