Media I Consumed This Week

Created on January 17, 2026

2026

đŸŽ„ YouTube — Why Useless Knowledge Can Be So Useful, Be Smart (2024)

Video Embed

Why it stood out:

  • Creative storytelling and unconventional scientific discovery
  • How breakthroughs often come from “useless” or indirect findings
  • The tension between curiosity‑driven research and commercial incentives
  • The idea that usefulness is often contextual and revealed over time

The framing of the script for this video was unbelievably compelling and allowed for lots of room for expansion on many topics, the video mainly talks about the discovery of weight loss drugs like Ozempic - but from the opening line “I want to tell you a story about lizards..” it was such a compelling way of telling the story of GLP and the difficulties of turning it into a viable drug for the treatment of diabetes.

There is also the secondary angle of the commercialisation of drugs and the monetary effects, two years after the videos release we have a wider perspective of the influence these drugs have had on the market and even at the time of release the video talks about how Novo Nordisk had a higher market cap than the GDP Denmark. The video goes onto touch on the idea of useless knowledge being seen as a waste of capital and that the investment into these ‘useless’ ideas is a waste on the economy.

It opens up further discussion ideas into the funding of science as well as the ideas of is any knowledge really useless?

Research Article — AI, Effort, and the Job Market

Paper: Silbert (2025) — Job Market Paper

What caught my attention:

  • Very relevant to where I am right now
  • Clear distinction between high‑effort vs low‑effort AI use
  • Recruiters struggling to see signal through the noise
  • How this mirrors early‑career uncertainty and the need to show process, not just output

This paper is really one of a kind at the moment, especially with the amount of detail it’s managed to collect over the last four years and the fact it’s still being updated. I’ve only skimmed the 128 pages so far, but even from that, the main takeaway feels clear. It’s not about AI “taking jobs” in the dramatic way people like to frame it but rather about how AI changes the way effort shows up, how it’s judged, and how hard it’s becoming to separate genuine skill from low‑effort noise.

What stood out to me is the distinction the author makes between high‑effort and low‑effort AI use. High‑effort use — where someone actually engages with the model, iterates, shapes the output tends to improve performance and is recognised as valuable. Low‑effort use just adds to the pile of generic, surface‑level work that recruiters now have to sift through. And honestly, that feels very relevant to where I am right now. It mirrors the weird tension of trying to build a career in a moment where AI can make your work sharper, but it can also make you invisible if you’re not intentional about how you use it.

Article — “Literally Just Do Things”

Link to Article

Article: Literally Just Do Things — Erifili

Why it resonated:

  • A push against perfectionism and over‑optimisation
  • Feeling stuck in an academic/productivity mindset
  • A nudge to start this website and write this post

Though this article is through the lens of business, creative design and influencers I found many parallels in the way I often feel. The statement “I would take advantage of the momentum of inspiration immediately and act on it.” made me think about whether I really jump into opportunities or even seek them out with the confidence I should.

I’ve taken this thought and started things this past month I would’ve previously just put to the back of my mind as an idea for the future, things such as starting this website and blog or joining the university backed mentorship programme. And now taking this confident approach into the future, planning to present at least once this year at a industry event and more direct in networking.