Perspectives
Thinking from the Substantial team on AI, software, and how companies should navigate this shift.
Published
Excellence is Exclusion
One of the stranger features of the present moment is that so much of what once looked like mastery can now be imitated almost instantly.
What We Gain By Asking Each Other
I host dinners. There are no place cards or small talk, but rather I prefer to bring together a group of interesting people around a table, give them a topic, and see what happens. No phones or pitches allowed -- just a single subject until the wine runs out.
The Criticality Shift, Part 2: What It Means for Developers
In the [first article in this series](https://paulrushtalksai.substack.com/p/the-criticality-shift-how-ai-is-remaking), I introduced the concept of software criticality, a framework for why talking about “software” as one thing makes no sense, particularly in the context of AI.
The Intelligence Layer
One of the biggest reasons it's hard for people to understand AI and how to apply it (which most people are NOT really doing yet) is because our mental model of what computers are and what they are capable of is fixed in our minds.
What If This Isn’t A Bubble?
Everyone I know who lived through dot-com is calling AI a bubble. And I get it. OpenAI just raised a $122B round. Everyone is funding each other in a bizarre ouroboros-like loop. It’s an Escher painting. Silicon Valley is foaming at the mouth.
A Tale of Two AI Worlds
I grew up as a sci fi kid (did I grow up? I still feel exactly like that kid) reading books about the future so many of which had scenarios examining the human birthing of AI and what impact that would have. How it would all go down.
The Criticality Shift: How AI Is Remaking the Software Landscape
The authors introduce "Software Criticality" as a framework for understanding different software types. This composite index considers:
Intelligence Debt and Paying the Costs Up Front
In the late 1800s, factories ran on steam. A single engine in the basement spun a central drive shaft that snaked through the building. Pulleys, belts, and gears delivered power to every machine, all tethered to that one humming heart.