Episode 040 - Bytes #5, Ash and Katie reflect on 2023 looking at declining attention spans, AI challenges, shifts in where users are spending their time online, and some attempts at predicting priorities and trends for 2024

Digital Works Podcast

In the last podcast episode of the year, Katie and Ash reflect on 2023 - picking a few of the most notable articles, podcasts, research reports, and new stories of the year.
We discuss digital overload and the impact it's had on our attention spans. Exploring whether our cultural institutions could become havens of focus and relaxation in the blizzard of digital distractions.
We look at the wild frontier of AI technology and its impact on our search engines and content creation. Considering the difficulty of distinguishing between human and algorithm-generated content, we also explore how AI could be our ally in boosting creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Meanwhile, social media has also undergone massive fragmentation, we discuss the fall of Twitter and the moral implications of who we engage with on these platforms.
We also gaze into the crystal ball and try to predict what 2024 might hold for us.
We discussed:

• New York Times - "Beyond the ‘Matrix’ Theory of the Mind"
• National Gallery of Art - "How to Recharge at the National Gallery this Holiday Season"
• Hard Fork podcast - "What's Next for OpenAI, Binance Is Binanceled and AI is Eating the Internet
• Manifesto For Now - Essay #4: AI is faster than you (or can we be more like the turtle)
• Ofcom - Online Nation 2023
• RTS Cambridge Convention 2023 - Speech by Alex Mahon, Chief Executive, Channel 4: Too Much to Watch
• WeAreSocial - Digital 2023
• Bloomberg - The Moral Case For No Longer Engaging With Elon Musk's Twitter

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1. Episode 040 - Bytes #5, Ash and Katie reflect on 2023 looking at declining attention spans, AI challenges, shifts in where users are spending their time online, and some attempts at predicting priorities and trends for 2024 (00:00:00)

2. Digital Overload's Impact on Attention Spans (00:00:11)

3. AI's Impact on Search Engines and Content (00:10:29)

4. Twitter's Decline, Future of Social Media (00:28:28)

5. Digital Strategies for Cultural Organizations (00:36:20)