Ian Tan

Ian Tan

Marketing my Masterclasses

WARNING: Blatant marketing spiel ahead, please skip if you’re allergic. But I know you’ll read it anyway, because the rest of your news feed is so dull.  I conduct two types of Generative AI Masterclasses for The Straits Times in…

Returning to the well

This morning, I jogged to MacRitchie Reservoir and completed 6km just in time to catch the sunrise. MacRitchie is the spiritual home for my health. I first started jogging here in 1989 as my PE teachers made us train for…

Baidu Image Search (isn’t great yet)

Baidu Image Search now has Generative AI editing tools. I was searching for taiji images when the tools popped up and egged me to try them out. You can: – erase parts of the image– sharpen the image– replace parts…

“Are you sure this photo is not AI-generated?”

I conducted an experiment yesterday to see if people could differentiate between a real cat and a Midjourney AI-generated cat. I posted the image comparison on LinkedIn and Facebook, asking for responses over 12 hours. The results from 49 respondents were…

I could be dead tomorrow

People in my classes and workshops are often taken aback by the way I encourage them to speak up: “I could be dead tomorrow, so please ask me any question while you can.” There is usually dead silence (hah, the…

Deleting 1000 connections

I removed about 1,000 LinkedIn connections yesterday, which was nearly 40% of my LinkedIn 1st-degree connections. No, I haven’t become anti-social. It’s just that whenever I look at my LinkedIn newsfeed, I might see a post from a 1st-degree connection…

Taking a pigeon’s crap

This morning, I was meditating and praying when a pigeon crapped on my head. I might have been alive for nearly 50 years, but I can never get over that “splat” sound when it happens. I dabbed my bald head…

You actually speak Shakespeare

Today, 23rd April, is the death anniversary of William Shakespeare, the man who either made you fall in love with or despise English literature. No matter how you feel about his works, did you know he popularised the following English…