It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
Earlier this evening I gathered with some of my teammates to shut down milSuite, the project on which I've worked for nearly 14 years. Unlike so many federal government efforts that have been recently shut down immediately and without warning, we got the word that we would be shutting down a couple of months ago. This gave us time to plan and execute a graceful shutdown, helping hundreds of thousands of DoD military, civilian, and contractor employees, who used milSuite, to get their data out and move onto another system. It also gave us some time to start processing this "significant emotional event."
And significant and emotional it is.
Many of the people on the team have been there nearly as long, and even longer, than me. For some of them, working on this project has made up the bulk of their professional careers so far. So, yeah, getting the word that we were shutting down was a shock to the system. It is all too easy to get your identity wrapped up in the work you do, and to take something like this personally.
The bad guys in the movies will often say, "It wasn't personal, it's just business."
But, as the good guys often respond, "It was personal to me."
The creator of milSuite, Todd Miller, likes to refer to it as an "experiment" in enterprise collaboration, showing that there is a need, a desire, for enterprise collaboration, the ability to connect across silos and enable serendipitous discovery of people and knowledge that would help you carry out your mission, no matter which Service or where in the world they may be. Now that the experiment is over, we can say that it was a success. Many of the capabilities that milSuite rolled out over the years were ahead of their time, and have been incorporated into more formal programs of record. I'm proud to have been a part of that.
If you're curious about what milSuite was all about, check out the milSuite page on Wikipedia.
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Speaking of experiments, it was on this day way back in 1789 that George Washington, in his first inaugural address, said:
I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage; between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity; since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained; and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered, perhaps, as deeply, as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
Time will tell whether or not this experiment proves a success.
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A couple of days ago I wrote a few words about ad tech (advertising technology), and I can't believe I didn't mention Episode 1, "Common People," of the new season of Black Mirror on Netflix. I can't really say much about it without ruining the plot (just connecting it with ad tech gives some of it away), but what I can say is that it is a brilliant episode. Brilliant.
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I've been re-reading Melanie Mitchell's 2019 book, "Artificial Intelligence: A Guide for Thinking Humans." I read it when it first came out, and had a chance to hear Mitchell speak on the topic during her tour for the book. In light of the last couple of years of generative AI and large language models, though, it seems just a bit outdated. Note to self: look up any recent writings or talks from Mitchell about genAI and LLMs.
I've also started wondering: Why are we so interested in recreating human intelligence in human form? And why are we so disinterested in supporting and developing intelligence and well being for actual humans?
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Cheers,
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