A world in which machines governed by artificial intelligence (AI) systematically replace human beings in most business, industrial, and professional functions is horrifying to imagine. After all, as prominent computer scientists have been warning us, AI-governed systems are prone to critical errors and inexplicable “hallucinations,” resulting in potentially catastrophic outcomes. But there’s an even more dangerous scenario imaginable from the proliferation of super-intelligent machines: the possibility that those nonhuman entities could end up fighting one another, obliterating all human life in the process. The notion that super-intelligent computers might run amok and slaughter humans has, of course, long been a staple of popular culture. In the prophetic 1983 film “WarGames,” a supercomputer known as WOPR (for War Operation Plan Response... Read more
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Inculcating hate A friend from the reddest part of my county once described how GOP candidates there rally support. In every group of voters, find out what issue pisses them off, then wedge the hell out of it. As the late Howard Phillips put it, “We organize discontent.” It’s just that on the right, wedge issues come and go (for those of a certain age) like fad products by Wham-O or their support for the U.S. Constitution. The issues are not the issue. Organizing discontent is. Tess Owen at Vice News examines the controversy du jour in Los Angeles schools. Recognition of Pride Month that touched off parent protests: This was grooming, said the protesters, many of whom were parents wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan “Leave Our Kids Alone.” The June 2 protest quickly turned violent. Videos show parents and their right-wing supporters brawling with pro-LGBTQ counterprotesters, beating them, and kicking them. It was hardly an isolated incident in the LA-area. Fights also broke out at two more protests in June, both outside Glendale School Board meetings.
The following is a transcript of the UN trial of Tony Patterson, a terrible barber charged with crimes against hair-manity. The trial took place at The Hague. The transcript has been edited to highlight portions of Patterson’s cross-examination.
PROSECUTOR: On the morning of April 3rd, [name redacted] walked into King Cutz looking for a high-top fade. Do you recall what you said to him?
TONY: “I got you, bro.”
PROSECUTOR: That sounds like an assurance of quality. And what was the duration of that haircut?
TONY: I knocked it out in eight minutes.
(Murmurs ripple through crowd.)
PROSECUTOR: Hmm, seems pretty fast for the “dope cut” that was promised. Usually, it takes forty minutes to make that shit look fresh. Could it be that you were trying to wrap things up before the Eagles game came on?
TONY: It was the playoffs!
PROSECUTOR: And you were at work. Were you aware that this client was attending a party that night?
The neoliberal obsession with privatising essential industries and services is haunting the UK. Profiteering by gas, oil, railways, mail and other entities is the root cause of the current high inflation and misery for millions. The water industry has been hoisted by its own profiteering, and Thames Water, England’s largest water and sewage business, is […]
Byline Times investigates the financial and ideological links surrounding the Michaela School, delving into their potential impact on educational policies and practices.
The MVC team discusses the bizarre 2000s comedy and the phenomenon of “male amnesia.”
Since ratifying a contract, academic workers at University of California, San Diego have faced what they say is an escalating retaliation campaign.
The post California Grad Students Won a Historic Strike. UC San Diego Is Striking Back With Misconduct Allegations and Arrests. appeared first on The Intercept.
- by Shayla Love
An analysis suggests that a rebound in labor force participation among women with a partner and child could have been stronger during the pandemic if not dampened by child care costs.
“People feel very let down" by Sir Keir Starmer, the Unite leader tells Byline Times.
Last year, on 1 October 2022 the Government quietly announced that smart meter data would be collected in order to assess the bills reduction scheme following energy price hikes last year. The changes were flagged in privacy policies and were unaccompanied by any details or explanation of exactly why the data was being collected or […]
Okay so the right-wing SCOTUS justices are aliens. So what!
Tune into Zaslav TV.
. One of Vangelis’ many masterpieces.
That I have no idea who Barbara Walters is doesn’t matter nearly as much as the fact that this is the Times.
The Drupal Association is pleased to announce that Julia Kranzthor (she/her) has joined the team as our new Director of Philanthropy as of July 2023! We are thrilled to bring Julia’s talent and experience in the Drupal Community to the team.
Julia enjoys connecting changemakers with resources to achieve community-centric philanthropy. With eight years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Julia seeks to undo the damage done by systemic inequity. Her most recent roles as Sr. Development Director at Healthy Futures of Texas and the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, focused on improving adolescent health and using storytelling to accurately portray challenges from the perspective of lived experience. Previously, she worked at the Workers Defense Project, building power for working families.
Let me try to focus my thoughts from the previous post. Do is as do does. Agent-like entities are equivalent to real agents. If GPT-4 can trick people into thinking it’s a trickster, it’s a trickster. If you can mimic a chess master, you’re a chess master. It’s fun to wonder whether there will be […]
In fact, Trump won every voter in the country both times he ran. It’s just the Deep State rigged it so it looked like he didn’t I hope they have that on tape. I think it could be useful in an ad, don’t you?
A thought experiment plumbs archaeology and geology to ask whether our own species will leave a trace.
The post Could an Industrial Civilization Have Predated Humans on Earth? appeared first on Nautilus.
There’s something amiss in the whistleblowers’ tale CNN reports: US Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the Hunter Biden criminal probe, says in a letter obtained by CNN that he did not ask to be named as a special counsel and was never refused authority to bring charges anywhere in the country, refuting two key allegations from IRS whistleblowers. Weiss’ comments, in a letter sent Monday to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, go against claims from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley and one of his deputies, who said they witnessed political interference in investigation of President Joe Biden’s son. They testified to Congress that during an October 2022 meeting, Weiss said he had requested to be named as a special counsel but was denied by Justice Department leadership. But Weiss said in the new letter that he never requested special counsel status, but rather explored becoming a “special attorney” under a different statute. “I have not requested Special Counsel designation,” Weiss wrote to Graham on Monday. “Rather, I had discussions with Departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 U.S.C.