that AI exhibition was a lot of fun
I had not played like this in ages
Hey parents!
A few weeks ago, I spotted this AI ‘after dark’ exhibition called “Adventures in AI” - supported by Anthropic, Claude’s parent. I bought a ticket without thinking much. I am not sure what got me, adventures or AI. I was altogether pumped to spend time with myself (I am of very good company!), excited to dig into the eye of the storm, and trying not to expect much, as most previous exhibitions I went to disappointed me for being so flat and boring.
Turns out my old time buddy
joined me last minute. We landed there at 6pm when the doors opened, andI think we need more of this. Adults, children, all of us.
👆 Max and I playing with a freaking impenetrable mirror
👆 Max and I brainstorming with a friendly philosopher from the Santa Cruz University whether it is OK to use AI to write a love letter? Is it?
Fun fact: he told us ‘philosophy’ is not a very popular word in schools and universities in the US, they’d rather use ‘ideas’ to describe these moments of questioning oneself. Interesting 🙃
👆 my scrunchie is a donut. You have four hours.
👆 music grouping exploration was extremely exciting: see that map made of thousands of dots? each of them is a song or music, and they’re gathered in nods of similar genres. Such an unusual way to explore music, I’d love to have his at home!
👆 me voice-prompting (in french, had to see if it worked with other languages too!) “Il était une fois, dans une forêt d’ananas, un immense oiseau bleu” ; and then it appeared on the screen, that immense blue bird in a pineapple forest. I also printed a ticket as a souvenir. Artistic co-creation 🪄
👆 should I admit I got completely addicted here? “Think like a computer” was the most thrilling (and frustrating!) part of the exhibition. Do you play that game with your children : think about something, and with only yes or no questions, I will find what it is? That is the game. Except animals only. For each submission, the machine gives you a % of how close you are to spotting the right animal. Simple, right? It is FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE to think in vectors like machines do. If you don’t believe me, make a guess with what you know above, I’ll see you in the notes to share the answer 😎
👆 another hilarious one : humans against the machine. See Pictionary game? This time against the machine. Four human participants: one draws, three must guess. The machine plays too: if it guesses right, humans lose. So fun!
***
AI doesn’t always have to be heavy. Understanding technology is often more persistant, stickier, through play. I found this exhibition to be a very smart, whole-body, immersive experience to connect with and to question AI.
Play makes you feel alive, connected, energised. It was such a singular moment, shared with a good friend, too.
If you are in San Francisco, run for it! Shows continues until September 14th! 🚀👇
what’s up with your podcast
After a few weeks crossing the desert of faith in June, the engine slowly started in July and I am grateful I got to hear (and record, don’t you worry 🔴😎) the journeys of three enthralling couples this past month!
I can feel the momentum is back, and this, believe me, is an immense source of joy, excitement - and fear to lose it, too!
🎙️ Don’t miss the next episode, coming out this Thursday, with Carina and
, two marvellous parents I came across here, on Substack.👋 if you landed here inadvertently and are wondering what's happening -- well, we're a bunch of intentional parents exploring what's best for our kids.
episode 3 • unlimited screen time, with Lindl &
episode 2 • treating children as whole people, embracing loneliness and the growth mindset, with
& Eamonepisode 1 • raising a trilingual, equanimous and social child, with Sandra & Yotam
discussion with people around the world… and the need for IRL, too!
Digital-wise, you know, I have Substack ❤️
On my last evening in San Francisco, I think I found my physical crowd.
I got kindly invited to join
’s community dinner, where , and Michael Li gathered club builders to celebrates wins, hang out with one another, dance, and share their own progress and next launches. If you are thinking about gathering people physically, regularly, around a specific theme, check out what they’re building.AI x children
🐣 baby grok
heard about Baby Grok, Elon’s recent move on AI? what does it say about how interesting our children’ attention is? what is this new model built for exactly? what use cases?
👥 meet Chat-GPT’s new ‘study mode’
get help with homework or test prep… you can now dig into a problem, step by step instead of just getting the answer. OpenAI built this study mode with college students in mind, to answer the recurring question (who said fear) :
how do we ensure [Chat-GPT] is used to support real learning, and doesn’t just offer solutions without helping students make sense of them?
study mode is available to logged in users on Free, Plus, Pro, Team, with availability in ChatGPT Edu coming in the next few weeks.
next for me 👉 investigate what’s cooking up at the SCALE Initiative at Stanford University’s Accelerator for Learning, where experts study and share how AI tools influence learning outcomes in areas like K-12 education (an initiative supported by OpenAI)
📚 also, too many inspiring talks made me do a tiny bit of shopping. oops.
See ya on Thursday!
Mathilde
this reminds me how 'play' might be the most powerful force in this world (well... after 'love' maybe <3) => "I found this exhibition to be a very smart, whole-body, immersive experience to connect with and to question AI"