20250727
Creative Commons (CC) today announces the public kickoff of the CC signals project, a new preference signals framework designed to increase reciprocity and sustain a creative commons in the age of AI. The development of CC signals represents a major step forward in building a more equitable, sustainable AI ecosystem rooted in shared benefits. This step is the culmination of years of consultation and analysis. As we enter this new phase of work, we are actively seeking input from the public. As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms how knowledge is created, shared, and reused, we are at a fork in the road that will define the future of access to knowledge and shared creativity. One path leads to data extraction and the erosion of openness; the other leads to a walled-off internet guarded by paywalls. CC signals offer another way, grounded in the nuanced values of the commons expressed by the collective. - CC signals
People: Taste the new intelligence? Resigning from the FBI. Research as leisure.
Futures: DEFRA’s trends. A workday according to MSoft. Visioning techniques (PDF).
Business: hand made expresso machines.
AI: What intelligence? Forcefeeding AI.
Planet: RFK’s take on spreading H5N1. Is the climate fight lost? Lyon city moves away from MSoft. Killer whales groom each other.
Tech: Zapping mosquitoes.
J Stehr said:
The most radical futures are genuinely unthinkable
Unthinkable futures for one are predictable and designed for another
It’s a moral obligation to create alternatives to popular futures
Alternative futures exist, they need amplifying
The future we want is already available if we choose
Play and imagination are essential defences against oppression
Imagining the future is a privilege
Imagining the future is an everyday occurrence
Stress is a fuel for creativity and imagined futures
Optimism & pessimism are a lens for the future, not a fixed outcome
Alors, c’est quoi être intelligent ? C’est peut-être, aujourd’hui, tout ce que la machine ne sait pas être. C’est en ce sens que Jean Piaget disait : « L’intelligence, ce n’est pas ce qu’on sait ; c’est ce qu’on fait quand on ne sait pas. »
Être intelligent, c’est être là, au plus près du réel : réactif, sensible, engagé. C’est une qualité de présence.
Dans un monde qui ne jure que par la précision des machines, on en viendrait presque à oublier la question essentielle : mort ou vif ? Et vif, c’est vivant. Et il faut l’être pour être vraiment intelligent.
The Festival of Futures Unplugged
In the uncommonly sunny labyrinthine streets of Westford, the annual Future Days Festival kicked off with all the fervor of a teenager discovering glitter for the first time. Laughter danced with the scent of fried doughnuts—an olfactory delight that evoked both nostalgia and a muffled panic about the imminent rise of AI overlords. As the festival unfolded amid festive banners emblazoned with slogans like, "Let’s break free from the tech giants' grip!" a curious booth caught the eye of Alex, a self-declared futurist with a penchant for orange moon boots.
At the booth, vendor Maya was enthusiastically demonstrating her brand new, sparkly alternative to Microsoft Office, dubbed “OnlyPlay”. “Why be saddled with annoying AI when you can play with creativity?” she proclaimed, her modulated AI assistant—Bart, who had a tendency to express opinions—nodding enthusiastically beside her. “I mean, who doesn't want their productivity managed by whimsy?”
As folk gathered to test the software, one participant, donned in a t-shirt that read, “I retrieval, therefore I am,” attempted to turn his early morning email storm into a karaoke event. Alas, the hefty corporate calendar that AI typically formats for you, with all the finesse of a cat on a budget flying home from a laser show, struck back with an unsolicited ‘meeting reminder.’ Alex grinned; they were all learning to cope with the ‘infinite workday’ as neatly as one stashes leftovers—aimlessly and often too late.
Suddenly, a buzz cut through the crowd. The city of Lyon had just announced its switch to open-source alternatives, leading a revolution in digital autonomy as they booted Microsoft off the city server—maybe investing in a chatbot that listens? A wave of glancing encouragement rippled through the festival as people began contemplating community efforts to reshape their own digital lives. “After all,” Alex mused, “if a city can reclaim its data, maybe I can reclaim my time.”
As the sun dipped lower, painting the sky a riotous orange, Alex began to reflect on the wider implications of creativity as leisure. Not too long ago, they’d stumbled on an abstract art piece made of discarded AI-generated text, which had challenged their perception of originality—could AI give voice to the voiceless if only non-voiceless participants would weigh in? This peculiar pondering nearly kept them out of an unscheduled polygraph that morning; how could one decipher friendships from mere associations when tech loyalty seemed to take precedence in every room?
That night, while revelry still echoed and people debated their connection to reading and research, Alex discovered the Photon Matrix—an extravagant device for zapping mosquitoes using lasers. “I can zap all distractions!” Lou shouted, her enthusiasm shimmering almost as much as her glittering headband. The marketing pitch waxed poetic about thwarting potential pandemics with technologic panache. “And the mosquitoes won't have a leg to stand on!” she added, and laughter erupted. Maybe this was exactly what was needed to keep focus intact, even if the absurdity of a precision-targeted pest control gadget in a philosophical festival was as jarring as a jazz band at a corporate retreat.
As the evening unfurled, and thoughts drifted between caution and creativity, Alex came to a rather simplistic realization: amidst all this tech, the key wasn’t about embracing or avoiding AI but the more human-centric endeavor of crafting a future that melds imagination with reality. And with that thought, they joined the crowd, determined to forge a day to come, one karaoke e-mail at a time, opting out of nurtured chaos in favor of joyful experimentation—possibly even with an orange moon-colored touch.
And somewhere between reclaiming data, dodging laser beams, and wondering if it was engaging enough to warrant a polygraph test, optimism became as infectious as that elusive mosquito—a mood one hoped would never need zapping.