Would you talk to your deepfake self?

// “Look ma, no hands!” – you in your self-driving car »

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[Watch] Reid Hoffman meets his AI twin

“I recently created an AI version of myself — REID AI — and recorded a Q&A to see how this digital twin might challenge me in new ways. The video avatar is generated by Hour One, its voice was created by Eleven Labs, and its persona — the way that REID AI formulates responses — is generated from a custom chatbot built on GPT-4 that was trained on my books, speeches, podcasts and other content that I've produced over the last few decades. I decided to interview it to test its capability and how closely its responses match — and test — my thinking. Then, REID AI asked me some questions on AI and technology. I thought I would hate this, but I’ve actually ended up finding the whole experience interesting and thought-provoking.”

// YouTube »

Self-driving cars are here, and they’re actually affordable

Driving was pretty cool when you were a teenager and first got your license. But at some point in the years of long road trips and traffic-jammed commutes, sitting behind the wheel lost its luster. You’ve probably thought to yourself more times than you can count: I wish this thing could drive itself. Well, now it can. And you don’t even need a brand-new car for it. Epilog’s SideCar is a retrofit that uses advanced computer vision technology to turn an ordinary ride into something straight out of the future. Investing in this early-stage tech pioneer means making self-driving cars an affordable reality not just for yourself — but, eventually, for everyone. [Ad]

// Join the future of driving »

CEO alarmed to discover that laying off 1,500 workers had consequences

“Surprise! Sometimes workers do, in fact, work. In December, music streaming giant Spotify fired 1,500 workers, a cohort amounting to a staggering 17% of its total workforce at the time. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek chalked the culling up to cost cuts and bloat reduction, saying that too many roles had been ‘dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact.’ But as Fortune reports, Ek appears to have recently learned that supporting work and or even ‘work around the work’ adds up. On an investor call this week following Spotify's Q1 report, the streaming CEO admitted that while the layoffs were the ‘right strategic decision,’ firing 1,500 employees ‘did disrupt our day-to-day operations more than we anticipated.’”

// The Byte »

Building a better (robot) lawn mower

“Buzzy new robotic lawn mowers let you use a smartphone app to boss them around, no perimeter wires required. The perfectly coiffed green lawn that these mowers enable is a joyous symbol of the American dream — and a villainous lightning rod for environmental criticism. … The latest wave of autonomous mowers is quieter, battery-powered and gentler on your grass. They're easier to set up and operate [and] they mow your lawn 24/7, constantly snipping the grass blade tips and leaving dainty cuttings behind as fertilizer. But they're expensive, prompting some neighbors to team up and share them for round-the-clock community mowing.”

// Axios »

Wait, what? It’s almost Mother’s Day?

Even though it feels like the year just started, believe it or not, it’s May (well, as of today it is). And that means Mother’s Day is around the corner. What did you get for Mom this year? Another mug? Jewelry she’ll never wear? C’mon. You can do better. Besides, all she really wants is something simple, like flowers. It’s a classic gift that’s stood the test of time, and now, it’s pretty affordable to deliver to her door. Get two dozen colorful, farm-fresh, and handpicked roses shipped for free for just $49.99 — and get it to Mom just in time for 5/12 (that’s when Mother’s Day is, btw) if you order by 5/7. [Ad]

// Get Mom flowers »

100 weird and wonderful medieval dog names

“You might think of your dog as the best dog of all. One medieval dog owner actually called theirs that. No, literally — the dog’s name was Beste-of-all. … There are a surprising number of parallels between today’s most popular dog names and this centuries-old selection. We have Bella; they had Belle. They had Compaynowne (companion) and Felowe, which maps onto our Buddy. We have Bear; they had Foxe and Mouse (and, OK, Salmon). Our Daisy isn’t so different from their Flowre. That said, you’d be hard-pressed to find a dog these days named Brainless (or, Brayneles, as it was spelled). … You can explore our 100 favorite names from the manuscript here.”