24 FEB 2026

Day 55

Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: its presence in time and space.

Walter Benjamin · The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

A pale blue-green celadon vase with a bulbous body and narrow neck, decorated with inlaid white and dark slip forming floral and geometric patterns beneath a glossy translucent glaze.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

Korean Goryeo Celadon

Goryeo Korea · 10th–14th century · Sanggam inlay under celadon glaze

Korean potters invented a way to inlay white and red clay under celadon glaze — a technique so admired in Song China that it was called "first under heaven," and never successfully copied there.

Enter lesson 7 MIN

II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Chinchilla and Compute-Optimal Training

Training and alignment · Hoffmann et al., 2022 · Optimal ratio roughly 20 tokens per parameter

Most large models were undertrained, using far too few tokens for their size. A 2022 paper showed that doubling data mattered more than doubling parameters, and the field's roadmap changed overnight.

Enter lesson 7 MIN

A rehearsal room with pale floorboards occupying the foreground. Dancers in white tutus cluster at the edges and background, some sitting, some standing, none dancing. An older man in dark clothes leans on a stick at the right.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

Degas's The Dance Class

Edgar Degas · 1871 · Oil on canvas

Degas filled the foreground with empty floorboards and pushed the dancers to the edges, where they scratch, fidget and stare at nothing while the master leans on his stick.

Enter lesson 6 MIN