Baldur BjarnasonOct 20, 2024

“AI” models are suffused with US values and, occasionally, those are quite shocking to us non-Americans

An Icelandic police force used a generated image to promote a public notice

People were absolutely horrified

Why?

Because the cop in the image had a gun, in a holster, AROUND CHILDREN 😱

The uniform was also not accurate for an Icelandic cop but what people found obscene was the idea that anybody would carry a gun around children, even holstered

https://www.ruv.is/frettir/innlent/2024-10-20-logreglan-a-sudurnesjum-aetlar-ad-haetta-ad-nota-gervigreindarmyndir-af-logregluthjonum-425104

Lögreglan á Suðurnesjum ætlar að hætta að nota gervigreindarmyndir af lögregluþjónum - RÚV.is

Lögreglan á Suðurnesjum ætlar að hætta að nota gervigreindarmyndir af lögregluþjónum á Facebook-síðu sinni. Embættið birti gervigreindarmynd af lögregluþjóni, sem virðist vera vopnaður, umkringdum börnum.

RÚV
Show threadchmod 777 Kayfox

@baldur I always find the presence of armed people shocking.

Mostly because of the intrusive thoughts whenever I see one that I should absolute snatch it from its little holster and shoot the owner, while screaming "do you feel safer now, you dolt?"

Oct 20, 2024 at 12:55pmWeb
Show threadJargogglesOct 20, 2024

@kay @baldur
I'm not sure if this helps or not, but you can't just pull a gun straight from a holster these days. There's usually some kind of retention mechanism that you have to release before you can draw the weapon.

Edit: Just to make it abundantly clear, this is very specifically about the post that I'm directly replying to. I'm general, I don't think cops should exist at all, much less carry guns. I don't think police disarmament or abolition is going to happen before the person I replied to is going to be in a position where they're close to a cop with a gun, though. I do appreciate the optimism, though.

Show threadchmod 777 KayfoxOct 20, 2024

@jargoggles @baldur One small clasp mechanism away

Luckily the only time I've ever see armed police is in airports so it's not like the other worst-case intrusive thoughts, in that it's very very rare x3

Show threadJargogglesOct 20, 2024

@kay @baldur
Ah, but the trick is - where is the release and how do you get your hand in a position to both get it and pull the gun away in a quick, smooth enough motion to beat even a modest reaction time?

Unless you *really* practice it (and please, please don't), you can tell your intrusive thoughts, "sure, and how about I steal his watch without him noticing while I'm at it?"

Show threadchmod 777 KayfoxOct 21, 2024
@jargoggles @baldur sort of the main thing with intrusive thoughts like "hey what would happen if I jumped off this building" is that 99.9999% of the time it's relatively easy not to act on them
Show threadLeandro (Cerberus1746)Oct 20, 2024

@jargoggles @kay @baldur And also, cops are trained, and that is so ingrained that even mentioning the gun they immediately protect them.

I once was curious and asked a cop why he had two holsters, one on his chest and belt and had just one gun, just from mentioning it he recoiled away from me but smiled and answered that depending on where they are they are required to put the gun in different parts of their bodies and having two holsters makes that easier.

Show threadCatherine SchmidtOct 20, 2024
@kay @baldur wearing a gun is, to quote Star Trek, “an inherently hostile act.”