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dclowd9901

6,902 karma · joined April 26, 2011

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dclowd9901··on AI is making me dumb
I've been using it mostly to bat away yak shaving rabbit holes one can get into when working on a large and complex project. I work mostly on platform work, which is generally nebulous in its feedback loop and testing. Relegating AI to refactoring and building tools to help me research keeps me focused on solving the actual main problem I'm trying to solve, reduces context switching. I really don't understand people who use it to bat out their main focus. I simply don't trust it at that level.
dclowd9901··on Appearing productive in the workplace
I see it as rude as well. The literal interpretation is: "your time is worth absolutely nothing to me."
dclowd9901··on GitHub is having issues now
Without reaching for my tin foil hat, I have a feeling MS is able to suppress these incidents somehow, because yeah, that one was pretty bad.
dclowd9901··on GitHub is having issues now
What's your general increase of cost and maintenance overhead? How many devs and repos do you have?
dclowd9901··on GitHub is having issues now
Or last week's "If you use merge queue, oopsie, we accidentally destroyed your trunk", which also failed silently.
dclowd9901··on GitHub is having issues now
I kind of had assumed that had already begun impacting downtime, though I guess it would be good to get some confirmation.
dclowd9901··on Claude Design
"Useful" is an interesting term. How useful is someone who is an expert at using AI but has no computer?
dclowd9901··on Claude Design
So I guess I should just give up on my dream of having a useful AI assistant for day to day "human" tasks. We're just hell bent on replacing humans in jobs.
dclowd9901··on Why do we tell ourselves scary stories about AI?
Then prove I'm wrong. Prove that an LLM can in fact solve completely novel arithmetic.
dclowd9901··on Why do we tell ourselves scary stories about AI?
Well we're not. Theory of mind is _understanding_ you're not.
dclowd9901··on Why do we tell ourselves scary stories about AI?
How is it not true? Theres a world of difference between predicting the next word of a sentence in a summary and understanding the tenets of mathematics. You're mistaking general application of mathematical knowledge with memorization of mathematical outcomes.
dclowd9901··on Why do we tell ourselves scary stories about AI?
Because they don't _understand_ things. If I teach an LLM that 3+5 is 8, it doesn't "get" that 4+5 is 9 (leave aside the details here, as I'm explaining for effect). It needs to be taught that as well, and so on. We understand exactly everything that goes into how LLMs generate answers.

The line of consciousness, as we understand it, is understanding. And as far as what actually constitutes consciousness, we're not even close to understanding. That doesn't mean that LLMs are conscious. It just means we're so far from the real answers to what makes us, it's inconceivable to think we could replicate it.

dclowd9901··on Why do we tell ourselves scary stories about AI?
My favorite part of this article was this bit, and naturally so, since I love the author:

> Where did we come up with this caricature of AI’s obsessive rationality? “There’s an article I love by [the sci-fi author] Ted Chiang,” Mitchell said, “where he asks: What entity adheres monomaniacally to one single goal that they will pursue at all costs even if doing so uses up all the resources of the world? A big corporation. Their single goal is to increase value for shareholders, and in pursuing that, they can destroy the world. That’s what people are modeling their AI fantasies on.” As Chiang put it in the article in The New Yorker(opens a new tab), “Capitalism is the machine that will do whatever it takes to prevent us from turning it off.”

I didn't realize it til I read it here, but yes, my fear isn't really about the machine, it's about the machine that drives the machine. We already have a class of amoral beings that treat the world as an expendable thing and are willing to burn it down for profit. We should focus on getting rid of that problem first.

dclowd9901··on Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers
If you can't ban them, what else would you call it?
dclowd9901··on Maine is about to become the first state to ban major new data centers
For people who don't support this kind of ban, I'd ask: What's the alternative? _Requiring_ that states house data centers?
dclowd9901··on Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls
This was the first thing that came to mind with me as well: the language of the reasoning for the layoffs. It's never a leadership failure is it?
dclowd9901··on The Los Angeles Aqueduct Is Wild
In Arizona we grow alfalfa as well -- it's mind boggling to me that in places where water is so scarce we use so much of it on such a low value crop.
dclowd9901··on The Los Angeles Aqueduct Is Wild
I get that it is neat but it's hardly the Hoover dam is it?
dclowd9901··on Lego's 0.002mm specification and its implications for manufacturing (2025)
The "Creator" sets in particular I feel harken the most to the company's roots. They usually have a few different builds per set and include all sorts of unique pieces for making your own creations. They also usually have very fun designs.
dclowd9901··on Lego's 0.002mm specification and its implications for manufacturing (2025)
I have the re-release secondhand unopened and I think I paid about that much, so even in a collector's market, not terrible at all. An expensive toy to be sure but a deeply satisfying experience if you like that kind of thing.
dclowd9901··on Anthropic Cowork feature creates 10GB VM bundle on macOS without warning
What software engineering benchmarks?
dclowd9901··on First in-utero stem cell therapy for fetal spina bifida repair is safe: study
As the brother of a young, amazing man who we lost due to another genetic ailment (CF), whenever I see stories like this, it makes me so hopeful for families in the future never having to see a loved one deteriorate due to a bad roll of the dice.

Hats off to everyone out there putting in the hours to make the lived experience of these folks much better than they would have otherwise been. If only we had more of you in the world.

dclowd9901··on The Pentagon threatens Anthropic
> I’m a sensible moderate on the killbot issue (we’ll probably get them eventually, and I doubt they’ll make things much worse compared to AI “only” having unfettered access to every Internet-enabled computer in the world)

Crikey, this isn't sensible, this is completely misanthropic and nihilistic. How can anyone be ok with a machine unilaterally deciding (outside of the courts or any other check mechanism) to murder someone?

I also take issue with the author's postulation that the Defense Production act could be used here. It's one thing to make sheet metal companies build plane parts, but requiring companies to be put themselves "in the loop" so to speak with regards to actual military strategy or defense puts those companies and their employees at unwilling and extraordinary risk. It's basically enlistment. Plus, it can only be used in extraordinary circumstances.

There's actually another possibility here: Anthropic really doesn't care about being in the loop, and are protesting as theater, but behind the scenes, hammering out a deal with the Pentagon, and they'll help under classified status, and none of us will be the wiser.

dclowd9901··on The Singularity will occur on a Tuesday
That's interesting -- I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
dclowd9901··on The Singularity will occur on a Tuesday
I really hate that the first example has become a de facto tell for LLMs, because it's a perfectly fine rhetorical device.
dclowd9901··on The Singularity will occur on a Tuesday
Is that not the "Emperor's New Clothes" form? That would be like version 0.0.1
dclowd9901··on 221 Cannon is Not For Sale
If you broaden the definition of "stolen identity" to "someone trying to scam either you or someone else by using details on your identity" (which this story more or less is) I think a fair many of us can claim this experience.
dclowd9901··on 221 Cannon is Not For Sale
> He gave me the standard line: 2-3 weeks if I hear from anyone.

> I never heard from anyone.

What is the FBI doing if they're not working on cases like this or domestic terrorism/mass shootings? We continue to have both classes of crimes in droves.

dclowd9901··on Doom has been ported to an earbud
Im with you. I want to play Freespace 2 on earbuds.
dclowd9901··on Douglas Adams on the English–American cultural divide over "heroes"
As you described, because he keeps to himself, he comes off as a loose cannon, which feels to me like something you wouldn't want on a coherent spy team, but nonetheless is so fun to watch, which is the point, really.
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