Below are posts associated with the βlinkβ type.
π linkblog: Zoom says its new AI tools arenβt stealing ownership of your content - The Verge'
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.
π linkblog: Eight Months Pregnant and Arrested After False Facial Recognition Match - The New York Times'
Facial recognition software is gross. What a goodβbut terrible!βexample that just because it comes from an algorithm doesn’t mean it’s right. When will we learn that the risks of wrong decisions outweigh the purported promise of the right ones?
π linkblog: Academic Book About Emojis Canβt Include The Emojis It Talks About Because Of Copyright | Techdirt'
This is dumb. Copyright is important, but this example shows how much we’ve made it overreach.
π linkblog: A jargon-free explanation of how AI large language models work | Ars Technica'
Haven’t read this yet, but I’m bookmarking for my classes.
π linkblog: Someone Has to Deliver Your Packages in This Scorching Heat | WIRED'
So many of our conveniences depend on someone else doing work we wouldn’t want to do ourselves.
π linkblog: JCPS approves $11.7M for AI weapons detection in schools'
Guns in schools are bad, but adding surveillance to schools is not the solution.
π linkblog: Pluralistic: The surprising truth about data-driven dictatorships (26 July 2023) β Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow'
Interesting stuff from Doctorow. If I can, I want to work it into my data science textbook for next semester.
π linkblog: Celebrating Five Years Of Ironsworn'
This is a fun glimpse at the humble beginnings of one of my favorite TTRPGs. I’m trying to get a new solo Starforged campaign off the ground right now, and it seems like this is an appropriate time to do so.
π linkblog: Cleaning Up ChatGPTβs Language Takes Heavy Toll on Human Workers - WSJ'
Everyone excited about generative AI needs to account for this kind of thing. We don’t pay enough attention to digital labor and the dehumanizing aspects of content moderation.
π linkblog: A Leaked Memo Shows TikTok Knows It Has a Labor Problem | WIRED'
I think this is a much bigger deal than any purported security risk.
π linkblog: Cowboy releases cheeky app to keep VanMoof e-bike riders on the road - The Verge'
We read Cory Doctorow’s “Unauthorized Bread” in my class on computer fundamentals, and I try to share actual examples of how tech companies going bankrupt can create actual problems like in the story. Bookmarking this for next time I teach.
π linkblog: Elon Starts Bribing His Biggest Fans As He Admits The Company Is Still Burning Cash (Despite His Earlier Claims To The Contrary) | Techdirt'
Yet another wild story in the wild history of Twitter.
π linkblog: Why AI detectors think the US Constitution was written by AI | Ars Technica'
I don’t like generative AI, and I get grumpy about advice to accept it and work it into classes (even though I probably agree with that approach at the end of the day). For all that dislike and grumpiness, though, I feel even more strongly that AI detectors are not the way to go. This is a really interesting article.
π linkblog: Congratulations! The US Is 32nd Worldwide On Broadband Affordability | Techdirt'
USA! USA! Seriously, though, bookmarking for future teaching.
π linkblog: AI Junk Is Starting to Pollute the Internet - WSJ'
I’ve seen some reviews describe the new Mission Impossible movie (apparently featuring a malicious AI) as perfectly suited for our time of ChatGPT. I’m more worried about things like this: content farming, model collapse, etc.
π linkblog: Something odd is happening when you try and search Twitter for Threads links - The Verge'
It appears that Musk’s “free speech absolutism” continues to be selective and self-serving.
π linkblog: Why We Donβt Recommend Ring Cameras | WIRED'
Hear hear. Ring is a creepy company, and we shouldn’t support them.
π linkblog: Gizmodoβs staff isnβt happy about G/O Mediaβs AI-generated content - The Verge'
I read that “chronological order of Star Wars” media piece mentioned here in io9 and I was baffled by how poorly done it was (not realizing it was done by AI and wondering how an io9 writer could get things so wrong). Using AI to content farm is a terrible idea.
π linkblog: ChatGPT users drop for the first time as people turn to uncensored chatbots | Ars Technica'
I get that it’s straightforward language that everyone will get, but I think “uncensored” is the wrong word here. Content moderation is not (necessarily) censorship, and content moderation is good and helpful for tools like generative AI.
π linkblog: It Turns Out Elon Is Speedrunning The Enshittification Learning Curve, Not The Content Moderation One | Techdirt'
I appreciate Masnick’s thinking, and I’m a big Doctorow fan, so it’s always neat to see them come together.
π linkblog: The environmentally conscious Fairphone 4 is finally coming to the US - The Verge'
This is very exciting! I’m far too locked into Apple’s ecosystem to seriously consider this right now (even this post is being composed thanks to Siri Shortcuts), but I hope this does well, because I’d love to own a Fairphone one day.