GaryFBengier

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Writer, philosopher, technologist. Former eBay CFO. Liberal politics; concerned about the future for our grandchildren. How can humankind navigate the next century? And see my novel, with a social justice theme, winner of 14 awards. Santa Fe Institute and Exploratorium board member.
Author Webpagehttps://garyfbengier.com/
Unfettered Journey @Amazonhttps://www.amazon.com/Unfettered-Journey-Gary-F-Bengier/dp/1648860141
websitehttps://garyfbengier.com/mastodon/
Now I'm thinking about the future of AIs and robotics quite a lot. More soon...
A great podcast interview with Dan Turchin, as we discussed AI and the impact on the future of jobs. Find it on Spotify (https://tinyurl.com/Turchin01Spotify), and Apple Podcasts (https://tinyurl.com/Turchin03Apple).
Passed in the House...

Once again Ted Chiang has it exactly right. The immediate danger from #AI is not that it will become sentient and do whatever it wants. The danger is that it will do what it’s being designed to do: help rich corporations destroy the working class in pursuit of ever-greater profits and thus concentrate wealth in fewer and fewer hands.

https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-artificial-intelligence/will-ai-become-the-new-mckinsey

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/books/aidan-marchine-death-of-an-author.html

Will the AIs be replacing fiction writers soon? Dwight Garner thinks not, at least for the truly creative. Though he says, "Left wholly naked in front of the AI onslaught may be the writers of certain formulaic best sellers, but that's a matter for their agents."

Book Review: ‘Death of an Author,’ by Aidan Marchine

“Death of an Author” is a murder mystery coaxed from artificial-intelligence tools like ChatGPT.

The New York Times
Here in Exmouth, Western Australia, for the total solar eclipse. This one is a hybrid, so the path is a bit narrow (no 360 degree sunset), but excellent all the same.
Sometimes I question how Amazon has parsed its segment bestseller lists (such as spiritual & sci-fi/fantasy in Italy), where today Unfettered Journey sits at #21 - but, right behind The Satanic Verses and One Hundred Years of Solitude isn't a bad spot. ;)
One last book awards contest for me, the 2023 Book Excellence Awards, and just announced that Unfettered Journey was the winner in the science fiction category. That's 14 minor awards, and time to hang up the cleats. https://honorees.bookexcellenceawards.com/#!/2023-Winners/c/145959645/offset=45
Book Excellence Awards Honorees - Book Excellence

Discover the Book Excellence Awards Honorees and their award-winning books! Books were selected for their high quality writing, design and market appeal.

Book Excellence

As @Sarahp of @TechCrunch reports, Tumblr's parody of Twitter Blue has resulted in a 125% increase in their revenue.

What's more, it looks like the people paying for the parody are in on the joke.

The in-app purchase, when bought, gives you double blue checks that are purely cosmetic.

Matt Mullenwag, CEO of Tumblr parent Automattic, has expressed a desire to make subscriptions half of Tumblr's ongoing revenue.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/21/tumblr-ios-revenue-increased-125-since-launching-its-parody-of-paid-verification/

TechCrunch is part of the Yahoo family of brands

Holy 😮

"The stock photography company is accusing Stability AI of “brazen infringement of Getty Images’ intellectual property on a staggering scale.” It claims that Stability AI copied more than 12 million images from its database “without permission ... or compensation ... as part of its efforts to build a competing business,” and that the startup has infringed on both the company’s #copyright and #trademark protections."

#AI #AIArt #AIimages #GettyImages

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/6/23587393/ai-art-copyright-lawsuit-getty-images-stable-diffusion

Getty Images sues AI art generator Stable Diffusion in the US for copyright infringement

Getty Images has filed a lawsuit against Stability AI, accusing the company of using 12 million Getty Images to train its model without permission. It’s the latest salvo in the ongoing legal war between rights’ holders and AI startups.

The Verge