J
i often think about how there was a whole generation of "PL for blockchain" phds and i can only guess this was the result of poor advising...
some of those students did go on to be very successful, actually, to be fair. but five years is a long time to spend thinking about the blockchain, and I mourn for what they might have done in that time with better advice.
my advice to students is usually something like: the trend is short, your life is long. research what you are interested in, and make sure you can explain why you are doing it to other researchers (and to beancounters when necessary).
this is especially important for phd students: if you do a "trend project" for your phd, it will be both out of date and "cringe" by the time you hit the job market.
RE: https://mas.to/@SmudgeTheInsultCat/116180303224845767
i'm still thinking about academics I know who tried to defend the idea of pivoting to *research* NFTs to me...
i was like "oh wow, ok sure"
@jac @MartinEscardo Also, we can print the models onto silicon. The problem is, I think, that the models are basically disposable. Once the money runs out, that may change. I can only hope.
@jac @MartinEscardo I think it is different, I agree with Martin. Actual energy cost of inference is not high, but cost of training is astronomical and the models get thrown away every several months.
@Daojoan Agree, but the cultural elite has always been the thing that money could not buy entry into (except after a generation or two)… so I am not sure this is really new.
Weeknotes 2026-W09
+ A week at home...
+ Experiments with agentic coding
+ Reading corner: Elder Race
