Artificial intelligence still has some way to go

I got rid of my GPT “premium” subscription fwiw. Just wasn’t all that useful and the 5-10% of the time that it was unreliable meant the other 90-95% of the time was just a false sense of security.

Gross. LEAVE OLD PHOTOS ALONE

Man, I was so excited about the publication of “LIFE: Hollywood” by Taschen, because I consider the LIFE photo archives to be a priceless historical resource. So it’s a bummer to see how many of the photos in these books have been enhanced or even partially fabricated using AI.

— Sarah McGonagall (@gothspiderbitch) September 12, 2024

wtf

Given the flood of photorealistic AI-generated images washing over social media networks like X and Facebook these days, we're seemingly entering a new age of media skepticism: the era of what I'm calling "deep doubt." While questioning the authenticity of digital content stretches back decades—and analog media long before that—easy access to tools that generate convincing fake content has led to a new wave of liars using AI-generated scenes to deny real documentary evidence. Along the way, people's existing skepticism toward online content from strangers may be reaching new heights.

Deep doubt is skepticism of real media that stems from the existence of generative AI. This manifests as broad public skepticism toward the veracity of media artifacts, which in turn leads to a notable consequence: People can now more credibly claim that real events did not happen and suggest that documentary evidence was fabricated using AI tools.

The concept behind "deep doubt" isn't new, but its real-world impact is becoming increasingly apparent. Since the term "deepfake" first surfaced in 2017, we've seen a rapid evolution in AI-generated media capabilities. This has led to recent examples of deep doubt in action, such as conspiracy theorists claiming that President Joe Biden has been replaced by an AI-powered hologram and former President Donald Trump's baseless accusation in August that Vice President Kamala Harris used AI to fake crowd sizes at her rallies. And on Friday, Trump cried "AI" again at a photo of him with E. Jean Carroll, a writer who successfully sued him for sexual assault, that contradicts his claim of never having met her.

Legal scholars Danielle K. Citron and Robert Chesney foresaw this trend years ago, coining the term "liar's dividend" in 2019 to describe the consequence of deep doubt: deepfakes being weaponized by liars to discredit authentic evidence. But whereas deep doubt was once a hypothetical academic concept, it is now our reality.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/due-to-ai-fakes-the-deep-doubt-era-is-here/

my elderly father, who uses pictures of plants he finds on facebook in his business newsletter, has already learned to spot ai generated photos

and its not like plants have obvious defects like with peoples fingers the pictures just have that uncanny high contrast burnished AI sheen, think he also looks to see if the facebook accounts seem legit or not

that's cool. my father believed all the worst shit he could ever find, as long as it confirmed his opinion. i'm not like him, but there are a lot of hims out there

i should ask him how he got hip to it maybe he included a fake in a newsletter and someone told him about it, its a little different in a professional context

I like the idea of genuine content mimicking the uncanniness of fake content:

Some Chinese dudes imitating AI videos lol this is next level pic.twitter.com/LqB3O327Kr

— GioM (@theGioM) August 15, 2024

Paul F Tompkins and Brett Morris were both talking about the ABBA holographic experience they went to see in London recently, sounds fucking nuts.

Let me know when the GG Allin holographic experience happens

oh gawd

The Abba thing isn't holographic.

They’re gggggggggggggghosts?

Something like that. I don't really understand the technology

Meanwhile, I think the time has finally come to wind down ILX and move to SocialAI.co

I've spent years wanting to build a consumer app that was impossible for a long time. Now the tech has finally caught up to my vision.

Introducing SocialAI, a private social network where you receive millions of AI-generated comments offering feedback, advice & reflections on… pic.twitter.com/zSEFL1dlCz

— Michael Sayman (@michaelsayman) September 17, 2024

https://tinybeans.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/fullsizerender-27.jpg

Nice work

Project Analyzing Human Language Usage Shuts Down Because ‘Generative AI Has Polluted the Data’

its crazy how destructive this shit is on so many levels

Fossil gas plants are booming in the US. Again. In the year 2024. For AI data centers. Energy addition, not transition.

“In the first six months of the year alone, companies have announced plans to build more new gas power capacity across the US than they did in all of 2020” pic.twitter.com/WAKMbdpuek

— Thea Riofrancos (@triofrancos) September 18, 2024

link to that story https://archive.ph/HT9y1

Google and Microsoft recently admitted their emissions are soaring as they build data centers to power AI.

But analysis from The Guardian suggests the data center emissions of Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple are 662% higher than they’re reporting. https://t.co/IXoYFAP6Rw

— Paris Marx (@parismarx) September 16, 2024

well we had a good run

we simply needed computers to generate the most banal possible stuff that everyone hates

While the construction of new data centers raises valid concerns regarding their environmental impact, there are several arguments in favor of building them:

1. Supporting Technological Advancement
AI and Machine Learning Applications: Data centers are crucial for running complex AI and machine learning models. These technologies are advancing fields like healthcare (e.g., medical imaging and drug discovery), climate modeling, and disaster response. The potential societal benefits are vast.
Innovation and Economic Growth: Data centers are the backbone of the digital economy, supporting industries like e-commerce, cloud computing, and entertainment. They contribute to economic growth and create high-skilled jobs.

2. Efficiency Improvements and Renewable Integration
Advances in Energy Efficiency: Modern data centers are increasingly energy-efficient, utilizing advanced cooling techniques and power management systems. For example, some data centers use AI to optimize energy usage, reducing overall consumption.
Transition to Renewable Energy: Many data centers are committed to using renewable energy sources. Tech companies are investing in solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, aiming to offset their carbon footprints and push the industry toward greener practices.

3. Enabling Digital Transformation and Remote Work
Reducing Overall Emissions: Data centers support remote work, digital communication, and cloud services, which can reduce the need for travel and lower the carbon footprint associated with physical offices and commuting.
Enhancing Global Connectivity: By supporting digital infrastructure, data centers enable connectivity and access to information worldwide, helping to bridge the digital divide and
promote education and innovation.

4. Supporting Climate Research and Sustainability Efforts
Climate Modeling and Research: High-performance computing in data centers is essential for running complex climate models. These models help scientists understand and predict climate change, informing policies and strategies for mitigation and adaptation.
Sustainable Solutions Development: AI and data analytics are being used to develop sustainable solutions, such as optimizing renewable energy grids, improving agriculture practices, and enhancing waste management systems.

5. Economic and Social Benefits
Job Creation: The construction and operation of data centers create jobs in various sectors, including construction, engineering, and IT. This economic activity can stimulate local economies.
Supporting Essential Services: Many essential services, from healthcare to public safety, rely on data centers for data storage and processing. Ensuring the reliability and expansion of these services is crucial for societal well-being.

6. Balancing Demand and Future Planning
Meeting Growing Demand: The demand for digital services is increasing, and data centers are necessary to meet this demand. Without expansion, there could be a risk of service disruptions or limitations, affecting industries and individuals alike.
Future-Proofing Infrastructure: Building new, more efficient data centers can replace or supplement older, less efficient ones, potentially reducing overall environmental impact in the long term. Investing in modern, scalable infrastructure is essential for long-term sustainability.
In summary, while new data centers do contribute to increased energy consumption, they also offer significant technological, economic, and social benefits. The key is to continue improving their energy efficiency and integrate more renewable energy sources to mitigate their environmental impact.

the concentration of gas power being built in texas has nothing to do with AI.

https://www.chicwelly.com/collections/mens-clothing

Getting a ton of ads for fly by night shirt companies like this - one of the oldest get rich quick schemes on the Internet but I’m AI suspicious. Never any English text, no translation of the Japanese text they do include, designs all vaguely similar.

yeah it sucks because some of these places actually have some pretty cool looking stuff but it will be guaranteed absolutely terrible quality once you receive it shipped direct from whatever chinese factory produced it

i've run across a few ai images presented as photos of "beautiful landscapes" (i follow a few natural beauty type accounts on fb). they're very easy to spot. it turns out generative ai understands nothing about landscapes. i can think of a lot of video game screenshots that are more realistic at least in terms of "how natural laws work."

its interesting to think you can average out a bunch of pictures of nature and get something that looks unnatural

I've actually bought a few of those shirts above, they were surprisingly decent quality actually. I think I just got lucky though

THE CEO OF MAZDA JUST SAID THE 2025 CX-5 IS GONNA BE THE BEST ALL AROUND VEHICLE ON THE MARKET AND EVERYONE IS ACTING LIKE THIS IS NORMAL https://t.co/hhXrSd7QZ9

— Jesse Brenneman (@Jesse_Brenneman) September 24, 2024

lol

Fwiw if yall are in the market for some cool shirts I discovered this brand while I was in Malaysia and they make quality stuff, they ship worldwide via DHL and the stuff shows up so much faster than you’d think

https://www.kaptenbatik.com.my

openai decided its not a non profit anymore and gave sam altman $150b in stock then a bunch of their top people resigned

really they gave him $7b but you get the idea

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GYQWRhrWgAIL2C3?format=jpg&name=medium

cloud-based mouthfeel

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-Md.) was recently the target of a sophisticated deepfake operation impersonating a top Ukrainian official, according to three people briefed on the matter and communications reviewed by Punchbowl News.

...According to the notice, the individual was impersonating the recently-former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. “Kuleba” was asking questions during the call that the participants thought were bizarre, including: “Do you support long-range missiles into Russian territory? I need to know your answer,” according to the notice sent to senior Senate aides.

The impersonator was speaking in the voice of Kuleba, which sources said they believed was likely recreated using artificial intelligence. The notice stated that the impersonation effort had “technical sophistication and believability.”

The notice sent to top Senate officials added that the individual was asking “politically charged questions in relation to the upcoming election… likely trying to bait the senator into commenting on a political candidate.”

https://punchbowl.news/archive/cardin_ukraine_deepfake/

suggestion for deepfake tinkering: add "i need to know your answer" to the "do not say" list

When Mr. Altman visited TSMC’s headquarters in Taiwan shortly after he started his fund-raising effort, he told its executives that it would take $7 trillion and many years to build 36 semiconductor plants and additional data centers to fulfill his vision, two people briefed on the conversation said. It was his first visit to one of the multibillion-dollar plants.

TSMC’s executives found the idea so absurd that they took to calling Mr. Altman a “podcasting bro,” one of these people said. Adding just a few more chip-making plants, much less 36, was incredibly risky because of the money involved.

https://archive.ph/dglmB#selection-1149.0-1153.234

A VC firm I had a Zoom meeting with used Otter AI to record the call, and after the meeting, it automatically emailed me the transcript, including hours of their private conversations afterward, where they discussed intimate, confidential details about their business.

— Alex Bilzerian (@alexbilz) September 26, 2024

Oopsie

whom amongst has not forgotten to end a call, let alone software recording that software?

(really though, Teams is really bad at this because if the recording party forgets to close the call it has a single-participant nothing-happening recording hours past the end)

nightmare material

good Max article on the preponderance of AI slop: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-generated-content-internet-online-slop-spam.html

Just reading that.

"Fifteen years ago, Wired magazine heralded the “good-enough revolution” in low-cost technology: “Cheap, fast, simple tools are suddenly everywhere … We now favor flexibility over high fidelity, convenience over features, quick and dirty over slow and polished.” Generative AI as a technology exists in this lineage. That it can create adequate texts and images is an astonishing leap forward in machine learning, but the texts and images are still only adequate, “good enough” and cheap enough for people to thumb past on their phones. Slop is the most appropriate word for what it produces because, as disgusting and unappetizing as it may seem, we still eat it. It’s what’s right there in the trough."

It was always the way.

It's just applying that old rule of thumb that if keeping your standards up costs money or effort, just your standards.

dammit! just lower you standards

max is currently sifting through a pile of emails that belittle him for thinking that anyone would ever be fooled by ai

worse but cheaper is the original idea of business disruption, consept being that the upstarts capture the low end of the market first and the big players dont really care cause its not that profitable but then the upstarts use that as a beach head to take the rest of the market, not sure if that totally applies to AI but it does resemble it more than a lot of tech stuff that talks about disruption in a more generic way

Offshore Labour, marketing scams, plagiarism, overproduction of content -- whether its posts, genre fiction, academic papers -- and all of this so we can get the pennies we need to make rent next month. This so is in step with the world we live in, slop is fully attuned to our reality xp

were def living in slop times