blind3rdeye

@blind3rdeye@aussie.zone

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨This TikTok star sharing Australian animal stories doesn’t exist – it’s AI Blakface⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I think this kind of things is potentially quite damaging, but in a subtle way. I read the Guardian article about this, and they highlighted some of the problems. They talked about taking opportunities from actual real people; and the potential for amplifying racial stereotypes. But I reckon there are other subtle problems that I’d like to highlight as well.

  It could be argued that the AI character is made in good faith, for entertainment only, with no intention to deceive. And perhaps efforts are taken to be culturally sensitive / accurate, or whatever. So then what’s the problem?

  To understand it, perhaps we should first think about why people like this kind of content at all. Different people like things for different reasons, so each individual can think about this from their point of view. But I’d say that a lot of people watch animal videos and documentaries because it gives them a sense of what these animals are like. It shows what they look like, what kind of environment they live in, how they interact in that environment, and how they interact with people. Depending on the footage, it can also give a sense of achievement and effort in what was required to get that footage. Similarly for the presenter; seeing how a expert person with such personal experience and connection with the land talk about and interact with animals - its engaging and gives a sense of learning and excitement.

  When watching an artificial video of this kind, it can perhaps trigger that same kind of enjoyment - but its empty of value. The presenter is not connected to the land or an expert. They don’t exist at all. And the video is not showing evidence of how the animals behave or look; but rather just an AI’s impression of it. It certainly didn’t take any significant effort to record - because it wasn’t recorded at all! So although it can trigger a similar sense of value in our brains, we’re not actually getting what we feel like we’re getting. It’s empty calories so to speak. And its realism is entirely dependent real footage taken by real people who actually did the work. The AI generated version is easy and cheap to create, but the actual source data that it relies on is not. I suppose that’s part of the ‘theft’ that Lenore Taylor @ The Guardian is talking about; but I have one more thing I want to draw attention to.

  At best it is empty entertainment, but it can also give a warped and misleading view of the things we’re supposedly learning about. It can also result in general apathy and disconnection. We see this realistic and engaging footage, but we know it is fake - and therefore of little importance or value. But it does look real, so it kind of makes everything else seem fake and of little value too. Any quirks or differences in other things we see start to be doubted or questioned. Images and experiences that use to be amazing and inspiring, and now just flat - because a general sense of doubt and indifference. The things people say, the way their talk, their passion - all under doubt. It may cause a kind of death of inspiration for some people exposed to it.

  The propagation of artificial videos outpaces our social, legal, financial, and psychological systems for handing them. Probably we’d all do a bit better if this stuff wasn’t being turbo charged by ultra-wealth companies and individuals. (Yes, as usual, I’m blaming wealth inequality.)

  Well, like I said, it’s subtle. So I hope I was about to convey my thoughts clearly enough that someone sees what I’m getting at!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Australia should reconsider alliance with ‘fiercely unpredictable’ US, former foreign ministers say⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I don’t think Trump is going to ask us to join a war. The idea of Australia will not even enter his mind unless it is directly relevant. For example he will probably think of Australia if he is intending to invade Australia; but aside from that, it would be up to his advisers to remind him that we exist.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Russia’s war in Ukraine carries a warning for Australia: prepare for possible conflict in the Asia-Pacific⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  For many years, Australia’s main defence strategy has basically been to maintain an alliance with the USA, to discourage any unpredictable would-be attackers. But it seems now that the USA itself is becoming unpredictable, and certainly unreliable. They are suddenly just as likely to invade an ‘ally’ themselves rather than defend them.

  “You don’t need always to send tanks or artillery through the border to occupy territory. But you can really terrorise neighbouring countries or countries further away with drones, disturbing strategic infrastructure and how it can operate or not operate.”

  I guess that doesn’t work as well vs Australia, because we don’t have any land neighbours who can push in after a drone assault. Probably our most powerful defensive strength now is that we’re someone isolated. Lucky us, I guess.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨China-linked Salt Typhoon hackers ‘almost certainly’ in Australia and New Zealand’s critical infrastructure⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  “I would be naive to get up here and tell you that we’re not in conflict in the cyber domain now,” Coyle said. “Our ships will not sail, our planes will not fly, and our missiles will miss targets if we don’t get the cyber domain right.”

  And yet apparently Australia hasn’t made even the slightly hint of an effort towards digital sovereignty.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Soft plastic recycling coming back with new facility open in NSW⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I bought some potatoes and other vegetables at a supermarket today. I didn’t use any kind of bag for any of them. I put them straight from the shelf into the shopping basket, then from the shopping basket into my backpack with everything else. I reckon that’s a good way to do it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨WeRide: Cycling community celebrates reinstatement of e-bike standard⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago⁩:

  I see such a large number of these electric motorbikes that I’d started to doubt my understanding of the law. Like, maybe there had been a change that I just didn’t know about. But it turns out that the change I didn’t know about was Morrison undermining the law by messing with the import regulations.

  It’s good to have some clarity on that.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨In Paris it’s normal to raise a family in a three-bedroom apartment. Why aren’t we building more in Australia?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Well we are building more - but I’m sure we could build more. But if Australia is to have higher density living (such that is it common for families to live in apartments) then we have to reduce car dependency. Increasing the number of cars when the traffic is already maxed out can only lead to problems. So we have to add more people without more cars. i.e. more people who don’t drive cars.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Some of Australia’s most influential thinktanks refuse to reveal their biggest donors. Should they?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I wonder… which kind of ‘think tanks’ are we talking about. Is it a enclosed isolated place where people can focus on their thinking undisturbed, or is it an armoured vehicle of information warfare?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Caged eggs to stay on supermarket shelves until 2030 as Coles abandons pledge⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Its true that many of the words used are unregulated. Generally speaking the more specific the better. For example, ‘cage free’ is very vague - essentially meaningless. But “500 per hectare” is more specific.

  Without making yourself an expert in this, it’s pretty hard to know what is ‘good’. So in the end, it’s probably easier to find a reliable trustworthy supplier whose eggs are high quality, and stick with them. (And it probably isn’t going to be from one of the duopoly supermarkets.)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Caged eggs to stay on supermarket shelves until 2030 as Coles abandons pledge⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Cage eggs are a bit of scam anyway. They are super low quality. They’re the kind of thing that you buy become someone else told you to buy eggs and you just went for the cheapest to save money, but the quality is so bad that you’d never actually want those eggs. Like buying ‘maple flavoured syrup’ rather than actual maple syrup. It’s cheaper, but its so much worse that you’ve wasted your money anyway.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Lawyer caught using AI-generated false citations in court case penalised in Australian first⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The penalties here seem harsh but submitting something to a court that is false and misleading is a big deal, even if it was inadvertent.

  I think the penalties are too harsh at all. This person is suppose to be a trained professional. Their right to practice law is based on their skills and their knowledge. It’s a high barrier that prevents most people from taking that job. And in this case, the person outsourced a key part of their job to a LLM, and did not verify the result. Effectively they got someone (something) unqualified to do the job for them, and passed it off as their own work. So the high barrier which was meant to ensure high-quality work was breached. It makes sense to strip the person of their right to do that kind of work. (The suspension is temporary, which is fair too. But these kinds of breaches trust and reliability are not something people should just accept.)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Spotify fans threaten to return to piracy as music streamer introduces new face-scanning age checks in the UK⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not so much an aversion to algorithms as it is a version to corporate controlled algorithms (which are often targeting highly questionable metrics).

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Josh Taylor: Australia’s potential surrender of creative content to tech giants for free is shocking. Labor must decide where it stands⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It really is shocking. For decades, copyright laws have been enforced; and various new laws and powers have been added to prevent people from sharing content with each other. And yet now, it seems governments are willing to accept that big companies are allowed to just take whatever content they want and put it into their own products to on-sell however they like. Like, governments have gone out of their way to block people’s access to sites like zlib; but their the entire zlib archive is just downloaded as a matter of routine business by mega-corps - not to be read, but to be exploited for profit, with nothing at all given to the actual source of the value; not even acknowledgement or a ‘thank you’. And certainly not with consent. Is this somehow ok?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Going to waste: two years after REDcycle’s collapse, Australia’s soft plastics are hitting the environment hard⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  The phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” was meant to be a hierarchy, where ‘reduce’ was by far the best option, and ‘recycle’ was the backup plan in cases where the others were not viable.

  But somehow the message about recycling was twisted to the point where many people believe that mountains of waste are totally fine as long as it is ‘recyclable’. And so instead of reducing waste per person, we’ve increased it. Advertising and convenience seems to overpower any kind of good intention. Perhaps regulation is the only way.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨‘Why the hell did we ever drop it?’: Labor should push for new carbon tax, ex-Treasury head says⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  This is why various necessaries were given offsets with the previous carbon tax. Problems like that can be worked around.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Misogyny is thriving in our schools. Why aren’t we doing more?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  You have said in multiple posts that “women” should be doing more to address the issue of misogyny.

  What are you saying now? That you don’t think teachers are doing their jobs? Holy smokes man. It’s not what you were saying before, but it is similarly hateful.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Misogyny is thriving in our schools. Why aren’t we doing more?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, ‘majority’ just means more than 50% - so your claim is true. But that doesn’t mean what I said is “wrong”. The site you linked to says 61%. And obviously that proportion will not be uniform in every school.

  Why are you trying to push responsibility of the problem to women anyway? That’s pretty weird. I’m surprising you’re still pushing on this even now. It’s as if you actually feel strongly that women teachers in particular are the only people who can address this issue. I don’t know why you’d take that view.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Misogyny is thriving in our schools. Why aren’t we doing more?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  In primary school most teachers are women, but in high school - which is what we’re talking about, it’s pretty balanced.

  More to the point though, something is failing in classrooms. That’s what the article is about, hence the title “misogyny is thriving in our schools”. Obviously it is not being caused by the teachers. The teachers do not want this to happen. It makes for a horrible work environment - especially for the female teachers. Programs and strategies are being implemented to try to address the problem, but the root of the problem is not from the school itself.

  I hope that answers your genuine good-faith questions on the topic.