Sam's Digital Forest
Reflections, notes, resources, and ideas on things that currently interest me. Updated monthly: Archive. Last Updated: August 2026.
Things I Am Currently Thinking About
- Amplifier versus "Sloplifer" I know this has been widely observed and discussed, but it has been on my mind lately. I have found a workflow for using LLMs as an amplifier in my workflow for areas that I consider myself a domain-level expert. This is largely productive because I know how to steer the interaction due to my background knowledge and call our methodological mistakes in responses when they occur. I worry that people that use LLMs for uses far out of their domain expertise will get arbitrarily bad responses and the upstream consequences of this will be far worse than the spread of "AI slop".
Things I Am Currently Enjoying
- Balance I have had (strangely) an incredibly busy, but also somewhat relaxing month. I attribute this to me being able to find more balance this month. That is, I have been better than usual in finding what feels like an optimal allocation of time for my professional duties, personal life, and hobbies.