I see a lot of takes to the effect that generative AI is only predictive and doesn’t actually “know what it’s doing.” That’s true. But nobody has shown that human beings “know what they are doing” when it comes to thinking either. Not just in the “lol humans are incompetent” sense, either — nobody knows what they mean when they say generative AI has “no understanding” because we don’t know what it means to have an understanding.
Please Reblog to get this to those who can use it.... Teens and young adults ages 13 to 26 living anywhere in the U.S. can access the entire collection of e-books and audiobooks from the Seattle Public Library. "We believe in your right to read what you want, discover yourself and form your own opinions." Fill out the form to get a Books Unbanned card.
https://www.spl.org/programs-and-services/teens/books-unbanned#GetaBooksUnbannedCard
Rutgers faculty union leaders approve landmark contract to take to their members: Longer contracts, raises, job security for part-time lecturers; raises and 5 years of funding for future grad workers; health benefits and higher salary eligibility for grad fellows; parental leave and terms that give med faculty enough time to be with students and research as opposed to driving patient numbers; and a common-good proposal with creation of "Beloved Community Fund" https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/education/2023/04/30/rutgers-faculty-union-leaders-approve-landmark-contract-membership-vote-next/70168223007/ #HigherEd
@abc so weird how he got so much older this week than he was last week
Republicans are coming after a Nebraska state senator who stands against antri-trans legislation
The complaint against Sen. Megan Hunt states she could benefit financially from the failure of LB 574
A measure that bans gender-affirming care for those under 19
…Her child is trans. That’s the “financial benefit”
Maybe we should take a look at the stock purchases, kickbacks and rubles the republicans have?
GOP Glass houses.
https://nebraskalegislature.gov/bills/view_bill.php?DocumentID=49961
@PavelASamsonov PLUS: Unless sufficiently salient incentives exist, even actions won’t self-sustain. Structure & context count.
@actualham (Some of) The kids are all right. I fear signatories of this pledge will end up targeted for reprisal, and it’s still the right thing to do. Throw-ourselves-upon-the-gears time for adults and kids alike in the US.
Florida Students Walk Out of School to Protest DeSantis Education Policies https://www.teenvogue.com/story/florida-students-walkout-learn
I decided to muse about the future of work, Madeleine Elish's "moral crumple zones," and the broader challenge of deskilling on the job. Enjoy! https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/deskilling-job-danah-boyd/
In New York Times guest essay, Brown University president asserts danger of threats to free expression https://www.brown.edu/news/2023-04-21/essay
PEN: First half of school year, 1,477 book bannings (874 titles) mainly against stories of people of color & LGBTQ, mainly in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Utah, and South Carolina.
https://pen.org/report/banned-in-the-usa-state-laws-supercharge-book-suppression-in-schools/
Reasonably happy almost all the time, somehow. Extremely lucky father & husband; 20+ year software veteran / exec now studying the software industry as Ph.D @York University Science and Technology Studies. Blog at https://sakhavi.wordpress.com