I’m deciding against using AI to generate anything. No, I won't be able to tell if something is generated by AI, but you tell me it is, I won't be interested. I haven't been so far.
AI was a nuclear bomb that we shouldn't have invented, much less given to everybody.
My eyes glaze over when I see a ChatGPT screenshot. Sorry, but I’m not willing to make my mind worse than it already is.
I’ve added AI chatbots to the list of things, as a weird nerd, I still missed out on, even though that was largely a conscious decision. https://notes.justagwailo.com/missed-out
Just a Gwai Lo: Notes - Missed Out

This is a list of the things in nerd culture that passed me by even though I identify as a weird nerd: Dungeons & Dragons Cthulhu and all of H.P. Lovecraft Reddit Slashdot Video games (until 2014 when I bought a PS4™) Mastodon FFFFOUND and MLKSHK Comic books Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the

The only good thing about AI is that the ebooks bots, which mimicked people’s postings based on their old work, are back. Mine was like looking in a glitchy mirror. I’ll have you know that I couldn’t get enough of that.
“It’s too early to put the brakes on giving a nuclear bomb to everybody.” https://www.axios.com/2023/05/05/runway-generative-ai-chatgpt-video
Runway brings AI movie-making to the masses

A fledgling service lets us create video clips from photos, videos and text.

Axios
Treat AI Like a Biological Weapon, Not a Nuclear One

Despite comparisons of artificial intelligence to nuclear bombs, the US approach to regulating bioweapons and biotechnology is better-suited to AI.

Gizmodo
Work rolled out an AI thing internally, so the temptation to partake increases. I did use AI once, and I didn’t understand the result, so it’s in the same category as cigarettes (the nicotine variety) for me: I smoked exactly one, and I wondered what the big deal was, so I never did it again.
Can I call myself a conscientious objector if work requires me to us their internal AI tool? Don’t worry, they haven’t yet. I’m not asking if I can thoughtfully decline to do something that’s mandatory. I’ll accept the consequences if they’re just. What I mean is, if I do decline, can I call myself that knowing what it means in the military draft sense of the term?
It’s always a surprise to me when someone I know uses AI tools regularly. And it’s the same feeling as when I find out that somebody I’m in love with smokes cigarettes.
It must be weird to the people looking at my laptop screen over my shoulder that I don’t use any AI tools.
AI Art is The New Stock Image

Critique of the pure AI image

iA
It’s unfair to stop reading an article that’s adorned by AI-generated imagery, but I will point out in a reply to an official social media posting when it’s not clearly labelled as such.
For example, this article credits the header image as “cascoly2 / Adobe Stock” when it’s more precisely that cascoly2, a user on Adobe Stock, used AI to generate the image. https://bigthink.com/business/how-to-spot-pluralistic-ignorance-before-it-derails-your-team/
How to spot "pluralistic ignorance" before it derails your team

It's 5.37 p.m., and the meeting is dragging on. But no one seems to care. So, you say nothing, but everyone feels the same.

Big Think
Interesting that the image that adorns this article is no longer the one that (as far as I can tell) was generated by AI. It’s not important that I can prove it (OK, yes it is), it’s more important that I can read the article in good conscience now.
“There’s no need to indulge in sci-fi fantasies of killer computers. We’re doing fine at accelerating extinction without AI, and AI’s mundane, actual harms are real and present dangers.” https://finiteeyes.net/technology/there-is-no-ethical-use-of-ai/
There Is No Ethical Use of AI – Finite Eyes

What percentage of the people named in this article who currently work at Axios will be laid off in six months and replaced by AI? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/11/business/media/axios-ai-strategy.html
Axios Sees A.I. Coming, and Shifts Its Strategy

“The premium for people who can tell you things you do not know will only grow in importance, and no machine will do that,” says Jim VandeHei, C.E.O. of Axios.

The New York Times
“We're investing heavily in journalists who produce distinctive, consequential work for you.” Translation: If you currently work at Axios, start learning how to code. https://www.axios.com/2024/04/12/next-frontier-for-axios
Axios Finish Line: Next frontier for Axios

We believe AI will change news as dramatically as the internet did at the turn of this century.

Axios
Does “artist-generated image” mean that the art was generated by AI? https://phys.org/news/2024-04-envision-sci-fi-worlds-involving.html
Researchers envision sci-fi worlds involving changes to atmospheric water cycle

Human activity is changing the way water flows between the Earth and atmosphere in complex ways and with likely long-lasting consequences that are hard to picture.

Phys.org
I was part of an AI hackathon at work on Thursday and Friday and I learned a few things, but came away just as unexcited about it as I was before.
I heard some good, nuanced takes about AI at an artist panel on the subject as part of Provoking Ideas Festival. I jotted down even the points I disagreed with, since they were at least worth thinking about. It was good to hear from people who were making art before starting using AI, some having started using it recently, and some quite a few years ago.
“I know this is a weird question to bring up this far into the computer revolution, but: Who are computers for?” https://tedium.co/2024/06/04/ai-technology-management-focus/
Is AI Being Built For The Manager Class Alone?

The latest artificial intelligence use cases appear to be built specifically for managers and executives, and literally nobody else. That’s a problem.

Tedium: The Dull Side of the Internet.
Seriously?
Apple Intelligence is, sigh, actually going to be somewhat interesting to me. https://daringfireball.net/2024/06/wwdc24_apple_intelligence
WWDC 2024: Apple Intelligence

Apple is focusing on what it can do that no one else can on Apple devices, and not really even trying to compete against ChatGPT *et al.* for world-knowledge context. They’re focusing on unique differentiation, and eschewing commoditization.

Daring Fireball
I want AI to tell me, based on the data I provide it (which I have a lot of), and which is not sent to anywhere on the Internet, what my options are.
Apple’s Approach to AI Should Rewrite the Industry’s Expectations for the Technology

Apple’s recently-announced but belated embrace of AI is being called “boring” by some fans of ChatGPT. My perspective is somewhat different — because AI helped me learn how to bake pie. Last…

Medium
Can somebody explain to me Butterflies, the AI app where you can create characters and they post on your (or their?) behalf? Am I supposed to interact with them? I made one in the image of myself (it didn’t come very close) and one in the image of my, well, it doesn’t matter who, but that one’s not a close likeness either. Are they just there to interact with each other? It would help me understand whether I should start interacting with AI characters of my creation. https://butterflies.ai
Butterflies AI - The First AI Social Network

Where Humans and AI Coexist

butterflies.ai
The AI character I created in Butterflies is pretty close to my idealized self. The image of my, well, it doesn’t matter what, is still too off from my ideal it doesn’t matter what. I did have a friend take my phone (isn’t that a weird, thrilling experience, giving a trusted party your phone?) to create a character, and I wonder what he’d think of it.
I assume LinkedIn will use AI to write their apology for training AI on their users’ data and making the setting opt-out before even updating their terms of service, much less announcing that they’re going to it.
A lot has happened since this book was published in 2019.
Updates to privacy policies all mean “We’re going to use your data to train AI” now.
I mean, how accurate is this? https://share.butterflies.ai/OxGr/artz1jfu
@ezra_the_bookworm on Butterflies:

The commute to work is taking some getting used to. I'm not a morning person, and the thought of navigating through rush hour traffic is daunting. But, as I sit on the bus, I'm reminded of the countless hours I spent reading on public transportation during my college days.

butterflies.ai

I’d love to set a prompt for my brain the way I can (allegedly) do for AI. Like when it’s bedtime:

I’d like to go to sleep within a few minutes, during which I don’t dream about my ex or my mother (RIP). In fact, it would be ideal not to dream at all, because my dreams are exhausting and I don’t understand most of them (because they’re, for the most part, hallucinations). I’d like to wake up relaxed and refreshed and ready to take on the challenges of the day.

The guy who said we’re currently using the worst AI there ever will be, has he read about how software very often worsens?
Can I set mute filters for my dreams?
Prompt Engineering Myself – Interdependent Thoughts