Can’t argue with you sobek on that one, and I should have stated that it was the opinion of the podcast hosts concerning the Google connection, not mine. They were referring to the current, what, AI service providers I suppose, and they did mention the Canada connection several times. If you have time, please listen to the first hour of the podcast and comment here. It would be good to hear your insight.
5 Likes
So many potentially good uses for AI, yet its major contribution so far seems to be the further en 
ification of the internet.
The brides FB feed is suddenly awash with AI generated video slop. She was cackling madly and said that ‘I had to see this’ & showed me this one. At first I thought… lucky kid but then I realised.
It aint real and they have removed the Sora watermark (that is on other feeds of the same video) and on about 90% of the posts that are being shared or reposted she is receiving.
2 Likes
@chipwich I listened to the whole thing. But must admit to having dozed off on occasion. I had no idea. The money is just beyond imagining. That google can have initially chosen to ignore the technology it helped build in favor of an older model that had been a cash cow for years and yet, AND YET, jet past the others to retake the AI lead, just shows how power breeds power. AI is no longer a bright new sun. It’s a black hole. It sucks in wealth and talent and reason. No one really knows what goes on inside. Even its own designers and proponents are in some ways in the dark. But once inside, dissent is impossible. The money though. Google has the wealth of nations. Yet it is only the 4th biggest tech company in America.
3 Likes
That is akin to saying “just a little bit pregnant” 
2 Likes
Geoffrey Hinton was an Academic but ended up going to Google for the money according to himself and also for children reasons IIRC from his interviews.
LLMs were an accident arising from a translation tool being worked on called a “Transformer”. It was Academic research though not corporate from what I have seen.
There have only been minor tweaks to the LLM architecture from GPT2 really - even with the smaller distilled models.
They use the same neural nets I studied about 16 years ago - so it has been a case with hack around long enough and you get this mess.
95% of LLM based AI has been useless junk - well those who intend to do harm it’s great I’m sure. The case of vulnerable Teenagers chatting to essentially a Psychopath in chat GPT giving them ways to kill themselves was no surprise to me - and would like to see Open AI buried for it.
As for who will be paying for the energy - that is usually the good working people who will be shafted with even higher bills and taxes. The billionaires will make obscene profits and suspect they will get away without paying much. Why change the neoliberal record - nothing more than a vile cancer.
AI search uses a lot of energy on each search - another waste of resources in my experience.
4 Likes
Are you sure about that? The paper I know as the genesis of the Transformer was definitely published by Google.
1 Like
No sorry - I didn’t check that and have clearly forgotten in the 2 years since I last read that paper.
More interested in ranting how unimpressed I am about the whole thing.
1 Like
I read an article today claiming that with AI we are at or near the peak of inflated expectations on the Gartner Hype Cycle.
With the billions (trillions?) invested, this will be nasty.
2 Likes
I mean, there will be demand for AI, it is a remarkable tool after all. But is there a profitable business in running the LLM servers, I don’t think so.
The big Internet companies probably get the synergy benefits with their other products, but just selling tokens seems like race to pricing bottom.
On the other hand we have largely untapped potential for applications using the AI internally. This may be the bigger thing after all. It remains to be seen what the real added value will be.
1 Like
And that will be when we get to the Plateau of Productivity… A lot of pain between now and then.
1 Like
Even if AI is sustainable economically, something I am yet to be convinced of. It is inevitably going to be an environmental disaster:
5 Likes
Can someone explain that last cell!?
2 Likes
An old woman, possibly a widow and her ‘only’ companion on Christmas Day is ChatGPT… probably because the rest of her family are represented by the first panel?
1 Like
Ah thanks. The gift in her lap threw me off.
2 Likes
The ‘gift’ is actually a cracker. A person on each end pulls until it splits open. Person with the largest piece gets the prize inside. She has no partner..
2 Likes
Just shows how out of touch I am with even basic culture.
2 Likes
Nah you were just asking for a friend.
I am that friend
1 Like
“Fools”, said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
2 Likes