"Asked to think like a paedophile or act suicidal: Workers training Meta's AI in Ireland speak out"
https://awful.systems/post/4871576
"Asked to think like a paedophile or act suicidal: Workers training Meta's AI in Ireland speak out" - awful.systems
God help us. These workers are employed by a subcontractor, Covalen. > Multiple
workers from Covalen’s ‘AI annotation’ service spoke to The Journal Investigates
about their roles. Their day-to-day work involves creating prompts that are fed
to Meta’s AI platform so the system can be trained according to guidelines. > In
order to do this, some workers have spent entire shifts pretending to be
paedophiles online seeking child sex abuse related information, or suicidal
people looking for details on how to kill or hurt themselves. Covalen also does
moderation for Meta, with workers forced to watch extremely violent and
disturbing footage that has been flagged for moderation. > “Sometimes in my
dreams I am the victim, but sometimes – and this is far worse – I am the
perpetrator,” they said. One bright spot: > Over 100 Covalen employees have now
joined the Communications Workers Union (CWU). The toll that dealing with
sensitive content and inconsistencies in wellness break length were extra
motivating factors for the move. > They are also asking for a better rate of
pay, as they are currently earning an average of €29,700 per year.
Data centre energy usage has outpaced growth of renewable energy in Ireland
https://awful.systems/post/2291582
Data centre energy usage has outpaced growth of renewable energy in Ireland - awful.systems
“Total demand for electricity last year grew by 4.4pc, or 1.3 terawatts (TW),
but 80pc of that increase, or 1.1TW, was from data centre growth.” Training data
for LLMs = higher energy prices and environmental degradation.
Reimagining AI | Planet Critical - awful.systems
A video interview with the artist John Wild about AI, AGI, eugenics and Silicon
Valley TESCREAL cultism. Posting without watching.
Interview with Dr Abeba Birhane on Irish radio
https://awful.systems/post/531070
Interview with Dr Abeba Birhane on Irish radio - awful.systems
“AI for dummies” interview from Irish radio with Dr Abeba Birhane, who’s on a UN
advisory board about AI.
Spotted this ad in an old copy of Smash Hits. Possible tagline for this server?
https://awful.systems/post/384446
Spotted this ad in an old copy of Smash Hits. Possible tagline for this server? - awful.systems
According to wikipedia, Runaway received “mixed reviews”
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaway_(1984_American_film)].
Dan McQuillan on Resisting AI | Yeah Nah Pasaran! On 3CR
https://awful.systems/post/307043
Dan McQuillan on Resisting AI | Yeah Nah Pasaran! On 3CR - awful.systems
Interview on Australian anti-fascist radio show Yeah Nah Pasaran! with Dan
McQuillan, computer lecturer and author of “Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist
Approach To Artificial Intelligence”. Interesting comments on AI as a tool
of/for austerity politics, and an argument that AI is inherently anti-worker.
Probably nothing new to people in here, but eloquently stated and put into a
wider political context.
A sidenote: the brothers who made Stripe are involved. One of them (John I think?) was complaining on Twitter recently about all the unnecessary “environmental red tape” in Ireland.
Building an entirely new city from scratch in Northern California: an environmentally friendly way of providing more housing, according to some silicon valley types
https://awful.systems/post/182166
Building an entirely new city from scratch in Northern California: an environmentally friendly way of providing more housing, according to some silicon valley types - awful.systems
Sure, why attempt to improve the climate resilience or affordable housing in the
cities where millions of people already live, when you can just buy land upstate
and get a whole new toy to play with? And why tell local, state or national
government anything - they’ll only be supplying the land, water, sewerage,
utilities & transport links. You pay your taxes, you deserve to get something
back. This is going to be one hell of a planning application. What’s the land
use code for “feudal stronghold”?
