Ramping up

Last week marked the kickoff of SoP24. Researchers met for an hour to talk about their projects and introduce themselves. They also created a bunch of aphorisms as an icebreaking exercise.

"Protocols are self-driving project managers." - Willie

"A game is a protocol that you can admit is fun." - Evan

PIG and POG teams will document their work as they ramp up operations. You'll be able to find ongoing public logs for each project in the SoP24 Research Category on the forum.

The PILL grantees will also be generating lots of content for protocol evangelism over the summer, including memes. Keep an eye out for those.

This is a good time to mention that the General Category welcomes shitposting, memes, and half-baked thoughts. Any level of mediocrity gets a free pass with the tag idle-protocol-musing.

You can watch a replay of the SoP24 Kickoff here.

Reading group

There will be an online protocol reading group, starting May 23rd, 2024. You can sign up here. No prereading commitment and no expertise required!

The first 10-15 minutes of each call is dedicated to reading that week's essay. We'll cover ~10 pieces from SoP23. First call is on May 23rd at 3PM ET. I (Timber) will be hosting.

Protocols in the news

Here's what the protocolwatching community spotted this week:

• OpenAI released a public specification of its protocol for shaping model behavior.

• The mediating assessments protocol of Kahneman, Sibony, and Lovallo resurfaced.

• The Cannes Market introduced a revamped ticketing protocol in anticipation of high demand.

• A competition for the observers of construction sites and protocols.

An umarell (plural: umari) is a jocular Italian term for a person who pauses to observe work in progress. Umarelling is a close cousin of protocolwatching. If you enjoy observing the acts and artifacts of protocols, we have a guide for you, coming out next week.