Today, it seems natural and obvious to use applications to support our productivity. They are ubiquitous. You can access your application on your computer, on your phone, and on your tablet. Your data is always accessible, and you feel empowered to perform at a high standard. Too often, you finish spending more time in the applications planning your work instead of executing it. Your productivity stack must be adapted to how you want to work. The number of applications in the stack is not the most critical factor. But you need to be comfortable with your choices. You may be comfortable using only one application that covers all your needs or need a whole stack of 5 or 6 applications. There is not one solution better than the other.

An approach using the Theory of Constraints

The theory of constraints is a management philosophy that focuses on identifying and removing the bottleneck or constraint in a system to improve overall performance. The theory suggests that a system is only as strong as its weakest link, and the entire system can be improved by addressing that weakest link. It is based on the idea that in any given system, only one limiting factor prevents it from achieving optimal results. The system can operate more efficiently and effectively by identifying that constraint and implementing solutions to overcome it.

Only actually performing tasks brings you value. Therefore, the main objective of a productivity stack is to have the work flowing through it. The first step is to define what is your constraint. As a knowledge worker, your constraint is your attention or time. So, your productivity stack must help you protect your attention and time and help you make the best of it. The Theory of constraint tells that some principles help to protect how you use your time (the constraint):

• Make sure the task you are working on is worthwhile. Your stack must help determine whether the task needs to be performed by you. If the job can be done by someone else, then delegate. Your stack must be a support for these decisions.

• Make sure that the task is essential. You don’t want to spend your scarce time on tasks that don’t move the needle. Your stack should help you set the priority of the tasks at hand.

• Make sure that the task is ready to be executed. Your stack shall help you ensure that all information you need is at hand before working on the task and allow you to find the information quickly. You don’t want to start a task to discover that half of the information needed is lacking. It would be a waste of time and attention.

• Make sure that one minute of your time will not be wasted: Your stack shall allow you to allocate tasks to your schedule to make the best of it (using time blocking or time boxing, for instance) and to answer quickly the question: “what should I do next?”

A productivity system is a stack and rituals.

The productivity stack is essential, but the process or rituals for using it are, at minimum, as necessary as the applications. The rituals enable you to determine the following:

• What task is important, and which one should be delegated,

• What information is needed to perform the tasks

• How the process can be improved

The rituals can be composed of:

• A weekly review to prioritize tasks and align with goals

• Daily planning to allocate time and short-term priorities

• Daily shutdown for switching from working to rest mode

Your rituals shall protect your attention from interruptions during work periods. Your productivity system shall manage the flow of work. It must not be designed to store more and more work. The weekly review lets you clean your system from all the obsolete work that is no longer required. The productivity stack shall also obey a few basic principles.

• Information is entered only once in a stack (there are no two to-do lists containing the same tasks, but having a to-do list for personal tasks and one for professional ones is okay).

• Information flows with the work through the stack.

But remember these pillars of TOC.

Here are the pillars of the theory of constraints and how they can relate to productivity stacks.

1. Inherent Simplicity: Even if your life seems chaotic and you are overwhelmed by tasks, find the few simple, fundamental rules that govern your system’s behavior. Look for simple solutions and avoid unnecessary complexity when building your stack.

2. Inherent Potential: Every system has significant untapped potential. Small changes to how you manage your time can lead to large improvements in your performance.

3. Win-Win Thinking: Reject the idea of trade-offs and look for win-win solutions. Each action of yours shall bring you value.

4. Never Say I Know: Review your stack periodically, learn continuously, and improve. Our understanding of our productivity can continuously be improved, and we should always be open to new ideas and information.

Continuous improvement is of utmost importance. Improve 1% daily, and don’t let inertia or complacency become your constraint.

Should you look for the ideal productivity stack?

The ideal or best stack doesn’t exist. You have to deal with the actual world and use the existing applications with their limitations. Does it mean you must satisfy yourself with a stack once you set it? Not at all. Applications are evolving. They get more features over time. In the last months, most productivity applications implemented AI in one way or another. Some only implemented fancy features that don’t significantly increase your productivity, but others upgraded their game to the next level. Your needs are evolving. Your stack is helpful only if it is in accordance with your needs. Re-evaluate your stack periodically in light of your needs at that moment.

When you feel that your present stack is holding you back or not solving a pain, go and look at other applications. Never remain too long with a stack that prevents you from using your full potential.If you find some that solve your issue, then evaluate if the benefit of the new application in upgrading your productivity is worth the burden of transferring data and getting used to the new way of working.If you feel it is worth it, then be flexible and change your stack. But take care not to fall into the trap of permanently searching for a solution that doesn’t exist.

Another point: better to an imperfect stack than no stack if you need one. So start with something and experiment until you find a flow that satisfies your needs.

How did I organize my Stack?

This is only an example for your inspiration. I was often changing the applications I was using until the beginning of this year when I declared a pause and set my productivity stack as follows:

A planner

This is the application in which I spend most of my time. It is always open on my desktop and is one of the four applications in the dock on my phone. This is the application I use to time-block my tasks during the day by dragging a task to place it on my calendar. I also use time-boxing: I place a segment of time on my calendar and select in my list of tasks which tasks I want to execute during that segment. This is also the application that supports my routine for:

• Setting weekly objectives

• Weekly planning

• Weekly retrospectives — with my PKM application.

• Daily planning

I usually plan only the first three days of the week, as I still plan too much work each day. In this way, I have the last two days to finish what I didn’t manage to execute in the first three days. I am working to improve my planning process to avoid overbooking myself, but I am not yet where I would like to be. The application I use for that is Sunsama. It is an expensive application, but, in my opinion, it is worth what I am paying for. I tried others in the past, but none offered me so many integrations and easiness of planning. Note: I am also closely monitoring Routine application development. As a much younger application, it does not have all the bells and whistles of Sunsama, but it shows great potential.

A project management application

As a product and project management freelancer, I usually manage several projects for several clients. For the time being, I have more than 60 projects in progress. Most are small and take a few days and tasks to complete, but some are huge and can spread over months or years.I need an application that can store in one place documents, minutes of meetings, and progress notes that I can share with my clients. This application must also integrate with the planner to supply the task to my planning process. I have chosen to use Notion for that. Often people refer to Notion as a note-taking application. But I never managed to use Notion for note-taking. It’s too cumbersome for me. However, it performs exceptionally well for storing information and monitoring projects. I even use Notion to manage the administrative part of my companies and foundation. I use it to store my expenses on each of my companies and the invoicing. In this respect, it replaces additional software I used to prepare and manage invoices. As an additional benefit, Notion allows to create in a few minutes a static website to be shared with other contributors to a project or clients. It is convenient, quick, and accessible. Also, databases are a superpower of Notion. Furthermore, the new templates for projects and tasks are fantastic, but I have issues navigating my tasks and choosing the ones to execute in this configuration. Consequently, I decided to use a task management system, but when lists of tasks are to be shared with other contributors, I still keep them inside Notion.

A task Manager

I decided recently to keep my tasks outside of Notion, except for the case of Shared lists of tasks. I decided to go back to Todoist. I organize myself in Sprints of one week. I select tasks to be done each week, and only these tasks appear in my planner to be added to my schedule. The Todoist interface lets me quickly review the lists and select which one to allocate to a sprint. During the weekly review, it also allows me to detect which tasks are no longer needed and to delete them. I use labels to materialize the current sprint and the next one. During the week, I allocate tasks to the next sprint, and during the planning session on Sunday, I transfer the selected tasks to the current sprint label, and then I can allocate them to days of the week in the planner.

A calendar

Having a planner application means that you already have a calendar application. However, I still miss some specific features, including creating links to enable people to book a time with me. This is a growing need that I have. I began to use this during the COVID period, and I now use this feature most often.I always prefer to send a link to someone and allow him to book a time that suits him than to try with a back and forth of emails to find a time suitable for both of us.I update my calendar carefully so the options proposed are accurate. The system proposes only meeting for the next day or later (to avoid getting a meeting for the next hour and miss it because I haven’t seen the notification).I could use the calendar of my planner and only add a system for creating links, but the calendar system of Sunsama still needs some improvements ( integration of MS Teams), and I need to be able to create links specific to one use case. My choice went to Mayday and Cal.com. I also tried Cron in the past, but the lack of integration with iCloud and Outlook calendars made it too painful to use.I use Cal.com to create generic links for some marketing materials that don’t change so often and in email signatures. I use Mayday to manage the details of my calendars and create single-use links. Those links’ advantages are that the event title can be more meaningful.

A note-taking application

I stated previously that I never managed to use Notion as a note-taking application. For me, a note-taking application must use markdown, be easy and quick to use, allow writing in a simplified UI with no distraction, and integrate with Grammarly. The notes I take are not aimed at remaining long in the application. They are quickly transferred to the PKM, Notion, or used as blog entries. I have been using Bear 1.0 since its release and tested Bear 2.0. This is my note-taking application of choice. It is easy, simple, and powerful enough. It uses markdown and allows a simple organization of the note in progress with tags. Furthermore, starting a new note on iPhone and Mac is quick. This is the second application from my productivity stack that is always present in the dock of my phone.

A Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) application

The last application of my stack is also often considered a note-taking application, but I exclusively use it to organize my PKM. It is used to create the temporary and permanent notes I use in my Personal Knowledge Management system. I am curious and always hungry for new knowledge, so I store a lot of information that I refine later on. I need a system that allows me to write notes quickly, capture website content, and will enable me to make links between notes. I first organized my PKM in Notion. I suppose it made sense, as I already used Notion for project management. I was limiting the number of applications in my stack. However, the structure that was so useful when organizing projects was too rigid for a PKM working for me. I soon hit a wall: information was difficult to link and resurface. So, I decided to adopt another application. I chose Mem. Mem allowed me to organize the PKM loosely but still be able to resurface data via a search. It can also surface links between my notes that I have not seen previously.

An email client

We all say that we would like to get rid of emails, but it remains the cheapest and easiest way to communicate. Over the years, I have used Spark, Outlook, and Airmail. But I finally opted for Canary Mail. It offers me enough functionalities and has additional handy security features.

Conclusion

This stack is adapted to the way I organize my work. It may not work for you. But it could be used as an inspiration. This article can save you some time when you are preparing your stack. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments.

I’m thrilled to announce that the Blue Marble Project has officially launched on June 21st. This online platform is dedicated to building a community that is committed to creating a sustainable lifestyle and way of doing business. With the tools provided by Blue Marble, this community can undertake projects that will make a significant impact toward a more sustainable future.

The Blue Marble Project is a revolutionary solution to the pressing problem of environmental sustainability. It uses the latest blockchain technology to empower individuals with the knowledge and tools to make sustainable lifestyle choices. It also provides companies with a way to make their sustainability claims verifiable by the community and, therefore, credible. This project ensures that every voice is heard and that every decision counts. With the Blue Marble Project, we can all play a part in creating a more sustainable future for ourselves and our planet.

The Blue Marble Project stands out from other social networks due to its exceptional approach of recognizing users for their contributions and guaranteeing them ownership of their data. The blue Marble approach promotes transparency, privacy, and open collaboration.

As a foundation, Blue Marble has no shareholders to impose growth at the expense of the users. Instead, they offer complete transparency on how donations are being utilized. Donors keep their say over the spending of the money at all times.

In conclusion, Blue Marble is an exciting initiative that offers a unique solution to the challenges we face in building a sustainable future. By joining this community and platform, we can all contribute to making a difference and creating a better world for ourselves and future generations. Let’s take this opportunity to work together and make a positive impact on our planet.

Do you want to learn more about the Blue Marble project and how you can get involved? Check out our website for more information. Have you already made up your mind? Join your forces to ours today and begin to make a difference. If you’re ready to take action, please consider making a donation to support the project. Every contribution helps us move closer to our shared vision of a better world.

Originally published at https://www.fundatia-ananke.org.

We prepared the Blue Marble project for you and hope you will love it.

Waiting for the launch, here is the project manifesto:

We empower people to create a more sustainable version of their lifestyle and way of doing business.

People want a more sustainable lifestyle and to make an impact but don’t know where to start. Blue Marble’s decentralized autonomous community allows individuals to collaborate on sustainability projects, creating a more sustainable way of life and business practices. So that people can be proud of the positive impact they have on the world and of the legacy they will leave for future generations.

Sustainability is the ultimate challenge for humanity.

As a global community, we must confront the sustainability challenge with urgency and determination. The consequences of ignoring the warnings of scientists are now impossible to ignore. In response, the United Nations established the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, but progress has been slow. The fate of our planet and its inhabitants rests on our ability to achieve these goals, but we face significant obstacles.

• Gender equality is more at risk than ever before.

• Poverty continues to plague many parts of the world. Climate change is accelerating.

• Leaders and businesspeople pay lip service to equality while failing to take meaningful action.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the inequalities in our healthcare systems and highlighted the need for a more equitable society.

• Yet, in many parts of the world, girls and women are still denied access to education and opportunities.

We must acknowledge that the erosion of trust in our institutions and leaders is a significant obstacle to progress. Younger generations have lost faith in media, governments, and corporations, feeling betrayed by their elders. It is time for a new approach, one that prioritizes the needs of the planet and its inhabitants over short-term profits and individual gain. One that challenges once and for all the status quo.

Centralized decision-making is driving us nowhere.

Achieving a sustainable way of life is not just a choice but a necessity for our survival as a species. However, progress toward sustainability cannot solely rely on the actions of governments and corporations. It must be the collective efforts of individuals and communities.

Governments are limited by their jurisdiction and the short-sightedness of their re-election cycles. We need a long-term and global approach that transcends political boundaries to address sustainability concerns.

On the other hand, corporations prioritize profits above all else, which often conflicts with the interests of the environment and the people. Therefore, their efforts toward Environment and Social Governance have been insufficient and evaluated based on their immediate financial impact.

As individuals and communities, it is up to us to take action towards a sustainable future. We must hold our leaders accountable and push for comprehensive and effective policies. We must also make conscious choices in our daily lives and support businesses that prioritize sustainability. Together, people can create a better world for themselves and future generations.

We are building the enabling tools for decentralized autonomous decision-making by the people.

We need to listen back to the stakeholders of humankind.

The future of humankind and our planet rests in the hands of every individual. We are all responsible for taking action toward sustainability and cannot do it alone. It’s time to empower ourselves and regain control of our decisions. By embracing decentralized decision-making, we can create a new dynamic and give voice to every person. Let’s join forces and work towards a more sustainable future where everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s actions count. Together, we can make a difference and create a world our children will be proud to inherit.

Technology is a tool for emancipation.

With the advent of advanced technology, we have witnessed a remarkable breakthrough in organizational structures. Technology has become a powerful, liberating tool, enabling every participant to express their opinions without fear and facilitating decision-making through consensus, taking every voice into account. This new organizational model, known as DAO — Decentralized Autonomous Organization, utilizes blockchain technology to create a safe and collaborative environment for everyone. For the first time in history, people can make decisions and take action, becoming the masters of their own destiny. The power of DAO lies in its ability to decentralize decision-making, ensuring that no single individual or group has excessive control. This empowers individuals to participate in decision-making processes and ensures every voice is heard. As a result, DAO revolutionizes how organizations operate, creating a more inclusive and democratic world for us all.

DAO changes our relationship with governance.

The emergence of DAO has revolutionized the way we approach governance. Gone are the days of relying on a select group of individuals to make decisions on our behalf. With DAO, the power is returned to the people, allowing for a more democratic and transparent process. This shift has not only solidified our freedom but has also broken our dependence on centralized authorities. The days of serving the interests of a select few are over, and it’s time for everyone to have a voice.

Breaking the Shackles of Short-Term Thinking.

The vicious cycle of short-term thinking is a threat to the sustainability of our future. We must break free from this chain and embrace a vision of hope and progress. To achieve this, we must shift power from shareholders to stakeholders. This will enable us to escape the tyranny of profit-seeking and prioritize the needs of all individuals. By flattening hierarchies and empowering decentralized decision-making, we create a platform for people to express their humanity and contribute to a brighter future. This is the ultimate dream of every constitution in history, and now is the time to make it a reality.

We are delivering the Blue Marble project.

The Blue Marble project is a visionary initiative that aims to create a community of like-minded individuals dedicated to promoting and practicing sustainability.

• It is powered by cutting-edge DAO technology that enables each member to have a say in the decision-making process and collaborate towards a greater goal — a sustainable lifestyle and way of doing business.

• With a transparent and decentralized application, the Blue Marble project offers a unique platform for individuals to connect, share ideas, and pool resources toward creating a better world.

• By fostering a network of competencies, passions, and resources, it empowers each member to positively impact sustainability and witness the ripple effect of their actions over time.

• This project offers a unique opportunity for individuals to take control of their own destinies and actively contribute towards creating a more sustainable future.

• With the autonomy to select and execute sustainability-related projects, each member can create momentum that inspires others to join the cause and make a lasting and growing difference in the world.

By joining the Blue Marble project, you will be part of a movement making a real difference. So don’t wait any longer. Let’s make a change today!

Learn more by visiting our foundation documents. Visit our site and join the project tomorrow

Notes:

Fundatia Ananke is a visionary European foundation committed to driving positive change in the world. Their mission is to inspire and empower individuals and businesses to adopt sustainable practices that benefit the environment, society, and the economy. By embracing the principles of an open mind, open source, open access to science and technologies, and decentralization, they lead the charge toward a more equitable and resilient future.

The Blue Marble is a photograph of Earth taken on December 7, 1972, from a distance of around 29,000 kilometers (18,000 miles) from the planet’s surface. Taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon, it is one of the most reproduced images in history. To the astronauts, the slightly gibbous Earth had the appearance and size of a glass marble, hence the name.

Who is Fundatia Ananke?

Fundatia Ananke is an exceptional European foundation that is dedicated to making a positive impact on the world. Their mission is to encourage and empower individuals and businesses to adopt sustainable practices that benefit the environment, society, and the economy. They are at the forefront of promoting a more equitable and resilient future by embracing the principles of an open mind, open source, open access to science and technologies, and decentralization. The work they do is truly inspiring and makes a significant difference in the world.

What is the Blue Marble project?

The Blue Marble project is a revolutionary movement that aims to inspire a community of individuals who share a common goal of promoting and practicing sustainability. This initiative advocates for a decentralized approach that empowers individuals and communities to take ownership of their actions, leading to a more equitable and resilient future. With the emergence of DAO technology, decentralized decision-making is now possible, and this helps break free from short-term thinking while prioritizing the needs of everyone. The Blue Marble project is a visionary initiative that fosters a network of competencies, passions, and resources to positively impact sustainability and create a better world. Join us today and be part of this groundbreaking movement to transform the world!

Why are we making the Blue Marble project?

Because Sustainability is the ultimate challenge for humanity.

As a global community, we are facing a critical sustainability challenge that requires urgent and unwavering attention. The warnings of scientists cannot be ignored any longer, and the consequences of inaction are too dire to contemplate.

We must recognize that the erosion of trust in our institutions and leaders is a significant obstacle to progress. The younger generations are feeling disillusioned and let down by the media, governments, and corporations, and this has led to a loss of faith in our collective ability to effect change.

It is imperative that we adopt a new approach that places the needs of the planet and its inhabitants at the forefront, ahead of short-term profits and personal gain. We need to challenge the status quo and take bold steps to ensure a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

What problem does Blue Marble try to solve?

People want a more sustainable lifestyle and to make an impact but don’t know where to start. Blue Marble’s decentralized autonomous community allows individuals to collaborate on sustainability projects, creating a more sustainable way of life and business practices. So that people can be proud of the positive impact they have on the world and of the legacy they will leave for future generations

Why are we launching on June 21?

June 21 is the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere. The summer solstice marks the most extended period of daylight in the calendar year, as well as the official beginning of summer. The Ancient Greek celebration of this date as the Kronia festival marked a momentary freedom from class restraints where enslaved people and lords celebrated together to mimic Kronos’ “Golden Age” of equality and peace. It is a perfectly logical date to celebrate decentralization and sustainability.

Why is it named Blue Marble?

The Blue Marble is a photograph of Earth taken on December 7, 1972, from a distance of around 29,000 kilometers (18,000 miles) from the planet’s surface. Taken by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft on its way to the Moon, it is one of the most reproduced images in history. To the astronauts, the slightly gibbous Earth had the appearance and size of a glass marble, hence the name. This photograph made people understand that our planet’s resources are limited and must be protected.

Visit www.fundatia-ananke.org

There are obvious upsides.

The integration of AI is set to revolutionize various domains, leading to increased productivity and new automations. In medicine, AI can detect tumors that would otherwise go unnoticed in RMN exams, alerting doctors to take action at very early stages. Additionally, AI can enhance the autonomy of electric cars by managing battery life more efficiently, making them more adaptable to different driving conditions. Autonomous driving is another area where AI can contribute to safer roads. Beyond this, AI can be an invaluable learning tool for children, providing access to a wealth of knowledge. In the corporate setting, AI can simplify information retrieval and improve decision-making, leading to greater efficiency. Furthermore, AI can provide 24/7 customer support by responding to requests promptly. The potential for AI applications is vast, with new possibilities emerging daily.

As with all new technology, there are risks.

It’s essential to consider both the benefits and risks of AI. Focusing solely on one side is not being truthful with ourselves. Unfortunately, we already see some of the negative consequences of powerful AI. For instance, fake photos showing the arrest of public figures can be created in seconds using AI-powered software on a simple notebook. This is a significant advancement from just a few years ago when it took weeks and required massive computing power and expert engineers. While the results are impressive, the danger is that these fake photos can be used to spread false information. For example, a deep fake of a CEO making a sexist or racist declaration could be created, causing their company’s stock price to plummet and their reputation to be permanently damaged. They will not even have a chance to contest. It’s becoming difficult for users to determine what is true, especially as this technology is still in its infancy and will further improve in the following months. Moreover, these technologies make it easier and cheaper to manipulate people, which is a severe concern to our democracies that have already faced disinformation to manipulate elections. With the increasing ease of using AI comes a rise in misuse across various industries. For example, an Indian court recently questioned Chat-GPT to obtain legal insights for a case they were handling. However, it is dubious that this practice aligns with the principles of a fair trial, and it may put at risk the public’s confidence in the justice system (In a first, Punjab and Haryana HC turns to ChatGPT for view on bail in a murder case).

The responsibility of AI companies in the use of their products.

There is no legal basis to hold AI companies accountable for any harm caused by misusing their technology. I don’t know whether there is a logical basis for that. Nevertheless, AI companies should be proactive in recognizing the potential risks that may stem from the widespread use of their tools. By releasing educational resources, they can help the public identify and prevent any malign use of their technology. In addition, they must release the guidelines for using their technologies without waiting for governments to rule.

As technological advancements progress, differentiating between genuine and falsified information will become increasingly challenging. Therefore, AI companies should strive to uphold higher ethical standards by providing adequate education to the public regarding the potential consequences of this new technology.

AI companies tend to portray their tools as magic with little insight into their limitations and risks. By investing in educational resources, these companies can bridge this gap and help people better understand the technology they are using.

The cost of creating educational materials is insignificant compared to the profits made by these companies. Additionally, they could use this as a marketing strategy to attract more customers.

The quality of training data is critical.

The quality of the AI’s output largely depends on the quality of the data used for its training. Therefore, training the AI on high-quality data to obtain unbiased and comprehensive answers is crucial. The importance of a good prompt cannot be overstated, as it significantly affects the accuracy of the answer. However, the AI’s responses will be incorrect without good-quality training data.

Risks of training on biased data

It is crucial that the training data used for AI is unbiased to prevent the AI from supplying biased answers to users. If bias is present in the training data, the AI will continuously expose the user to it, potentially influencing the behavior of influenceable people. The impact of a biased AI on young children’s minds could be terrible, similar to having a sexist or racist teacher at home. Children may internalize the bias and adapt their behavior, leading to the development of hate speech and discriminatory tendencies. Furthermore, using biased data in AI could increase the risk of radicalization and allow for the influence of young minds by extremist groups. Training an AI on specifically selected data makes it possible to obtain a manipulative AI, which will be more dangerous because users will perceive it as usual. Therefore, it is essential to educate people not to take AI answers at face value. Unfortunately, today people take the result of search engines at face value and pure truth. There are few chances that, without extensive education, they act differently with AI.

Training an AI on private data

Considering the potential privacy risks involved in training AI on personal data is essential. Such breaches can pose severe threats to individuals, leaving them vulnerable to attack. For example, if hackers were to obtain sufficient information about a person through an AI, it could be used for social engineering and lead to unauthorized access to their bank accounts. People have the right to be informed if an AI utilizes their private data.

Is the EU regulation a solution

The European Union is drafting a regulation requiring AI companies to disclose certain information, such as the source of their training data and any copyrighted sources used. This proposal has caused some frustration among major AI companies. For example, during a conference in London on May 24, 2023, Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, expressed his concern about the regulation and even threatened to cease business in the EU.

However, it is worth noting that currently, no AI company provides any level of transparency regarding the data used for training. This issue requires a global solution rather than just local regulation. Implementing a worldwide obligation for AI companies to disclose information about their training methods would be beneficial. But how such a law can be applied and compliance verified will remain questionable. In any case, the industry would benefit from a code of ethics to regulate its practices.

Open source is part of the solution.

The open-source method is highly beneficial as it allows a community of developers to inspect the code of a project, such as an AI, to determine whether it is designed to serve its advertised goals, cause harm, or present weaknesses or flaws. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, initially benefited from the support of the open-source community when it was open source. However, they have closed their source code and abandoned their transparency values by failing to share their code and training data with the open-source community.

As the world moves towards Web 3.0 and users demand more transparency, privacy, and data ownership, AI companies must adopt Web 3.0 values and become more transparent. A “trade secret” or “intellectual property” claim cannot justify a lack of transparency of the training data or the code. Protecting humanity must be a top priority, which requires ensuring the high quality of AI before considering profit.

It is essential to have transparency about the data used to train the AI. The training data must be auditable and traceable, and the developers’ community must be able to flag a project trained on incorrect or biased data. For example, an AI project that opens its code and training data for inspection could be labeled “open” to show that it is safer to use. On the contrary, projects refusing to open their training data for review should be flagged, and users must be informed about the risk they are taking when using this AI.

We must acknowledge that preparing high-quality data for AI training is expensive.

Developing a high-quality training data set can be a complex and costly process, but ensuring the resultant AI’s excellence is crucial. Any shortcuts taken for the sake of an expedited release are unacceptable. Agile principles may not be appropriate in this domain, as correcting any issues post-release could be too expensive and time-consuming. The launch sets the standard for the AI’s quality. Although the practicalities of training data inspection are yet to be decided upon, open-source methodologies have already demonstrated their effectiveness. Therefore, taking inspiration from them could be a valuable initial step. The Asilomar AI principles (AI Principles — Future of Life Institute) must be implemented in all AI projects without delay. Such principles are essential for promoting collaboration and preventing manipulation. Applying these principles should be open to review by the community of developers.

Conclusion

Humanity can determine global threats and suitable solutions as a self-determining decentralized autonomous organization. The significance of engineering and science must be considered as they offer solutions to sustainability challenges and aid in improving our way of living. However, it is vital to adopt strong ethics to prevent the misuse of technology, which can have detrimental effects on social and sustainability domains. Establishing a balance between progress and ethics is crucial, requiring collaboration, transparency, and trust from all layers of the population.

Unfortunately, we made a significant mistake with climate change by trading our future for quick progress toward a comfortable lifestyle. It’s time to embed safeguards while developing and using AI to avoid making the same mistake. The focus should be on planning for long-term progress instead of next quarter’s profit. This could be achieved through transparency and decentralization, as centralized AI management is unacceptable.

Let’s work together to ensure the harmonious development of AI as a fantastic tool serving humanity.

Originally published at https://www.fundatia-ananke.org.