Commentary on links that caught my attention around the web.
Notable Links
[Mike Caulfield in The Atlantic] A smart analysis and suggestion about the current state of AI by Mike Caulfield: "I would propose a simple rule: no answers from nowhere. This rule is less convenient, and that’s the point. The chatbot should be a conduit for the information of
AI
[Cy Neff in The Guardian] This is straight out of Black Mirror: "Chris Pelkey was killed in a road rage shooting in Chandler, Arizona, in 2021. Three-and-a-half years later, Pelkey appeared in an Arizona court to address his killer. Sort of. [...] Pelkey’s appearance from beyond the grave was
Fediverse
[Andy Piper at Mastodon] It’s really exciting to see these new movements from Mastodon - not least because they’re very intentionally marching to their own rhythm. Mastodon wouldn’t be a good fit for being a standard tech company, and it won’t be one. “Mastodon has taken
AI
[Adam Wierman and Shaolei Ren in IEEE Spectrum] An interesting finding on the energy use implicit in training and offering AI services. I do think some of these principles could apply to all of cloud computing - it’s out of sight and out of mind, but certainly uses a
Science
[By Sarah Gilbert, Michael Zimmer, and Nathan Matias at the Coalition for Independent Technology Research] A strong statement from the Coalition for Independent Technology Research: "On April 26, moderators of r/ChangeMyView, a community on Reddit dedicated to understanding the perspectives of others, revealed that academic researchers from the
Notable Links
[Joint Subreddit statement posted on r/AskHistorians] 30 or so Reddit communities have joined together to make a joint statement in defense of US research. This comes from people with real expertise: in addition to the depth of research talent involved in these communities, Dan Howlett has signed the statement,
Technology
[Tim Stevens at The Verge] It's rare these days that I see a new product and think, this is really cool, but seriously, this is really cool: "Meet the Slate Truck, a sub-$20,000 (after federal incentives) electric vehicle that enters production next year. It only
Notable Links
[Toby Buckle at LiberalCurrents] This resonates for me too. About the Tea Party, the direction the Republican Party took during the Obama administration, and then of Trump first riding down the escalator to announce his candidacy: "If you saw in any of this a threat to liberal democracy writ
Media
[Henry Blodget] Henry Blodget, former co-founder of Business Insider, has started a new, "AI-native" newsroom. It's not, in my opinion, a positive use of AI, but it does indicate how some people are thinking about using the technology. This apparently includes harassing your newly-created virtual employees:
Culture
[Ani DiFranco interviewed by Kate Hutchinson in The Guardian] Ani DiFranco, the artist I've seen live more than any other, answered my question as part of this Guardian Q&A. It's about a sobering topic, but still, this made me very happy. Here's
Notable Links
[Makena Kelly and Vittoria Elliott at WIRED] The Holocaust was organized on IBM punch cards. Hitler gave the head of IBM, Watson, a medal for his services; they met in person so that Watson could receive the award. Later, they named their AI tech after him. Anyway, in unrelated news:
Notable Links
[Alec MacGillis at ProPublica] The statistics that help us navigate our world are under thread: "Every year, year after year, workers in agencies that many of us have never heard of have been amassing the statistics that undergird decision-making at all levels of government and inform the judgments of