AI

Implications draw on the history of transformative information systems from the past

It's embarrassing, destructive, and looks like shit: AI-generated art is the perfect aesthetic form for the far right.

#PlatformRealism, as I define it in this essay, is a second-order aesthetic of generic images optimized to match textual descriptions, consumer expectations, and, ultimately, images from the past. This definition thus points to three aspects that I have explored in this essay: First, AI images, not unlike stock photos, are visualizations of pre-formulated concepts, images aligned with slogans. Second, the look of AI images is aligned with the predictable aesthetic expectations of a very specific demographic - predominantly white, young, male, and Western. Their reactions to the images are quantified, aggregated, and analyzed, resulting in a recursive algorithmization of taste. Third and finally, #genAI can be seen as a kind of backward prediction: Based on visual patterns from the past, it makes plausible guesses about what might have been. So #PlatformRealism is structurally nostalgic. It is a technology for curating the vibes of a «pastness» disconnected from history. 2/

JD Vance's AI saber-rattling, DOGE's gutting of the government, and Silicon Valley's thirst for growth show how AI has become a tool for consolidating power.

The Manifesto on "Algorithmic Sabotage" [1] is a text that provides a set of principles and techniques for combating and undermining the influence and impact of harmful algorithms on society. The manifesto is organised into ten propositions that address various areas of algorithmic sabotage. These arguments range from arguing for a sort of counter-power based on community strength to emphasising the value of solidarity and mutual aid over individual profit. It also emphasises the importance of challenging the capitalist ideology that lives on human misery by committing acts of subversion against modern forms of algorithmic tyranny. The manifesto encourages people to take action against harmful or oppressive algorithms, rather than passively accepting them. This can include taking direct action, such as disrupting or disabling these algorithms, as well as more indirect measures, such as raising awareness and educating others about the issues. The review of the Manifesto on "Algorithmic Sabotage" by Dwayne Monroe [2] is worth reading. 1. https://algorithmic-sabotage.github.io/asrg/manifesto-on-algorithmic_sabotage/ 2. https://monroelab.com/2024/04/02/manifesto-on-algorithmic-sabotage-a-review/ #AlgorithmicSabotage #AI #Algorithm #Algorithms

"The most powerful new data center GPUs for AI workloads can consume as much as 700 watts apiece. With a 61% annual utilization, that would account for about 3,740,520 Wh or 3.74 MWh per year per GPU, fueling concerns about the availability of power and environmental impacts" Millions of these chips are being sold every year. https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/servers/a-single-modern-ai-gpu-consumes-up-to-37-mwh-of-power-per-year-gpus-sold-last-year-alone-consume-more-power-than-13-million-households

Teaching AI a lesson

Generative AI is AI produced to learn patterns from data, which can also be used to create patterns similar to those in data. ChatGPT and mi...

Studies are flying thick and fast this year revealing the horrendous problems and side-effects of Generative AI tools unleashed on an unsuspecting public by Big Tech companies lacking a modicum of moral fortitude, but this one really knocks it out of the park:

We need new security systems designed to deal with their weirdness

Recent research projects AI data centers’ public-health harms.

@mmin@mastodontti.fi Varmaan on tarpeen erotella, mutta taitaa pelkkä käyttökin hotkia aika lailla: https://www.tomsguide.com/ai/chatgpt-energy-emergency-heres-how-much-electricity-openai-and-others-are-sucking-up-per-week. Tarkempaa analyysia löytyy helposti tekoälyttömälläkin haulla ja esim. ilmastoon tms. sektoriin painottaen. Tässä yksi teknisempi The Vergeltä, https://www.theverge.com/24066646/ai-electricity-energy-watts-generative-consumption

Any statement regarding the potential benefits and/or hazards of AI tends to be automatically very divisive and controversial as the world tries to figure out what the technology means to them, and…

Here are the messages to push back on

Recent advancements in generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) were accompanied by both hype and fear regarding the ways in which such technologies of automation would replace human labor in var...

Liitetty: 1 kuva In the big picture, I guess this (data, LLMs, AI models, etc.) is potentially a new reconfiguration of the (digital economy) where some win (spectacularly) and others lose (jobs are gone or become meaningless, human creativity can be harvested, etc.). This very simple figure from my PhD clarifies the negotiation on the rules of the new situation 😉 (I don't have time to explain it, unfortunately; this was back when I was still a PhD candidate and thought I knew everything...)

This paper problematises the notion of ‘machine learning’ (ML) challenging its applicability to contemporary algorithms. By drawing on theoretical insights from

Resisting AI - An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence; Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere, yet it causes damage to society in ways that can’t be fixed. Calling for the restructuring of AI, Dan McQuillan sets out an anti-fascist approach that replaces exclusions with caring and outlines new mechanisms that support collective freedom.

AI and digitalisation has become a topic of everyday discussion and debate, but what are its implications for activists fighting for social and environmental justice? This six week course will explore what digital capitalism is, how and by whom is being shaped, its implications for our economy, society and environment, and the possibilities for transformation. If you want to penetrate behind the jargon and hype to properly understand the digital economy, then this course is for you!

Content moderation systems are being abandoned and defunded, leaving many countries looking for alternatives.

Sam Altman is promoting his new image generator by appropriating the work of one of the greatest living animators—who is "disgusted" by AI.

A captured screenshot showcasing the iocaine demonstration site in operation. The primary objective of iocaine is to generate a stable, infinite maze of randomized garbage. Each page is randomly generated but adheres to a consistent structure: an optional 'back' link (pointing to ../), followed by a series of Markov chain-generated paragraphs of varying lengths, and an unordered list of links at the bottom. Each link is relative to the current page and features a randomized URI along with accompanying randomized text.

Soundtrack: Mack Glocky - Chasing Cars Last week, I spent a great deal of time and words framing the generative AI industry as a cynical con where OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei have used a compliant media and braindead investors to frame unprofitable, unsustainable, environmentally-damaging and mediocre cloud

I’m working on a project and as part of it I came across this picture.

Are we going to run out of electricity to power our data-driven future?

Ben Williamson Turnitin can now analyse students’ individual writing styles to tackle ‘contract cheating’. Image by Xavi The acquisition of plagiarism detection company Turnitin f…

The development and training of AI systems depend on hundreds of millions of data workers. Many of them are situated or displaced from the global majority.

Why it does not make sense to move faster when heading the wrong way.

We can now create compelling experiences of talking with our dead. Is this ghoulish, therapeutic or something else again?