melfie
@melfie@lemy.lol
- Comment on Transcribed text of Samantha Fulnecky's assignment, paper, and professor's comments 1 day ago:
I remember a student in class threw a fit about not being able to cite the Bible as a source. She showed the professor a website demonstrating how to cite the Bible in APA format as “proof” that the Bible can in fact be cited.
- Comment on YSK that when you’re asked to make a donation at check-out, the company does not get a tax break for it! 4 days ago:
It sucks being put on the spot to donate to a charity I haven’t researched, but I’ve also been a cashier and hated being forced to ask people shit like this.
- Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 loses Game of the Year from the Indie Game Awards 4 days ago:
So are they getting a different award for using AI and ending up with something that isn’t slop?
- Comment on Half-Life 3 Reportedly Delayed Due to Steam Machine Price, Leak Claims 4 days ago:
Pretty bad luck on the timing for Steam Machine. Hope Valve can still pull it off, but not sure they’re going to be able to hit a price point where it’s worth buying.
- Comment on Half-Life 3 Reportedly Delayed Due to Steam Machine Price, Leak Claims 4 days ago:
DNF makes me so sad to this day.
- Comment on Apple announces more ads are coming to App Store search results 5 days ago:
- Comment on AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source 6 days ago:
Not sure why I’m getting so many downvotes in this thread, aside from the fact that it may sound like I’m standing up for big tech, which I’m not. This article is more or less saying that open source is doomed as a result of big tech’s LLMs, and I’m saying it’s AI that is ultimately doomed and open source will be just fine. AI isn’t going to make it any easier to replicate the open source projects used to train it, well, for the same reason is doomed to fail: AI is based on exaggerated claims. No, companies aren’t going to use AI to make their own Linux kernel not bound by GPL licensing terms. What’s going to happen is the commercial AI bubble is going to pop, perhaps leaving behind open source AI models that will be used for the modest value they bring for certain tasks.
- Comment on AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source 6 days ago:
Yeah, I guess this is a bit of gray area. With GPL, you only have rights to code if it was distributed to you. In the case of GPL code that has only been distributed to select people and none of those people distributed it to the general public, but GitHub still trained their models on the private repo, then that would technically be in violation of the license. This would be a more niche scenario, though, since the intent normally is public distribution.
- Comment on AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source 6 days ago:
The LLMs are not distributing the GPL code, their weights are being trained on it. You can’t just have Copilot pump out something that works like the Linux kerne or Blender, except with different code that isn’t subject to the GPL license. At best, the AI can learn from it and assist humans with developing a proprietary alternative. In that case, it’s not really that much better than having humans study a GPL codebase and make a proprietary alternative without AI. It’s still going to cost a lot of money to replicate the thing no matter what, so why not just save money and use the GPL code and contribute back?
- Comment on AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source 6 days ago:
I’d also be curious about where that 15-20% productivity increase comes from in aggregate.
This is from a Stanford study that is summarized here:
linkedin.com/…/does-ai-actually-boost-developer-p…
There are other studies with different conclusions, but this one aligns with my own experience. To your point about how AI won’t reproduce the Linux kernel, this study also points out that AI is significantly less effective, even going into the negative, with complex codebases, which is in agreement with what you said, since the Linux kernel certainly qualifies as a complex codebase.
they are stealing code meant to be free and public with any derivative works, profiting off it, and then refusing to honor the license model of the code/project they stole.
I agree big tech is using open source unethically, but how much different is this situation from the other ways big tech profits from open source without contributing back?
- Comment on AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source 6 days ago:
Given that LLMs increase productivity in the aggregate by 15-20%, and sticking with Linux as an example, a LLM trained on the Linux kernel could be used to make a similar kernel with a ton of human effort. That company could then make a proprietary OS and sell it. Other companies then have the choice of using open source Linux, devoting a ton of their own resources to making a proprietary OS with a little help from AI, or licensing the other company’s proprietary OS. Everyone else can still use Linux and not care.
It’s possible I’m using the wrong example or overlooking something that would help me better understand this perspective.
- Comment on AI’s Unpaid Debt: How LLM Scrapers Destroy the Social Contract of Open Source 6 days ago:
I don’t follow how LLMs destroy open source. For example, a LLM trained on the Linux kernel could probably be used to produce a closed source kernel with a lot of human effort. Big tech companies already make a lot of money from Linux without ever contributing back. That doesn’t change the fact that we can all run Linux and not be trapped using proprietary garbage like Windows. Community contributions still help create a rising tide that raises all boats, and shitty big tech companies having their own massive yachts raised as well doesn’t really change that fact.
I hate big tech companies and the AI grift as much as anyone else here, but don’t really follow the article’s point.
- Comment on If AI replaces workers, should it also pay taxes? 1 week ago:
The current tech brings a modest productivity increase when used correctly, but it isn’t really taking anyone’s jobs. Articles like this that support the fraudster’s false claim that it will are part of the problem. No, don’t tax AI, just don’t use taxpayer money to bail these fuckers out when the bubble pops.
- Comment on The USA and Europe are now enemies 1 week ago:
Exactly. Billionaires own media and the politicians, so they can control “democratic” societies from the top-down and the bottom-up.
- Comment on LG Update Installs Unremovable Microsoft Copilot on Smart TVs, Ignites Backlash 1 week ago:
My next TV, I’m going to look into whether the PCB can be swapped with a computer monitor PCB made by the same company.
- Comment on It's quite impressive that most English speakers across the world understand each other, despite variations in accents/dialects 1 week ago:
I think at least part of the reason why English has become an agreed upon international language is because these variations are permissible. If everyone had to speak RP, then the language wouldn’t be as accessible.
- Comment on The USA and Europe are now enemies 1 week ago:
In any case, average citizens are not enemies. As always, the international billionaire cabal has decided it’s more profitable this way, so the orange gameshow host and other “leaders” go along so they can get paid instead of sniped.
- Comment on Australia begins enforcing world-first teen social media ban 2 weeks ago:
Gambling is an age-restricted activity because it exploits the brain’s reward mechanisms to drive profits, which can lead to addiction. Big tech social media platforms are the same, so this makes sense. Now make free to play games with loot boxes an age-restricted activity.
- Comment on Asking the right questions... 2 weeks ago:
Definitely agree. “Making a living” is a dumb concept when society could absolutely provide universal programs to fulfill everyone’s basic needs. Instead, societal resources are allocated to a few wealthy sociopaths so they can hoard it and disproportionately control world affairs according to their own selfish interests. What a world it would be if nobody had to work just to stay alive, and everyone instead could contribute their best selves to society on their own terms.
- Comment on Asking the right questions... 2 weeks ago:
Some experts believe that AI may soon surpass human intelligence
Experts like Sam Altman and other members of the circle jerk spouting what they know damn well is bullshit for their own financial gain? Those experts?
millions of job losses as a result of AI
You mean as a result of rich assholes using AI as an excuse to lay people off while pretending AI is picking up the slack, but it’s really the remaining employees being overworked?
- Comment on The richest people in the world are morally bankrupt 2 weeks ago:
And *you* would be morally bankrupt were you rich
Which is why capitalism begins with the word “cap”. There needs to be a cap on the maximum wealth any one individual can accrue, because absolute power corrupts absolutely.
- Comment on 4 reasons Plex is turning into the thing it replaced 2 weeks ago:
lemmy.lol has been having a lot of issues the last couple of weeks where it’s unusable slow and requests keep timing out. I tried posting this multiple times and kept getting errors, but it seems it actually was succeeding, so apologies for the duplicate posts. I might end up moving to a different instance.
- Comment on 4 reasons Plex is turning into the thing it replaced 2 weeks ago:
I prefer open source, but if I’m buying proprietary software, let’s do it fairly and sustainably. Don’t charge me a 1-time fee and then enshittify what I bought because your business model isn’t working. On the other hand, don’t charge me multiple times for the same software with a subscription. The most fair arrangement to both of us is to sell perpetual licenses for a specific version that doesn’t restrict my usage or require me to use it online and then charge fees for newer versions. If your newer versions introduce massive improvements, then I might give you more money. It’s also fair to do free upgrades for a period of time and then charge for major upgrades.
- Comment on 4 reasons Plex is turning into the thing it replaced 2 weeks ago:
Yeah, it’s odd the survey assumes everyone has used Plex. When I was looking for an actual server to replace Kodi back in 2018, it was like Plex - nope, Emby - nope, Jellyfin - ah, we have a winner.
- Comment on IBM CEO says there is 'no way' spending trillions on AI data centers will pay off at today's infrastructure costs 3 weeks ago:
The other companies involved know this as well; they’re just not saying the quiet part out loud.
- Comment on Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn 3 weeks ago:
Always good to have a list of what to avoid so we can all make sure we avoid them.
- Comment on Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn 3 weeks ago:
Only websites hosted by land lovers are bound by such laws.
- Comment on Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn 3 weeks ago:
I’m sure they’ll be getting a lot of photos with abnormally long noses and saggy, wrinkled, hairy chins.
- Comment on It would be so funny if China colonizes Mars, then the Martian Colonists declare independence, and Mars become a new bastion of Freedom and Prosperity. 3 weeks ago:
The trip to Mars will be similarly expensive to a trip to the New World back in the day. I can imagine history rhyming with something akin to indentured servitude. Especially if the rockets and resources on Mars are owned by billionaires like Musk.
- Comment on Leak confirms OpenAI is preparing ads on ChatGPT for public roll out 3 weeks ago:
I have a RTX 4060 low-profile in my 2U server and am limited to 8GB of VRAM for anything I self-host at the moment. I may consider a larger chassis with a better GPU in the future.
