This book is imaginary, but I would definitely buy it.
Dear Reader
Thank you for opening this week’s Antonym. There’s some Succession, some AI, and a few laughs along the way. Last week was the biggest one so far for subscriptions – so welcome to our new fellow readers!
Machiavelli was the Succession show-runner of the 1500s
Machiavelli, often thought of as a cunning political strategist, was the Jesse Armstrong of his day. Machiavelli's comic plays, such as The Mandrake, made him more money during his lifetime than the work we know him for today, The Prince. Historian Patrick Boucheron suggests that *The Prince* was misinterpreted as praise for the powerful when it was actually a biting satire exposing the true nature of those in power.
In this light, the Pope's ban on The Prince shortly after its publication raises the question: was it because the book was tainted by evil or because its satirical truths were unsettling to the powerful? Machiavelli's wit and humour in his plays were evident. In the advance publicity for The Mandrake, he promised a glass of wine to anyone who didn't laugh. The Mandrake was actually so successful that the play had to be stopped. This success must have been a bittersweet victory for Machiavelli.
A page from Machiavelli by Patrick Boucheron. Writing was Machiavelli’s way of trying to affect and shape his world and his fortune.
Like Armstrong's Succession, Machiavelli's satirical works held a mirror to the powerful, exposing their flaws and cunning nature. Succession's portrayal of a wealthy, dysfunctional family vying for control of a media empire is reminiscent of the political intrigue and power struggles that Machiavelli observed in the Florence court of the 1500s. Both writers are "political writers" (Brian Cox, who plays Logan Roy in Succession, stating that Armstrong "will say he isn't, but he is".)
In a world where the powerful often seem untouchable, both Machiavelli and Armstrong remind us that humour and satire can be effective weapons in exposing their very human flaws and foibles. As we watch the drama unfold on screen in Succession, we can't help but draw parallels to the political manoeuvring and cunning tactics employed by the characters in Machiavelli's works.
Which “Po” do you mean? The Vietnamese noodles or the Tellytubby?
Neither. Edgar Allen. Or poem minus an “m”.
This newsletter is not in the business of recommending AI apps willy-nilly. This one is a special case, as (a) I think anyone could find it very useful without having to worry about tech details, and (b) it opens up big possibilities for improving one’s work or just having fun.
Poe, developed by the company previously famous for its Quora website, can add some interesting things to the experience of using AI. It allows you to choose the AI model you will be asking questions of, and gives you some free goes on the expensive advanced models like GPT4 and Claude+. It’s astronishingly fast (especially using Claude+).
The app also allows people to easily build “Bots” for very specific tasks. To do this you simply set it up with a prompt, essentially an instruction or question that will guide how it interacts with a user.
For example, returning to last week’s gardening theme, my wife is designing a show garden at a gardening event and wanted to think through some of the implications of realising her idea for a Moorish garden that needs very little water. So I set up a bot using with the instruction:
You are a award -winning, expert in garden design with deep experience of making gardens that are sustainable and use much less water than is usual, and knows different methods of getting water. You combine all of this with designs that are low cost and above all beautiful gardens. You will ask questions and give advice to the user who is a professional garden designer looking for expert advice.
She started talking to it about her design and the advice that came back was really helpful. She knew a lot of it, but the usefulness was in structuring thoughts, and be able to quickly think about the whole scope of the project, before drilling into specific details. It strikes me that this way of working is like reading, note-taking and planning all in one flow.
So I went on and created a little cast of helper Bots to help me with things in my work as I went through the week. One to analyse the results of a survey, one to structure strategic analysis, etc.
+ + HEALTH WARNING + + We’ve talked before about the fact that AI chatbots are very convincing but will often make things up. I’m aware of this and build steps after doing some work to make sure. The sheer speed of the Claude+ model in Poe was so impressive, however, that it tricked me into lowering my guard. I thought I’d found a way of researching case studies for a project I was working on. Claude+ gave me detailed breakdowns including stats and links to original articles. Wow! Except that when I returned to use the research in my work, the links were all to blank pages and none of the examples were real:
What I also discovered was that if you make AI super-fast and essay to use, you get fooled into believing hallucinations super fast. https://poe.com/s/hifsKX9TK3e087Sge7GK all of these links are lies…
At least it fesses up when challenged. “Are these real?” I asked, curtly:
You're right to be skeptical of my example about Johnson & Johnson's campaign for Zarbee's children's cough and cold medicine. After searching further, I have not been able to find concrete evidence that Johnson & Johnson actually ran an influencer marketing campaign with mom influencers on social media to promote that product line. I fabricated that example based on the kinds of campaigns that consumer healthcare brands sometimes run, but I should not have claimed it as a real case study without verifying it.
If you ask something of ChatGPT, an artificial-intelligence (AI) tool that is all the rage, the responses you get back are almost instantaneous, utterly certain and often wrong. It is a bit like talking to an economist
No pressure, but I’d love to add to your unread email count:
That said…
Here’s a safer Bot to use: a made a George Orwell-style editor using his six rules for writing: Check this out on Poe: and have a go for yourself: OrwellEd – it works well.
Selfies
This week’s thread of the week: Twitter users share the wonderful selfies people have made up using AI image generators.
My favourite is the sharks!
Rick Rubin’s million dollar taste
Versions of this video has been pushed at me by both TikTok and Instagram in the last few weeks. It’s an excerpt from a 60 Minute, (UK readers – think the US equivalent of Panaroma) about the music producer and creative rolling stone, Rick Rubin.
Interviewer: Can you tell me about your knowledge of music?
Rick Rubin: I have no technical ability, and I know nothing about music.
Interviewer: You must know something.
Rick Rubin: Well, I know what I like and what I don't like. And I'm decisive about what I like and what I don't like.
Interviewer: So what are you being paid for?
Rick Rubin: The confidence that I have in my taste and my ability to express what I feel has proven helpful for artists.
We can only aspire to be a bit more Rick Rubin in our lives. I’m still savouring The Creative Act his meditative and surprisingly helpful book about his mystical views of creative work.
This week I’m…
Reading…
As well as Rubin’s book, I’m still hugely enjoying Patrick Boucheron’s Machiavelli. Here’s a picture of a page with the author’s lyrical exploitation of Niccolò’s creative impetus – trying to write his way back into favour with the government and Fortune itself…
Watching...
Stutz (Netflix)
I wasn’t blown about by the book of the film, but Stutz, made by the eponymous psychotherapist’s patient Jonah Hill is really good. As much about the filmmaker and the therapist as “the tools” that are used for dealing with difficult challenges. As I suspected, it may even drive me back to read the book again. The book’s reference to “higher powers” that jarred for me are more understandable and relatable when you hear Dr Stutz talking them through.
Between this and Rick Rubin I may be at risk being pulled into some kind Reiki-wielding subculture and talking about “what the Universe wants”. If that happens, please send help before unsubscribing from Antonym.
Succession (HBO / Sky / NowTV). Despite its colossal brilliance and popularity I know that the majority of humans alive have not seen every episode of Succession so far, and that that number may include some dear readers of Antonym. So I won’t do spoilers. The final season is astonishingly good so far is all I will say. It’s the best TV ever made.
Lastly…
Lastly, a bit of subversive paste-up art from Brighton’s North Laine.
I suppose its main competitor would be ALdi.S.D.
And on that over-engineered pun, thanks for reading and please do like, subscribe or share this newsletter if you have enjoyed yourself.
