Jon Evans

Oct 27, 2024 | aiascendant.substack.com | Jon Evans

In 1969, The Winstons, an American R&B band, released their debut single ‘Color Him Father.’ It hit #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the R&B charts, and won its composer Richard Spencer a Grammy. Alas for them, it was a one-hit wonder, and The Winstons would have been consigned to the dustier footnotes of musical history… if something truly extraordinary had not happened to that single’s B-side. “Amen, Brother” is not a great song. It did not chart.

Jun 25, 2024 | aiascendant.substack.com | Jon Evans

“best new sci-fi I’ve read in ages: I found myself saying “holy shit this is good” quite a few times! Amazing” — @agileben“I was expecting an airport paperback thriller about a rogue AI, but boy was I wrong. Journalist, travel writer, and software engineer Evans combines ideas from computing, the occult, and beyond to craft an unpredictable and intricately plotted story.

Jun 25, 2024 | libro.fm | Jon Evans

Skip content Celebrate our 10th Anniversary with giveaways, merch, and more! Learn more In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account. This month only! Become a member and shop our members-only, 10th anniversary buy-one-get-one sale in support of local bookstores. Narrator Brian Hutchison This audiobook uses AI narration. We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.

Apr 25, 2024 | aiascendant.substack.com | Jon Evans |Ajeya Cotra

Some are enthralled by generative AI, and advocate a future defined by it. Some fear it will rot our society or even destroy us all. And many loathe it, refuse to even call it "AI,” and do not conceal their contempt for both the believers and the frightened. What’s more, all of these attitudes are moving from ‘personal beliefs’ to ‘pervasive unquestioned assumptions,’ becoming the water in which entire communities swim.

Mar 26, 2024 | aiascendant.substack.com | Jon Evans

[What follows is mostly navel-gazing about my new startup. If that’s not your thing, keep calm and carry on; regular speculative programming shall resume forthwith.]Once upon a time, I was the CTO of an ~80-person consulting company. We did strategy, design, and engineering. We helped to conceive and build whole products and companies (likethese) from scratch. Much of my job consisted of rapidly analyzing software projects so as to explain their real status and what they needed.