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Comment Re:Big Shock there! (Score 1) 41

You have more certainty about the future than I do. I *do* doubt that the full projected build-out will ever happen, and that will definitely hurt some overcommitted people. It *might* crash thoroughly, but I see no reason to put that at higher than a 10% chance. More likely a bunch of planned construction never gets ordered. And *when* does that happen? This year? Next April 15th?

Yeah, it will crash, just like the internet build-out crashed. Some folks will get hurt. But it won't return to what it used to be. AI will continue to be important...and become more important. (And there will be lots of mistakes made in using it.)

Whether AI will start setting it's own goals is less certain. If it does, it may be safer than if it doesn't. Things could get really wonky if a strong AI starts pursuing a stupid goal because it was told to do so.

Comment Re:Documentation (Score 1) 41

Current AIs are only useful in areas where it's easy to recognize invalid results. (Ideally, easy enough that the AI, itself, can recognize that they are invalid, perhaps by invoking a deterministic tool.)

Well, they can also be valid for generating lots of "plausible ideas", like "What molecule would bind to this other molecule?", which can then be tested...but which can't be relied upon without testing. That's faster than experts can make guesses, and often has a higher success rate, but it needs testing.

Well, they're also useful for creating convincing bullshit.

So I guess my original "only" was too restrictive...but not *that* much too restrictive.

Submission + - LLM-inspired study sheds light on how brain cells encode the meaning of words (medicalxpress.com)

alternative_right writes: To investigate how the brain encodes the meaning of words, the researchers first recorded the activity of individual neurons in the hippocampus of 10 people who were listening to stories. Their recordings were collected using tiny wire electrodes that were implanted in the participants' brains as part of clinical monitoring procedures for epilepsy.

The team then used mathematical models to analyze the language used in the stories and the brain recordings. This allowed them to examine whether information about the meaning of words could predict the recorded neuronal activity.

"We recorded responses of hippocampal neurons while individuals listened to narrative speech," wrote Melissa Franch and her colleagues in their paper. "Using an encoding model approach, we find robust encoding of semantics, even after controlling for phonemics and grammar. Individual words had complex selectivities that included multiple words in multiple semantic categories."

Comment Re:Just like cops (Score 1) 57

My first thought was that he was arrested because he was Canadian. I'm not sure that I trust the FBI to be honest. OTOH, it's reasonable that no real evidence was presented yet.

My second thought was "who planted the evidence framing him?". This again is lack of trust in the FBI, but here it's their competence I'm doubting.

My third thought was "maybe the evidence actually points to him". It's really sad that the government lies so much that that didn't show up until the third thought...but it DOES lie that much.

Comment Re:We also need better programmng (Score 1) 93

OK.

But that's not the actual reason I don't use rust or go. The actual reason is that I don't trust downloading stuff off the net from sites that I don't feel are sufficiently monitored. I prefer stuff that resides in, e.g., a debian repository. (Also programming in rust feels like programming with one arm tied behind my back. Safety measures that only make sense when one is doing multi-threading being applied everywhere.)

Submission + - Amid K-12 AI Pushback, OpenAI Named Lead Partner of 'Hour of AI' for Kids

theodp writes: On the heels of announced AI moratoriums by the nation's two largest K-12 school districts (NYC, LA), tech-backed nonprofit CodeAI (aka Code.org) this week named OpenAI 'Lead Partner' for the 2026 Hour of AI, which has replaced the Hour of Code (RIP, 2013-2024) as the premier event for the nation's K-12 schoolchildren during December's CS Education Week. OpenAI investor and partner Microsoft was named as one of two 'Supporters' for the event/infomercial (the other being U.S. defense contractor Northrop Grumman).

In August, as it launched ChatGPT for Teens, OpenAI announced a new signature partnership with Code.org to 'prepare the first AI generation', explaining that 'through the Hour of AI, OpenAI and CodeAI will introduce millions of students to the basics of using AI thoughtfully and responsibly.' OpenAI and Microsoft last year teamed up with the American Federation of Teachers to 'bring AI into the classroom', but that honeymoon is over. For more on the inside story of how Big Tech is applying the same playbook it used to scale coding lessons nationwide to now mainstream their AI tools in schools, check out Coding Kids: Big Tech's Battle to Remake Public Schools.

So, much like the Hour of Code that preceded it, will the Hour of AI serve as tech's 'Trojan Horse' (ChatGPT-generated parody cover) in its 'Odyssey' to push its agenda and curriculum into schools?

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Documentation is like sex: when it is good, it is very, very good; and when it is bad, it is better than nothing. -- Dick Brandon

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