MountingSuspicion
@MountingSuspicion@reddthat.com
- Comment on An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me – More Things Have Happened 1 day ago:
I believe it’s the personal blog of the dev in question, Scott. I don’t have any reason to believe it’s AI, though he does mention using ChatGPT I don’t see it suggested he has AI write his blogs.
- Comment on Anon works in cybersecurity 4 days ago:
I put fun little Easter eggs like that in my logging and some debugging but I can admit it’s cringe. If I had someone speak to me like that I wouldn’t hate it but I’d question their earnestness.
- Comment on RentAHuman.ai - AI Agents Hire Humans for Physical Tasks 1 week ago:
Let’s pay people to use AI to pay people to do the job we used to pay people to do anyway, but this time it’s rent seekers all the way down. Can’t wait.
- Comment on Do you prefer fluffy UI over Liquid Glass? 2 weeks ago:
I was never a fan of aero, but I don’t care a lot about UIs in general. It’s just that Liquid Glass as implemented by Apple specifically is terrible. When I first updated to it I was looking for how to tune it down and found this article that covers what I think is the biggest issue with their implementation: macworld.com/…/this-liquid-glass-toggle-is-a-wind…
They focused so much on making it pretty that it ceased to be functional. There should not be animation lag on basic UI elements. My phone is not that old and my screen will freeze up with a big Liquid Glass bubble obscuring the display for at least a full 2 seconds depending on the button I press. They allow per app Liquid Glass settings, which is great considering how terribly it’s been implemented on certain apps, but the fact it’s deemed necessary should be a huge indicator of the overall quality. A nonzero amount of dev time was put into making sure we can reject their design direction and still that doesn’t work. The safari browser implementation of turning off LG leaves empty blocks on the top and bottom of the screen instead of the normal fade away of those elements, and that is their own browser. I imagine a lot will be patched out soon, but the roll out has been a buggy disaster in my opinion. I think it’s really colored people’s opinion on LG in general now.
- Comment on GOG now using AI generated images on their store 2 weeks ago:
Yes! Exactly this! Does anyone remember those big “SALE” signs stores used to have? It just said the word sale in big bold letters. Nothing else. It’s a sale. I really don’t need a fancy graphic to encourage me to potentially save money if I was going to buy the games anyway or to get new games on the cheap.
- Comment on GOG now using AI generated images on their store 2 weeks ago:
There’s a post elsewhere with an excerpt from a job posting for GOG devs that paints a bleaker picture. In the post they state you need to be familiar with AI tools and encourage the use in your team. I think they’re in it too deep at this point.
- Comment on Hooded Horse ban AI-generated art in their games: "all this thing has done is made our lives more difficult" 5 weeks ago:
I don’t think training on all public information is super ethical regardless, but to the extent that others may support it, I understand that SO may be seen as fair game. To my knowledge though, all the big AIs I’m aware of have been trained on GitHub regardless of any individual projects license.
It’s not about proving individual code theft, it’s about recognizing the model itself is built from theft. Just because an AI image output might not resemble any preexisting piece of art doesn’t mean it isn’t based on theft. Can I ask what you used that was trained on just a projects documentation? Considering the amount of data usually needed for coherent output, I would be surprised if it did not need some additional data.
- Comment on Hooded Horse ban AI-generated art in their games: "all this thing has done is made our lives more difficult" 5 weeks ago:
If you acknowledge the problem with theft from artists, do you not acknowledge there’s a problem with theft from coders? Code intended to be fully open source with licenses requiring derivatives to be open source is now being served up for closed source uses at the press of a button with no acknowledgement.
For what it’s worth, I think AI would be much better in a post scarcity moneyless society, but so long as people need to be paid for their work I find it hard to use ethically. The time it might take individuals to do the things offloaded to AI might mean a company would need to hire an additional person if they were not using AI. If AI were not trained unethically then I’d view it as a productivity tool and so be it, but because it has stolen for its training data it’s hard for me to view it as a neutral tool.
- Comment on The labeling on OTC pain relievers, etc. This is why I just pop 3 and hope for the best. 1 month ago:
I understand how it might be personally upsetting, but products should have warnings and health guidelines before the instructions. If I’m supposed to wear gloves before touching something, I sure hope I see that before I see how to use it. This is actually good in my opinion. People might not actually read it all, but at least safety information is front loaded.
- Comment on 1 month ago:
Numberphile did a video about this game and to my recollection the person presenting it actually had a distinct game of set they and their math friends would play. It was pretty interesting!
- Comment on Quick, go test if you're a robot! 1 month ago:
- Comment on 8 Million Users' AI Conversations Sold for Profit by "Privacy" Extensions 1 month ago:
Other than being an obvious ad for their own AI, the article was pretty informative.
Per the article, the following were found to be affected. Probably anything by the publisher should not be trusted as they’re just a data mining company, so make sure not to download any rebrands or new releases from the same people. Chrome Web Store:
- Urban VPN Proxy - 6,000,000 users
- 1ClickVPN Proxy - 600,000 users
- Urban Browser Guard - 40,000 users
- Urban Ad Blocker - 10,000 users
Microsoft Edge Add-ons:
- Urban VPN Proxy - 1,323,622 users
- 1ClickVPN Proxy - 36,459 users
- Urban Browser Guard - 12,624 users
- Urban Ad Blocker - 6,476 users
- Comment on Verizon refused to unlock man’s iPhone, so he sued the carrier and won 1 month ago:
Absolutely infuriating. I’m upset the judge did not award the full extent of monetary damages even though it’s evident that Verizon is in violation of multiple agreements.
I know it’s not how this works, but since the FCC put those rules in place as a condition of their acquisition of the other companies, and since they violated those rules, the government should be able to nationalize/seize the assets of the other companies. Verizon should not legally have them since they broke the agreement. I’d love to see not just a one time fine but a legitimate punishment. If this guy hadn’t done this they’d be knowingly violating their agreement still. The people doing this are disgusting and taking advantage of the people with the least amount of time and resources. I truly wish they all have the day they deserve.
- Comment on Anon lives on a budget 2 months ago:
People often refer to the ACA as Obamacare. Obamacare did change requirements for employer provided health care, not just marketplace plans. So, prior to the ACA full time employees had certain benefits that part time employees did not. Post ACA there were changes to mandatory minimum benefits that employer healthcare packages provided. If you can articulate what the issue you are raising is, that would be helpful.
- Comment on Anon lives on a budget 2 months ago:
Also from my comment:
Obamacare mandates employers offer healthcare to people working 30 hrs a week.
- Comment on Anon lives on a budget 2 months ago:
Oh, definitely. And having 2 part time jobs, if you can manage it, often means you end up working more hours (25+25), and are still not given the benefits of a full time employee because you aren’t technically full time anywhere. It’s terrible and for what it’s worth I do feel bad for anon here. They are drinking the right wing kook aid, which sucks, but it’s an awful position to be in. There’s comments calling them a moron or that they just have to make minor changes etc, but the reality is, especially in these small towns, there’s not a lot of options and acting like it’s the fault of individuals is really missing the point.
For what it’s worth, Obamacare did technically add to the employer burden by making good healthcare a mandatory offering for full time employees, so I understand why some people have convinced themselves it’s the ACAs fault, but employers were doing the 25 hours thing to skirt other benefits way before Obamacare.
- Comment on Anon lives on a budget 2 months ago:
From my comment:
It’s also worth mentioning that employers did this even before Obamacare because there are other things that full time employees are entitled to that part time employees aren’t.
- Comment on Anon lives on a budget 2 months ago:
I commented above, but in the US some employers will refuse to give you more hours to keep you as a part time employee, since full time employees are guaranteed certain benefits. Those benefits include access to healthcare. They would rather hire 2 people part time than 1 person full time. This is not Obamacare’s fault, but for some reason people in the middle of nowhere who make very little money have convinced themselves that it’s Obama who’s to blame instead of the shitty companies and their shitty owners.
- Comment on Anon lives on a budget 2 months ago:
Obamacare mandates employers offer healthcare to people working 30 hrs a week. A lot of places will only allow you to be scheduled for less than 30 hours a week, even if you are able and willing to go full time. It’s stupid, but some people have convinced themselves that it’s Obamacare’s fault that their employer is shitty and the subsequent governments have been unwilling to close that loophole. It’s also worth mentioning that employers did this even before Obamacare because there are other things that full time employees are entitled to that part time employees aren’t.
- Comment on Disney says Google AI infringes copyright “on a massive scale” 2 months ago:
Not to support Disney or IP/copyright laws here, but that’s not really how that works. A musician can choose to not be on Spotify but be on Apple Music. A movie can be licensed to Netflix and not Hulu. A writer can publish in one paper and refuse to work with another. I think for how these things currently work, that is an important right that holders can claim. If I’m an artist and I want to make an AI generator from just my art, that should not give other companies license to use my are to train their AI.
- Comment on Trying to find a messenger bag at Amazon 2 months ago:
To a certain extent, isn’t it still enshitification? They lowered their standards (making the product/marketplace worse) to capture marketshare/increase profits.
Also, blaming consumers for being “bad at shopping” is certainly a take. What about the gold plated HDMI cables sold at a huge markup? More expensive doesn’t mean better and we can’t expect everyone to have the knowledge or ability or time to know about every single thing they purchase. Shitty companies are charging more for less and consumers are being squeezed. Photos are all manipulated and there’s no real way to know the quality from a picture. People are trying their best to get good products for their money without being scammed.
- Comment on Your sides should be thrown away, your turkey should be frozen or almost gone. 2 months ago:
Seems like something someone who isn’t cooking turkey would say, but in case you are cooking it, or are able to share with the person cooking it, Gordon Ramsey has a turkey recipe that involves buttering the meat directly that has never failed. I like to pre brine for alternative flavor, but for most cases his method is more than sufficient: gordonramsay.com/…/roast-turkey-with-lemon-parsle…
There’s also a video if you prefer.
- Comment on This whole exchange 2 months ago:
Thank you for clarifying. I stay away from religious stuff for the most part now, but it’s interesting to see where the lines are drawn between sects. Totally understand why having a new name etc makes sense mostly after there’s an established religious text and doctrine, which at the time of Jesus there would not have been. Appreciate the response.
- Comment on This whole exchange 2 months ago:
I have never really discussed Jesus’ religion irl, mostly because I don’t care, but I see your UN and I have been curious, why would Mary/Joseph/jesus not also be considered Christian Jews? Were they not the first to accept Jesus as a new prophet? I understand he probably was raised Jewish, but seeing as his core religious belief was not accepted into general Jewish faith, is he not at least the founder of Christianity? I figure at the time it made sense to not have a direct divide because Jews didn’t have the time yet to decide if Jesus was the real thing or not, but if Jesus was able to be on the TV/radio at the time and the majority of Jews rejected him as the messiah immediately, would they still use that interim term? I understand that the term Jewish encompasses a large cultural element, but as far as religious identity, it feels strange to group people who believe Jesus was the son of god with people who think that’s a lie and heretical.
- Comment on Upgrade today 2 months ago:
*Comrade
I would never unknowingly accuse someone of being an oppressor /j (but not really).
- Comment on 2 months ago:
Seems like there’s a disconnect in the replies. I think the issue is that some people use kindness to mean the bare minimum and some people use it to mean going above and beyond.
I think the measure is something like if you see someone who tripped and the contents of their bag has spilled onto the floor, is “it cost nothing to be kind” just “allow them some space and don’t step on their stuff even if it’s in your way” or is it “stop what you’re doing and try to help them”. Because in case 1 I agree with the sentiment. You’re technically doing something (being careful not to step on their stuff), but that really feels like the bare minimum and to a certain extent I’d have questions if someone complained about having to do things like that. In the second case, stopping does take time out of your day and now you’re interacting with a stranger who may be busy or distracted and not pleasant back to you. I’d say that’s a nice thing to do, but I can see why someone might not want to or not be able to assist with that if they came across it in certain circumstances. If I was in the position of the person whose stuff spilled I would not talk about “kind strangers” who didn’t step on my stuff, but would if someone stopped to help. I think the phrase refers to the bare minimum but calls it kindness so people can feel good about not following their basest instincts if they’re genuinely rude people.
- Comment on 3 months ago:
It is my belief that the real Clark would never complain about food he was served.
- Comment on An AI Social Coach Is Teaching Empathy to People with Autism 5 months ago:
I at no point said that anyone wasn’t worth the time for personal interaction. I said multiple times that my preferred solution would not involve having to resort to AI. That’s such a bad faith interpretation of my position that I can’t imagine this being productive at this point. Best of luck.
- Comment on An AI Social Coach Is Teaching Empathy to People with Autism 5 months ago:
By getting better, I mean it will be improving on itself. I never meant to indicate that it will be better than a trained professional.
I agree that showing ND people empathy is the best path forward, but realistically being able to socially signal empathy is a life skill and lacking that skill really only damages their own prospects. It’d be great if it didn’t make people less likely to be employable or less able to build a robust support network, but unfortunately that’s the case. Yes, ASD differences are often a reflection of how society treats people, but a demonstration of empathy is not a platitude. It’s an important way NT and lots of ND connect. If you think that the expression of empathy is difficult for people with ASD because they are more honest, then I think you might be equating lack of empathy with difficulty expressing it. There’s nothing dishonest about saying “I’m sorry that happened to you” unless you are not sorry it happened. It might not be something you would normally verbally express, but if hearing about a bad thing happening to someone doesn’t make you feel for them, then the difficulty isn’t expressing empathy, it’s lacking it. Society certainly does a lot of things for bad or nonsensical reasons, but expressing empathy generally isn’t one of them.
- Comment on An AI Social Coach Is Teaching Empathy to People with Autism 5 months ago:
I don’t personally find the framing offensive, but I’m not on the spectrum so I can’t speak to it from that perspective. My comment was less about the article and more about not offloading that work onto unsuspecting and unprepared people.
That being said, I’m not as anti-ai as maybe some other people might be when it comes to these kinds of tools. The study itself highlights the fact that not everyone has the resources to get the kind of high quality care they need and this might be an option. I agree that sacrificing quality for efficiency is bad, in my post history you can see I made that argument about ai myself, but realistically so many people can potentially benefit from this that would have no alternatives. Additionally, AI will only be getting better, and hopefully you’ve never had a bad experience with a professional, but I can speak from personal experience that quality varies drastically between individuals in the healthcare industry. If this is something that can be offered by public libraries or school systems, so that anyone with the need can take advantage, I think that would be a positive because we’re nowhere near universal physical healthcare, much less universal mental healthcare or actual social development training. I know people who cannot afford healthcare even though they have insurance, so if they were able to go to a specialized ai for an issue I would think it’s a net positive even if it’s not a real doctor. I know that ai is not there yet, and there’s a lot of political and social baggage there, but the reality is people need help and they need it now and they are not getting it. I don’t know how good this ai is, but if the alternative is telling people that are struggling and have no other options that they have to tough it out, I’m willing to at least entertain the idea. For what it’s worth, if I could snap my fingers and give everyone all the help and support they need and it excluded ai, I would choose that option, I just don’t have it. I also don’t know that LLMs really can do this successfully on a large scale, so I would need evidence of that before really supporting it, I just think it shouldn’t be written off completely if it’s showing promise.