BrianKrebsNov 3

In two recent public speaking engagements, I made a comparison between the obesity epidemic in various pockets of the globe and AI. Several people came up afterwards and said that was the best analogy they'd heard, so maybe it's worth repeating here. Also, I feel like this one will hold up a while.

What I said was some recent CDC figures show that something like 55 percent of the average American diet comes from processed or highly processed "foods," and the numbers are even higher for kids. In a similar way, so much of what AI produces is akin to highly processed data: Its myriad origins are murky at best, you often don't feel great after using it a while, and if you are exposed to it too much it might just freaking kill you.

Show threadJoe BrockmeierNov 3
@briankrebs For the love of goodness, *please* do not go there. There are far too many people looking for any opportunity to lecture others on their diet, exercise, and so forth.
Show threadBrianKrebsNov 3
@jzb I think our extreme reliance on processed food is a debate that is very much worth having. And it's inextricable from a very real and pressing public health issue that deserves a great deal more sunshine.
Show threadJoe BrockmeierNov 3

@briankrebs Because... nobody knows that they need to lose weight? I don't think so. There is no debate to be had -- people *know* and there are *so* many issues at play, you are seriously muddying the waters and distracting from whatever point you might want to make around AI.

We all *have* to eat, and often people have less control than you might think about what they choose to eat. We do not all have to adopt AI. Again: this just gives a number of scolds an opportunity to climb on their favorite soapbox and lecture people.

Show threadBrianKrebs
@jzb okay. thanks for the feedback!
Nov 3 at 8:11pmWeb
Show threadBen PettisNov 4
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Show threadskryNov 4

@briankrebs @jzb IMO the third rail of fatshaming can be avoided easily while keeping the analogy by not using the word “obesity” and its ilk, but rather talking about the dismal American diet.

Whether it makes us fat or not is beside the point. It’s high-calorie, low-nutrition, quantity over quality.

Also, both low-qual food and low-qual genslop are shiny, ubiquitous, and super-available to people with low resources and skills. Worse than free, vigorously promoted.