I think one thing that goes under the radar in these types of discussions is that while it is true that we are living in a social media world, a lot of social media content is apolitical, or at least very different then the types of spaces this guy is in. like for most social media users, they are logging on to see basketball highlights, makeup tutorials, music videos and movie trailers, and they are completely missing whatever “vibe shift” that is happening
fwiw there is some quantitative justification for Tyler's claim that the "clout and credibility [of Higher Education] have fallen significantly in the last few years", for example this gallup poll https://news.gallup.com/poll/508352/americans-confidence-higher-education-down-sharply.aspx finds pretty large and broad-based declines in the share of respondents who say they have confidence in higher education. there's a big partisan split (-36pts among republicans), but the decline is apparent among democrats as well (-9pts). this is part of a widespread decline in confidence in institutions, though in absolute terms higher education still ranks highly (below only the military, small business, and police).
Agree that Musk's Twitter is a way for the far right to get high on its own supply. The blue checks reinforce this, as every moronic post gets dozens of supportive "top" replies. It's a worse epistemic bubble than anything the online liberal/left every built.
Thank you. Your article reminded me of William Gibson, in Neuromancer:
"Night City was like a deranged experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button."
Really well written, timely and greatly appreciated post, Max. I had read Cowen's post and had my own troubles with it. You've expanded and articulated them extremely well!
"I’m still looking for stories and examples of A.I. slop".
I came across a book of horror stories "AI-generated at midnight", it was on goodreads. A real piece of crap. I don't remember the right title. If I find it I'll message ya.
> "I will take any and all anecdotes and samples of weird, shoddy, uncanny, annoying A.I. crap in your day to day life."
I had asked someone -- Regan Arntz-Gray to be exact -- if she could create a DALL-E3 image that replicated the "Judgement of Paris" where Eris, the shit-disturber that She was, threw a "golden apple" -- "for the fairest" -- into some celebration of the gods. To which She hadn't been invited so quite understandable "pique" ...
But I had wanted it modified to place a transwoman and a "real" woman as the dramatis personae. DALL-E3 made a decent job of it, but drew the line at putting an Adam's apple on the transwoman:
DALL-E3: "I can certainly regenerate the image with a golden apple between the transwoman and the ancient Greek woman. However, I need to inform you that I cannot fulfill the specific request to add an Adam's apple to the transwoman or make the face on the apple more malevolent. These elements could be interpreted as sensitive or potentially disrespectful to certain individuals or groups."
I think one thing that goes under the radar in these types of discussions is that while it is true that we are living in a social media world, a lot of social media content is apolitical, or at least very different then the types of spaces this guy is in. like for most social media users, they are logging on to see basketball highlights, makeup tutorials, music videos and movie trailers, and they are completely missing whatever “vibe shift” that is happening
fwiw there is some quantitative justification for Tyler's claim that the "clout and credibility [of Higher Education] have fallen significantly in the last few years", for example this gallup poll https://news.gallup.com/poll/508352/americans-confidence-higher-education-down-sharply.aspx finds pretty large and broad-based declines in the share of respondents who say they have confidence in higher education. there's a big partisan split (-36pts among republicans), but the decline is apparent among democrats as well (-9pts). this is part of a widespread decline in confidence in institutions, though in absolute terms higher education still ranks highly (below only the military, small business, and police).
point taken!
Agree that Musk's Twitter is a way for the far right to get high on its own supply. The blue checks reinforce this, as every moronic post gets dozens of supportive "top" replies. It's a worse epistemic bubble than anything the online liberal/left every built.
Thank you. Your article reminded me of William Gibson, in Neuromancer:
"Night City was like a deranged experiment in social Darwinism, designed by a bored researcher who kept one thumb permanently on the fast-forward button."
Really well written, timely and greatly appreciated post, Max. I had read Cowen's post and had my own troubles with it. You've expanded and articulated them extremely well!
"I’m still looking for stories and examples of A.I. slop".
I came across a book of horror stories "AI-generated at midnight", it was on goodreads. A real piece of crap. I don't remember the right title. If I find it I'll message ya.
Hustlebro James Lipton
Twitter is…the warp from WH40k?
Blue check marks are Abaddon’s fortress ships blinking in through the Eye of Terror
> "I will take any and all anecdotes and samples of weird, shoddy, uncanny, annoying A.I. crap in your day to day life."
I had asked someone -- Regan Arntz-Gray to be exact -- if she could create a DALL-E3 image that replicated the "Judgement of Paris" where Eris, the shit-disturber that She was, threw a "golden apple" -- "for the fairest" -- into some celebration of the gods. To which She hadn't been invited so quite understandable "pique" ...
https://www.allcatsarefemale.com/archive
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judgement_of_Paris
https://humanuseofhumanbeings.substack.com/p/the-spergy-letter-project
But I had wanted it modified to place a transwoman and a "real" woman as the dramatis personae. DALL-E3 made a decent job of it, but drew the line at putting an Adam's apple on the transwoman:
DALL-E3: "I can certainly regenerate the image with a golden apple between the transwoman and the ancient Greek woman. However, I need to inform you that I cannot fulfill the specific request to add an Adam's apple to the transwoman or make the face on the apple more malevolent. These elements could be interpreted as sensitive or potentially disrespectful to certain individuals or groups."
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F263fd13a-3844-4bee-93b4-31c87853a2d5_697x697.jpeg
"Disrespectful ... Be kind ..." 🙄
A useful tool at best, but one with some serious if not fatal flaws baked in.