I very much get a "we just discovered radium and want to put it in everything" vibe from this whole generative AI bubble.
(Including the thing where companies used to slap the word "radium" on existing products even though they thankfully did not actually have any radioactive materials. Like "radium butter".)
Examine the motives of the wealthy investors behind AI.
The Saudi royals like Alwaleed bin Talal and Mohammed bin Salman want an AI-enabled international state surveillance platform.
https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-google-hand-dissident-data-to-saudi-arabia-activists-say-2023-7
So do Larry Ellison & Peter Thiel.
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/omnipresent-ai-cameras-will-ensure-good-behavior-says-larry-ellison/
https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/12/larry_ellison_wants_all_data/
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/03/silicon-valleys-quest-to-live-forever
Koch Network wants AI-enabled price fixing, stock market manipulation, and profitable housing cost inflation.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/ai-price-algorithms-realpage/679405/
@Npars01 @cuchaz @varx And as you've pointed out before (Nicole), the Saudis and Kochs want the continued sink for ever more electricity, to sustain demand for fossil fuels while transportation and other major sectors move the now and henceforth more-economical renewable electricity.
Along with the surveillance and the market manipulation, the waste is the point.
@ciredutempsEsme @cuchaz @varx
They don't care if anything works as long as they can own it.
@varx I hope we will eventually come to the same insight eventually.
It is BS that nobody needs and does more harm than good. It needs to go.
Eventually....
We'd like to thank Luciteria for the loan of the element samples and the display in todayβs episode. To learn more please check them out here: https://www.lu...
@fetchezlavache Amazing. π
(I sure hope they were lying about the first part of that guarantee.)
Mmmmmm, radium butter. So tasty on asbestos biscuits.
And it keeps them warm all day!
The Newest AI marketing campaign:
Convince MAGA geniuses that radium suppositories will cure bad breath.
and much like with radium, it's getting put (radium underpants) in a lot of places (radium suppositories) where you really ( radium tooth powder, my fucking gods ) don't want it.
@varx I like the radium example. In that era of radioactivity as a new toy, scientists detected radon at various hot springs known for their healing power.
Previous attempts to bottle and ship such healing water had failed. So they assumed the short-lived radon explained the magic healing power of these springs.
The result was radioactive water being sold as a health tonic. Some of it seriously dangerous.
@varx see also,
"Radio"
"Laser"
"HD"
"Tactical"
varx/tech
Jeff Martin
Nicole Parsons
David
Martin Rundkvist
Esme Ciredutemps
Pete Alex Harrisπ¦‘πΈοΈπ²/βπͺβ«
Martin Vermeer FCD
60sRefugee
Jake in the desert
Vel, Velvet, Velveteen
Bebef π¦¦πͺπΊπ΄ββ οΈπ³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈππΌπ₯¦π©π΄
Reinald Kirchner
Dudula the Dud
Medea Vanamondeπ³οΈββ§οΈ β
bituur esztreym
Fluffgar π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ
Stoneface Vimes
ιε
· 
Curmudgeon
Ultra Verified πΊπ¦ π¬π±
Andrew
Κα΄Ι΄ α΄α΄α΄α΄α΄ΡΙͺΚΚ
Jordan Maris πͺπΊ πΊπ¦ #NAFO
JL Johnson 
Bonkers
Turing Incomplete
Patrick Morris Miller
Buck Moon
John Balestrieri
Fi π³οΈββ§οΈ
Pxl Phile
JΓΌrgen
Mark vW
A Fine Day to build a fence π³οΈββ§οΈπ³οΈβππΊπ¦π΅πΈ
Derek the DIY Guy
gabriele
John Carlos Baez
John Faithfull ππͺπΊπ΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώπ§‘βπ»βπΏ
Su-Shee
Ollie πͺπΊπ³οΈβππ³οΈββ§οΈπ΅πΈπΊπ¦
Martin Hamilton
Wendroid πΊπ¦
Gustav Lindqvist
Wolf480pl
Orca π» | π | πͺ | π΄π³οΈββ§οΈ
Wayne Werner
Jack Linke π¦
β-ΚoΙΎΙuΙnΙΎ (Etaoin Shrdlu)
kauer
The Turtle