Yesterday afternoon, I was explaining (poorly) to some friends that I had been thinking about what the story of the Liahona in the Book of Mormon has to teach readers of that volume of scripture about (generative) AI. So, that connection was naturally on my mind when I was reading more of Jacques Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World over breakfast.

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by how relevant Ellul’s writing feels for today. Presence in the Modern World was first written in 1948, and even if you consider that the translation I’m reading is based on a 1988 second edition, that’s still enough time to earn the description “prescient.” (I’ve been reading Ellul in a mix of translated English and original French, depending on what’s more practical for the book in question.) Here’s a passage that particularly stood out to me this morning:

I hate everything in this article.

Data centers are coming to Kentucky, and that has me worried.

Interesting point from Masnick.

That this is coming out of Kentucky only makes me more upset.

Chilling read. gift link

One thing this article misses is how often CAPTCHA has been used to train AI. It’s always been playing both sides against each other.

Funny meme, depressing reality.

So, if employers save time from AI, and applicants save time from AI, where’s the net benefit? Or does it become a new burden for everyone?

C’mon, Reddit.

Very interesting case.

You know, instead of assuming that we must grow AI data centers and asking how we should power them, we could look at the costs in terms of power and ask whether we should grow AI data centers.

I think what bothers me about “improving learning” approaches to educational technology is that it tends to prioritize utilitarianism at the expense of everything else. Ethical concerns about AI don’t matter if grades go up, what students should learn about is largely shoved aside, and so forth.

Une très mauvaise idée, celle-ci.

Even if AI would be beneficial for humanity in the aggregate, it’s important to ask how that benefit would be distributed.

Yeah, but don’t worry, this is definitely the only way that generative AI will be used to overwhelm us with useless content.

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, but Doctorow has really sold me on it.

I have lots of concerns about LLM training, but I think it’s better to think of the issue in terms of digital labor, not copyright. My blog is licensed for reuse, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less exploitative for someone to scrape it all to develop software that will make them rich off my work.

I haven’t been following this debate, but Doctorow and White’s points resonate with me.

Even more than AI’s potential to replace humans in the name of saving money, I think we need to talk about the way companies are exploiting humans to save money—so that it can train AI.

This is a welcome step, but I’m concerned it’s an empty, distracting gesture—it certainly doesn’t solve the deeper issue.

Zoom’s responses to this are meaningless, empty corporate speak. I’m not concerned about owning my content, I’m concerned about others using it while affirming my ownership. And yes, I “consent” to it in the sense that I use Zoom, but that is meaningless consent and Zoom knows it. What a garbage response.

Guns in schools are bad, but adding surveillance to schools is not the solution.

Interesting stuff from Doctorow. If I can, I want to work it into my data science textbook for next semester.

This is horrifying.