Five Things Tech: AI Act, Renewables, Balconies, Developers, Phones
Five Things Tech: AI Act, Renewables, Balconies, Developers, Phones
It's Saturday. What a great day to read about interesting stuff happening in Tech!
Hello and welcome back to Five Things Tech! This week we’re looking at the EU AI Act, which is a first attempt at regulating AI and while it draws a lot of criticism, I think it is a good first step. Far from perfect, but not the end of the world, either. I’m stoked about how the EU is pushing renewables and I sure hope that we are setting good examples for the rest of the world. And if even Germany, which had a record amount of rain in the last 12 months, can benefit from solar, so can other countries. Let’s also look at developers and at how they feel. We need more developers and we need these jobs to be attractive if we want smart people doing these jobs. Also, let’s talk about the smartphone and how it shapes our behaviour and what we can do about it.
It’s a lot to unpack, so start now by reading these Five Things Tech!
EU AI Act: World's first artificial intelligence law comes into force tomorrow
Ok, in this case, tomorrow was the day before yesterday, but still: the EU AI Act is now in place. And I think that this is a good piece of legislation. It’s far from perfect, because it has to regulate something which is developing rather quickly and where we don’t know the endpoint yet. I’m also pretty sure that it needs a revision, soon.
Renewables overtake fossil fuels to provide 30% of EU electricity
It’s quite amazing how quickly renewable energy grows in Europe. And yet, there’s so much to do and so much potential. I’m currently on vacation at the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia and I’m sure they have enough sunshine here to generate plenty of solar energy. Also, charging stations for EV would be a nice thing as well. I’m pretty happy that I’m driving a hybrid and don’t have to rely on the almost non-existing public charing infrastructure.
Germans Combat Climate Change From Their Balconies
My mother put solar on our rooftop back in the late 80s and that was quite expensive back then. Now there are many options to put a solar panel outside of your balcony or on your rooftop. I think it’s the right way forward, as we all can do our part, even if it is a small one. I’m just a bit irritated that the author is profiling a company that I have never heard of. Everybody knows the two solar industry heavyweights Enpal and 1komma5, so this article left me wondering why they weren’t really part of this story, even though they drive massive sales right now.
80% of developers are unhappy. The problem is not AI, nor is coding
This is clearly not a good sign, as we still need lots more developers to satisfy the demand. The reason for the unhappiness is mostly “imperfect systems”, which will probably always be an issue as developer strive to reach perfection, only to see that some component has changed and they need to adjust what they have been doing. That can be tiresome…
Our phones don’t have to make us feel miserable
Yes and No. I still think we need to figure out how to use these gadgets that always demand our attention. We are a bit hard on ourselves as this still is new tech and we’re adapting. Sure, regulation can help, but we need to learn a bit as well.
That’s all for now! Thanks for reading! If you missed last week’s Five Things Tech, you can find it here:
— Nico