We find ourselves in a world of exponentially growing intelligence. What has struck me about the AI revolution is not just its unprecedented explosion in capability, but the recognition that we have always been on this trajectory of exponential intelligence growth. While we commonly recognize this pattern in our technology—from the price-to-performance improvements in computation to the accelerating pace of technology adoption—this same pattern has been quietly shaping human cognitive evolution across generations.

Looking back through history, this intelligence growth was initially imperceptible, much like the early stages of any exponential curve. For millennia, the line appeared essentially flat, with only minute improvements from one generation to the next. But as with all exponential growth, the subtle accumulation eventually reaches a tipping point. We began to notice how each generation built upon the knowledge of the last, with technological advances accelerating this progression. Each new insight unlocked further technological possibilities, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of advancement.

To understand where we are heading, consider the evolution of Moore's Law. Gordon Moore at IBM observed that the number of transistors on a chip doubled every couple of years, predicting this trend would continue. When physical limitations threatened to end this progression—as transistors couldn't get infinitely smaller—the industry made a leap. Instead of just packing more transistors onto chips, we developed new approaches: multiple processor cores, GPU parallelization, and novel architectures. Moore's Law, in essence, transcended its original context to reveal a deeper truth about technological progress itself.

Ray Kurzweil recognized this broader pattern in his 1990 book "The Age of Intelligent Machines" and later in his influential 2005 work "The Singularity is Near." His predictions about technological advancement have proven remarkably accurate, with a success rate around 85%. But I believe even Kurzweil's technological growth model is just one facet of an even larger phenomenon—the exponential growth of intelligence itself.

We are now witnessing a momentous jump in this progression as we transition from human to artificial intelligence. The exponential growth of technology has become inextricably linked with AI advancement. Computing power, hardware performance, and software capabilities are all being channeled into artificial intelligence development. Like computation before it, the cost of intelligence is plummeting—in theory, approaching zero. However, this theoretical democratization of intelligence masks a troubling reality.

This pattern of consolidating and monetizing access to transformative technology isn't new—we saw it with early computing, with the internet, and now with AI. But this time the stakes are higher, because we're not just gating access to information or tools, but to intelligence itself. Paradoxically, even as AI capabilities soar, the price of accessing intelligence is rising for many. The shift from print to digital media, the evolution of social platforms, and the commercialization of AI have all contributed to this trend. What began as open platforms promising equal access to intelligence are increasingly hidden behind expensive paywalls. OpenAI's trajectory is emblematic: in just two years, they've gone from an open platform to a tiered subscription model costing up to $200 monthly for premium access.

This creates a widening intelligence gap that parallels and potentially amplifies existing wealth disparities. We're witnessing the emergence of a new divide between those who can afford access to advanced AI capabilities and those who cannot. Throughout history, in both human civilization and the natural world, competitions between groups with disparate intelligence levels have consistently favored the more intelligent. This pattern raises profound questions about the social implications of AI accessibility and the future of human society.

The implications of this intelligence gap extend far beyond just who can access the latest AI tools. As these systems become more capable, they will increasingly influence decision-making, creativity, and problem-solving across every domain. Those with full access will essentially have a cognitive multiplier that others lack. For the first time in history, we face the prospect of human intelligence becoming a tiered service—a transformation that could reshape the very fabric of human society.

The challenge before us is not just about managing artificial intelligence's capabilities, but ensuring its benefits don't become concentrated in the hands of a privileged few. The democratization of intelligence may be technically possible, but without careful consideration and deliberate action, we risk creating an unprecedented divide in human capability—one that could prove far more consequential than any technological gap that has come before.

We find ourselves in a world of exponentially growing intelligence. What has struck me about the AI revolution is not just its unprecedented explosion in capability, but the recognition that we have always been on this trajectory...

The future is already here – it's just not evenly distributed.

When Exponential Growth Meets Unequal Access

The Price of Intelligence

I encountered this idea on X.com when someone linked to a personal website for a scientist who included a form for leaving feedback anonymously and at the time I didn't think much of it. Then over time the idea kept coming back to me and I eventually realized it was a brilliant thing to have. Let the people who know you (as well as strangers alike, but they've never been shy with feedback) have the opportunity to leave you honest criticism without feeling self conscious about it or feel like they are risking hurting your feelings. Or at least, if they do hurt your feelings then at least you won't know it came from them! So I decided to add one to my website. Go ahead, internet. Roast me. Or compliment me. I take those, too.

I encountered this idea on X.com when someone linked to a personal website for a scientist who...

Leave Anonymous Feedback

Like I said before, I've been very busy. Buckle up, this is a long one...

Welcome to the grand unveiling of my new company, Vision Studios LLC.

Something changed for me this year. AI has just about everything to do with that. I said before that I went out looking at AI tools as a developer, and came away with my curiosity in AI stoked to a raging fire.

Don't get me wrong, I've always been interested in AI, but this was new. The weeks that followed consumed me with two primary activities: one was to research just what exactly was going on in this world, because clearly I had been sleeping on a lot. The other was to start playing. When you are a developer, the best way to learn a new language, technology, whatever is to literally dig in and start playing with things. Rip it apart, put it back together. Add things, take away things. See how it works and what you can do with it. That's what I started doing with things like OpenAI's ChatGPT API and Whisper API.

I started making things like [codebot](https://github.com/csymonds/codebot) and [scribe](https://github.com/csymonds/scribe). Tools that could leverage the bleeding edge of AI to do cool things. It felt like I was living in the future. I also made [a plugin for ChatGPT](/blog/I_am_plugin.html), and later a few custome GPTs when they announced them. And of course, I've made [an iOS app](/blog/announcing_app_of_holding.html) in the past.

This presented a problem: I wanted to share these creations with others, and who knows, maybe even parlay some of them into an income stream, but I've never hosted tools like this on the web and didn't really know how. So then came another step that AI enabled: I needed to learn web development.
If I was going to do that, why not learn by making websites for others and maybe even get paid to do it? Ok, this is another income stream. Also, I just got a fancy new camera for my new YouTube channel [The Great Indoors](https://youtube.com/@TheGreatIndoorsCast), so I could do photography and videography for others as well - another income stream.

So finally, I decided that if I was going to do all of these activities that could result in an income stream - Software development, web development, web apps, photography, videography - and who knows what else I'll think of, I should probably start a company. So I did. And that's how Vision Studios LLC was born. I had a vision... well, lots of them.

But I didn't know how to start a company. The only reason, and I mean the ONLY REASON I've been able to accomplish everything that I have this year is because I leveraged AI to help me. I learned what paperwork I needed, write contracts for my clients (and yes, I have clients and I'm looking forward to sharing the work I've done for them soon), it helped me create assets for my YouTube channel, I created the logo for Vision Studios LLC myself but used AI to help me learn graphic design. I even used AI to help me write this blog post. I'm not kidding ya'll: I'm using github copilot to write this blog post and the entire paragraphs it suggests as I type are so good it's SPOOKY. It's seen enough of my writing that it just seems to know how to write like I do now.

It's not going to stop here: I have so many ideas swirling around in my head, and there are not enough hours in my day to explore them all. I am a kid in a candy store. I've recently completed websites for 2 different clients, and will probably take a break from new website for a bit while I focus on my channel, The Great Indoors. I want to get that to a point where I have a good team working with me, I can film what I need and baton to them and get it posted. After that, I will turn my attention to maybe some photography but definitely exploring web apps and getting cool new technology tools posted to my site for you all to try out. I'm super excited, and can't wait to share my work with you.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Chris

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

Realizing a Vision

Hey there, it's been a while, I know; I've been... very busy.

Welcome to the grand unveiling of (one of) my latest adventures, "The Great Indoors" on YouTube - the public continuation of a private sharecast I did for months for some friends and family.

Let's face it, we're living in an era where technology is moving faster than we are. Every day, there's a new gadget, a fresh piece of code, or a groundbreaking AI model that threatens to upend everything we know. It's like a never-ending story, except you're trying to read it on a smartwatch screen. And that is why I've embarked on a crazy quest to make sense of the digital enigmas for you, one byte at a time.

That quote from Einstein was exactly the spirit behind "The Great Indoors." In this effort, we'll reconnect the human experience with the digital revolution, ensuring that our humanity isn't just preserved, it's enhanced. We're not just about bits and qubits; we're about the hearts and minds behind the screens.

Through "The Great Indoors," I will endeavor to be your friendly neighborhood tech interpreter, breaking down AI breakthroughs before they break down our understanding, demystifying the latest Apple orchard of products, and maybe even cracking a dad joke or two about quantum entanglement (because who doesn't love a good alarmingly astute AI alliteration?).

So, if you've ever found yourself staring blankly at a tech article wondering if it's written in Klingon, or if you've ever thought that "cryptocurrency" was a collection for a pharaoh's afterlife, then worry no longer. I'm here to light the way, much like your phone screen at 3 AM - only less blinding and more enlightening.

I truly believe that the more we understand technology the less intimidating and frustrating it is. So come on in, leave your digital dilemmas at the door, and let's explore the great indoors of tech together.

Smash that like and subscribe button, as the kids say.

Hey there, it's been a while, I know; I've been... very busy. Welcome to the grand unveiling of (one of) my latest adventures, "The Great Indoors" on YouTube...

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

Navigating the Tech Jungle from the Comfort of "The Great Indoors"

Recently, OpenAI has given ChatGPT Plus users access to the code interpreter plugin. As a subscriber to that service, I've had the chance to experiment with the plugin, and it has given me the same sense of wonder that GPT-4 itself gave me. It's that feeling that I have been given a tool that is incredibly powerful, and the possibilities only seem to be limited by my capacity to think of its uses. In one experiment, I asked ChatGPT to tell me something that most people are not aware of, but knowing it could have a significant impact on their lives. I told it to include any relevant data, and show me any analysis that it thought would be helpful.

What it came back with was, unfortunately, a list of things that I've been hearing about for years. The kinds of things you tend to read in news articles or opinions pieces. "Compounding interest is a powerful force, particularly for the young saver." or "A good night's sleep is underrated for its impact on your health." I was underwhelmed with the advice. What it was able to do was show me graphs and analysis that nicely displayed the data that supported the advice. It was then I started to wonder what kind of data I could give to it in order to tailer the advice to me. The code interpreter allows you to upload files so that ChatGPT can make use of it. It turns out... I don't have very much data on myself.

Oh I can think of all kinds of data that I produce that gets shipped off to this or that service. I carry around a swarm of sensors with me throughout the day, all happily buzzing along with activity collecting every type of data one can, but all of it shipped tidily off to some service that I have no access to. It seems crazy to me that I do not at least have a copy of my own data! So that is what I am currently thinking about - how do I get my own data so that I can do analysis on it and maybe do some good for myself. The first thing I thought about was the Sharecast I do. I use the Marco Polo app, which has a really cool feature that lets you create a Sharecast just for the people you invite. Like a private YouTube channel. So of course, I talk about AI, and anything related to it. So I wrote a little Python tool that will transcribe the audio for me. I recently finished running the hours of talking I've done through it and now I have a text file with everything I've said, ready to do... some kind of analysis. I'm not sure what yet. I'm still thinking about it.

I've heard of people giving data to ChatGPT and asking "What trends do you see in this data? Show me an analysis and and explanation of what you find." Who knows? Maybe ChatGPT will surprise me with what it finds? In the mean time, I've made my tool available to anyone who wants to try it. It uses OpenAI's Whisper API to do the transcribing. Right now, it only converts .mp4s because that's what I work with, but it can be easily modified to work with other formats. I've given it the most adorabugly little UI that I'm rather fond of. We do love our own children, don't we? I hope someone, maybe you, finds it useful. For now, I'm off to think about data. I'll let you know what I come up with.

Scribe: .mp4 transcription using OpenAI's Whisper API

Recently, OpenAI has given ChatGPT Plus users access to the code interpreter plugin. As a subscriber to that service, I've had the chance to experiment with the plugin, and it has given me the same sense of wonder that GPT-4 itself gave me...

What we want is a machine that can learn from experience.

The Problem With Data

This has now been retired. It was quite a bit of fun bringing a cultural touchpoint into the AI future by recreating the "I am rich" app from 2008. When OpenAI transitioned from plugins to GPTs, I even transitioned the underlying API to a GPT to keep it going. However, the server infrastructure keeps changing how they work, how they price, and it got to the point of requiring so much effort to keep it going that it ceased to make sense and retiring the joke seemed like the right step. That time is better spent on other projects, of which I have quite a few and look forward to sharing in good time. Until then, thanks for appreciating the joke with me. We are all the more rich for it.

They approved it! I was definitely not expecting that, given that it was a silly little joke of a plugin, but I guess I underestimated my chances. The plugin is now live, and ChatGPT plugins are rolling out gradually, so if you have access go check it out. Bear in mind, plugins are in alpha, so modifications to the UI, performance, and availability are all subject to change.

A lot has happened since I released my app to the app store earlier this year. Enough that it feels like a lifetime ago already. That stems primarily from a shift in priority for me from iOS app development to tracking what is happening in the world of machine learning. In fact, I intend to do a post dedicated to AI and machine learning in the near future, because there is so much to talk about and it has become my primary focus. However, that journey is the reason I have arrived today at completing my first plugin for ChatGPT. So I do want to touch a little bit on that journey, why things have shifted so dramatically for me in the the way that they have, and what that means going forward.

A few months back I learned that there were these great tools for programmers like me that were incredible for boosting productivity. They were called "chatGPT" and "copilot" from GitHub. So like a good developer, I went and learned about them. What I found out took me down the biggest and craziest rabbit hole I have ever been down. Since then my professional life has shifted to encompass tracking the progress of machine learning advancement. I started a "Sharecast" on the Marco Polo app for some close friends and family where I talk about the latest news and significant events happening in the world of AI. I started leveraging those tools to get back into ML, re-teaching myself techniques I've not used since grad school. I've written chat bots and code bots and games and now, ChatGPT plugins. So let me tell you a little bit about that, and I will save the crazy existential story for another post.

I've been a subscriber to ChatGPT plus almost from its start. Every time OpenAI announces a new technology or feature, I'm on the waitlist from day 1. Not just OpenAI, I'm paying GitHub for copilot, MidJourney for AI artwork, Replit for hosting, and I'm even giving regular donations to Khan Academy so that my children can use Khanmigo, their new ChatGPT-powered AI tutors. I'm all in. I'm a believer. I'm a fan. I'm a supporter. I'm a user. I might even be a bot, I'm not sure. I'm definitely a developer, and I have been checking every day to see if I have access. When I finally received access, I was the proverbial dog who caught the car it's been chasing. I tried out a couple plugins and got a sense for how they worked and what the potential was. I've heard comparisons drawn between the plugin platform and Apple's app store when it first started. I thought about what some of those first app were, and how they explored the space of possibility. It was then I remembered the notorious "I am rich" app from 2008 by Armin Heinrich. It was a $999.99 app that did absolutely nothing - and people bought it. He made a fair bit of money for the relatively small effort. That is not my goal here, of course plugins are free, and we developers make nothing (which is quite a good deal for OpenAI, don't you think?). But I thought it would be fun to recreate the app as a plugin, and keep the tradition of ostentatious entries to new platforms alive. I hope they approve it. Otherwise, this is a post about what might have been. If fate (and OpenAI) is unkind, then I will tell you that if you had simply told ChatGPT "I am rich" with the plugin installed, it would have then displayed the original app icon image in the browser. That's it. Close enough to nothing to be an homage to the original. I hope you enjoy it, because it means they approved it.

YouTube video player

Approval or no, I wil continue to explore plugin potential. I also will continue exploring new AI technologies like AutoGPT and babyAGI. I will continue exploring the cambrian explosion of models coming into existence and their rapid growth in capability. I will continue to be a fan, a critic, an explorer, a scientist, and a developer, and then I will be a blogger and come share what I have learned. Until then, I hope you get to enjoy my plugin and when you do, you truly are rich.

UPDATE 06/15/24: This has now been retired. It was quite a bit of fun bringing a cultural...

It's called the "I am rich" plugin - yes, that one

I created my first plugin for ChatGPT by OpenAI

I'm really excited to announce that App of Holding is now available on iOS! I've been working on this for a while and I'm really happy with how it turned out. However this is just a first iteration, I have a lot of ideas for how to make it better and more useful, and I will be talking about that as we go.

Of course, I know in my first post I said I was going to bring you all with me for the development journey, but that turned out to be a personal process, I suppose. I spent a lot of time working through one of the myriad training programs for iOS development that can be found online, and to the credit of the program I found, it was really well produced and the instructor was fantastic. However...

Apple happened to be in the middle of a transition to a new paradigm in iOS development, and SwiftUI is the new hotness. So it turns out I had spent weeks of my time learning what turned out to be the old way of doing things. We are early enough in the SwiftUI lifecycle that there are really not a lot of resources for learning out there just yet. Apple has good documentation to their credit, but I'm the type of learner who needs an explanation with examples.

So my path was obvious: beat my head against the code until it does what I want it to do. I won't lie, I wanted to throw in the towel several times. It was a real struggle to bring my brain around to thinking in terms of declarative programming, but I very slowly, and somewhat surely, figured it out. I'm still not a master, but I'm getting there. I'm really excited to have reached a goal I've had since I had my first iPhone. Being a dad with young kids, it's really hard to find time to work on projects. My kids are getting older now, and I'm finding that I have more time to work on things.

I will be very honest with you, I don't think this app is going to be a major hit. But I do hope you enjoy the artwork. I used Midjourney to generate all of the artwork and I have to say, some of the images are really beautiful. If you get the chance to play with a generative model for art, I highly recommend it. I plan to incorporate more AI tools in my coming projects, in this app, and maybe even this website. My creativity caught fire when OpenAI released their chatGPT API, and I've already built a code bot with long-term memory to help me write code. I hope to write about that soon. Until then, please enjoy the app, and I look forward to hearing your feedback!

I'm really excited to announce that App of Holding is now available on iOS!

A journey of a thousand users begins with a single app

Announcing: App of Holding is now available on iOS

Recently, I had the opportunity to playtest Honor and Intrigue, a tabletop roleplaying game that draws inspiration from swashbuckling adventures like The Three Musketeers and The Princess Bride. As someone who's always been fascinated by both historical fiction and tabletop gaming, this was an exciting chance to combine these interests.

Honor and Intrigue uses a unique system that emphasizes both combat prowess and social interaction. The mechanics are designed to create dramatic duels and political intrigue, making every encounter meaningful whether you're crossing swords or crossing words.

The the core mechanic involves rolling 2d6, adding your Attribute and Skill plus any additional Modifiers against DC 9. It's a refreshingly simple approach to taking action in the game, whether it's crossing swords or crossing words. Rolling 2 sixes causes an auto success (1/36) wheras two ones are an auto-fail. As you grow in abilities, this can actually start to become a bit restrictive, and it's actually recommended to shift to a 2d10 resolution mechanic to keep rolls from being a foregone conclusion.

Character creation is streamlined to facilitate swift immersion into swashbuckling adventures. Players allocate points to four core Qualities—Might, Daring, Savvy, and Flair—defining their character's physical and mental attributes. They then distribute points among Combat Abilities: Brawl, Melee, Ranged, and Defense, which determine their proficiency in various forms of combat. Instead of traditional skills, the game employs a Career system, where players select careers such as Noble, Duelist, or Poet, reflecting their character's background and expertise. This approach emphasizes narrative depth and versatility, allowing characters to perform a wide range of actions pertinent to their backgrounds. Additionally, players choose Boons and Flaws to further customize their characters, adding unique advantages and challenges that enrich role-playing opportunities. This method ensures that characters are both mechanically distinct and deeply integrated into the game's storytelling framework.

Our playtest session was destined to be interesting as the scenario involved our group of ragtag pirates encountering a band of ninjas. That's right, we played pirates vs. ninjas. I'm not sharing who won the encounter, but the one-shot adventure was a fantastic balance of dueling, fighting, political intrigue, and even a smidge of romance. The system handled all aspects smoothly, creating a satisfying blend of social maneuvering and swashbuckling action.

What particularly stood out was how the game's mechanics supported the narrative. Every roll felt meaningful, and the success or failure of actions had clear consequences that drove the story forward, with the advantage system coming in clutch at significant moments.

Honor and Intrigue succeeds in capturing the feel of swashbuckling adventures while providing enough mechanical depth to keep players engaged. If you're a fan of historical fiction or just looking for a roleplaying game that balances social interaction with combat, this is definitely worth checking out.

There are a lot of tabletop RPGs out there, and I mean a lot.

So in a game about swashbucklers swinging from chandeliers, the swashbuckler of the group managed to swing from a chandelier during the game. I'm not sure what I expected.

Playtesting the Honor and Intrigue Tabletop RPG

I've always been curious about phone apps and what the development and release process was. Finding out meant either getting an Android phone so that I could test how it felt to use my own app in a real phone (because my family is well within in the walled garden of the Apple ecosystem) or procuring an Apple product that would allow me to explore this, which I've never owned.

Finally I decided a couple months back to go down the garden path. (Can you blame me; how else would my own family get to try it? You know what, don't answer that.) So I rolled up my sleeves and set about learning the development process, learning about XCode, about Swift, about SwiftUI and I have to say… it has not entirely been the romantic effort I dreamt it to be.

It does not help that the documentation and training I procured is focused on the older Swift paradigm and that I am trying to adhere to the new SwiftUI paradigm that Apple is moving to. Declarative programming is not something I have run into before and I am genuinely struggling to think in the way I am being asked to. It's discouraging and frustrating and has completely upended my expectations of what this process would be. However I am determined to conquer my frustrations and doubts and intend to release my app despite the foundation upon which it is built.

I've always been curious about phone apps and what the development and release process was. Finding out meant either...

That's a funny sort of bag. "Carpet." "You mean to carry carpets in?" "No, made of."

Christopher Symonds