We are going to learn that a lot of language and art generators not only steals from people, but relies upon Mechanical Turks. I mean there are literally a bunch of people in something that (hopefully) looks like a call center hurrying through work touching up your essays and pictures in those seconds between pushing a button and getting a result.
Labor exploited to exploit stolen artwork.
When someone uses something currently advertised as AI, it will not enrich them. It will enrich the tech companies. It will make everyone more vulnerable.
The claim that these complex algorithm models are ~the future~ and inevitable are MARKETING. That’s it. It’s marketing to cover up the exact same nonsense humans are always trying to do to each other. We cannot change the fact humans are always trying to take advantage of each other, but if we’re the kind of person positioned to exploit instead of being exploited, we can simply choose not to be that guy. I don’t relate to the big boss with his cigar telling people to work through holidays; I relate to scrappy heroes doing the right thing even when it’s uncool.
We face the Chidi Anagonye issue when it comes to necessities like food. We cannot escape the entire food chain so we aren’t complicit in human rights abuses. Maybe we choose veganism to avoid killing animals; instead, unprotected migrant labor gives us almond milk. It’s an ongoing devil’s bargain of life that we can *only* navigate systemically (and I am always optimistic we will find ways to improve).
But there is literally nothing forcing us to use AI to generate art, text, or ideas. You can just choose not to do it. You can just be the scrappy cool hero of your fantasy novel saying, “I am gonna carry the Ring to Mordor even though the eagles don’t wanna carpool and it means walking my feet off!” You can just choose not to exploit other humans on this matter.
And stay out of self-driving taxis.
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our industry continues to evolve quickly and it’s important that we prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our business, while relentlessly focusing on what we know matters most to our customers. Throughout the past year, we’ve looked at nearly every aspect of our business with an eye towards improving our ability to deliver even more breakthrough movies, TV shows, and live sports in a personalized, easy to use entertainment experience for our global customers. As a result, we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact. As a result of these decisions, we will be eliminating several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organization.
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My biggest fear about the next election is honestly immigration. Trump has extremely fascist hopes for deportations (including for legal citizens) (Rolling Stone)
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France has a new openly gay prime minister who is also Islamophobic. So there’s that. (NPR) Ironically waving sad rainbow flag.
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I didn’t hear *anyone* talking about the Secretary of Defense going missing?? (Lawyers, Guns, & Money)
