morning report #1 // the curious case of AI doomers building AI doomer shit, electric vehicles ascendant, debt limit groundhog day, and brand new clown world target targeted
I'm fairly convinced AI will kill us, but not from some kind if basilisk. I just think some dull witted pitchmen with family connections will manage to convince corps and NGOs that these AIs are really a lot smarter than they are and in a frenzy of graft and cheapness they'll throw their full "too big and/or prestigious to fail" bloat into strongarming mass scale centralized control onto something that amounts to a marginally sophisticated version of Homer Simpson's dippy bird keyboard tapper. It will inevitably fail miserably, and everyone involved in the implementation will default to Thomas Hayden Church's role in Idiocracy as they flail about looking for someone else to blame. Meanwhile lots of starvation, medicine shortages, power outrages, completely defunct energy economy, hordes of people fleeing back to Central America, maybe even locusts. (Assuming they aren't all extinct once the automated bug farms go offline.)
On one hand, I want to believe Elon's China comments are sincere, seeing as he clearly speaks his mind on every other topic.
But on the other, I just can't help but see a man kissing the ring of party officials so that he can continue to do business in an increasingly hostile country. That's a weird look for Musk.
"Solo plane crashes in Utah; pilot frees himself, denies medical treatment"
The plane is on its back with severed nose gear which means it came down right side up. The propeller is splintered which means the engine was still turning when it hit the ground. Since no pilot can resist looking at a photograph of an accident site and immediately jumping to a dozen mostly overconfident conclusions: the "downdraft" mentioned was in fact a gusty change in wind direction/velocity which turned the pilot's maybe on-the-edge climb attitude/airspeed to exceeding the critical angle of attack. He must have had the sense to not cross-control, meaning he just stalled and didn't spin. He pancaked, bounced hard, and flipped. Usually "no spilled fluids" at scene is a red flag for "ran out of fuel" (especially when the wing damage visible would have ruptured in the in-wing fuel tanks) but the propeller damage belies that.
But the only thing guaranteed in non-specialist coverage of aviation incidents is that the first few days will consist of 100% nonsensical BS.
"Is there perhaps some utopian upside to the technology? Might you consider describing that upside in similar, colorful detail as you often describe the various ways we might all die because of your life’s work?"
This is the problem with "climate change" - the "experts" pretend that a changing climate can only bring disaster. Yet a changing climate has resulted in the climate we have today, which someone seems to have determined is "optimal" for human beings. Tell that to the Neolithic shore-dwellers who were driven from their settlements as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The melting of the continental ice sheets was a disaster for them, yet we seem to think the current shorelines are just peachy. I wonder if those primitive people had a similar myth that it was something that they did (to anger the gods) that resulted in the climate change disaster they experienced.
The Boy Who Cried Extinction
'Vatican singles out shitposting Bishops in attempt to tame “toxic” Catholic Twitter'
Shitposting Bishops should be the name of an acapella Baroque polyphony/hiphop fusion group.
I'm fairly convinced AI will kill us, but not from some kind if basilisk. I just think some dull witted pitchmen with family connections will manage to convince corps and NGOs that these AIs are really a lot smarter than they are and in a frenzy of graft and cheapness they'll throw their full "too big and/or prestigious to fail" bloat into strongarming mass scale centralized control onto something that amounts to a marginally sophisticated version of Homer Simpson's dippy bird keyboard tapper. It will inevitably fail miserably, and everyone involved in the implementation will default to Thomas Hayden Church's role in Idiocracy as they flail about looking for someone else to blame. Meanwhile lots of starvation, medicine shortages, power outrages, completely defunct energy economy, hordes of people fleeing back to Central America, maybe even locusts. (Assuming they aren't all extinct once the automated bug farms go offline.)
On one hand, I want to believe Elon's China comments are sincere, seeing as he clearly speaks his mind on every other topic.
But on the other, I just can't help but see a man kissing the ring of party officials so that he can continue to do business in an increasingly hostile country. That's a weird look for Musk.
Great piece. I worry that the real AI threat is that the elites will harness its genuinely awesome powers, to make sure things stay exactly as they are. Them on top. The rest of us in our place, at the bottom. https://open.substack.com/pub/lowstatus/p/danger-safety-ahead?r=evzeq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
"Solo plane crashes in Utah; pilot frees himself, denies medical treatment"
The plane is on its back with severed nose gear which means it came down right side up. The propeller is splintered which means the engine was still turning when it hit the ground. Since no pilot can resist looking at a photograph of an accident site and immediately jumping to a dozen mostly overconfident conclusions: the "downdraft" mentioned was in fact a gusty change in wind direction/velocity which turned the pilot's maybe on-the-edge climb attitude/airspeed to exceeding the critical angle of attack. He must have had the sense to not cross-control, meaning he just stalled and didn't spin. He pancaked, bounced hard, and flipped. Usually "no spilled fluids" at scene is a red flag for "ran out of fuel" (especially when the wing damage visible would have ruptured in the in-wing fuel tanks) but the propeller damage belies that.
But the only thing guaranteed in non-specialist coverage of aviation incidents is that the first few days will consist of 100% nonsensical BS.
"Next year, I suspect the six trans women who shop for bathing suits at Target will simply have to tape their hogs back a little tighter."
This is the shit I come here for.
"Is there perhaps some utopian upside to the technology? Might you consider describing that upside in similar, colorful detail as you often describe the various ways we might all die because of your life’s work?"
This is the problem with "climate change" - the "experts" pretend that a changing climate can only bring disaster. Yet a changing climate has resulted in the climate we have today, which someone seems to have determined is "optimal" for human beings. Tell that to the Neolithic shore-dwellers who were driven from their settlements as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The melting of the continental ice sheets was a disaster for them, yet we seem to think the current shorelines are just peachy. I wonder if those primitive people had a similar myth that it was something that they did (to anger the gods) that resulted in the climate change disaster they experienced.
I support Pride by subscribing to the gentlemanly Spartan Pirates who produce this fine product.
I think you mean semi-weekly, not bi-weekly? Freudian slip? 🤣. Keep up the good work. Always enjoyable and informative.
https://antimaterie.substack.com/p/governing-by-apocalypse