Mastodawn

I'm concerned about what the proliferation of #LLM agents is doing to communal knowledge, and my mind keeps drawing parallels between what we see happening here and disasters that farming malpractices caused in the early to mid 20th century.

In a way, we are repeating the same errors, just with a different medium. Warnings from experts are being ignored, recommended practices are being skipped in favour of expediency and short-term gain.

Are we witnessing the making of the first digital Dust Bowl?

Show thread

Hugo Mills 22h ago

@claus I'm afraid I don't have a lot to add to the metaphor, except for the word "monoculture".

I think that the few visible pieces of the net that aren't based on one of a few huge monolithic global platforms are going to survive better, with less soil erosion.

Show thread

Steve Freeman 22h ago

@claus my thought too https://mastodonapp.uk/@sf105/116296935317944020

Steve Freeman (@[email protected])

So are LLMs the new nitrate fertilisers? It’s impossible to ignore the productivity boost and they enable a more industrial approach to growing. But handled badly we get depleted soils, downstream pollution, high energy costs, and monopoly control of the supply which means, as recently discovered, there’s a single choke point for global North agriculture. Phew! Paging @[email protected]

Mastodon App UK

Show thread