Adam Caudill

Whose Monkeys Are These?

The 'Somebody Else's Problem' Problem in Leadership

Over the course of my career, I’ve found that there are some principles that are key for people and teams to be effective. One of these is that everything should have an owner. Everything should have someone that is responsible. Everything should have a designated person whose job it is to care about it. This might a be bug or vulnerability reports in software, it could be routine processes, or who responds to certain emails.

Good Faith, Moral Duty, and Selfishness

What do we owe to each other? This is a classic question of moral philosophy, and a critical question that defines how society itself functions. It’s also a key question to understand what role each of us plays to make society successful.

These words were started as society was entering a seismic shift, the COVID-19 pandemic had started, people were dying, fear ran deep, and the disease impacted some far more than others. Some reactions to this crisis were based on what was good for society, others came down to the interests and desires of the individual. The question of what we owe to each other had rarely been so imperative.

On AI, Art, Writing, and the Distillation of Creativity

Can generative AI create art? Two years ago I took my first swing at answering that, at least from my perspective.¹ As AI systems become more advanced, this question, and the issues surrounding it have become of greater import. With a new release from OpenAI, it’s become a topic of great passion, and one prime to revisit for me.

I would like to explore this topic more deeply than I did previously, both in terms of cultural impact, and historical context. This is something that is easy to take an emotional position on, though as someone that considers themself an artist, it’s worthy of more nuanced examination. I’ll be touching on art broadly, photography specifically, and unlike my last essay on the topic, I’ll spend some time discussing writing.

When AI Becomes I

The challenge of defining life when intelligence goes non-biological.

One of the many joys of being human, is that we constantly face questions about our existence, from the seemingly simple (why is the sky blue), to the labyrinthine (what is the meaning of life, does pineapple go on pizza). Thanks to growing up watching Star Trek, one of these that has fascinated me is the question of artificial life. Thanks to a character named Data, a character that’s both relatable and entirely different, many have found themselves wondering if that’s what the future holds.

Millions of Jobs

or: On AI, Job Creation & Destruction, and The Race to Oblivion

It has been 20 years since I first used machine learning to solve a complex business problem. The underlying problem was simple: the company was selling a new service and wanted to know who was most likely to buy it. We had millions of records, and each record had hundreds of fields. A vast amount of data, but no idea how to extract insight from it. Countless hours from various data analysts had been invested into finding a pattern, but none was forthcoming. Months turned into years, still no idea of who was most likely to actually buy. Enter machine learning. Over the course of a couple hours one evening, I was testing new techniques with machine learning, and there was the answer. The company met it’s entire monthly sales goal the next day. It found what every human had missed.

Security Is a Shell Game

In the world of security, everything comes down to trust; sooner or later you have to trust something. Often, this something is a human. While we are busy building advanced cryptosystems that will survive the heat death of the universe, sooner or later, digging down layer by layer, you get down to a human and their limited memory. While we may build software, hardware, and other systems to protect this chain of trust, it almost always ends with a human.

AI: Art Without Expression?

Generative AI¹ is changing the world, and is doing so faster than most of us could realise. While I don’t share the fear that it’ll destroy humanity (something we’re doing quite well at, without help), I do see that it’s having an impact on how we work, how we interact, and will have a growing impact on what jobs survive into the next generation. Just as switchboard operators, pin setters, and lift operators are all essentially extinct today, advances in technology will steadily eliminate some jobs, while creating new ones.

On Productivity

Productivity and efficiency have been passions of mine from a young age, I’m not sure why, but achieving as much as possible, as quickly and efficiently as possible has always driven much of my thoughts, actions, and plans. I was around 10 years old when I learned that there were people that specialised in worker productivity, which led me to researching process design, why restaurants are setup the way they are, the psychology of work and motivation, and a variety of other related topics.

Taking Responsibility for the Spotlight

On sharing the spotlight with those that need the opportunity more

Today, something happened that made me think carefully about my platform, my time in the spotlight, and how to best leverage my position to help others. Hopefully, you’ll find this to be thought-provoking and consider your own position and how it can be used.

Your Platform & Your Responsibility

As a leader, there’s an undeniable responsibility to help others. This may mean being a mentor to someone just joining the industry, or giving opportunities to someone that would otherwise not get the break they need. As someone that’s been fortunate enough to earn leadership roles and something of a reputation in the field, I’m keenly aware of the responsibilities on my shoulders.