Mark Madsen
@markmadsen.bsky.social
Decision support, design, 30 years of data, architecture, augmenting human analysis, systems, cybernetics, safety, resilience, GOFAI, data cleaning & prep, engineering management, urban planning, botany, history, art, dada
Here’s google Gemini having trouble with “fellow kids” and unable to recognize the meme
November 9, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Here’s google Gemini having trouble with “fellow kids” and unable to recognize the meme
"It's all about attitude" is on a lot ot corporate motivational posters.
It's the way most corporate AI projects are introduced to the employees. This says something about how the projects view people's roles.
It's the way most corporate AI projects are introduced to the employees. This says something about how the projects view people's roles.
November 8, 2025 at 10:19 PM
"It's all about attitude" is on a lot ot corporate motivational posters.
It's the way most corporate AI projects are introduced to the employees. This says something about how the projects view people's roles.
It's the way most corporate AI projects are introduced to the employees. This says something about how the projects view people's roles.
A comment on "intelligent agents" from Donald Norman, written in 1994, still relevant in all aspects today. It's like we learned almost nothing about how to build, use, or govern software in 30 years. Except this time the anthropomorphizing is intentional.
From dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
From dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
November 7, 2025 at 12:41 AM
A comment on "intelligent agents" from Donald Norman, written in 1994, still relevant in all aspects today. It's like we learned almost nothing about how to build, use, or govern software in 30 years. Except this time the anthropomorphizing is intentional.
From dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
From dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
Or was it one of these?
November 6, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Or was it one of these?
I was updating a tutorial on music recommendations, AI, and design for smart things and this slide I made in 2021 feels different today.
November 1, 2025 at 12:00 AM
I was updating a tutorial on music recommendations, AI, and design for smart things and this slide I made in 2021 feels different today.
On the theme of familiar patterns...
The real scaling law of AI: More d̴a̴t̴a̴ money is all you need to make line go up
The real scaling law of AI: More d̴a̴t̴a̴ money is all you need to make line go up
October 29, 2025 at 9:56 PM
On the theme of familiar patterns...
The real scaling law of AI: More d̴a̴t̴a̴ money is all you need to make line go up
The real scaling law of AI: More d̴a̴t̴a̴ money is all you need to make line go up
Not really “exited” but reduced US presence to mainly octogenarians and focused on China, where it, like Pabst Blue Ribbon, it was a luxury brand.
October 28, 2025 at 7:26 PM
Not really “exited” but reduced US presence to mainly octogenarians and focused on China, where it, like Pabst Blue Ribbon, it was a luxury brand.
No way, they got Terence Mann to be in this and he’s not even the primary character, just like another movie he starred in.
October 23, 2025 at 2:29 AM
No way, they got Terence Mann to be in this and he’s not even the primary character, just like another movie he starred in.
Eric Roberts sporting a greasy mullet so big it refuses to stay behind his head.
It’s so wide you can’t get around it.
It’s so high you can’t get over it.
It’s so long you can’t get under it.
It’s so wide you can’t get around it.
It’s so high you can’t get over it.
It’s so long you can’t get under it.
October 23, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Eric Roberts sporting a greasy mullet so big it refuses to stay behind his head.
It’s so wide you can’t get around it.
It’s so high you can’t get over it.
It’s so long you can’t get under it.
It’s so wide you can’t get around it.
It’s so high you can’t get over it.
It’s so long you can’t get under it.
I can’t watch horror tonight so instead I will experience the horror of 1989’s Best of the Best which promises to be a terrible movie.
Starting scenes don’t disappoint:
The king of mullets.
Heartfelt father daughter scenes as she bicycles and…
Punches and kicks?
Starting scenes don’t disappoint:
The king of mullets.
Heartfelt father daughter scenes as she bicycles and…
Punches and kicks?
October 23, 2025 at 2:13 AM
I can’t watch horror tonight so instead I will experience the horror of 1989’s Best of the Best which promises to be a terrible movie.
Starting scenes don’t disappoint:
The king of mullets.
Heartfelt father daughter scenes as she bicycles and…
Punches and kicks?
Starting scenes don’t disappoint:
The king of mullets.
Heartfelt father daughter scenes as she bicycles and…
Punches and kicks?
I will be teaching a session on architecture patterns for data & analytics in Orlando next month. There are a lot of patterns (many more than the 4-5 I see repeated ad nauseum). The first one is "The Mess"
Shown below: CIO and CEO discussing their IT architecture
bit.ly/4oswXoo
Shown below: CIO and CEO discussing their IT architecture
bit.ly/4oswXoo
October 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM
I will be teaching a session on architecture patterns for data & analytics in Orlando next month. There are a lot of patterns (many more than the 4-5 I see repeated ad nauseum). The first one is "The Mess"
Shown below: CIO and CEO discussing their IT architecture
bit.ly/4oswXoo
Shown below: CIO and CEO discussing their IT architecture
bit.ly/4oswXoo
Everywhere I look now I see frog
October 20, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Everywhere I look now I see frog
Fun with magic markers
October 19, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Fun with magic markers
One thing everyone can take away from today is that we have more friends than they do.
Here’s a scene of the allies taking over in #WarRavagedPortland
Here’s a scene of the allies taking over in #WarRavagedPortland
October 19, 2025 at 3:55 AM
One thing everyone can take away from today is that we have more friends than they do.
Here’s a scene of the allies taking over in #WarRavagedPortland
Here’s a scene of the allies taking over in #WarRavagedPortland
Mounted our frog sculpture today. Obviously a subversive, look at that posture. #WarRavagedPortland
October 16, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Mounted our frog sculpture today. Obviously a subversive, look at that posture. #WarRavagedPortland
60 seconds and we have a login portal that is indistinguishable from the bank’s site that sends your username and password to us. Then passes through the login and 2fa.
So 2fa won’t protect you
So 2fa won’t protect you
October 16, 2025 at 5:15 PM
60 seconds and we have a login portal that is indistinguishable from the bank’s site that sends your username and password to us. Then passes through the login and 2fa.
So 2fa won’t protect you
So 2fa won’t protect you
I saw that picture and my mind immediately went to this picture of him at his Surrey home two decades later
October 14, 2025 at 9:13 PM
I saw that picture and my mind immediately went to this picture of him at his Surrey home two decades later
I had not noticed that people are talking about this again. I guess bit by bit we reconstruct the past that led up to 1992.
Soon we will rediscover Cyc and commonsense reasoning!
Soon we will rediscover Cyc and commonsense reasoning!
October 14, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I had not noticed that people are talking about this again. I guess bit by bit we reconstruct the past that led up to 1992.
Soon we will rediscover Cyc and commonsense reasoning!
Soon we will rediscover Cyc and commonsense reasoning!
This is an example of what happens when there is no competence. Things moving in opposite directions are moving toward each other. Reasoning model works great!
Meanwhile, companies are putting applications using this model into HR to score job applicants and determine who gets raises.
Meanwhile, companies are putting applications using this model into HR to score job applicants and determine who gets raises.
October 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
This is an example of what happens when there is no competence. Things moving in opposite directions are moving toward each other. Reasoning model works great!
Meanwhile, companies are putting applications using this model into HR to score job applicants and determine who gets raises.
Meanwhile, companies are putting applications using this model into HR to score job applicants and determine who gets raises.
Therefore, always make sure that evaluations of AI (in papers, or in your own work) test for both performance and competence.
If you evaluate on performance alone you will have surprising failures after it's been deployed.
If you evaluate on performance alone you will have surprising failures after it's been deployed.
October 14, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Therefore, always make sure that evaluations of AI (in papers, or in your own work) test for both performance and competence.
If you evaluate on performance alone you will have surprising failures after it's been deployed.
If you evaluate on performance alone you will have surprising failures after it's been deployed.
VIsions of AI education, 1956. Analog "teaching" computer teaches a second computer, which learns from the teacher only the things that "mediate a favorable behavior," based on neuron operation. In other words, it's the same concept of automated model learning promoted today.
October 14, 2025 at 5:31 AM
VIsions of AI education, 1956. Analog "teaching" computer teaches a second computer, which learns from the teacher only the things that "mediate a favorable behavior," based on neuron operation. In other words, it's the same concept of automated model learning promoted today.
A similar dish was referred to in The Last Continent (Pratchett).
“I'm not so think as you drunk I am,” said Ridcully. “And anyway, I'm not drunk enough to eat one of those.”
And then there's the Pie Floater...
“I'm not so think as you drunk I am,” said Ridcully. “And anyway, I'm not drunk enough to eat one of those.”
And then there's the Pie Floater...
October 11, 2025 at 9:40 PM
A similar dish was referred to in The Last Continent (Pratchett).
“I'm not so think as you drunk I am,” said Ridcully. “And anyway, I'm not drunk enough to eat one of those.”
And then there's the Pie Floater...
“I'm not so think as you drunk I am,” said Ridcully. “And anyway, I'm not drunk enough to eat one of those.”
And then there's the Pie Floater...
This may be the dumbest quote I've seen on AI use in a bank, ever.
If it makes mistakes, they're in the background. Where you don't see them. And you trust it so you hit the "approve" button and then you get fired after the thousands of loans you approved default.
If it makes mistakes, they're in the background. Where you don't see them. And you trust it so you hit the "approve" button and then you get fired after the thousands of loans you approved default.
October 10, 2025 at 12:32 AM
This may be the dumbest quote I've seen on AI use in a bank, ever.
If it makes mistakes, they're in the background. Where you don't see them. And you trust it so you hit the "approve" button and then you get fired after the thousands of loans you approved default.
If it makes mistakes, they're in the background. Where you don't see them. And you trust it so you hit the "approve" button and then you get fired after the thousands of loans you approved default.