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AI children's books, body horror edition
a month ago
- AI-generated children's books lack uniqueness and exhibit sameness despite improvements in models.
- The author purchased an Amazon bestseller AI children's encyclopedia, noting targeting reasons: high sales, gift purchases by non-readers, and no intellectual property risks.
- The book contained disturbing body horror imagery, including mutated creatures and unsettling scenes, raising concerns about its impact on children.
- AI-generated content is widespread on platforms like Amazon, with potential real sales despite fake reviews, highlighting regulatory needs.
International chess federation sanctions Kramnik
20 days ago
- The FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) found former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik responsible for multiple violations of the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Codes.
- The violations included breaches related to dignity, respectful treatment, bullying, cyberbullying, psychological abuse, and failure to cooperate with a Fair Play Commission investigation.
- Several other charges, such as those concerning integrity, honesty, and reputational harm to FIDE, were dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
- The EDC emphasized that combating cheating is a top priority but must be handled through confidential procedures with proper evidence, not public accusations.
- Kramnik received a two-year ban from FIDE competitions, with the final 12 months suspended for a three-year probation, resulting in an active one-year suspension if no further breaches occur, plus 12 months of unpaid community service.
2014: DeepMind reportedly sold to Google on conditions: no military use
9 days ago
- The article discusses DeepMind's transition from a company with safeguards against military use to one accepting Pentagon contracts.
- Andreas Kirsch, an employee at Google DeepMind, highlights public reports from 2014 and 2026.
- In 2014, DeepMind was sold to Google with conditions including no military use and independent oversight.
- By 2026, it had a Pentagon contract for "any lawful government purpose", indicating the safeguards did not survive intact.
FCC Officials Took $$$ Gifts from Paramount as Company Needed Approval for Deals
7 days ago
- FCC commissioners have accepted expensive Kennedy Center gala tickets from CBS/Paramount, raising ethical concerns.
- Commissioners Olivia Trusty and Brendan Carr accepted tickets worth thousands of dollars after voting on or overseeing Paramount-related mergers.
- Ethics experts argue this creates a clear conflict of interest, compromising FCC impartiality in pending merger decisions.
- Federal rules generally prohibit gifts from regulated entities, but exemptions for 'widely attended gatherings' are controversially applied.
- The FCC's ongoing review of the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger could be legally challenged due to these ethics issues.
- Some commissioners, including Carr, have a history of accepting such gifts, totaling over $260,000 from CBS/Paramount since 2016.
- Potential recusals could deadlock the FCC, as it currently has only three commissioners, affecting merger approval processes.
- Legal experts warn that ethics violations might undermine the legitimacy of FCC decisions in court.
Ethics Is the Skill That Matters Most Now
a day ago
- Skills like writing, coding, analysis, and design are being commoditized by AI, shifting value from capability to judgment about what should be done.
- AI amplifies whoever holds it; the bottleneck is intent, not capability, and bad intent was historically throttled by incompetence.
- Ethics is a trainable skill involving noticing moral dimensions, reasoning under conflict, owning second-order effects, and acting against pressure.
- AI raises ethical stakes through scale (mass replication of errors), speed (faster than review), and distance (layers diffusing responsibility).
- Delegating ethics to AI fails because human judgment must specify values; moral skills atrophy when not exercised.
- Political systems filter for traits like lying and manipulation, rewarding unethical leaders at a time when ethics is critical.
- Practical habits include considering affected parties, designing for misuse, speaking up early, and treating justifications as warnings.
- Intelligence is automated, but judgment is not; ethics is the skill that makes capability worthwhile and cannot be outsourced.
AI in Linux
7 hours ago
- Linus Torvalds supports using AI tools like LLMs for code authoring and review in Linux kernel development, with over 1,200 commits having an 'Assisted-by' tag.
- The new code review tool Sashiko generates AI-driven reviews, forcing contributors to interact with AI and sparking debate about mandatory AI usage.
- Linus dismisses ethical and political arguments, insisting Linux focuses solely on technology, but the author argues Linux is inherently political due to licensing choices and the practical impossibility of forking.
- AI externalities include rising hardware prices, carbon emissions, and energy consumption, with negative impacts on people including kernel contributors.
- The author criticizes Linus for legitimizing AI companies and calls for honest discussion of moral and ethical dimensions rather than narrow technical focus.

Hasty Briefsbeta

#ethics

AI children's books, body horror edition

International chess federation sanctions Kramnik

2014: DeepMind reportedly sold to Google on conditions: no military use

FCC Officials Took $$$ Gifts from Paramount as Company Needed Approval for Deals

Ethics Is the Skill That Matters Most Now

AI in Linux