Andy Matuschak posts
Posts: 132
Files: 173
In praise of the particular, and other lessons from 2023
Publicly available URL: https://andymatuschak.org/2023See also previous annual reflections: on 2022, 2021, 2020.Systematic output; one-off methodsIt’s so tempting to conflate aims with methods.I’m trying to invent systems that work for lots of people in lots of contexts. My instinct, then, is to focus the process of invention on scalability and generality. If I’ve got an idea, I’ll usually...
Demo: an early look at BookBridge
There's a funny trouble in my work: I've been doing all these experiments around augmenting the reading experience with dynamic media. But, as it happens, I hate doing serious reading on screens! Most readers I interview feel the same way, to varying degrees.Derrek Chow and I have been experimenting with bringing the digital into physical reading experiences, and the physical into digital ...
Initial results from highlight-driven prototype
I’ve been working on a new augmented reading environment centered around highlighting as the core interaction. The idea is to give readers a magic wand with two unusual “powers”: You can point the wand at anything and say “make sure I know this.” You can wave the wand over a section and ask “did I miss anything important?”Of course, those are aspirational framings. My current design ...
(Recording) Discussion: AI-generated ad-hoc UIs and malleable software; Saturday, November 25th @ 9AM PST
Thank you all for a very interesting discussion! See original post for premise.Please don't share this recording publicly.And here's the chat transcript with some links which were mentioned:00:20:19.962,00:20:22.962Taylor Rogalski: quip had a nice chat-as-changelog-alongside-artifact pattern https://www.smartsheet.com/sites/default/files/2020-02/5cba0c3ca6e1a17be8045cc0.jpg00:27:12.684,00:...
Discussion: AI-generated ad-hoc UIs and malleable software; Saturday, November 25th @ 9AM PST
tl;dr: Join me (via Google Meet) this Saturday, November 25, at 9 AM PST [GCal] for a discussion of the intersections between two fascinating research agendas for the future of personal computing: malleable software, which aspires to let users compose and tailor interfaces; and AI-generated ad-hoc UIs, which aspires to let users generate interfaces anew, on-demand.One of my favorite current lines ...
From my notes: first impressions of Humane's Ai Pin
I spent some time this weekend writing notes around the Ai Pin and recent related announcements in AI-centric personal computing. This isn't a proper essay—just some rough notes—but I thought enough of you might be interested that I'd share.HumaneFrom Imran and Bethany and Ken Kocienda and friends, a new personal computer which de-emphasizes screens and direct interaction in favor of U...
On breadth vs. depth in learning
There’s a funny downside to doing all this research on memory and comprehension—a sort of loss of innocence. I’ve viscerally internalized just how poorly I’ll understand and retain complex ideas when I read in my default “casual” gear. And I’ve learned something about methods which produce deeper and sturdier understandings: memory systems, active reading practices, elaborative notes...
Highlight-driven practice and comprehension support
I’ve been wrestling with a new insight this summer: when people struggle to recall and use what they’ve read after a few months, it’s often because they didn’t really understand in the first place. The lapse feels like forgetting, but people often can’t tell the difference. I’ve argued that “books don’t work” because people seem to rapidly forget almost all of what they read. But...
Studying myself studying linear algebra
After the past few months digging into research on problem-solving practice and reading comprehension, I felt lost in a fog of abstraction. I needed to ground all those ideas in something real and concrete. Are these all just threshold effects? Do these problems basically just go away with moderate reading strategy skills and appropriately-leveled problem sets? If so, what issues remain?So this mo...
(Recording) Seminar: the 2006/2007 constructivist academic flame war; Sunday, August 27 @ 1PM PDT
Thank you all for a very interesting discussion about Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark's attack on discovery/inquiry learning. I feel I understand these papers several notches better now!(Please don't share this video publicly)
Seminar: the 2006/2007 constructivist academic flame war; Sunday, August 27 @ 1PM PDT
With the LLM genie out of the bottle, I've found myself often drawn into conversations about The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer and similar dreams of futuristic learning environments which emphasize inquiry-based learning, exploratory learning, problem-based learning, curiosity-driven learning, and so on.These conversations have naturally led me back to a famously controversial paper: ...
Initial experiments in self-explanation support
In 2019, I argued that “books don’t work” because people seem to forget a surprising fraction of what they read. No wonder it’s so hard to learn complex topics. But in the past few months, I’ve come to believe that what seems like “forgetting” in these cases is often “never having really understood in the first place.” And that when people find themselves unable to draw on what t...
(Recording) Design discussion: Squidgies (language learning tool); Wednesday 07/19, 3PM PDT
Here's the recording of our design discussion today with the creators of Squidgies, a language learning system. I want to congratulate the team on a compelling project. It's fascinating to see people so dramatically reinterpreting interaction models using large language models, not just as a chat interface but as behind-the-scenes infrastructure powering many elements of their design.
Live quantum mechanics study session with Dwarkesh Patel
I mentioned in my latest essay that my recent thinking about reading comprehension was inspired in part by recording a live study session with Dwarkesh Patel. That video is now live—enjoy! We also recorded a traditional interview, full of Dwarkesh's trademark probing questions.The study video is unscripted. You'll see me making lots of mistakes, some of which I don't catch during our...
Design discussion: Squidgies (language learning tool); Wednesday 07/19, 3PM PDT
Experimenting with a new type of event!In April's office hours, Bill Roberts presented an unusual and interesting new language learning system called Squidgies. I offered to circle back for a longer discussion of some of his design ideas and problems.I'm interested in the challenge of transmitting tacit knowledge like design methods, so I asked Bill if I could invite you folks to join in a...
Reading comprehension and memory systems
One surprising difficulty in “making it easy for people to remember what they read” is that often, for large swaths of the text, people never really knew what was said in the first place.Long-term memory doesn’t enter the picture here. The problem is that the reader’s eyes skipped like stones across the surface of the page. They never processed those words beyond visual decoding, if that. ...
(Recording) Seminar: Mark Weiser's "The computer for the 21st century" and ubiquitous computing (1991)
We were fortunate to have some very thoughtful participants with some very relevant knowledge. Thanks to them for an interesting discussion on Weiser's classic paper.(Please don't share this video publicly)
Seminar: Mark Weiser's "The computer for the 21st century" and ubiquitous computing (1991); June 27 @4PM PDT
The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it. …There is more information available at our fingertips during a walk in the woods than in any computer system, yet people find a walk among trees relaxing and computers frustrating. Machines that fit the human environment instead of forcing hum...
Some initial rough notes on the Vision Pro
I don't normally send new working notes out here, but I figure this might be of interest to a number of you. The situation is still very much evolving, of course! This isn't a proper "Letter", so no audio…Vision ProThe hardware seems faintly unbelievable—a computer as powerful as Apple’s current mid-tier laptops (M2), plus a dizzying sensor/camera array with dedicated co-proc...
Fluid practice for fluid understanding
Early, rough thinking, but perhaps useful for others interested in the design of learning environments. Assumes detailed familiarity with memory systems.When everything goes right, my memory practice totally transforms the experience of diving into a new topic. I’ll feel like I can keep turning a crank, and my understanding will just ratchet up and up, durably and inevitably. But quite a lot of ...
AI ethics letter now publicly available
A number of you mentioned to me that you wanted to be able to refer to my AI ethics essay in public conversation. I've revised it and made it publicly available here: https://andymatuschak.org/personal-ai-ethicsIn case you haven't read it yet, I've also re-recorded the audio for the revised manuscript.
Ethics of AI-based invention: a personal inquiry
Hofstadter’s Law wryly captures my experience of difficult work: “It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” He suggested that law in 1979, alongside some pessimistic observations about chess-playing AI: “…people used to estimate that it would be ten years until a computer (or program) was world champion. But after ten years had passed, i...
Recording of office hours from 2023-04-23
We discussed: conceptual understanding through connections; conjecture about metrics for feedback on memory system expertise; feedback on a novel language learning interface; feedback on a novel quantified self data collection interface.It was nice to discuss work in progress!(Please don't share the link to this video.)
Office hours / Q&A tomorrow, Sunday 04/23, 9AM PDT
Hi, all. It's been a while since I've hosted an office hours / Q&A, so I thought I'd offer one tomorrow [GCal]. Let's discuss your projects or any other questions you might have. Join via Google Meet here.[Edit: recording here]Repeating past details on office hours: At least for now, there are no reservations. Just show up; we'll form a queue. In the fashion of academic office ...
Memory systems and problem-solving practice
One problem with most discussion around memory systems is: the real goal isn’t to remember answers on flashcards; it’s to expand your capacity to think and act in the world. Sure, your app says you can remember this set of cards for months. But what does that mean in terms of what you can do, thoughts you can think? The connection is far from clear. If our goal is to produce real-world capacit...
Recording of today's seminar on GPT-4
Some topics of discussion: things we noticed in the paper which seem under-discussed attempted tea-leaf reading regarding model size, compute, scaling laws implications for software design what are AI systems, as a medium or a material? moral challenges for accelerationismChat transcript, for URLs referenced in the discussion.Please don't share this video or the chat transcript publicly.
Seminar: GPT-4; Mar 25 @ 9AM PDT
Join me (via Google Hangout) on Saturday, Mar 25th at 9AM PDT [GCal] for a discussion of GPT-4 and its implications for augmented cognition.Please read the technical report before attending; bring your noticings, wonderings, and ideas.
Becoming a Wizard-of-Oz learning assistant
As I described in December, I’m experimenting with some unusual (for me) new research methods. Data analysis and stacks of user interviews have given me a ten-thousand foot view of learning in action. Now I’m taking the opposite approach. I’m diving in close, trying to understand the emotional and practical consequences of individual learning actions and design decisions, over time.To restat...
Seminar on Dempster (1988): "The Spacing Effect: A Case Study in the Failure to Apply the Results of Psychological Research"; Feb 26 @ 9AM PST
tl;dr: join me (via Google Hangout) on Sunday, Feb 26th at 9AM PST to discuss Dempster's classic paper on why the spacing effect isn't deployed in educational settings. Please read the paper before attending; bring your noticings, wonderings, and ideas. [GCal]In 1988, Frank Dempster tackled the question: the spacing effect is one of the best-established results of psychological science… ...
Three years of crowdfunded research
A public version of this letter is available here: https://andymatuschak.org/2022I’m an independent researcher. That’s an unusual position, for sure—but what’s even more unusual is that 2022 was my third year as a crowdfunded independent researcher. My primary income is, and has been, a membership program. Most researchers answer to a few grantmaking committees; I answer to hundreds of int...
