It’s world bee day 🐝 and I’m watching the Google IO keynote

One thing that strikes me is how many of the demos exist because of community. They demo AI creating an operating system – possible because of engineering community sharing code. They demo a hyper-personalised search for a hiking trail, possible because of hiking commuties coming together online and sharing. They demo agents using crowd-sourced knowledge.

Reliant on community yet not just extracting, but also making it harder for their users to find, contribute, and be part of that community.

It’s world bee day. Farmers are reliant on communities of bees to polinate their crops, but many happily kill the buzzing communities they rely on with neonicotinoids pesticides brining us closer to ecosystem collapse. Farming is starting to understand it’s reliance on insects so there’s hope.

Ease of use is a user need and it’s too easy to forget – amongst all the exciting technological progress – that community is a human need.

Image: (c) Larah McElroy