Pew research: Grifters more optimistic about grift than the general public being unwillingly grifted. "For example, the #AI experts we surveyed are far more likely than Americans overall to believe AI will have a very or somewhat positive impact on the United States over the next 20 years (56% vs. 17%).

And while 47% of experts surveyed say they are more excited than concerned...that share drops to 11% among the public."
#GenAI #aiethics #regulatebigtech https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/04/03/how-the-us-public-and-ai-experts-view-artificial-intelligence/

The weird thing about AI is that it makes people think they are now more creative or smarter.

It's the same mechanism that makes people believe they are super individual by buying the same Adidas shoes everyone else owns.
#ai #genai

Okay. Hear me out. But what has AI or GenAI *genuinely* made better?

I'll concede translations and even some brainstorming.

But where has it enabled us to do things that we couldn't do before?

I don't mean "cheaper and worse replacement for a human", but, like, genuinely make humanity better off.

(Also, I refer to the common use of "AI"; I know that ML runs circles around humans for complex optimization problems.)

Blog post: “Ghiblification” and quick thoughts on distinguishing generation from creativity

"Creativity requires bravery. And bravery is only possible in the presence of fear. A machine has no fear and therefore has no hesitation, but neither does it have bravery."

With thanks to @pluralistic -

https://3sxp.ghost.io/ghiblification-and-quick-thoughts-on-distinguishing-generation-from-creativity/

Not normally a fan of 'extinctions' but bring on the Asteroid or the Dawn of Man for this one!

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/31/llm_providers_extinction/

What ID can you use to get data for a specific topic in the US Census 1-year American Community Survey? I made an experimental Custom GPT where you ask a natural language question and get a response. Free ChatGPT account needed.
https://chatgpt.com/g/g-67c7c1012ea081918c52c6f25480af2b-find-american-community-survey-1-year-variable-ids
#USCensus #Census #GenAI #DDJ

What does the death of Julius Caesar and probability have to do with the future of knowledge? Join me at noon EDT today for a webinar on how AI, like a JPEG, compresses information, risking a future where history is endlessly rewritten https://maine.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Mf83tNhOSaGFUn4KxTMOuQ#/registration

This is how to disable the new “AI” chatbot in #Firefox:

• type about:config into the awesome bar
• skip the warning for first time modders
• locate the browser.ml.chat.enabled setting and set it to false

In the #Librewolf fork, a thoughtful person has already done this for you.

(HT to @kuketzblog for the hint!)

Meta’s MoCha AI Animates Characters From Just Voice and Text

#AI #Meta #GenAI #AIvideo #TextToVideo #MetaAI #MoChaAI

https://winbuzzer.com/2025/04/03/metas-mocha-ai-animates-characters-from-just-voice-and-text-xcxwbn/

I propose everyone talking or writing about #AI now has to use the term "AI and #blockchain" instead.

And then let listeners and readers figure.

Still think #GenAI is a good thing?

There article mentions "AI griefbot" and I guess it's the most apt label we can have for these Black Mirror digital doppelgangers.

https://www.businessinsider.com/i-created-digital-twin-of-my-mom-with-ai-eternos-2025-3

Hot take:

Human-written tests > No tests > AI-generated tests.

I think I prefer no tests to extremely complex, verbose and unmaintainable test code that just perfectly contorts around a code base and its defects.

We would like to endorse what @kuketzblog writes about the inclusion of an “AI assistant” into an instant messenger that is still widely used:

It is unfortunate that many journalists do not realise how dangerous the new AI in WhatsApp really is. Der Spiegel, for example, writes in a recent article: “Meta AI does not have access to users' private chats, however, thanks to end-to-end encryption.” As a matter of fact, the AI does have access as it is used in the context of private chats or group chats. Sadly, this misinformation lulls users into a false sense of security.

Source (in German): https://social.tchncs.de/@kuketzblog/114267998218207258

One fun thing about The Industry is that the same people are writing "AI is bad" and "here's how to use AI" content.

What's likelier: that you happened upon the one secret ethical and effective AI use case, or that it's easier to ignore harms when you're the one doing them?

every time I look at my profile pic, I like it less. I made it with generative AI a while ago and at first, I was happy to have what I had in my mind exist in reality but now I see all the little imperfections (and the vapid perfections as well) of an image devoid of soul or style so I decided to hit someone up on fiverr to make a new profile pic for me (this time without genAI). it might be a silly thing to spend money on but at least then every time I look at it, I can remember the artist that got a few bucks rather than the megacorp that drains the oceans and loots the whole of humanity's creativity to serve their greed.

The "AI makes art accessible!" argument is extremely weak because someone with art skills using AI will blow away any AI dilletante. I have seen some incredible things done with a blend of skills and tools.

A colleague from the UK and I bring in our two cents on a highly divisive issue, written from the perspective of CHIs and research libraries.

A Position Paper on AI and Copyrights in Cultural Heritage and Research (EU and UK)

https://doi.org/10.5334/johd.290