Newsletter 02: The future cometh

Hey there, thanks for reading the only LinkedIn newsletter where more time is spent designing the key visual than anything else.

Actually, instead of this fancy stained glass car, I wanted to use the scene below of dinosaurs playing cards in the middle of their extinction event.

I also designed this visual in Midjourney.

I decided against it as the T-rexes looked a little too scary. This is only my second newsletter, I shouldn’t be encouraging people to unsubscribe.

Anyway, the Jurassic concept popped into my head after OpenAI announced its Sora text-to-video Generative AI engine with mind-blowing videos (scroll down for my post) a few days ago.

A software engineer on LinkedIn scoffed, saying the Sora AI videos “are not yet at Pixar level”. Hmm, where have I heard that before?

Oh yes, when I was a journalist 20 years ago, I told my newsroom editor, “We have to do more to attract young readers, or else the Internet will kill newspapers.”

Like most editors I spoke with about this topic, he told me not to worry, insisting newspapers were doing great!

Today, many newsrooms have shuttered. Many young people don’t have a news-reading habit.

But I strongly believe journalism will thrive again, just not with the old business model. There are dark days ahead, and good (journalism) will rise to fight evil (misinformation).

Even in these bleak times for the media, I am always eager to teach media writing at NTU so I can pass on my editorial skills to the next generation of journalists.

Around the same time as the OpenAI announcement, the Singapore Government unveiled its 2024 Budget. There are many new measures to help people upskill, go back to school or get support after retrenchment.

I suspect many people won’t pay heed to these measures until their job suddenly disappears. I don’t blame them either. We often work so hard in our jobs that we’re too exhausted to look up and notice the fiery meteor streaking across the sky.

If we don’t believe that our job could somehow become extinct, then we are already dinosaurs gambling with our future. Many new types of jobs will appear, but what have we done today to become hireable for those roles?

Enough rambling! Here’s what I wrote in the past week:

The mind-blowing Sora Gen AI videos from OpenAI

These puppies are so cute. And so not real.

Why I have this “No Dumping” note at my desk

I have this both at home and in my office.

The Only LinkedIn Guide To V-Day You Will Read Today

“Generated in Midjourney”. Just to remind everyone I do AI Art.

What a peacock reminded me about LinkedIn

“Get out of my way, chicken!”

I conducted a marketing lesson in the mall

35 of us braved the Jurong Point mall crowds on the Eve of CNY.

That’s all for this week! Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts.

Originally published 18th Feb 2024 for my LinkedIn newsletter. Subscribe here.