remotelove

It's about the basics. More Borg, more awards.

While assimilation is commonly used to crush helpless worlds, just a few nanites can also be used to swing key votes.

Also, I'm not sure who you are interfacing with, but in my experience it definitely seems like the majority of people are fairly bearish regarding AI

(I am going to run on the assumption that you meant bullish instead of bearish? I'll clarify my view, just in case.)

I have been in IT Security for a very long time. People in my industry are usually pulled in to clean up the mess after the party is over. It's not entirely bad as it pays my bills and in general, I am bullish on AI in the long term and extremely bearish in the short term.

Thinking of a company as a monolith is easy. The sum of its parts must always equal profit. Sure, a company can have good parts and bad parts but one side cannot justify the other. (That could be a much deeper philosophical discussion for another time though.)

What pisses me off now are the number of people and companies that not weighing the risks or have a full understanding of what they are doing in the rush to implement. To use an old phrase: "Just because you can implement something doesn't mean that you should."

From my perspective, many companies are just shoving all of their sensitive data and our PII into a magic box to see how many dollars it poops out. It's sidestepping all of our data protection laws because it's going to be years before the laws are adjusted. (I simplified the complexity of ANNs and how data is stored in them, but my point remains.)

Even worse, companies are using the magic of AI to slurp even more of our data either willingly or by forced updates. A seemingly benign example of this is Microsoft integrating AI into notepad. Think about it: It is the most common temporary space on a PC where the average user stores highly sensitive and confidential data. Google is going to integrate Bard into messages so it can ingest your entire text history, personal or not. (Point to point encryption and other controls become irrelevant then.)

This particular brand of snake oil is exceptionally potent because products like ChatGPT introduce such high levels of illusion.

Edit: With all of that said, I really do respect your points and where our opinions differ. I also realized I am allocating too much time to this discussion and have a headache now. I'll gracefully back out now, but that kinda sucks. This would be a much more fruitful discussion in person where we aren't limited by typing.

An inverse shit sandwich?

This tells me you are completely disconnected from any kind of ongoing research right now, as the products being produced are actually having a pretty wild impact on research and we're probably entering a new Renaissance because of them.

Oh, I am fully aware of what is going on with AI and what is possible with AI. We haven't even scratched the surface with its development or it's potential uses.

One thing I am pointing out is the layers of bullshit that are attached to AI right now. When this current bubble pops, and it will, the tech can be developed to its full potential after that. Right now, the market is 99% snakeoil. Just look at LinkedIn as a clear example. Everyone is somehow an AI expert now and every company is an AI company.

What I choose not to minimize is the unethical use of this tech by companies. The reality remains that Meta, Google and Microsoft will not profit if the world's problems are solved. Their open research projects are great, a good tax deduction and may benefit millions. Unfortunately, I can't help but quote Obadiah from Iron Man: "Tony, come on. We built that thing to shut the hippies up."

While I paint a picture of an "AI Doomer", I really am not. The benefits of AI are incalculable right now. Unfortunately, the risks are just as massive. Everyone just seems to be blinded by the "new shiny" and refuses to see any negatives....... again. This makes the environment ripe for scams and deception.

That's a good debate topic, actually.

A subtopic should be about if pharmaceutical companies should use taxpayer dollars to research drugs that are used to make billions of tax free revenue. For better or for worse, those drugs might have the potential to save lives.

It's a completely different topic about how AI companies are going to make their products more addictive and then use that influence to shift public perception. (Or, thet just use AI to find even more ways to shove advertisements down our throats. That is more reasonable.)

I dunno about it being a happy ending. There have been a few documentaries on rural China and it seems like some rough living.

We shall see. Meta, Google and Microsoft aren't exactly spending billions of dollars on AI to make the world a better place....

I am not sure why funny? The date is funny?

“You can create the universe you want,” said Danielle Citron, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who studies online harassment and extremism. “If the truth doesn’t matter, and there is no accountability for these false beliefs, then people will start to act on them.”

Just don't buy any extremely cheap powerbanks unless you know how to inspect and test them.

The issue is not only about the number of cells, but it's also about the construction of the charger. Obviously, more poorly managed cells can create more of a problem, but most lithium batteries die violently when damaged, regardless of size. (Lithium batteries are so common now, it's easy to forget that they can be dangerous. Their construction is generally better these days, but that alone doesn't mitigate all risk.)

Unfortunately, powerbanks are usually sealed so they are hard to open and inspect. If you do get them open, you need to understand what you are looking for, which can be challenging. There is also a risk of damaging a cell when you open them, which is also bad.

Name brand chargers simply give you someone to sue. (Random knock-off brands don't.) Because of the liability, name brands usually have better construction and go through some kind of safety testing. Edit: The batteries don't need to be "name brand". If you bought a random powerbank at a reputable store, the store itself may assume the liability. (Large stores can distribute name brand products under a house name, in some cases.)

Wiring problems, mismatched cells without protection and poorly designed charging circuits are usually the issues.

Bonus! bigclive doing some destructive testing on batteries: https://youtu.be/EgtKwxzgggg

He is from a much different part of the world. These little fellas originate from the Andes Mountains and this is the long-tail variety. His personality is wild! He is extremely expressive, quite smart and loves to play peek-a-boo.

Chinchillas are farmed for fur, unfortunately. 😢

He is a Chinchilla and answers to Mr. Moose.

They are a little skittish, will eat anything that is expensive (like furniture) and generate an endless stream of raisins.

He is super fussy about his hair as well. (They take dust baths in only the finest of dusts.)

This guy loves parkour as well. He will sprint around the house bouncing off walls for no reason.