Random Thread

[zompist]

Despite his criticism, I can't help but be impressed (and alarmed) that Grok can read text within photographs and even understand humor. Obviously misattributing the dedication is a major gaff, but most humans would fail miserably at matching a random dedication to a particular book. It often feels like AI skeptics make the mistake of comparing AI to the best and brightest humans and finding it wanting, when they really ought to compare it with the average human. Artificial intelligence need not outsmart Einstein to pose a credible threat to the social fabric or human employment. It just has to compete favorably with the average man on the street and thus far it appears quite capable at that.

The average human can take a book and not make up a dedication that isn't there.

[malloc]

The average human can take a book and not make up a dedication that isn't there.

Can they really, though? If you asked a random person to recall the dedication of some random book, they probably wouldn't remember even if they had read the book in the past and would have no choice but to guess. Their answer would be no more accurate than generative AI in that case.

[zompist]

The average human can take a book and not make up a dedication that isn't there.

Can they really, though? If you asked a random person to recall the dedication of some random book, they probably wouldn't remember even if they had read the book in the past and would have no choice but to guess. Their answer would be no more accurate than generative AI in that case.

The average human can take a book and not make up a dedication that isn't there.

Did you read the article? Its point is not "oh noes computers can remember things they are god they will destroy us." It is "These things make up 'facts' so easily that they can't be relied on."

[Raphael]

This https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ckgk391yzm7t is extremely horrible. I hope your family and friends are safe, bradrn.

I find it interesting, and not in a good way, that the first two news alerts I got from the BBC's news app about this only mentioned random people randomly murdering other random people. And their headline still makes it sound that way. It took me a moment to figure out that it was a murderous attack on a large Hanukkah celebration.

[rotting bones]

"Horrible" doesn't cut it anymore. We have to do more to deal with these fascists.

[Raphael]

Going back to the earlier discussion: If a human being who can read and has internet access wants to know to whom a book is dedicated, they don't need to have memorized that at some point in the past. They can simply go to Amazon or, if they don't want to give Amazon traffic, to some other online bookstore, and hope that they have a free sample of the book. Often, they do. If they do, it will usually include the first pages. Which is generally where books with dedications have their dedications.


*********************************************


My spellcheck doesn't recognize the word "bookstore" any more. We truly live in a dystopian age.

[bradrn]

This https://www.bbc.com/news/live/ckgk391yzm7t is extremely horrible. I hope your family and friends are safe, bradrn.

I find it interesting, and not in a good way, that the first two news alerts I got from the BBC's news app about this only mentioned random people randomly murdering other random people. And their headline still makes it sound that way. It took me a moment to figure out that it was a murderous attack on a large Hanukkah celebration.

Oh my god. This is the first I saw of it (because I just woke up, and check the ZBB before I check the news). This is what we all warned was going to happen, but it’s still shocking. At the moment my family are all on vacation and we don’t have many relatives in Bondi anyway, but I also hope none of them were injured.

EDIT: My parents confirmed that no-one we know was injured or directly involved in the attack, though obviously it has affected us all.

[Lērisama]

Oh my god. This is the first I saw of it (because I just woke up, and check the ZBB before I check the news). This is what we all warned was going to happen, but it’s still shocking. At the moment my family are all on vacation and we don’t have many relatives in Bondi anyway, but I also hope none of them were injured.

That sounds like … a horrible thing to have to check from the other side of the world

EDIT: My parents confirmed that no-one we know was injured or directly involved in the attack, though obviously it has affected us all.

Have sigh of mild relief overwhelmed by sadness from me, if you wish

I find it interesting, and not in a good way, that the first two news alerts I got from the BBC's news app about this only mentioned random people randomly murdering other random people. And their headline still makes it sound that way. It took me a moment to figure out that it was a murderous attack on a large Hanukkah celebration.

(For those from the future, the current headline now says “at a Jewish festival”, which is still odd, because Hanukkah is one of the most known Jewish festivals in the UK¹³)

¹ Although I assume that Raphael was reading the international version of bbc news², so the headlines may differ
² It redirects you to that unless you are reading from the UK
³ Mainly because it aligns very well with a Christian view of God, and is occasionally referenced in Christian hymns, because of course that's the reason

[bradrn]

Oh my god. This is the first I saw of it (because I just woke up, and check the ZBB before I check the news). This is what we all warned was going to happen, but it’s still shocking. At the moment my family are all on vacation and we don’t have many relatives in Bondi anyway, but I also hope none of them were injured.

That sounds like … a horrible thing to have to check from the other side of the world

EDIT: My parents confirmed that no-one we know was injured or directly involved in the attack, though obviously it has affected us all.

Have sigh of mild relief overwhelmed by sadness from me, if you wish

Thank you.

(For those from the future, the current headline now says “at a Jewish festival”, which is still odd, because Hanukkah is one of the most known Jewish festivals in the UK¹³)

³ Mainly because it aligns very well with a Christian view of God, and is occasionally referenced in Christian hymns, because of course that's the reason

Isn’t it just because it’s close to Christmas? Same reason Diwali is so well-known.

[Travis B.]

Oh my god. This is the first I saw of it (because I just woke up, and check the ZBB before I check the news). This is what we all warned was going to happen, but it’s still shocking. At the moment my family are all on vacation and we don’t have many relatives in Bondi anyway, but I also hope none of them were injured.

That sounds like … a horrible thing to have to check from the other side of the world

Seconded. Just the fact that you have to check this kind of thing is awful.

EDIT: My parents confirmed that no-one we know was injured or directly involved in the attack, though obviously it has affected us all.

Have sigh of mild relief overwhelmed by sadness from me, if you wish

Same thought here.

I find it interesting, and not in a good way, that the first two news alerts I got from the BBC's news app about this only mentioned random people randomly murdering other random people. And their headline still makes it sound that way. It took me a moment to figure out that it was a murderous attack on a large Hanukkah celebration.

(For those from the future, the current headline now says “at a Jewish festival”, which is still odd, because Hanukkah is one of the most known Jewish festivals in the UK¹³)

¹ Although I assume that Raphael was reading the international version of bbc news², so the headlines may differ
² It redirects you to that unless you are reading from the UK
³ Mainly because it aligns very well with a Christian view of God, and is occasionally referenced in Christian hymns, because of course that's the reason

I thought Hanukkah was well-known simply because it is close to Christmas myself.

[Lērisama]

³ Mainly because it aligns very well with a Christian view of God, and is occasionally referenced in Christian hymns, because of course that's the reason

Isn’t it just because it’s close to Christmas? Same reason Diwali is so well-known.

Quite possibly, but I'm cynical on the subject for reasons involving the number of faith schools in the UK and how they tend to teach RE with … erm … fluid boundaries between fact and belief. I remember¹ being taught about Hanukkah by people from the local church² in connexion with the hymn Give me Oil in my Lamp, and they were pretty silent on the Jewishness of the festival except for maybe a sentence or two at the end.

¹ It was years ago
² I can hear this assembly both from both then head teacher and one of the people from the local church who came in to indoctrinate us teach us about Christianity³, so it could have actually been either
³ Yes, of course a Christian church is a perfectly fine institution to come into schools to teach its beliefs as fact, especially about other religions

Edit: messed up the quoting

[rotting bones]

I don't know if the fact that my chain of acquaintances to the victims is longer than it otherwise could have been makes me any less angry.

[Travis B.]

I've been reading about how right-wing disinformationists have been spreading propaganda about how the guy who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen really has a very Western-sounding name or is really a Maronite Christian because "of course" the fact that the guy is named Ahmed al-Ahmed (which is a very Muslim name ─ Ahmed being another name of Muhammad) is just something made up by the "mainstream media" to fit their "narrative".

[Ares Land]

Oh my god. This is the first I saw of it (because I just woke up, and check the ZBB before I check the news). This is what we all warned was going to happen, but it’s still shocking. At the moment my family are all on vacation and we don’t have many relatives in Bondi anyway, but I also hope none of them were injured.

EDIT: My parents confirmed that no-one we know was injured or directly involved in the attack, though obviously it has affected us all.

That's awful and horrifying. I'm relieved as well none of your relatives was hurt.

[Raphael]

Enshittification: It's not just a metaphor any more! https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/15/lit ... ping-data/

[Starbeam]

Enshittification: It's not just a metaphor any more! https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/15/lit ... ping-data/

They have weaponized the Erfurt Latrine Disaster against us!

[malloc]

Unfortunately my lawyer couldn't help with the speeding ticket so now I am facing trial for speeding next January. The only thing left is figuring out my defense. Getting convicted would devastate my finances through soaring insurance premiums so I must fight this somehow. Nonetheless I have no idea what my defense would entail.

[jcb]

Unfortunately my lawyer couldn't help with the speeding ticket so now I am facing trial for speeding next January. The only thing left is figuring out my defense. Getting convicted would devastate my finances through soaring insurance premiums so I must fight this somehow. Nonetheless I have no idea what my defense would entail.

Was the radar gun used calibrated recently? If not, it could be considered unreliable.
- https://www.jeffjarrettlaw.com/blog/str ... on-errors/

[malloc]

Was the radar gun used calibrated recently? If not, it could be considered unreliable.
- https://www.jeffjarrettlaw.com/blog/str ... on-errors/

That is certainly a good start. Unfortunately to the best of my memory, the weather was pretty good that day with nothing like wind or rain that could affect the radar reading. One major problem is that I already acknowledged that I was speeding when the cop pulled me over. I will need to explain why I confessed to speeding when I ostensibly didn't.

Given that my rent is already increasing next year, I really can't afford (quite literally) a spike in my car insurance. Losing this case will genuinely force me into homelessness and starvation.

[jcb]

Was the radar gun used calibrated recently? If not, it could be considered unreliable.
- https://www.jeffjarrettlaw.com/blog/str ... on-errors/

That is certainly a good start. Unfortunately to the best of my memory, the weather was pretty good that day with nothing like wind or rain that could affect the radar reading. One major problem is that I already acknowledged that I was speeding when the cop pulled me over. I will need to explain why I confessed to speeding when I ostensibly didn't.

Given that my rent is already increasing next year, I really can't afford (quite literally) a spike in my car insurance. Losing this case will genuinely force me into homelessness and starvation.

Perhaps you could use the good weather to your advantage: That you were only speeding because the good weather allowed it, and being a good driver, you never would've sped if the weather was bad.

Also, don't catastrophize.