Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”

Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another: 

• Capitol Records “Severs Ties” With AI Rapper FN Meka, Issues Apology After Facing Criticism for “Gross Stereotypes” – Pitchfork. “Last week, I gave a talk in Berlin on the Civilization Stack. I used an AI to generate all the art on my slides. I definitely stood on the shoulders of uncredited, unpaid artists, whose work was grist for the algorithmic mill. Algorithms aren’t people (yet!) and don’t have rights. So what are we to make of an AI Rapper, trained on the lyrics and music of artists? How does it identify? Is it allowed to use words that are racial slurs? Oh, what a tangled web we weave.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• “The fog of war”*…. – (Roughly) Daily. “New to me: The Battle of Karánsebes is one of the dumbest fights in history. Two parts of the same army attack one another. This seems like an excellent metaphor for all sorts of things, from political infighting to humans shelling nuclear reactors when they should be worried about teaming up to survive a planet that’s increasingly both on fire and underwater.” (Alistair for Mitch).
• The Big [Censored] Theory – The Pudding. “The weird world of Chinese censorship of American sitcoms.” (Hugh for Alistair).
• As Colorado River Dries, the U.S. Teeters on the Brink of Larger Water Crisis – ProPublica. “What’s your preferred existential crisis? Lack of water is a pretty fundamental one.” (Hugh for Mitch).
• What if you could sing in your favorite musician’s voice? – Holly Herndon – TED2022. “One of the things that I most look forward to at the annual TED event is the technology that gets previewed (usually before too many others have seen it). This isn’t exactly that, but it did open my eyes (and ears) to a new world of creativity, opportunity, art, music, and – most importantly – legal questions. What if technology allowed you to sing like any other musician in the world? What if that musician wasn’t one individual, but an AI algorithm tuned to a voice that is pleasant or recognizable? As a tag-along to Alistair’s link above, this TED Talk will only create a million more questions in a music business world that sees a constant barrage of lawsuits based on music that was created in tribute to music that came before it. While you’re at it, please do check out Holly Herndon (and Holly Plus). Get ready… this is jaw-dropping…” (Mitch for Alistair).
• Can the American Mall Survive? – The New Republic. “I’m a sucker for a massive American shopping mall. I’m a Mall Rat. I love the smell of commerce in the morning. The crazy thing is, that I don’t buy much. I just love the feeling of wandering malls (weird, I know). And so, prior to Covid there was so much conversation around the ability for shopping malls to survive in an Amazon/eCommerce world. That got magnified and multiplied when the world got shut down. So, how are malls doing? Well, as you might expect, it depends on a lot of things… like where you live, the stores that are inside, what else is happening there (besides shopping), and much more. Here’s an in-depth look at the future of the shopping mall. I’m rooting for them!” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.