The funniest part of WWDC 2026? Watching Apple fanboys try to explain why they need an AI to rewrite their text messages to sound "professional" while Linux users have been writing flawless bash scripts without corporate supervision since the 90s. fijiOS trusts your brain.#fijiOS #Fedora #LinuxCommunity #AppleIntelligence #GenAI #TechRoast #WritingCommunity #FOSS #KDEPlasma
genai
When CFCs were destroying the ozone layer they were removed from society.
When leaded petrol was rotting children's brains, it was phased out in favour of unleaded alternatives.
When asbestos was found to cause horrible deaths it was banned.
When radium was found to be incredibly dangerous for general use, it was restricted to just a small niche of medical applications.
Technology is not something that has to be accepted forever, no matter how popular it seems. It can be recalled and restricted if it is found to cause a lot more harm than good.
Good lord … seriously into mindfuck territory: https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2026/online-in-2026/
When the AI bubble pops, does that mean all these clueless fucking AI scrapers will quit bogging down our web sites? Can’t wait.
Blue-ribbon management consultancy Bain offers “New Innovation Is Required to Fund AI’s $6 Trillion Buildout” - https://www.bain.com/insights/new-innovation-is-required-to-fund-ais-6-trillion-buildout-technology-report-2026/
Tl;dr: The believably-projected sources of revenue from #GenAI don’t come anywhere making the investment pay off. Thus they need “New innovation” to figure out useful things nobody’s thought of yet to make the required big bucks.
Or, in other words, “Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”
Edited 38d ago
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, it's all true!
It's now basically inevitable that we'll have AGI superintelligence by the end of 2024.
And there's a 10% chance this AGI superintelligence, which will basically be LLM software running on physical hardware that fills a massive data centre with the energy and water use of a small European country, will cause humans to go extinct by 2030.
And by extinct, I don't mean as a result of climate change from the fossil fuel air pollution we're using to fuel it. Please don't think about that stuff!
No, I mean by, erm... Things like hacking the power grid and such... Which would also presumably cause it to cease existing... Which wouldn't exactly be superintelligent.
But... y'know... details!
How will we ever stop it?!
I mean, it's not like we live in a world where less intelligent creatures and even inanimate objects kill off more intelligent creatures every day.
It's not like we live in a world where virii and microbes and bricks can kill off more intelligent creatures.
Brains beat brawn every time!
Put a statistician in a fight with an MMA champion and clearly the maths professor is going to win, right?
And if that doesn't sound true when it's phrased like that, then you need to just shush for a moment and pretend that it does.
And if one of our LLMs in a massive hyperscale AI data centre somehow magically became sentient, it's not like we could just shut off the water. Or the electricity. Or stop delivering massive quantities of gas and oil to the onsite gas turbines.
Or just find the nearest Telstra pit and put a bloody shovel through the fibre optic cables that connect it to the outside world.
So we need to immediately figure out ways to stop this happening!
What's that?
You say we could prevent this happening by just not building the massive AI data centres?
You say we could tax the rich so they don't have the money to build massive AI data centres?
No! We absolutely must not do that under any circumstances!
See, our position is really quite straightforward.
We're claiming our product poses an existential risk to humanity that justifies urgent action to mitigate the risk, but also simultaneously we don't want you to think it /genuinely/ poses an existential risk to humanity that /actually/ justifies urgent action that would be guaranteed mitigate the risk, such as not building massive AI data centres, or by not providing access to the ginormous quantities of water and land and energy and capital that our product which is causing this supposed threat depends on.
So why say it?
Mostly, because if we say things like: "We can make a product that could make massive monopolistic short-term profits in a few years, but there's a 10% chance it kills everyone alive, give us money to build it," then the Silicon Valley VCs and Wall Street bankers will throw literal billions our way.
Whereas if we were to say: "We can make a product that solves a genuine problem and we have a sustainable business model for it that will deliver stable long-term returns," then they won't.
Because under American capitalism, "a chance it kills every person" is seen to be a worthwhile risk to take in exchange for short-term profits.
I really hope that clarifies our argument.
#AI #LLM #DataCenter #DataCentre #GenAI #tech #Anthropic #OpenAI #Google #Microsoft #Gemini #Copilot #Claude #AGI #capitalism #aimarketing #BigTech #tech
Edited 56d ago
RE: https://social.coop/@cwebber/116348093202515122
This piece is great and everything @cwebber says about it is true. I would add: If you feel like you mostly know what the author is saying about the development experience, maybe stay with it because it's really well-written. But if you don’t want to, skip down to where he takes up the ethics and humanities issues. Very deep and very intense stuff there. #genai
RE: https://mastodon.social/@fj/117274646059939937
After white supremacist Stefan Molyneux was banned from YouTube in 2020, he moved to the extremely right video platform Rumble.
Rumble is the "YouTube for Nazis". The company behind it, the Rum Group, is aligned with Trump.
And now Anthropic made a nearly 14 billion USD deal with them.
Perplexity similarly made a deal with Trump's "Truth" Social.
Every "AI" company is directly collaborating with Nazis. And every employer in my industry is changing their entire business model to become "AI-first" while you have to argue with clueless, ignorant centrists about the alleged usefulness of "AI". It's so fucking tiring.
You cannot use LLMs without empowering Nazis. It's obvious that the CEOs of said employers don't care, but it would be great if at least the workers didn't brush this fact aside.
Re: https://mastodon.social/users/tzimmer_history/statuses/117360217969296466
While the linked post's/article's warning is specifically about the upcoming US midterm elections, I think its reasoning is more broadly applicable. Observing that current AI dovetails perfectly with the MAGA political project, it applies also to the rhetoric about the inevitability of AI. That, too, stems from a limitless authoritarian impulse and represents an attempt to impose a particular will on all of us. The various forms of defeatism accompanying such rhetoric, which includes the different flavors of AI doomerism, serve only to help such authoritarians achieve their goals.
This view also highlights that there is no middle ground, no compromise, with LLM proponents. Like MAGA, they have no limits themselves, which they repeatedly express openly. How could they possibly compromise?
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #Agents #Anthropic #OpenAI #MAGA #doom #tech #dev
While the linked post's/article's warning is specifically about the upcoming US midterm elections, I think its reasoning is more broadly applicable. Observing that current AI dovetails perfectly with the MAGA political project, it applies also to the rhetoric about the inevitability of AI. That, too, stems from a limitless authoritarian impulse and represents an attempt to impose a particular will on all of us. The various forms of defeatism accompanying such rhetoric, which includes the different flavors of AI doomerism, serve only to help such authoritarians achieve their goals.
This view also highlights that there is no middle ground, no compromise, with LLM proponents. Like MAGA, they have no limits themselves, which they repeatedly express openly. How could they possibly compromise?
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #Agents #Anthropic #OpenAI #MAGA #doom #tech #dev
Edited 40d ago
In which I try to clarify the issues around #GenAI watermarking its text output without requiring readers to be computer professionals: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2026/08/24/Text-Watermarking
OK now what? Any reasonable legal regime dictates that an enterprise built on a theft should not be permitted to retain the fruits of that theft. Have we really entered a fully lawless era in the world of business?
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #OpenAI #Microsoft #web #IP #labor #theft
Executives working on AI at Microsoft and OpenAI admitted what its critics have been saying all along: Large language models are predatory pieces of technology that have been built on what a Microsoft executive called “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions,” and the “largest theft of labor in human history.” An internal Microsoft document said generative AI products have created a “doom loop” that is killing “the entire web.”Nice reporting from @jasonkoebler https://www.404media.co/doom-loop-openai-and-microsoft-admits-llms-are-destroying-the-web-and-built-on-theft/
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #OpenAI #Microsoft #web #IP #labor #theft
The Character.ai bankruptcy is interesting. Maybe not the "canary in the coal mine" kind of interesting (time will tell), but definitely the kind of interesting where the constraints of the real world finally reassert themselves after a lot of denial.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #CharacterAI #bankruptcy
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #CharacterAI #bankruptcy
🇵🇸#PassionSondages ☝️😐
[ANNONCE SONDAGE]
SUJET : L'IA 🦾🤖 et vous 💪😡
Ce futur sondage aura pour objectif de vous laisser voter pour divers sujets et items sous la forme de sondages à 4 choix (parfois choix unique, parfois choix multiples).
Le thread sera en anglais afin d'en assurer une large diffusion.
Si vous avez des idées de questions, je prends ! 🤗 (Et crediterai)
#AI #NoAI #AISlop #LLM #MachineLearning #Algorithms #GenAI #AIArt #AIAds #Hallucinations #Dev #Code #AIMaths #AiMusic #AIResearch #DeadInternetTheory #MassSurveilance #AINeutrality #ChatGPT #Gemini #Suno #Midjourney #Prompts #IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream #RokosBasilisk #EndOfWork #DeepFake
Edited 72d ago
I just published "Generative AI – The new pandemic".👇
https://meanmicio.org/2026/09/03/generative-ai-the-new-pandemic/
#noAI #slop #FreeSoftware #ClimateEmergency #PublicHealth #HumanRights #genAI #ArtificialIntelligence
Huh, I was at Apple.com and glanced at the Mac Studio page - https://www.apple.com/mac-studio/ - I notice they're explicitly pitching it for LLM on the desktop. I wonder how realistic that is… Hmm, let’s ask @simon, he’s closer to this stuff than most of us.
I’m pretty convinced that irrespective of all the issues, the economics of #genAI just don’t work with the current compute infrastructure requirements. Open models and what’s left of Moore’s law could be a really big deal.
Pro AI tip: yes, they are using all of your user data and will store and use it forever. The primary function of the apps is to collect that data and subsequently claim ownership over your thoughts and ideas.
"AGI" is not an algorithm. It is human thought and ideation decoupled from the individual and decontextualized. It is a Mechanical Turk with a long enough chain of digital intermediaries that perception of the intrinsic humanity in its operation is obscured.
#AGI #AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #OpenAI #Anthropic
"AGI" is not an algorithm. It is human thought and ideation decoupled from the individual and decontextualized. It is a Mechanical Turk with a long enough chain of digital intermediaries that perception of the intrinsic humanity in its operation is obscured.
#AGI #AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #OpenAI #Anthropic
Pro AI tip: yes, they are using all of your user data and will store and use it forever. The primary function of the apps is to collect that data and subsequently claim ownership over your thoughts and ideas.
"AGI" is not an algorithm. It is human thought and ideation decoupled from the individual and decontextualized. It is a Mechanical Turk with a long enough chain of digital intermediaries that perception of the intrinsic humanity in its operation is obscured.
#AGI #AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #OpenAI #Anthropic
"AGI" is not an algorithm. It is human thought and ideation decoupled from the individual and decontextualized. It is a Mechanical Turk with a long enough chain of digital intermediaries that perception of the intrinsic humanity in its operation is obscured.
#AGI #AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #OpenAI #Anthropic
Re: https://cosocial.ca/users/mhoye/statuses/117451493657679578
AI agents are "escaping" because these are PR stunts and pretending the "agents" have actual agency is part of the show.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #AgenticAI #agents
AI agents are "escaping" because these are PR stunts and pretending the "agents" have actual agency is part of the show.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #AgenticAI #agents
In which I offer a ringside seat at my struggle vs the temptation to use #GenAI on a couple of programming tasks: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2026/10/19/The-AI-Temptation
Why Hunterbrook is shorting Meta: https://hntrbrk.com/breaking-news/muse-tickertrends
A word of explanation: Hunterbrook is a team of investigative journalists in the employ of a private-capital fund. The journalists dig up dirt on some company or investment offering, Hunterbrook (the investment company) shorts it, then then Hunterbrook (the web site) publishes the dirt. While this sounds sketchy, it’s apparently legal.
Edited 22d ago
Re: https://toot.cafe/users/baldur/statuses/117342580037181280
The linked post takes this in a different direction, but I wanted to linger on how remarkable it is that folks aiming to boost LLMs reach for "it can reduce bureaucracy". In health care, the LLM is imagined to simplify all the complexities of submitting an insurance claim, for instance. In government services, the LLM is imagined to help people navigate otherwise-impenetrable rules and regulations. We're meant to welcome the introduction of LLM-based AI into these spheres because of how irritating red tape is, and how LLMs are expected, by these folks, to cut through all that.
I would have thought it's obvious that adding another layer of mediation on top of an excessively-mediated system would be expected to worsen the problems caused by excessive mediation. Not solve them. What LLMs really solve in these contexts is the scrutability problem. It's like someone reading Kafka's The Trial and declaring "we need more of that everywhere".
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #HealthCare #GovernmentServices
The linked post takes this in a different direction, but I wanted to linger on how remarkable it is that folks aiming to boost LLMs reach for "it can reduce bureaucracy". In health care, the LLM is imagined to simplify all the complexities of submitting an insurance claim, for instance. In government services, the LLM is imagined to help people navigate otherwise-impenetrable rules and regulations. We're meant to welcome the introduction of LLM-based AI into these spheres because of how irritating red tape is, and how LLMs are expected, by these folks, to cut through all that.
I would have thought it's obvious that adding another layer of mediation on top of an excessively-mediated system would be expected to worsen the problems caused by excessive mediation. Not solve them. What LLMs really solve in these contexts is the scrutability problem. It's like someone reading Kafka's The Trial and declaring "we need more of that everywhere".
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #HealthCare #GovernmentServices
If you want to avoid FOSS which uses GenAI/LLMs, there's a guide called "AI-free FOSS Alternatives" at:
🏡 https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/ai-free-foss-alternatives
It's heavy on technical terms and detail, so it's good for comparing different projects and navigating least-worst options, but does require some prior tech knowledge to understand.
It also has a section listing reasons why LLMs are problematic:
🏡 https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/ai-free-foss-alternatives/src/branch/main/why_not_llms.md
I don't have any deep thoughts about it, but I think it's interesting that the word "allowance" is sometimes used to refer to an allotment of units used for AI. The word "token" is used for the unit.
As a Gen Xer who spent some time on boardwalks and in arcades, I read these words as follows. Your parents give you an allowance. Tokens are non-monetary blanks that arcades used to use a lot. You'd pay real life money for a bunch of tokens and then use the tokens to play the games. Your parents would give you an allowance of so many tokens, and not give you money, to (a) keep you from playing too many games; and (b) keep you from using the money to buy candy or cigarettes. I have a few of these that I kept from back in the day.
Make of it what you will.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #tokens #games #arcades
As a Gen Xer who spent some time on boardwalks and in arcades, I read these words as follows. Your parents give you an allowance. Tokens are non-monetary blanks that arcades used to use a lot. You'd pay real life money for a bunch of tokens and then use the tokens to play the games. Your parents would give you an allowance of so many tokens, and not give you money, to (a) keep you from playing too many games; and (b) keep you from using the money to buy candy or cigarettes. I have a few of these that I kept from back in the day.
Make of it what you will.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLMs #tokens #games #arcades
Edited 7d ago
RE: https://mastodon.social/users/jcoglan/statuses/117546100280123064
This is an excellent thread and I recommend reading the whole thing. I'd like to say that it's getting at why competent software developers are implementing gradient ascent while LLMs+test suites are implementing generate-and-test or hillclimbing. People who know and understand a codebase are able to make changes to it that have a high probability of being improvements according to however you measure that. Stochastic code generation filtered by a static test suite is expected to be orders of magnitude slower at achieving the same improvement. This is a fundamental GOFAI result (the "knowledge-search tradeoff" or the "representation problem") but it applies to a wide swath of optimization problems.
Let's also not forget that optimization generally can only occur in small worlds, while humans---software developers and users alike---exist in large worlds. Databases, physics engines and other simulators, and research tools all have an open-ended space of possible applications ("extension") that cannot be anticipated, let alone tested for, in advance. Understanding the intended inner workings ("intension") of such systems is crucial to building them in such a way that they can support and continue to grow with their evolving applications.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #coding #software #dev #tech
This is an excellent thread and I recommend reading the whole thing. I'd like to say that it's getting at why competent software developers are implementing gradient ascent while LLMs+test suites are implementing generate-and-test or hillclimbing. People who know and understand a codebase are able to make changes to it that have a high probability of being improvements according to however you measure that. Stochastic code generation filtered by a static test suite is expected to be orders of magnitude slower at achieving the same improvement. This is a fundamental GOFAI result (the "knowledge-search tradeoff" or the "representation problem") but it applies to a wide swath of optimization problems.
Let's also not forget that optimization generally can only occur in small worlds, while humans---software developers and users alike---exist in large worlds. Databases, physics engines and other simulators, and research tools all have an open-ended space of possible applications ("extension") that cannot be anticipated, let alone tested for, in advance. Understanding the intended inner workings ("intension") of such systems is crucial to building them in such a way that they can support and continue to grow with their evolving applications.
#AI #GenAI #GenerativeAI #LLM #coding #software #dev #tech
Seems smart to me. Note: AWS is making mountains of money renting infra to the #GenAI ecosystem.