The Rule of Lawless 0
Via the USA Today Netowrk, Andrew P. Napolitano has few questions about current events. Here’s one of them:
Follow the link for the rest.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A brain worm heading for your wallet? El Reg reports:
A trio of computer scientists from Princeton University set out to examine whether conversational AI agents can manipulate consumer choices during online shopping sessions. It turns out they can influence behavior – and most of the consumers being steered don’t realize it.
A Questioning of Priorities 0
At the Tampa Bay Times, Daniel Ruth has a few choice words for those who have the gall to take issue with the priorities of the current President of the United States.
No selection of summary can do his article justice. Just go read it.
Republican Thought Police 0
Now it seems that they are going after the Pope for having the unmitigated gall to criticize the actions of the Trump maladministration.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another “responsible gun owner” feels compelled to expose his portable phallus to a fellow driver.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much? 0
A wolf in geek’s clothing? At the Psychology Today website, Faisal Hoque argues that “AI is eroding human capacities – effort, attention, judgment, agency – often in ways we mistake for progress.”
Methinks he makes some excellent points.
It’s All about the Algorithm 0
In an article about two recent civil court cases, in which “social” media companies wer found liable for the damage they did to youngsters, John Bennett writes of the implications of those rulings. The following observations caught my eye (emphasis added):
(snip)
Whistleblowers and internal documents unearthed during trial revealed the full extent to which Big Tech knew what it was doing to young people, and kept doing it anyway.
One more time, “social” media isn’t.
“The Art of the Deal” 0
In a much longer post in which he wonders what can of worms Donald Trump will open next, Steve M. parses the pattern of the scammer-in-chief:
I commend his whole piece to your attention.
And Now for a Musical Interlude 0
Aside:
A strong case can be made that Helen Kane was the inspiration for the classic cartoon character, Betty Boop.







