Both Sides Don’t 0
Barry Friedman argues that the “partisan divide” is not the greatest danger to American democracy.
Rather, he suggests that it’s those who don’t divide the partisans. A nugget:
Follow the link for his reasoning.
If One Standard Is Good, Two Must Be Better 0
Looking at recent shenanigans involving the North Carolina state supreme court, UNC law professor Gene Nichol suggests that they embody a simple principle:
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
AP reporter David Bauder reports on a case of AI biting the hand that fed it. It’s certainly not the first and, chillingly, will not be last such story, as persons seem quite willing to confuse algorithms and speedy automated pattern recognition with thought.
I shall not demean it with excerpt or summary. Just go read it.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Show politeness at family gatherings.
Republican Thought Police 0
The Arizona Republic’s Laurie Roberts cuts to the quick:
Follow the link for her evidence.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner” tries to fly the fiendly skies.
Lies and Lying Liars? 0
Farron points out the perfidity and perjury are not the same thing.
Argle Bargle 0
At Above the Law, Liz Dye looks at the latest I-guess-you-have-to-call-them arguments and tries to make sense out of the senseless. What it boils down to, natch, is attempting to use the law to argue that Donald Trump is exempt from the law.
A sample:
Incongruously Assembled 0
Is this ignorance or stupidity?
Or (more likely, given his record) both?
Inquiring minds want to know.
The Disinformation Superduper Highway 0
At Psychology Today Blogs, The Open Minds Foundation takes a lot at the potential effects of AI-generated dis- and misinformation on the internet. They conclude that internet users need to exercise more critical thinking skills, even as they seem to be exercising less (or is it fewer?).
Here’s a tiny bit from their article; I urge you to read the rest.
The Europol report continues with a stark warning: “On a daily basis, people trust their own perception to guide them and tell them what is real and what is not… Auditory and visual recordings of an event are often treated as a truthful account of an event. But what if these media can be generated artificially, adapted to show events that never took place, to misrepresent events, or to distort the truth?”
Dis Coarse Discourse 0
At the Portland Press-Herald, Doug Zlatin suggests that the Constitutional guarantee of “freedom of speech” should not be interpreted as a freedom to screech.
Industrial Revolution Redux 0
San and his crew talk with Brian Merchant, tech columnist at the Los Angeles Times, about what the who-shot-john about “artificial intelligence” is actually about.