I am back on this topic again.
In my world, Venkatesh Rao’s thinking on tis topic is front and center. Posting this now - because In other circles I found myself once more referencing his post from 2022 …
🔗 The Dawn of Mediocre Computing - Venkatesh Rao
A selection of quotes
Mediocre computing is computing that aims for parity with mediocre human performance in a realish domains where notions of excellence are ill-posed.
And ..
Excellent computing is computing that aims to surpass the best-performing humans in stylized, closed-world domains where notions of excellence are well-posed.
And ..
In the weird but realish world we live in, mediocre is actually harder than excellent, and way more useful.
And ..
In stylized domains like chess and Go, humans have to deliver exceptional performance (ie good enough to make money at them by winning championships) to ensure mediocre survival in the real world (enough prize money to live on).
There is a lot more besides, but I just realised that this journal had no connections back to this post - despite it being in my top 5 of VR posts (if number of references I have made is the measurement).
There’s also these ..
- His index to the 🔗 Mediocre Computing series.
- His index to a sister series; 🔗 Mediocratopia
Oh - and this ..
