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Dear Fedi friends,
I'd like to put together a list of people who are publicly resisting / calling out LLMs and AI slop.
Why? I enjoy reading my Fediverse feed in topical lists and I need something to counteract the unrelenting AI hype I see in the media.
Do you have any recommendations?
So far, at the top of my list I have:
@timnitGebru @emilymbender and @alexhanna of @DAIR
plus @cwebber @jaredwhite and @tante
Anyone else to recommend who advocates for #NoAI?
@_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante I would clarify also that I am not quite #NoAI in terms of AI tech, but I am definitely opposed to the *AI industry* and this hype wave. There may be various useful things from this tech, but the net version of things with it being forced upon society right now in this hype wave is that everything is getting much worse, and sickeningly so.
Several more pieces need to be added to the puzzle to make "AI" tech more useful, and I'm also simply opposed to a direction in society that dismisses and devalues creative endeavors, which a lot of this hype is putting at the center of itself. Creativity is what makes life largely worthwhile. I'm not willing to give that up.
I have no problem with OpenImageDenoiser in Blender, which speeds up renders through machine learning, and in no way devalues creativity. But something which made it so I just typed a few words into Blender and it did all my artwork for me, I would oppose.
@cwebber thank you for that nuanced explanation Christine! I am 1000% aligned with you.
Of course I'm all for technology helping with medical breakthroughs, but I oppose the pillaging of creative output without consent, the erosion of critical thinking and the mass surveillance facilitated by these initiatives (amongst other things)...
@_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante
This is why it's so important to specify things like generative-AI. AI on its own is a meaningless nothing-word with how much it's shoved in everywhere and anywhere. Yeah, faster denoising with machine learning is great! But a slop machine that pollutes the environment and steals people's jobs and work for the purpose of deceiving others for capitalistic gain? Not so great.
I love the AI that detects cancers better than doctors can, I love the AIs that automatically remove pauses from audio recordings, and I love the AI that automates boring, tedious sh!t that humans hate doing such as spreadsheet organizing. I just fucking hate generative-AI specifically.
@cwebber @_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante
I have been appreciating your well considered takes!
I hate the AI hype. The bubble is bad. The effects on creative work and the environment is depressing.
But I am not looking for strict #NoAI content, but well reasoned and researched critical content. As an Electrical Engineer my interest is in understanding the state of the art. I can't learn this from those who refuse to look behind the veil.
@_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante I also just add a little assertion that one other thing I hate about this moment of "AI" is that the field of "AI" has had many interesting branches in it, and now we only talk about one (machine learning models) and I am deeply bitter about that.
@cwebber @_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante Yes. There's TONS of very valuable, and tons of essential AI in many sciences, including medicine, high-tech design, and applied maths.
Stealing and reselling copywrited writings and visual art is bullshit. Using hyped up hallucination to overheat the earth and enrich over-rich overlords is bullshit, too.
@cwebber
There are many scientific and technological realms where AI is able to massage large volumes of data quickly to find solutions to all kinds of problems. This is good. Using AI to make deepfake porn, not so much. If only there were a way to promote one without the other latching on.
@_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante
@cwebber @_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @jaredwhite @tante i've found myself moving back to using data science, ml, and algorithmic because ai functionally means llm-as-a-service at this point
@_elena @timnitGebru @emilymbender @alexhanna @DAIR @cwebber @jaredwhite @tante Anil Dash @anildash belongs on your list, I think.
This is a forward thinking server running the Bonfire social media platform.
LGBTQA+ and BPOC friendly.
