Humanity

Overheard : Embedded Intelligence

The hype may be about the frontier models. The disruption really is in the workflow.

Read this in Om Malik’s post (https://om.co/2026/02/06/how-ai-goes-to-work/), and it’s one of the most grounded take on AI I’ve seen lately. We spend so much energy debating which LLM is ‘smarter’ by a fraction of a percentage, but that’s just benchmarking engines. The real shift happens when the engine is already under the hood of the car you’re driving.

Om calls it “embedded intelligence.” It’s when you’re in Excel or Photoshop and the AI isn’t a destination you visit (the prompt box), but a hover-state that helps you work.

The goal isn’t to ‘use AI.’ The goal is to do what you used to do, but better, faster, and with more room for the creative decisions that actually matter.

February 6, 2026 by AI Humanity OverHeard Technology 0

HOW TO : Reduce phone usage

I know this is not really practical :-).. But hear me out

Every 6 months, switch from an Android to an iPhone as your primary phone. You’ll be amazed at how much free time you suddenly get.

The Reset Button

When you switch ecosystems, you get a blank slate. No apps. No habits. No notifications. Your phone is boring. And that’s the feature.

Most phone usage is pure inertia. You open Instagram because it’s there. You check email because the badge is red. But when you switch phones, those habits become a bit tougher to adhere to.

Starting Fresh

When setting up the new phone, be intentional:

  • Grayscale icons. Colors are designed to grab attention. Grayscale strips that away. Your apps become tools, not emotional triggers.
  • Only install what you need. Don’t install “just in case.” Start with essentials. Everything else can wait.
  • Disable notifications. Disable all notifications except calls and messages from people you know. You’ll notice which apps you actually miss.

The cycle starts afresh

Over time, you’ll add apps. But you’ll add them consciously, not because they came pre-installed. And as your collection grows, you’ll naturally develop habits around them. And that’s when the addiction/distraction cycle kicks in again.

Why (I believe) This Works

When you have unlimited options, you default to what’s easiest. When you have to choose, you choose what matters.

Most productivity advice tells you to optimize your existing system. But you’re fighting accumulated habits that have grown over time. Switching phones is different, it’s a reset, not optimization.

Give it a try.

January 26, 2026 by HOWTO Humanity 0

AI and the value of taste

Anyone can now generate content (text, audio, images, video) with a single prompt. The cost of creation is collapsing to near zero. We live in amazing times.

It also produces what people have started calling “slop”: an overwhelming volume of content, much of it interchangeable. When supply becomes infinite, attention becomes scarce. Two thoughts follow from this.

First, the era of personalized content is finally here.
When generation is cheap, we don’t just filter existing content, we generate it. Instead of an algorithm deciding what you might like from a global pool, your feed can be created specifically for you, reflecting your interests, context, and intent. This is a meaningful shift: from recommendation to creation.

Second, as the cost of generation goes to zero, the value of taste goes to infinity.
When anyone can make something, what matters is knowing what should be made. Taste becomes the constraint. Just as there is one Picasso among thousands of painters, there will be people who can consistently direct AI toward work that resonates. They may not produce the content themselves, but they shape it—through judgment, curation, and intent.

In a world flooded with output, taste is the differentiator.

January 11, 2026 by AI business Humanity Rantings 0

Overheard : On constant increase in expectations

Sam Altman’s June 10, 2025 post on achieving singularity captured something I’ve been thinking about lately. There’s a particular passage that perfectly describes how we’re constantly ratcheting up our expectations:

Already we live with incredible digital intelligence, and after some initial shock, most of us are pretty used to it. Very quickly we go from being amazed that AI can generate a beautifully-written paragraph to wondering when it can generate a beautifully-written novel; or from being amazed that it can make live-saving medical diagnoses to wondering when it can develop the cures; or from being amazed it can create a small computer program to wondering when it can create an entire new company. This is how the singularity goes: wonders become routine, and then table stakes.

This hits at something fundamental about human psychology. We have this remarkable ability to normalize the extraordinary, almost immediately.

I see this everywhere now. My kids casually ask AI to help with homework in ways that would have seemed like science fiction just three years ago. We’ve gone from “can AI write coherent sentences?” to “why can’t it write a perfect screenplay?” in what feels like months.

The progression Altman describes—paragraph to novel, diagnosis to cure, program to company—isn’t just about AI capabilities scaling up. It’s about how our mental models adjust. Each breakthrough becomes the new baseline, not the ceiling.

What struck me most is his phrase: “wonders become routine, and then table stakes.” That’s exactly it. The wonder doesn’t disappear because the technology got worse—it disappears because we got used to it. And then we need something even more impressive to feel that same sense of possibility.

June 10, 2025 by AI Humanity OverHeard Rantings Technology 0

Overheard : Worthless friends vs Transactional friends

Codie Sanchez quoting Prof. Arthur Brooks on different types of friendship in a conversation with Shane Parrish.

Worthless friends are the friends that have no transactional value. You don’t want anything from them. They don’t want anything from you. They want to hang out with you. They want to go on a walk with you. They don’t want your email list. They don’t want access to your money. They just want to have a beer on a Friday night. And these friendships end up materially increasing, our happiness, these worthless friends, whereas these transactional friendships actually end up, in many ways, decreasing our happiness

January 8, 2025 by Humanity OverHeard 0

Charlie : The guru I never met

Yesterday (Nov 28, 2023), the world lost a giant of investing and clear thinking: Charlie Munger. While I never had the privilege of meeting him in person, his wisdom, wit, and down-to-earth approach to life have had a profound impact on me. His speeches and writings have been a guiding light, teaching me not just about investing, but about life itself.

Charlie possessed a rare combination of intelligence, practicality, and brutal honesty. He never sugarcoated his words, always offering his insights with clarity and directness. One quote that particularly resonates with me comes from his 2007 commencement speech at USC. Reflecting on choices in life, he said:
“Let me use a little inversion now. What will really fail in life? What do we want to avoid? Some answers are easy. For example, sloth and unreliability will fail. If you’re unreliable it doesn’t matter what your virtues are, you’re going to crater immediately. So, faithfully doing what you’ve engaged to do should be an automatic part of your conduct.”

These words underscore the importance of basic principles like hard work, integrity, and commitment. Charlie understood that success wasn’t built on complex theories, but on a foundation of solid values and consistent action.

Charlie’s passing is a significant loss, but his legacy will undoubtedly continue to inspire and educate generations to come. His wisdom will remain a guiding force for those seeking to navigate the complexities of life and investing with integrity and a clear mind.

Rest in peace, Charlie. You will be deeply missed.

November 29, 2023 by Humanity Management 0

Overheard : friend

“A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.”

– William Penn
August 18, 2022 by Humanity OverHeard 0

Dreaming

James Cameron successfully completed a deep dive into the deepest part of the ocean today. And with it, he repeated a feat that was tried 50 years ago. I cannot wait for the documentary he is going to make out of this dive. I put this on the same scale as someone flying to the moon and back. Yes, I know it was done before. But it has never been repeated again.

By doing this, Mr. Cameron has inspired to start dreaming again. That we can still fly to the moon.. that we can one day travel beyond the boundaries of our solar system

Thank you Mr. Cameron, for letting us dream again.

March 25, 2012 by Humanity Uncategorized 0

Help a brother out..

Amit Gupta, a fellow geek and photographer, has been diagnosed with Acute Lukemia.. He needs a matching bone marrow to survive the odds. How can you help? Two (well three) simple steps

Not a lot of things in life are free and satisfying.. This is one of them.

October 24, 2011 by Humanity Uncategorized 0