The Psyop 0
Daniel McCarthy argues that Big Tech is plotting to fool us into thinking that AI is alive, rather than an algorithm on steroids. He argues that
Giving the machine a name was cute — giving it human rights isn’t.
What Anthropic’s leaders are up to is an attack on human dignity, and the anti-cruelty policy is part of a sustained campaign to get people to treat AI as conscious.
I commend the entire piece to your attention.
Your Tax Dollars at Work 0
Farron discusses Donald Trump’s latest attempt to bribe voters.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another “responsible gun owner” feels constrained to display his politeness.
Police say they were able to view security camera footage of the incident, which showed Brown aim the gun at the bartender and raise it in the air.
One more time, “responsible gun owner” is an oxymoron.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A reliable police informant? Per WPVI Philadelphia, “(a)n Anthropic A.I. model submitted a false tip about an unsolved murder through a publicly accessible web form, Philadelphia police said Friday.”
Full story at the link.
The Rule of Lawless 0
Apparently, that a lawyer with a long record of fighting for human rights won the Nobel Peace Prize toasted Trump’s marshmallow.
American Stasi 0
Methinks a strong argument can be made that the Trump maladministration’s hiring practices for their in-house KKK ICE agents may be less than optimal.
Unprecedented 0
Mona Charen argues that Donald Trump has raised the bar to heights previously unknown. Here’s a tiny bit from her article (emphasis added):
Your Tax Dollars at Work 0
Farron comments on Donald Trump’s use of taxpayer funds to pay for partisan political ads and on the Trump maladministration’s double talk about his double-dealing.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
A learning tool? At the Psychology Today website, Liz Nissim warns that using “AI can replace the thinking process.”
Follow the link for her reasoning.
Ups and Downs 0
The house bounced. So did the payment.
QOTD 0
J. Robert Oppenheimer:
The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.
Break Time 0
Off to drink liberally.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner.”
Another “unsecured” portable phallus.
Another child in another hospital.
Another day in NRA paradise.
Emoluments 0
Sharon Zhang follows the money.
The Rule of Lawless 0
Seth discusses how Republicans have worked to loosen constraints on presidential power enacted after Watergate and how Donald Trump is capitalizing on that.