Social Media is not Real Life

[Roger A. Shrubber]

An essay that describes in language what Large Language Models are, their limitations -- they are not intelligent, that is a misnomer -- social implications of these artificial language models and some interesting observations of trends and their implications.

You Are Not a Parrot

And a chatbot is not a human. And a linguist named Emily M. Bender is very worried what will happen when we forget this.

nymag.com

It starts with a fable.

Say that A and B, both fluent speakers of English, are independently stranded on two uninhabited islands. They soon discover that previous visitors to these islands have left behind telegraphs and that they can communicate with each other via an underwater cable. A and B start happily typing messages to each other.

Meanwhile, O, a hyperintelligent deep-sea octopus who is unable to visit or observe the two islands, discovers a way to tap into the underwater cable and listen in on A and B’s conversations. O knows nothing about English initially but is very good at detecting statistical patterns. Over time, O learns to predict with great accuracy how B will respond to each of A’s utterances.

Soon, the octopus enters the conversation and starts impersonating B and replying to A. This ruse works for a while, and A believes that O communicates as both she and B do — with meaning and intent. Then one day A calls out: “I’m being attacked by an angry bear. Help me figure out how to defend myself. I’ve got some sticks.” The octopus, impersonating B, fails to help. How could it succeed? The octopus has no referents, no idea what bears or sticks are. No way to give relevant instructions, like to go grab some coconuts and rope and build a catapult. A is in trouble and feels duped. The octopus is exposed as a fraud.

Her point is that we humans read what the machines say and interpret it as if there is a mind on the other side that is speaking to us with intention. However, these LLM have no context or experience in our world. They simply string words together based upon a stochastic model that is based upon how humans use language to communicate. When a model talks about love, their words have no meaning. The model is simply putting words together based upon the algorithm. When we read those words and overlay our own context onto it, then it has meaning. Our minds imagine there is a mind on the other side. And there is none. The model is simply a parrot that repeats our language.

i'm not that concerned with whether or not they ever achieve consciousness...
I'm worried about the human tendency to implement technology with no forethought at all.
Does an AI need to be conscious to decide that humans are self destructive vermin that need to be eradicated?
If we put it in charge of automated factories and there are unforeseen problems, will it be able to deal with those problems? Or
will they escalate into something more?
We don't know...but that won't stop us from finding out the same potentially fatal way that we have always found things out with.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

I had Eddy Munster as my role model

you and gaetz, both

 

[Budley Doright]

you and gaetz, both
View attachment 5269187

Never mind, I’ll go with Morticia

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

Never mind, I’ll go with Morticia

good choice, Gaetz would be chasing Wednesday Addams...

 

[Fogdog]

i'm not that concerned with whether or not they ever achieve consciousness...
I'm worried about the human tendency to implement technology with no forethought at all.
Does an AI need to be conscious to decide that humans are self destructive vermin that need to be eradicated?
If we put it in charge of automated factories and there are unforeseen problems, will it be able to deal with those problems? Or
will they escalate into something more?
We don't know...but that won't stop us from finding out the same potentially fatal way that we have always found things out with.

There is no intelligence in AI. The programs don't decide anything, they just do what the intelligent programmer wrote. So if an AI launched an assault on humanity it would be due to the decisions made by the programmer. We already have that in place. It's not intelligent but it stands ready to wipe us out if certain conditions are met.

Russia's 'Dead Hand' Is a Soviet-Built Nuclear Doomsday Device

Even if Russia was completely defeated in a nuclear war, it's not.

www.military.com

Programs are already in charge of automated factories and I'm sure that they already perform tasks that can be thought of as repair and maintenance. But they can't do more than what the programmer gave it. There is such a thing as machine learning but again, it can't do more than it was programmed to do. It is amazing tech, not knocking it.

This week scientists unveiled a robot that can sustain injury to one of its six legs, think for a few minutes, and devise a more efficient way to walk—by essentially “limping” away as fast as possible. Jeff Clune and his colleagues accomplished the feat by endowing the robot with what they call a “simulated childhood” of possible motions, and letting the robot figure out the rest.

How far can this sort of robotic thought go? According to computer scientist Ashok Goel, if robots have unlimited capability to learn, “why would there be a limit to emotional intelligence?” After all, he says, humans aren’t born with a full set of emotional and ethical intelligence—children learn it by observing adults.

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

There is no intelligence in AI. The programs don't decide anything, they just do what the intelligent programmer wrote. So if an AI launched an assault on humanity it would be due to the decisions made by the programmer. We already have that in place. It's not intelligent but it stands ready to wipe us out if certain conditions are met.

Russia's 'Dead Hand' Is a Soviet-Built Nuclear Doomsday Device

Even if Russia was completely defeated in a nuclear war, it's not.

www.military.com

Programs are already in charge of automated factories and I'm sure that they already perform tasks that can be thought of as repair and maintenance. But they can't do more than what the programmer gave it. There is such a thing as machine learning but again, it can't do more than it was programmed to do. It is amazing tech, not knocking it.

This week scientists unveiled a robot that can sustain injury to one of its six legs, think for a few minutes, and devise a more efficient way to walk—by essentially “limping” away as fast as possible. Jeff Clune and his colleagues accomplished the feat by endowing the robot with what they call a “simulated childhood” of possible motions, and letting the robot figure out the rest.

How far can this sort of robotic thought go? According to computer scientist Ashok Goel, if robots have unlimited capability to learn, “why would there be a limit to emotional intelligence?” After all, he says, humans aren’t born with a full set of emotional and ethical intelligence—children learn it by observing adults.

i understand that the limitations of the thing are real...but our limitations for self destructive behavior do not exist. People like musk will over reach and cause catastrophe, they'll use the unsuitable tool for the inappropriate task, they always have.
I hope i'm just an alarmist, i realize that AI doesn't think for itself, and may never do so, but it is programmed by human beings, and human beings make errors, hardware develops faults, windows can't guarantee all your hardware will work after any update they do...what happens when AI is running the traffic lights in cities, running the water systems for major metropolitan areas, running air traffic control, and something fucks it up for just a second or two? Because it will be used for all kinds of things, and they won't wait till it has been tested thoroughly, if past behavior is any indicator.

 

[Fogdog]

i understand that the limitations of the thing are real...but our limitations for self destructive behavior do not exist. People like musk will over reach and cause catastrophe, they'll use the unsuitable tool for the inappropriate task, they always have.
I hope i'm just an alarmist, i realize that AI doesn't think for itself, and may never do so, but it is programmed by human beings, and human beings make errors, hardware develops faults, windows can't guarantee all your hardware will work after any update they do...what happens when AI is running the traffic lights in cities, running the water systems for major metropolitan areas, running air traffic control, and something fucks it up for just a second or two? Because it will be used for all kinds of things, and they won't wait till it has been tested thoroughly, if past behavior is any indicator.

Traffic lights, other infrastructure, could be made more reliable with AI. It's not as if an AI dystopia is inevitable, it's just that dystopia makes for better plot lines. We will eventually have self driving cars, and it will make our streets safer (once they get Musk out of the equation). My car told me something was wrong in the seatbelt system and I brought it in to get checked. It was a fault in the seat belt tensioner and a part is now on order. I'm OK with the direction we are heading. Agree that we can't leave it all up to capitalists. There has to be people who don't have a profit motive involved, whether it be legislators making regulations or Consumer Reports.

 

[PadawanWarrior]

Traffic lights, other infrastructure, could be made more reliable with AI. It's not as if an AI dystopia is inevitable, it's just that dystopia makes for better plot lines. We will eventually have self driving cars, and it will make our streets safer (once they get Musk out of the equation). My car told me something was wrong in the seatbelt system and I brought it in to get checked. It was a fault in the seat belt tensioner and a part is now on order. I'm OK with the direction we are heading. Agree that we can't leave it all up to capitalists. There has to be people who don't have a profit motive involved, whether it be legislators making regulations or Consumer Reports.

What happens when someone hacks into the traffic light system, or into your self driving car?

 

[schuylaar]

Spam-me. Congress needs to act.

Utah's new social media law means children will need approval from parents

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165764450/utahs-new-social-media-law-means-children-will-need-approval-from-parents

 

[Roger A. Shrubber]

Spam-me. Congress needs to act.

Utah's new social media law means children will need approval from parents

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165764450/utahs-new-social-media-law-means-children-will-need-approval-from-parents

yeah...because kids don't know already how to get past every bit of that shit.
Smug self righteous buffoons, assuming that what they want will make a bit of difference to kids that grew up breathing the internet.
If it exists online, kids as young as 6 and 7 already know how to get to it if they want to, and kids that have hit 13 have already seen porn that would make your toes curl, and website full of hate...and this bill won't do fuck all about it.

 

[garybo]

yeah...because kids don't know already how to get past every bit of that shit.
Smug self righteous buffoons, assuming that what they want will make a bit of difference to kids that grew up breathing the internet.
If it exists online, kids as young as 6 and 7 already know how to get to it if they want to, and kids that have hit 13 have already seen porn that would make your toes curl, and website full of hate...and this bill won't do fuck all about it.

Good point Roger, it least it is a start in the right direction. Access to porn is way too easy, just google for it and the options are there.

 

[Fogdog]

Good point Roger, it least it is a start in the right direction. Access to porn is way too easy, just google for it and the options are there.

The age verification bit seems to be an overreach to me. Every account holder in Utah must verify their age before they can interact on social media. Excusing this erosion of the right to privacy by saying "you already have none" is fallacy in logic.

 

[Dr.Amber Trichome]

Does anybody read reviews to make decisions on how they decide a purchase? I have seen problems with the read the reviews mentality for a long time now. I read an article yesterday about fake AI reviews. Amazon has a very corrupt review system. They are selling complete garbage with reviews getting practically 5 stars with sometimes like 70,000 reviews. I like to start by clicking on the one star reviews. There are usually very few one stars for the garbage products. New scam I just fell into was, non returnable item. That took some time to recover my money. They didn’t even want the piece of shit product back! I am going to try to stop buying from Amazon. They have really changed for the worse for me.

 

[Fogdog]

Does anybody read reviews to make decisions on how they decide a purchase? I have seen problems with the read the reviews mentality for a long time now. I read an article yesterday about fake AI reviews. Amazon has a very corrupt review system. They are selling complete garbage with reviews getting practically 5 stars with sometimes like 70,000 reviews. I like to start by clicking on the one star reviews. There are usually very few one stars for the garbage products. New scam I just fell into was, non returnable item. That took some time to recover my money. They didn’t even want the piece of shit product back! I am going to try to stop buying from Amazon. They have really changed for the worse for me.

It's buyer beware on Amazon. I only buy brand name products from them that I can't get at brick and mortar stores. The reviews are hit and miss, sometimes they complain that the product failed when they used it in a way that the product description said not to do, such as use on gas flame when the description said not to do.

My biggest complaint with them is the way they have jiggered Amazon Prime so that it's not worth the subscription price any longer. A lot of people are on automatic subscription from the days when it was worth it and haven't noticed the increased subscription price. Amazon is just another company out for a buck. Their changes in policies toward returning items is a new one. Recently, I ordered one thing and received a completely different item. Amazon referred me to the seller who told me to send it back to them at my cost. It took several rounds of dialogue before they gave me a refund. Like you, they didn't even want back the item they sent me.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Does anybody read reviews to make decisions on how they decide a purchase? I have seen problems with the read the reviews mentality for a long time now. I read an article yesterday about fake AI reviews. Amazon has a very corrupt review system. They are selling complete garbage with reviews getting practically 5 stars with sometimes like 70,000 reviews. I like to start by clicking on the one star reviews. There are usually very few one stars for the garbage products. New scam I just fell into was, non returnable item. That took some time to recover my money. They didn’t even want the piece of shit product back! I am going to try to stop buying from Amazon. They have really changed for the worse for me.

Depending on what I'm buying I'll look for other reviews online like YouTube videos and magazines.

 

[Dr.Amber Trichome]

I’m canceling prime now, thanks for the info.
When I was living in a remote
Location I was kinda stuck. Not anymore. Finally, I can physically shop brick and mortor buildings. What a relief. They have a hobby lobby and Michael’s just down I 10 . Dollar stores are sounding more appealing these days as well. When the weather breaks and I save some money. Yeah.

 

[Dr.Amber Trichome]

Cancelled/ that feels good.
anyone have thoughts on best music apps.?
I have been using Spotify since 2017 . My colleague at the time, Ryan
From Portland Oregon, turned me onto it.
I like it and use it everyday but it’s $15 a month now. It was $9.99 for the longest time. Unbelievable!!

 

[TCH]

Cancelled/ that feels good.
anyone have thoughts on best music apps.?
I have been using Spotify since 2017 . My colleague at the time, Ryan
From Portland Oregon, turned me onto it.
I like it and use it everyday but it’s $15 a month now. It was $9.99 for the longest time. Unbelievable!!

I use good ol free Pandora. That said, I rarely listen to music. I like audiobooks with the Libby app. Also free. Add your library card and you can check out ebooks and audibooks and magazines for free. I also listen to podcasts when I'm out of books temporarily.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Cancelled/ that feels good.
anyone have thoughts on best music apps.?
I have been using Spotify since 2017 . My colleague at the time, Ryan
From Portland Oregon, turned me onto it.
I like it and use it everyday but it’s $15 a month now. It was $9.99 for the longest time. Unbelievable!!

You could spend a few bucks a month or buy a one-year subscription for a VPN and download music and movies for free using a bit torrent peer to peer app from torrents you find on websites. YouTube streams music for free and you can pay a bit for no ads or use an ad blocker.

 

[Dr.Amber Trichome]

I use good ol free Pandora. That said, I rarely listen to music. I like audiobooks with the Libby app. Also free. Add your library card and you can check out ebooks and audibooks and magazines for free. I also listen to podcasts when I'm out of books temporarily.

Is pandora free? I will check it out. Thanks.
I do 2 library cards right now for Audiobooks.
I also look forward to my one free credit on Audible a month. Not sure how I got that one. Listening to The Missus right now. It’s the sequel to the Mister. I love the accents of the readers, and how they describe the Albanian culture. Fascinating!