Six years ago today, after 19 years with Boing Boing, during which time I wrote tens of thousands of blog posts, I started a new, solo blog, with the semi-ironic name "Pluralistic."
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so were:
* rocketry
* the double-helix structure of DNA
* Unix
* SMB
* packet-switching
* silicon transistors
@pluralistic not sure you’re really adressing @baldur’s critique here. Nobody’s talking about the creators of the tech (which Altman and al. are not), but the persons *profiting* from it.
I’m not refusing to use a Tesla because the inventor of the electric car was a jerk, but because Musk is, and by using one, I’m empowering him.
But that’s only part of the equation. Who and how are created SLM ? Which impact does they have on cognition, jobs, education etc. -
@pluralistic not sure you’re really adressing @baldur’s critique here. Nobody’s talking about the creators of the tech (which Altman and al. are not), but the persons *profiting* from it.
I’m not refusing to use a Tesla because the inventor of the electric car was a jerk, but because Musk is, and by using one, I’m empowering him.
But that’s only part of the equation. Who and how are created SLM ? Which impact does they have on cognition, jobs, education etc.“AI itself is a normal technology” so is nuclear power. And yes, arguably nuclear does have an interesting net benefit use (that’s a debate for another time
). I’m not sure that’s the case for genAI, open or not, small or not. -
@pluralistic not sure you’re really adressing @baldur’s critique here. Nobody’s talking about the creators of the tech (which Altman and al. are not), but the persons *profiting* from it.
I’m not refusing to use a Tesla because the inventor of the electric car was a jerk, but because Musk is, and by using one, I’m empowering him.
But that’s only part of the equation. Who and how are created SLM ? Which impact does they have on cognition, jobs, education etc.@ced @baldur @bencurthoys No one profits from you running an OSS model on your own computer.
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@ced @baldur @bencurthoys No one profits from you running an OSS model on your own computer.
@pluralistic depends on the bias embedded in your OSS model. And no, it being OSS doesn’t mean you can “open it” or fix it.
Anyway “But that’s only part of the equation. Who and how are created SLM ? Which impact does they have on cognition, jobs, education etc.”
Sure, using a LLM spell checker doesn’t look like much. Once you have it, though, it will be soooo tempting to use it more and more.
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@pluralistic depends on the bias embedded in your OSS model. And no, it being OSS doesn’t mean you can “open it” or fix it.
Anyway “But that’s only part of the equation. Who and how are created SLM ? Which impact does they have on cognition, jobs, education etc.”
Sure, using a LLM spell checker doesn’t look like much. Once you have it, though, it will be soooo tempting to use it more and more.
Checking your own work for punctuation errors doesn't have an impact on "cognition, jobs, education, etc."
As to tempting: I have had a grammar checker in my word-processor for at least a decade and have literally never once been tempted to use it.
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Checking your own work for punctuation errors doesn't have an impact on "cognition, jobs, education, etc."
As to tempting: I have had a grammar checker in my word-processor for at least a decade and have literally never once been tempted to use it.
Also: what do you imagine "bias" means when you're talking about identifying missing punctuation marks or repeated words?
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Also: what do you imagine "bias" means when you're talking about identifying missing punctuation marks or repeated words?
@pluralistic @ced @bencurthoys I didn’t ask to get included in whatever it is you two are hashing out but I’d appreciate if you tagged me out of it in the future.
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@pluralistic @ced @bencurthoys I didn’t ask to get included in whatever it is you two are hashing out but I’d appreciate if you tagged me out of it in the future.
@baldur sorry about that !@pluralistic @bencurthoys
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Checking your own work for punctuation errors doesn't have an impact on "cognition, jobs, education, etc."
As to tempting: I have had a grammar checker in my word-processor for at least a decade and have literally never once been tempted to use it.
ok, that was a “general” you, not a “you” you. Foreign language and all.
I mean, once you (not *you*) have an LLM in your text editor, it’ll be tempting to ask him to aid in research, then to aid in writing, then to write for you, or do your homework for you.
And there, bias will be important. -
That's how we make good tech: not by insisting all its inputs be free from sin, but by purging that wickedness by *liberating* the technology from its monstrous forebears and making free and open versions of it:
Purity culture is such an obvious trap, an artifact of the neoliberal ideology that insists that the solution to all our problems is to shop very carefully, thus reducing all politics to personal consumption choices:
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@pluralistic I am going to put my response simply.
WE DO NOT OPEN SOURCE THE IRON MADEN.
