The US wants to pull the whole world down to its low level (often non-existent) protections of #privacy and #AI #safety
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Imbolc
@eob@social.coop
mastodon
4.5.13
I work in tech, working on #AI #alignment of #personalized applications to make sure they avoid #privacy and #safety harms
Opinions here are strictly my own — I’m not speaking for my employer
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Joined October 29, 2022
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How increased transparency can protect from mass surveillance
Kid nap
Snooze time for the new baby goats nextdoor
It's depressing to consider that Gramsci's analysis from his time applies to ours
"the old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters"
But he also called for optimistic acts in the face of this reality
"Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will"
Happy Imbolc, the celebration of the day halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox
It marks the beginning of Spring in Ireland
The ancient Celts were a bit pedantic about their solar astronomy, and didn't take account of thermal inertia which actually delays seasons by a month
American exceptionalism: pay twice as much for health care and still die 5 years sooner
Life expectancy vs. health expenditure before, during, and after COVID for selected countries
Meanwhile Ireland recognizes the key to sustainable long-term economic health is ENCOURAGING immigrants, and actually competing with other aging societies for them
(From an influential advisory council that includes employers, unions, and community organizations)
It's true that AI alignment is a double-edged sword, but not doesn't mean we should be "against" it
Rather we need to make sure, as consumers of AI, and as citizens of democracies that are regulating AI, that alignment is to the benefit of the people using it
A quite astounding revelation from a surprisingly modern-looking infographic from 165 years ago
It shows the fraction of people enslaved in each county in the 1860 census
In some counties 9 in 10 people were human chattel
The Mississippi River oozed a dark stain of human suffering
My favorite #weather app is #Ventusky, both for local weather and to see global patterns
And today I discovered this interesting map layer which shows what altitude is at freezing temperature
Note the pattern in Europe of the zero line, where the maritime effect, including of the Gulf Stream, is very clear
Replying to
@caseynewton@mastodon.social
@caseynewton@mastodon.social Truth is now considered liberal bias
This shows the unfortunate success of the strategy of the "big lie" (which is literally Fascist, given Hitler coined the term in Mein Kampf)
Replying to
@Mer__edith@mastodon.world
@Mer__edith@mastodon.world @echo_pbreyer@digitalcourage.social EU citizens, a timely reminder that you will be able to vote for your member of Parliament in about a week
This problematic law is coming from the Council (the upper house of the EU legislative branch representing the member governments)
It can be stopped by either the Parliament (the lower house of the EU legislative branch, representing the people) or the Commission (the EU executive branch, over whose composition the Parliament has some influence)
MEPs have power
Replying to
@jogi@digitalcourage.social
@jogi@digitalcourage.social @legind@mastodon.social @erAck@social.tchncs.de Even when used mostly for public posting there are still some privacy threats.
An attacker could take over your account, pretending to be you, causing chaos and reputational harm.
An attacker could steal passwords, and take advantage of people often reusing passwords on multiple services to break into more valuable accounts.
An attacker could see your private lists and bookmarks.
An attacker could see your DMs.