Paul Sutton @zleap@social.cleverlibre.org

@futurebird Similar take here by @pluralistic:

“These people have a reward function: “convince suckers that AI is dangerous because it is too powerful, not because it’s mostly good for spam, party tricks, and marginal improvements for a few creative processes.”

If AI is an existential threat to the human race, it is powerful and therefore valuable. The problems with a powerful AI are merely “shakedown” bugs, not showstoppers. Bosses can use AI to replace human workers, even though the AI does a much worse job — just give it a little time and those infelicities will be smoothed over by the wizards who created these incredibly dangerous and therefore powerful tools.”

https://doctorow.medium.com/ayyyyyy-eyeeeee-4ac92fa2eed

Big Tech steals from the news, but what it steals is *money*, not *content*. Talking about the news, excerpting it, linking to it, quoting it - these are all beneficial, normal news activities. If you can't talk about the news, it's not news - it's a *secret*.

--

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/06/07/curatorial-vig/#app-tax

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I love how so much of the AI debate is on things like:

* Will AI take people's jobs?
* Will AI destroy creativity?
* Will AI take over the world?
* Will AI be used to make people poorer?

And not:

* Will corporations that use AI get rid of people's jobs?
* Will corporations that use AI destroy creativity?
* Will corporations that use AI try to take over the world?
* Will corporations that use AI make people poorer?

Because these LLMs and machine learning systems and so forth aren't just wandering around randomly out there - they're owned by corporations. The corporations are the ones putting them to use. The executives that run those corporations are the ones making the decisions to pay people less, to increase their profits, to make creative people act as subeditors for LLMs.

It's the corporations, and the ethics-free systems that govern them, that cause these things. They're the ones pushing to have more AI.

The rest of us would be happy just having a bit more humanity in the world.

Cosmic smoke & telescope mirrors?

Webb found complex organic molecules similar to smoke or smog in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years from Earth. This sets a new record for the most distant detection of these big, complicated molecules: https://bit.ly/43M4YEG
#JamesWebb

Our societal problems rooted in capitalism and profit are not going to be solved by capitalism and profit

Most of #Canada is covered in smoke from raging fires, and yet a percentage of our population still refuses to see the scientific truth. Unreal.

World leaders are reacting to the growing humanitarian and environmental disaster caused by russia blowing up the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, with many calling it a war crime.

Read more here🔗 https://www.weareukraine.info/world-leaders-reacted-to-the-growing-humanitarian-and-environmental-disaster-caused-by-russia-blowing-up-the-kakhovka-hydroelectric-power-plant/

#Ukraine 🇺🇦 #SlavaUkraine #RussiaIsATerroristState
#СлаваУкраїні! #StandWithUkraine

Nature astro covers appreciation post

Leaving the Heliosphere (2008) - Voyager 2 reports back

https://nature.com/nature/volumes/454/issues/7200

#universe #astronomy #astrophysics #astrodon #nature #cover #covers #naturecovers #space #science #research #solarsystem #heliosphere #voyager #voyager2 #mission #spacecraft #nasa #jpl

Ever wonder what goes into getting ready for a spacewalk?

Astro Migration @AstroMigration Post of the Day is from NASA nasa@social.beachcom.org (https://social.beachcom.org/@nasa/110498894873916431)

A behind-the-scenes look with astronaut Woody Hoburg, who will make his first trip outside the @Space_Station on Friday, June 9

Follow @AstroMigration for handpicked #astronomy, #space and #AstroPhysics posts.

#CuratedAccount #SpaceWalk

Scientists, would you rather get a pushy, confident referee report? Or one that gently, even timidly suggests changes to your paper?

(My referee writing style seems to be timid, polite suggestions with lots of "please"s and compliments thrown in. Not sure if that's cool or not. But hey, the whole journal-referee process is totally whacked, so whatever.)

We are searching feedback from admins that have an access to their database for tracking a fedilab bug.
It's about multiple notifications in 3.22 release or error 429 for previous versions.
Don't hesitate to reply in PM. Thank you.

Yesterday Russian occupiers have committed an ecocide! The destruction of Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is a terrible technogenic, ecological and humanitarian catastrophe.

The future of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is also at question. Water to cool off its reactors comes from Kakhovska water reservoir. #Ukraine

In a 2022 poll of 14 Arab countries, 78 percent of respondents believe the greatest threat and source of instability in the region is the United States https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/6/6/the-middle-east-goodbye-america-hello-china

📢 Funding opportunity!

We're thrilled to launch the Open Infrastructure Fund pilot, which offers 5-25k USD to projects worldwide that strengthen resilience + increase adoption of #openinfrastructure underpinning research & scholarship.

We are committed to reserving at least 60% of the funds available to applicants working in/services widely adopted in Low and Middle Income Economies (LMIEs).

Applications are accepted in both Spanish and English.

Find out more at https://investinopen.org/blog/open-infrastructure-fund-pilot-cfp/

This morning, a dam in Kherson, where most of my family comes from, was blown up, creating the worst human-made ecological catastrophe in the region since Chernobyl. As a result, 16000 people lost their homes, a dozen of towns and villages were wiped out, including a chunk of Kherson city. A huge part of Ukraine, including Crimea will lose its main source of water, the nearby nuclear power plant, the biggest one in Europe loses its ability to cool off the reactors. Local zoo was completely destroyed killing all the animals in it except the swans. Due to the flooding of a cemetery, it is feared that chances of disease outbreaks will rise. Also, because ruzzians left many minefields before retreating from the right bank of the river, these mines are now being washed away by the influx of water and will end up randomly scattered along the river bank. All of this happened in less than ONE DAY. It is not even the peak of flooding yet. Also, as I mentioned before, Kherson is being shelled by the ruschists EVERY SINGLE DAY since they retreated to the left bank of the river. Today was no exception. They shelled the city WHILE this tragedy was unfolding, WHILE people were being evacuated from the affected areas.

Russwines are like reverse Midas. Everything they touch turns into shit. I swear, everywhere they go, they bring hopelessness, despair, corruption and destruction. Absolute scum on Earth.

And here comes UN, rushing to not let us forget about the Orwellian nature of our geopolitical reality: they found it appropriate to remind us that today is "russian language day". Russian was the first language I learned and the one I use to communicate with my family, we are all phasing it out since everything that is remotely related to those genocidal orcs reminds us of how rotten this world really is.

"We thought we hit rock-bottom but then we heard someone knocking from below"
- a russian proverb that is as applicable to them today as it was yesterday and as it will be a century from now.

Over 60,000 Android apps disguised as legitimate applications have been quietly installing adware on mobile devices while remaining undetected for the past six months.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-60-000-android-apps-secretly-installed-adware-for-past-six-months/

@zleap That is a most excellent suggestion. Thank you Paul.