NormalTownLeader

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

This is exactly the sort of thing I'm worried about with AI.

Let's take a quick step back. AI/Machine Learning is a program that is set to learn how to accomplish one specific job, and to do that job very well. For this example, let's say the AI needs to be able to identify any picture with a cat in it. Programmers develop the framework for this code, and then feed the AI with test cases aimed to "teach" the AI how to do this job with minimal errors. It will be fed correct pictures as well as incorrect ones (some with other animals, or paintings rather than pictures). With enough test cases and human confirmation that the results were correct or incorrect, the AI can successfuly identify pictures of cats with little to no errors.

But thing is, and this is important, the developers of AI generally don't know exactly how the AI program is able to make these determinations. They just feed it test cases and confirmation when the bot is right. AIs obviously don't have human brains and think the way we do, so the connections they make are through various patterns that people may not be able to determine. This is fine with identifying cat photos, but let's apply this back to the Uber and DoorDash payment methods. This means that these companies are not paying their employees based on human standards and expectations of a job well done, but based off of pattern recognition from an AI that may lower or raise pay based off of elements that are completely unknown to the worker and the company, and may not even be items the company wants to encourage (they just don't know what the AI is rewarding).

I have no concerns of the unrealistic "robots cause the apocalypse" nonsense that hollywood loves, my concern is people assigning AI jobs that AI shouldn't do and assuming AI is some master super intellect instead of the trained program it is.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Hey I just wanted to say thank you for this, I understand how generally anti-defederation you are based on past posts and I really appreciate someone who can re-evaluate their stance on a case by case basis like this as new information comes up.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Never really got into TikTok myself, always just seemed like a worse version of Vine. But I'm also not the target demographic so there's that.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Hah, fair enough. I was using that more as the generic "go do something that's not just reading Reddit posts on a computer all day". But I have also been hiking!

 

Exactly what the title says. I used to look at Reddit and spend 2+ hours minimum every single day, more on the weekends. Once the API changes were announced and the protest date hit, I decided I would stop using it regardless of what happened moving forward.

I made a lemmy account and I do enjoy posting and reading occasionally, but I don't sink nearly as much time into it as I did with Reddit. After the first couple days where I really had to fight not to look at Reddit (guess it was addictive for me), I started doing other things in my free time to alleviate my boredom. I have read two books, and am starting on another book tomorrow. I have started work on personal projects I put on the back burner and have been making some genuine progress.

I was never a mod, but I feel kind of pathetic admitting this because it's such a meme that Reddit mods/admins haven't seen the sunlight for years. Guess my life was also passing me more than I realized. I don't really have a moral/point here because I know not everyone has as much of an addictive personality as I do, guess I just felt like sharing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Utah scientists knew that the Great Salt Lake has been drying up, and they have been warning the politicians for years about it. But nothing's been done, the alfalfa farmers suck up water like nobody's business and the politicians don't want to do any major actions that would actually solve the issue. I don't have the exact figure off the top of my head, but the water level has dropped over half the original height now. A bit frightening to see, I'm convinced the lake will be gone entirely within my lifetime.

The dust causing the snow to melt is the least of our worries, the Great Salt Lake is absolutely nasty. Who knows what kind of dangerous pollutants will now be kicked up by the air?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This appears to be the correct link: https://getaether.net/

Seems more similar to Discord imo.

 

I am looking for a community that recommends purchases for items that last a long time, are durable, generally worth their money. For example clothing brands that avoid fast fashion, pots and pans that don't lose their coating after one year, things like that.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

This is really interesting. One of my family members has ADHD and I was about to say "huh I have this cycle and I don't have ADHD." I guess it's possible I have it but never got it diagnosed because it's mild enough that I'm functioning without medication/support, but at the same time I wonder if this is actually truly unique to ADHD or a behavior that's just commonly classified with it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a bummer, I hope you heal up quickly! I am curious while we are on the topic though, do you make use of any bots to assist with the number of posts, or do you just frequent certain news/scientific journals?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Ah, that's what I get for skimming!

 

I can't recall which exact thread it was, but I was reading a book recommendation thread and the book "A Year in the Life Of Ancient Greece" by Philip Matyszak was recommended. I enjoyed learning about ancient Greece in the past and this seemed manageable (under 300 pages), so I read it over the course of this last week.

I really liked it! I normally enjoy fantasy/sci-fi, so while I knew I liked ancient Greece I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this historical fiction. It basically told the story of various ancient Greek lives over the course of nine months up to the Olympics, each person with a different life/livelihood accurate to ancient Greece. Following the Builder and the Farmer were likely my favorite parts.

Edit: I forgot I commented on that thread, it was the one from seven days ago about asking for novels set in Ancient Greece or about a warlock pact

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

To be fair, this assumption didn't come from nowhere. This was based on existing hunter/gatherer communities. From this interview on it:

"This is the period starting roughly 200,000 years ago when we first emerged as a species that ended about 9,000 years ago when humans started to develop agriculture and settlements. But all over the world, there have been a fair number of people in remote areas who still live this foraging life, and so scholars have looked to them as a sort of window into humanity's past. Anthropologists would go live with them, produce detailed reports, and the sense was that all these accounts pointed to men mainly hunting and women mainly gathering with occasional exceptions."

While this aspect is pure speculation on my part, it also likely fit the culture's perception of women back when the original "men hunt, women gather" hypothesis came out, people tend to want to believe what fits their worldview.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Politics aside, why debate Joe Rogan about vaccines? He's not a scientist, he's an entertainer. I don't get my medical advice from a person without trained medical knowledge. I wouldn't take mechanical advice from someone who's not a mechanic or works heavily with cars in their freetime, that's how you can mess up your car. Why would this be different? People need to stop giving his opinions so much value when he has zero related education/experience to back them up...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Usually neglect, and then when I realize (seeing wilting or things like that) an over-compensation of watering. Which is why I think succulents may be the better call because apparently they generally require less frequent watering

 

Hello! I posted a few days ago on [email protected] and one of the comments mentioned there was this succulent-specific community so I figured I would post here as well! So for a bit of background I have a black thumb, I've tried caring for plants in the past and they always seem to die on me. I'm trying to change this! I bought a handful of succulents and am trying to figure out how to keep them alive. Any advice is welcome!

The succulents: dwarf jade, panda plant, echeveria elegans, split rock, and there's one more that I'm having trouble identifying so if anyone recognizes it please let me know! It's the spiky one.

 

I am curious what everyone else is focusing on or supporting in research and why.

For myself, I've been donating to the SENS Foundation for the past few years because they focus on research for age-related diseases. Though they did unfortunately run into a controversy with one of their higher ups a bit ago, he's since been kicked out but still leaves a pretty sour taste in my mouth... I still believe that their research is worthwhile though.

 

Below are the current succulents I have! I generally have a black thumb, but I'm trying to change that. Any gotchas to keep in mind when taking care of succulents? I already learned the hard way that I need to keep the dwarf jade indoors because direct sun causes the leaves to brown.

 

I wanted to quickly plug one of my favorite YouTube channels for quick summaries of mythology. OSP does make adjustments for entertainment purposes, but generally does a pretty good job representing various myths, folklore, and origins of such in digestible chunks.

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