axbom

axbom , 2 days ago to random

Vimeo’s stance on user content vis-à-vis generative AI:

”After extensive outreach and hearing your thoughts, we are taking a definitive stance contrary to many other community websites: Vimeo will not allow generative AI models to be trained using videos hosted on our platform without your explicit consent, even if you use our free offerings. In addition, we prohibit unauthorized content scraping (by model companies) and continue to implement security protocols designed to protect user-generated content.”

https://vimeo.com/blog/post/vimeos-position-on-ai/

#vimeo #aiethics

axbom , 29 days ago to random

If you see a domain name ending in .ai that means the island of Anguilla got some money, as it is the owner of this country domain.

”For each domain registration, Anguilla’s government gets anywhere from $140 to thousands of dollars from website names sold at auctions, according government data.”

In 2023 just over 20% of the government’s total revenue came from these registrations.

”[…] the government used the money to provide free health care for citizens 70 and older, and it has committed millions of dollars to finish building a school and a vocational training center. The government has also allocated funds to improve its airport; doubled its budget for sports activities, events and facilities; and increased the budget for citizens seeking medical treatment overseas.”

The island was hit hard by a hurricane in 2017 and tourism essentially disappeared during the covid pandemic. The .ai domain revenue has been a welcome injection into the economy.

Now you can’t say I never talk about AI in a positive light 😉

https://per.ax/angui

axbom , 2 months ago to random

How people trust this software for decision-making is beyond me…

https://chat.openai.com/share/534ac2bd-332c-43d5-a26c-4b1bd8050c38

axbom , 3 months ago to random

There is a broad understanding for the need to fly less, as the aviation industry accounts for more than 2% of global CO2 emissions. Yet the data centres we depend on for computing already account for more than that, by some estimates up to 4% of global CO2 emissions.

But there are few calls or campaigns to compute less. If anything, it would appear that humankind has decided the best way forward is to compute more.

We are quicky becoming a generation of… generation.

Generate more images and video, stream your television shows, record your meetings, surveil your employees and customers, snap 10 photos of every scene to make sure you get the perfect one. Run it through an AI filter. Save everything in the cloud indefinitely. Keep feeding the generative tools with all that content. Rinse and repeat.

Except don't rinse.

All the while, oblivious governments are subsidising the establishment of more data centres to the detriment of local communities.

The data centres are the factories of our time. But we can not see them or their carbon footprint, so they are very easy to ignore. So we do. If we can stick with calling them clouds they even feel fluffy.

"A 2018 paper by researchers Lofti Belkhir and Ahmed Elmeligi forecast that computing would exceed 14pc of global emissions (based on 2016 levels) by 2040."

That was before generative AI.

« Data processing and storage has such a large carbon footprint for three reasons.

First, servers require electricity to run. Second, they need to be kept cool, which uses more power and also water. Third, the equipment itself is made from expensive resources and needs to be repaired and replaced.

“Computer hardware contains rare earth minerals and all sorts of stuff shipped from all over the world,” says Craven. »

« “One of the reasons why networking emissions are so high is because there is so little desire and capability to switch machines off because it will increase what we call the latency,” says Hussain.

Society demands that everything happens immediately, which means cloud services run constantly. “Everybody keeps everything humming at peak mode, just in case,” adds Hussain. »

A generation of generation. I mean, at least it's catchy, right?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/05/30/silicon-valley-data-giants-net-zero-sustainability-risk/

axbom , 3 months ago to random

Fediverse appreciation post.

I don’t know about the apps you’re using but at no point in the Fediverse have I lost track of a post I was reading because the feed auto-refreshed against my will.

Which happens to me regularly on LinkedIn. (And I remember happened on the other platforms I’ve left.) Which should make you acknowledge – if you haven’t done so already – how that is a design feature on the other platforms, not a bug.

axbom , 3 months ago to random

If your concern is that humans are standing in the way of technological progress, your understanding of the purpose of tech should perhaps be the subject of consideration.

axbom , 4 months ago to random

We are at a stage in human history where huge trust is placed in statistical machines, that are unpredictable and easily manipulated, for important business – and personal – decisions.

Blown away when people respond to screenshots of failed responses with screenshots of successful responses, as if the tool has "learned" the correct response.

As if it can't just as easily provide an incorrect response again.

It's unsettling to me that people don't understand how the tools work, yet decide to trust them because the language reminds them of their own language.

When this bubble bursts it will be very painful for a great many people, in many different ways.