Why you should never do demos

Author

Julian Moses
May 21, 2023

This week you can learn a few things. First, Africas role in the development of the worlds economy. Next, the role of transportation in the road to net 0. And lessons learned in my follies as a presenter. Most importantly, how education changing because of internet access and shortened attention spans.

Lessons

Demos are really hard.

This week I taught a group of teachers how they can better use AI tools in their classroom. I tried doing a few demos, and found that nothing worked the way I planned. To get around this I took 2 minutes to freak out (without changing my facial expression), and then just making it up as I went. It worked better than I thought.

Something about cool heads prevail.

However, the lesson was that you cannot leave things up to chance. That means no more large scale demos in presentations

Education is changing

AI allows students to focus on concepts rather than content. Raw memorisation has far less value than being able to connect unrelated concepts together.

Because their attention spans are shortening (we all know why), it is also harder for teachers to keep them engaged. The two solutions that came to mind have to do with AI and gamification. If kids are enticed to do hard things because it fits into a story that appeals to them, they’ll have better outcomes. We now have the technology to do this.

Articles

  • Nigeria's and its rapidly growing population and high birth rate, hold significant implications for the world economy. As the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria presents both opportunities and challenges. Its large consumer base can offer potential markets for international businesses, while the need to address healthcare and social development issues underscores the importance of investment in the country's human capital.

  • Earlier this year, Nigeria had presidential elections, where Peter Obi challenged the incumbent parties on a populist platform seeking change in the country and appealing to young voters.

  • The nations quick ascent in population makes the issues now, even more important than those in the future. Over the last decades, Nigeria has had a series of military dictatorships with a recent transition to democracy. Along with an evolving political system and changing demographics, the country has religious unrest.

  • Still one of the most fascinating countries in the world with regards to future growth

  • I learned one thing in high school geography. Demographics determine the future. Africa’s population will grow by 80% to 2.5 billion people by 2050.

    • Young populations should be a source of excitement. They offer an expanding workforce, and more development across the continent.

  • With all of this going on, Nigeria could be one of the fastest growing countries in the world over the next decades. Companies that I have observed are telecommunications groups like MTN, which provide internet access and connectivity. These are the most important companies in the development of these geographies

  • As access to the internet decreases in cost, access to education improves. As education improves, fertility rates drop which has important outlooks for the environment.

  • South Africa’s failing coal infrastructure has also shown that energy developments on the African continent must be sustainable.

  • We all hate traffic. I think that’s a fact. Please, reply to this email if you enjoy sitting in traffic. I have a lobotomy waiting for you. Also transportation causes 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. Kind of an absurd number.

  • Transitioning to electric vehicles is necessary but not sufficient for the planet. Emissions are still generated by the mass production of automobiles. A 2018 report by the California Air Resources Board found that the state could not meet its 2030 climate goals through vehicle electrification alone.

  • The ultimate solution to reaching the defined climate goals will be to drive less frequently and for shorter distances. The path to this will be a simple solution… building bus infrastructure. Bus infrastructure is often an afterthought when it comes to public transit, but it is more effective than a train at lower cost.

  • The economist sat down with Henry Kissinger to discuss Foreign Affairs and how he sees the world.

  • I found the most interesting part to be when he speaks about AI and its impact on society. governments will race to arms and build the infrastructure out as quickly as possible. He says, “there are no limits to the amount of destruction that AI can do.”

  • I am fundamentally opposed to the idea that all of us need a car. However, if you absolutely need one, why not go electric. This is an article full of counterpoints to the narrative that electric vehicles are bad

  • EV sales in the EU and China are higher than in the United States. Fascinating point. The next question is why? My idea would be that because EVs have higher price points, they are akin to luxury items. In Europe and much of Asia cars are more of a symbol of wealth than in the US. In the US a car has more utility than elsewhere in the world.

  • The article also addresses issues like battery metal shortages (we have more than we think), and inequality. Interesting counterpoint to the arguments against EVs

  • The financial times put out a game. It is all about how to solve climate change. It shows how complicated the problem actually is and what we can do about it.

  • Pretty challenging, and fun. Would recommend you give it a try