MachineMachine /stream - search for question https://machinemachine.net/stream/feed en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss LifePress therourke@gmail.com <![CDATA[What happens in your mind when you read this paragraph?]]> http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/387587

When I read the very 1st paragraph of this article, I had a series of mini revelations about how my mind works, and perhaps the minds of others. I'd appreciate it if you read it first (just the 1st paragraph), and then came back here to explore with me why I think it was interesting... Thanks for coming back!

So, my question is slightly loaded, because I have what is called 'aphantasia', and reading this paragraph made me wonder whether the way non-aphants think (around 96% of the population) was fairly represented by this writer.

When you pictured the scene, how specific was it? Did the follow-up descriptions the writer gives fairly mirror your own experience?

Because when I read it, I didn't get a visual 'picture' in my head, (there is nothing visual in my head, because I am an aphant) but I did imagine the scene conceptually. The thing is, for me the scene I imagined was absolutely abstracted. It was the idea of a person washing hands at a sink. There was little to no specificity. There was no bathroom or kitchen, circular or square sink in my inner imagination. There was no specific person, man or woman, black or white, no specific way their hands moved, no specific relationship between the redness of the liquid, and what it might be (i.e. blood or paint). I just imagined an abstracted set of related ideas: person, washing hands, sink, red. That was it.

So when the writer goes on to then assume everyone pictured something really specific, that made me wonder: is the abstractness of aphantasic thinking universal? Do aphants always imagine in a kind of realm of Platonic ideals? Do none aphants always picture specific things? How much of the writer's assumption here is fair, given that we ALL sit on the spectrum of mental visual imagination? What are the social implications of these different ways of thinking?

What happened in your mind when you read this paragraph? I am intrigued to know, and where you usually sit on the spectrum of visual imagination.

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Sun, 12 Oct 2025 07:01:27 -0700 http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/387587
<![CDATA[Tech issues: The myth of inevitable technological progress - Vox]]> https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/10/1/20887003/tech-technology-evolution-natural-inevitable-ethics

They see facial recognition, smart diapers, and surveillance devices as inevitable evolutions. They’re not. Imagine you’re taking an online business class — the kind where you watch video lectures and then answer questions at the end.

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Fri, 22 Mar 2024 03:13:03 -0700 https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/10/1/20887003/tech-technology-evolution-natural-inevitable-ethics
<![CDATA[ChatGPT: 30 Year History | How AI Learned to Talk]]> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFS90-FX6pg

This video explores the journey of AI language models, from their modest beginnings through the development of OpenAI's GPT models. Our journey takes us through the key moments in generative neural network research involved in next word prediction. We delve into the early experiments with tiny language models in the 1980s, highlighting significant contributions by researchers like Jordan, who introduced Recurrent Neural Networks, and Elman, whose work on learning word boundaries revolutionized our understanding of language processing. It leaves us with a question: what is thought? Is simulated thought, thought? Featuring Noam Chomsky Douglas Hofstadter Michael I. Jordan Jeffrey Elman Geoffrey Hinton Ilya Sutskever Andrej Karpathy Yann LeCun and more. (Sam altman)

My script, references & visualizations here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1s7FNPoKPW9y3EhvzNgexJaEG2pP4Fx_rmI4askoKZPA

consider joining my channel as a YouTube member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCotwjyJnb-4KW7bmsOoLfkg/join

This is the last video in the series "The Pattern Machine" you can watch it all here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbg3ZX2pWlgKV8K6bFJr5dhM7oOClExUJ

00:00 - Introduction 00:32 - hofstader's thoughts on chatGPT 01:00 - recap of supervised learning 01:55 - first paper on sequential learning 02:55 - first use of state units (RNN) 04:33 - first observation of word boundary detection 05:30 - first observation of word clustering 07:16 - first "large" language model Hinton/Sutskever 10:10 - sentiment neuron (Ilya | OpenAI) 12:30 - transformer explaination 15:50 - GPT-1 17:00 - GPT-2 17:55 - GPT-3 18:20 - In-context learning 19:40 - ChatGPT 21:10 - tool use 23:25 - philosophical question: what is thought?

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Mon, 27 Nov 2023 11:53:24 -0800 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFS90-FX6pg
<![CDATA[The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari ❧ Current Affairs]]> https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/07/the-dangerous-populist-science-of-yuval-noah-harari

Watch videos of Yuval Noah Harari, the author of the wildly successful book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and you will hear him being asked the most astonishing questions. Harari’s manner is soft spoken, even shy, in these encounters.

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Sat, 23 Jul 2022 03:51:36 -0700 https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/07/the-dangerous-populist-science-of-yuval-noah-harari
<![CDATA[The Dangerous Populist Science of Yuval Noah Harari ❧ Current Affairs]]> https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/07/the-dangerous-populist-science-of-yuval-noah-harari

Watch videos of Yuval Noah Harari, the author of the wildly successful book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, and you will hear him being asked the most astonishing questions. Harari’s manner is soft spoken, even shy, in these encounters.

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Fri, 22 Jul 2022 23:51:36 -0700 https://www.currentaffairs.org/2022/07/the-dangerous-populist-science-of-yuval-noah-harari
<![CDATA[RPS Contemporary Group | Dr Grant Scott: United Nations of Photography]]> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-07wlkYKA

Recorded Monday June 20th, 2022

After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Dr Grant Scott began to work solely as a photographer for commercial and editorial clients in 2000. His images combine his experience working with some of the greatest photographers of the last century with his graphic and journalistic talents to create engaging photographic narratives from every commission.

Grant is the founder/curator of United Nations of Photography, a Senior Lecturer and Subject Coordinator for Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, a working photographer, documentary filmmaker, BBC Radio contributor and the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015) and New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019).

In the talk Grant addresses the constantly shifting sands of engagement with the photographic medium. Noting that we read books and acquire a respect for how difficult it is to write and are taught how to read the written word and appreciate its transformative power Grant will makes the case for the importance of visual literacy. He will explain how digital photography has democratised the medium, with ensuing debates between those with analogue experience and the digital natives and focus on the importance of ‘the personal’ in defining subject matter. The talk and following questions and answers are an exploration on what makes a successful visual narrative.

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Mon, 27 Jun 2022 02:33:41 -0700 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_-07wlkYKA
<![CDATA[Blake Lemoine Says Google's LaMDA AI Faces 'Bigotry' | WIRED]]> https://www.wired.com/story/blake-lemoine-google-lamda-ai-bigotry/

The question of whether a computer program, or a robot, might become sentient has been debated for decades. In science fiction, we see it all the time. The artificial intelligence establishment overwhelmingly considers this prospect something that might happen in the far future, if at all.

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Mon, 20 Jun 2022 19:51:09 -0700 https://www.wired.com/story/blake-lemoine-google-lamda-ai-bigotry/
<![CDATA[Blake Lemoine Says Google's LaMDA AI Faces 'Bigotry' | WIRED]]> https://www.wired.com/story/blake-lemoine-google-lamda-ai-bigotry/

The question of whether a computer program, or a robot, might become sentient has been debated for decades. In science fiction, we see it all the time. The artificial intelligence establishment overwhelmingly considers this prospect something that might happen in the far future, if at all.

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Mon, 20 Jun 2022 15:51:09 -0700 https://www.wired.com/story/blake-lemoine-google-lamda-ai-bigotry/
<![CDATA[I gave my microwave a soul with AI and it tried to kill me]]> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1G5b_2PYj0

Share this so it isn't my last episode. Join our Discord! https://discord.gg/SrDAqQzQ

✳ PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=711561 ✳ Twitter: http://twitter.com/_lucasrizzotto ✳ Facebook: http://facebook.com/lucasrizzotto ✳ Instagram: http://instagram.com/_lucasrizzotto ✳ Website: http://lucasrizzotto.com]

Thanks for the wild ride, friends. This one was a joy (and hell) to make. Make sure you follow me closely on social media - got some big announcements to make this week!

I really appreciate you all, specially those of you who dig deep into the description to find hidden bits like this :)

This channel never really blew up the way I thought it would but it brought me close with some of the most passionate people I've ever seen and I'll always be eternally grateful.

Love ya,

Swooty McBooty

Special thanks to: Austin Beaulier (for helping me get the epic smooth shots in the memories sequence) Cix Liv (for all his expert insight as Dimitri) Max Noir (for dealing with all the bs of making this video for almost a year lmao) Stephen Hodgson (for helping out hugely with GPT-3 code)

Chapters!

00:00 - Teaser 00:38 - Introduction 02:35 - Jeff Bezos' Tale 04:22 - The Brain Transplant 05:07 - GIANT METAL DEATH MACHINES 06:00 - Okay Let Me Explain GPT-3 For Real Now lol 07:10 - Writing Fake Memories 09:30 - PLOT TWIST! An Old Friend 11:20 - Ad-Break 12:24 - The Conversation Begins 13:36 - Microwave Gets Personal 14:45 - Microwave Politics 15:43 - Oh God He Likes Hitler 16:18 - Dramatic Question Montage 19:34 - Unintended Consequences 20:19 - Microwave PTSD Montage 21:12 - The Murder Attempt 23:04 - Lucas Moves Far Away... 23:33 - ... To Uganda LOL 24:22 - Haunted By Nightmares 24:53 - Talking to an Expert 26:34 - Is Magnetron Fake? 27:06 - The Final Conversation 30:12 - Goodbye, Magnetron 31:34 - Is it over? 32:15 - Outro / Sad Announcements 34:20 - Goodbyes & Reminiscing

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Sun, 06 Mar 2022 10:00:11 -0800 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1G5b_2PYj0
<![CDATA[Feminism has been reduced to the transgender debate - New Statesman]]> https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/02/feminism-has-been-reduced-to-the-transgender-debate

Photo by Vuk Valcic/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images. What should women care about in 2022? This was the implicit question asked by Mumsnet on Tuesday, when the platform hosted a discussion with Stella Creasy and Caroline Nokes, two MPs, on women and mothers in politics.

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Mon, 28 Feb 2022 00:52:31 -0800 https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2022/02/feminism-has-been-reduced-to-the-transgender-debate
<![CDATA[Break Bread]]> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41B5YonixBs

------Curiosity Stream Sign Up Link----- https://curiositystream.com/fdsignifier

After a few months of “success” on the platform, I sat to contemplate my journey from unknown content creator scraping for views to hot new video essayist and legit “left tuber”. This contemplation led to numerous questions and ponderings, and as I dived into those questions I started to get frustrated the answers that I arrived at. I got tired of people asking me “where have you been this whole time” when I knew I had been just quietly treading water, wondering why my videos weren’t being seen, and wondering why I barely saw any creators in the mold of what I wanted to do.

To explore these emotions, I talked to a variety of creators and experts on the nature of YouTube as a media platform the algorithmic systems that govern it, and the greater culture around it. I delved into my own concerns and observations about the landscape of YouTube, especially “left tube”.

This video is my thesis on what challenges I and other black creators face.

00:00 Intro 02:12 How Did I Get Here? 08:22 The Untold History of Breadtube/Lefttube 33:17 No Favors From the Algorithm 1:09:10 Problems in the Community

Creators Featured Voice Memos for the Void - https://www.youtube.com/c/voicememosforthevoid Jordan Harrod- https://www.youtube.com/c/JordanHarrod/videos The Storyteller- https://www.youtube.com/c/TheStorytellerAJ CJ the X- https://www.youtube.com/c/CJTheX Noah Samsen- https://www.youtube.com/c/NoahSamsen khadija Mbowe- https://www.youtube.com/c/KhadijaMbowe T1J- https://www.youtube.com/c/the1janitor Legal Eagle- https://www.youtube.com/c/LegalEagle Hank Green- https://www.youtube.com/c/SciShow

Channels Mentioned Yara Zayd- https://www.youtube.com/c/Yharazayd Kolpeshtheyardstick- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Vj51Kp7qPC102MsA98Fww Victory- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8JTStI16odEK-N3JJcMmpw

DJ Trackmatic- https://www.instagram.com/trackmatic_idris/?hl=en https://youtube.com/channel/UCqeWnr-XOv2x8jr2fW72mnA

Resources-

Pewdie Pipeline by Noncompete https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnmRYRRDbuw&t=1029s

The Alt Right Playbook series by Innuendo Studios https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xGawJIseNY&list=PLJA_jUddXvY7v0VkYRbANnTnzkA_HMFtQ

Not So Awesome (channel awesome fall out documentary) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvedKSaHCBQ

Implicit Bias Primer- https://www.simplypsychology.org/implicit-bias.html

Implicit Bias Association Harvard Study- https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

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Mon, 06 Dec 2021 10:00:09 -0800 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41B5YonixBs
<![CDATA[AI DECOLONIAL MANYFESTO]]> https://manyfesto.ai/index.html?s=09

AI Manyfesto signed , ... Sign your name This manyfesto is a provocation, a question, an opening, a dance about a future of AI technologies that is decolonial.

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Sat, 02 Oct 2021 01:33:26 -0700 https://manyfesto.ai/index.html?s=09
<![CDATA[Theory in Crisis Seminar - Benjamin Noys, The Crisis of the Future | University of London]]> https://london.ac.uk/institute-in-paris/events/theory-crisis-seminar-benjamin-noys-crisis-future

What is the role of critical theory today and who is it for? What kind of maps can theory provide in the context of entrenched capitalist crisis? These are some of the questions posed by this seminar series. 

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Wed, 31 Mar 2021 07:55:28 -0700 https://london.ac.uk/institute-in-paris/events/theory-crisis-seminar-benjamin-noys-crisis-future
<![CDATA[MeFi: If a shrunk-down hand were to squeeze the coronavirus...]]> http://www.metafilter.com/190192/If-a-shrunk-down-hand-were-to-squeeze-the-coronavirus

Physical virology (SLNYT) Of all the pandemic questions bedeviling scientists, the one that Juan Perilla is asking might be among the strangest: If a shrunk-down hand were to squeeze the coronavirus, would it squish, or would it shatter?

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Wed, 27 Jan 2021 18:32:02 -0800 http://www.metafilter.com/190192/If-a-shrunk-down-hand-were-to-squeeze-the-coronavirus
<![CDATA["The world has become weird": crisis, natures and radical re-enchantment - STEPS Centre]]> https://steps-centre.org/blog/the-world-has-become-weird-crisis-natures-and-radical-re-enchantment/

In this essay, Amber Huff and Nathan Oxley reflect on questions that have emerged through Natures, the STEPS Centre’s theme throughout 2020.

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Mon, 18 Jan 2021 06:55:11 -0800 https://steps-centre.org/blog/the-world-has-become-weird-crisis-natures-and-radical-re-enchantment/
<![CDATA[Rethinking Artificial Intelligence through Feminism | CCCB LAB]]> http://lab.cccb.org/en/rethinking-artificial-intelligence-through-feminism/

Technology surrounds us and is everywhere, but how this technology is made and who really benefits from it and who does not, are still important questions to be investigated.

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Fri, 08 Jan 2021 23:36:39 -0800 http://lab.cccb.org/en/rethinking-artificial-intelligence-through-feminism/
<![CDATA[REIMAGINING THE HUMAN – DAY I]]> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU20CXUOoO0

How can we imagine communities that are not shaped by the human superiority? Who are we in the light of eco-critical imaginaries? What constitutes us? Who are the others that are to be included in our community?

This two-day online symposium seeks to address the aforementioned questions by engaging the dialogue between philosophy, neuroscience, anthropology and art. It will take place on 17 & 18 September 2020. The symposium will be held in English, fully streamed online, participation is free.

Programme

17 SEPTEMBER, Thursday

11:00—11:15 Opening & Welcome Speeches: Rimvydas Petrauskas (Rector of Vilnius University); Jonas Dagys (Director of the Institute of Philosophy, Vilnius University), Kristupas Sabolius (organizer, Institute of Philosophy, Vilnius University).

MORNING SESSION Moderated by Daina Habdankaitė

11:15 —12:00 Catherine Malabou (Kingston University / University of California Irvine) Not Mandatory: When Addiction Replaces Law

12:00 —12:45 Vittorio Gallese (University of Parma / Columbia University / Humboldt Universität) The Empathic Body. Embodied Simulation and Experimental Aesthetics

12:45—13:00 Break

13:00—13:45 Kristupas Sabolius (Vilnius University / MIT) We Are Milieus

13:45—14:30 Panel discussion: Catherine Malabou, Vittorio Gallese, Kristupas Sabolius, Scott F. Gilbert, moderated by Elizabeth A. Povinelli

14:30 —15.30 Break

AFTERNOON SESSION Moderated by Ignas Šatkauskas

15:30 —16:15 Rita Šerpytytė (Vilnius University) The Challenge of the Subject in the Face of the Real

16:15 —17:00 Ruslanas Baranovas (Vilnius University) Grammatology and the Sadness of Being Human

17:00—17:45 Chiara Bottici (The New School for Social Research) Rethinking the Human Through the Philosophy of Transindividuality

17:45 —18:30 Panel discussion: Rita Šerpytytė, Ruslanas Baranovas, Chiara Bottici moderated by Catherine Malabou

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Thu, 17 Sep 2020 10:08:12 -0700 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU20CXUOoO0
<![CDATA[Critical Designer, Activist Engineer: Making Things and Making Things Happen]]> https://aplusa.org/courses/critical-designer-slash-activist-engineer/

What happens when design and engineering research results in activism, human rights work, politics, or matters of equity and justice? Engineers and designers are often thought of as “problem-solvers” in mostly technical, practical, and formal senses. But this class explores the equally compelling history of engineering and design projects that raise difficult questions, aid marginalized communities, address urgent social issues, or create new social conditions.We’ll talk to designers, artists, and engineers who work on issues of sustainability, power, health, education, and more. And we’ll run our own experiments in creative design work for the public good. The class includes significant reading, field trip(s) and guest lectures, short experiments, and a culminating project.We want you to witness and be inspired by the exciting, expansive fields of what are variously called social design, engineering for the public good, socially engaged art practices, and many other names. However, we also want you to be well versed in the many, many pitfalls of so-called “activist” work with technology—when it’s under-informed, poorly researched, focused on form and not on substance, it risks not only being ineffective, but can lead to actual harm. We take this risk seriously, so this course will have you mostly listening, learning, listening and learning some more, and, finally proposing—not carrying out fully-fledged projects in one semester. Trust us on this: We can have fun and be at play with ideas while also operating with due diligence as socially-minded engineers and designers. Humility and questions are your trusty companions here, your true north. We want to help you to lay a foundation; you will have many, many future opportunities to build the house.

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Wed, 09 Sep 2020 03:59:27 -0700 https://aplusa.org/courses/critical-designer-slash-activist-engineer/
<![CDATA[1,204,986 Votes Decided: What Is The Best Thing?]]> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy6e7GbDRQ

Sometimes, you regret asking a question. • Win your Ultimate Tech Bundle by entering Fasthosts’ Techie Test here: https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/tomscott

Thanks to Graham Haerther for the main audio mix, and for recovering the terrible sound in my echo-filled flat!

(For the folks asking: I'm not planning to release the ranked list -- partly because "ranked list of major world religions" sounds like the sort of thing that'll cause trouble, and partly because I can't guarantee there aren't some other nasty things still in the list. Apologies!)

00:00 Introduction 00:38 Every Thing 04:35 How To Rank Everything 05:45 What Is The Best Thing?

I'm at https://tomscott.com on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at https://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo

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Mon, 07 Sep 2020 08:00:02 -0700 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALy6e7GbDRQ
<![CDATA[Understanding Interactive Media: Critical Questions & Concepts]]> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FnsSHCJjW0vLCqpyEjNUVJ_f9haSS_tFxMroFbpxwwA/edit?usp=drivesdk&usp=embed_facebook&usp=embed_facebook&usp=embed_facebook&usp=embed_facebook

This seminar course is an introduction to the concepts, questions, and components that encompass interactive media as it relates to creative expression and critical engagement. Students will learn to analyze interactive media’s constituent parts, engage in readings that critically examine both the impact that interactive media and technology have on culture and societies as well as the ways in which social contexts shape the development and application of these technologies, and apply these concepts in a series of creative exercises. The contexts become apparent by examining interactive media and interactivity through the lenses of relevant critical perspectives including politics, economics, ethics, race, gender, psychology, and the environment. Throughout the semester students will learn and apply critical texts to analyze interactive media and build a vocabulary for making sense of our increasingly mediated world. The course thus serves to introduce a conceptual foundation for students to inform and direct their own creative practice by establishing a lexicon of basic operating definitions and reinforcing a culture of makers capable of critical reflection and awareness. Readings, discussions, research, creative exercises and writing constitute the body of this course.

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Tue, 25 Aug 2020 22:59:19 -0700 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FnsSHCJjW0vLCqpyEjNUVJ_f9haSS_tFxMroFbpxwwA/edit?usp=drivesdk&usp=embed_facebook&usp=embed_facebook&usp=embed_facebook&usp=embed_facebook