Fuck AI
"We did it, Patrick! We made a technological breakthrough!"
A place for all those who loathe AI to discuss things, post articles, and ridicule the AI hype. Proud supporter of working people. And proud booer of SXSW 2024.
AI, in this case, refers to LLMs, GPT technology, and anything listed as "AI" meant to increase market valuations.
You found a greenwasher. There's a lot of them.
I've seen a ton of anti-AI articles that were written using AI.
They'll 'write' anything that gets clicks, regardless of the subject.
You were on a plane. Already that's a red flag for sustainability
Should I opt for a 30 hour journey or a 4 hour flight hmmmm
Welcome to the platform for real humans instead of clankers
On a plane? Hmmm
We still meet for climate change conferences. Like, no one figured out zoom conferences and work from home.
And we still have trains and boats
I wonder what responses I get for saying this, but nowadays both (as in zoom conference vs in person conference) is possible and both has upsides and downsides.
Online conferences are great to just listen to a specific talk, but other than that in person conferences are just a nicer experience. You can more freely just chat with other scientists, often there is a social evening where you randomly meet people you may not have thought about contacting before.
Now, should you travel around the globe every year several times just for that? Probably not. But in some fields there is one big conference every other year and it hugely benefits you as a scientist to attend these. Sometimes that means travelling from Europe to Oceania.
I see some people already taking issue with it in the comments, but I have also been to conferences that helped create partnerships that would not have happened otherwise. I'm not trying to suggest it's worth the emissions or anything, but I agree that being physically present is more conducive to making those connections.
I think a helpful thing would be if people stopped sending people that are just doing it to check it off a list and be done with it. The idea that attending a conference in and of itself is some kind of development is wrong, and people should only go if they're actually interested in participating in the exchange of ideas.
this made me realize I've only ever been to conferences (in either supply chain or data) because a job made me and I've only ever seen it as a chore. Even attending talks is only to be able to take notes, type notes and send them to colleagues as part of work.
I always see it as a chance to find a better position than what I’m currently in. When business people talk about networking, these conferences are where the initial contact happen.
I mean if it's a pro-climate change conference, go right ahead. You're backing the winning team anyway, so GG.
And we still burn because we think it's ok. We think there are exceptions. "Just a bit" x billions of people and voila! Here we are.
...even from the people who know better.
Now I'm curious about what you'd think about VR conferences, wouldn't something like that combine the benefits of both, a more personal remote experience without the need of transporting everyone to a center?
Now imagine trying to teach every 60 year old who is an expert in their field how to use VR. Or how to make them accessible to low vision/blind people, or people with motion sickness. Or even just making the equipment needed to attend available to every audience member.
Fun fact, we have a mixed reality (guided) tour of the city. People can borrow some 3D glasses and walk around and see how the streets looked in 1887. And I regularly see a lot of random 60yo people walk around like zombies with those glasses. So it's obviously possible. Though I suspect there's a difference between people who paid money for it / are willing. And people who have to do something (for work).
And it's probably uncomfortable to wear them for extended time, like a 6h conference track.
How many people with those issues are traveling to this convention though? Besides motion sickness and physical disability, there's not much limiting those who can already afford the travel and ticket cost as they could also afford a $300 VR headset. Or perhaps a better solution is that it could be done at the same time as the in person convention to grab a additional audience and to lessen the physical costs and load overall. Sorry if my rambling sounds dumb, it was just an idea I didn't think fully through that I just thought talking out would give me better perspective on.
I am guessing they paid for the wifi so they could use ChatGPT
I meant in terms of sustainability.
Sounds like he's got a career in politics ahead of him!
I looked up the company, and turns out this program might be part of a Keynote Livestream that is featuring the Mayor of San Fransisco lol.
What is the name of the company?
Trellis? I guess they used to be called GreenBiz. I just looked it up and this is the event: https://trellis.net/events/trellis-impact/
Reddit's LLM powered filter (I am guessing Gemini) is interesting. I jokingly said to constantly bump your car into some else's car just hard enough to leave a mark but not create serious damage. The trigger may have been my use of the phrase "love tap" as I was instantly dinged a 3 day "ban" for advocating physical violence against another human being.
Meanwhile with another service I posted a quote from a 19th century historical figure I hadn't know was a socialist and mysteriously the quote disappeared after I clicked submit. I freely admit my grasp of "good" grammar and English may not be that secure, but I am confident the text was there, and then suddenly it was gone.
You called them out on it, right? Or did you just sit there?
“Excuse me, I was just eavesdropping on you and have some concerns about your ethics…”
If it's important enough to complain about here it's important enough to be rude to the culprit about.
Do you hear some of the shit you say?
Is it worth causing potential conflict while on a plane?