Pauline Mercier

Brussels-based conference interpreter (FR-EN-ES)

[Macken @MackenMurphy]

There’s a well-known phenomenon in the facial aesthetics literature whereby “average faces” (that is, faces formed by superimposing many faces atop one another) tend to be more attractive than the average person.

This may be counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you consider the following: Individual faces are all slightly flawed, from a beauty perspective, in idiosyncratic ways. And when you average lots of faces, you average out all of these minor issues. So, an “average face” is errorless and looks quite pleasant as a result.

However, another thing you’ll notice about these “average faces” is that none of them could be models. They’re more attractive than the average human, yes, but less attractive than the most attractive humans.

This is because extremely attractive faces tend to have certain features that are, mathematically, extreme. (For example, male models tend to have lower-set brows and larger jawbones than you would see in any average face.)

Recently, I have begun to wonder if LLM-writing faces a similar challenge. It’s always “more attractive than average,” because all of the flaws of normal human writing have been averaged out. But it's also missing the unusual taste and style of the best human writers I've read. In my experience, it's only ever 85%-good; like an "average face," it's never flawed, but equally, it's never exceptionally beautiful.

[Matthew Zeitlin @MattZeitlin]

https://t.co/T7mqoPPOgr

[Pauline Mercier @InterpPauline]

When Is It Genocide? https://t.co/50gH8Ns7M1

[Albert Lechat 🚲 @alechat1]

"Georges-Louis Bouchez a non seulement placé la barre du népotisme là où ses prédécesseurs socialistes n’auraient jamais imaginé la placer, mais aussi rompu avec une de ses promesses de campagne."

Merci pour cet edito parfait
https://t.co/l9KeBRQB37

[Alex Vacca @itsalexvacca]

BREAKING: MIT just completed the first brain scan study of ChatGPT users & the results are terrifying.

Turns out, AI isn't making us more productive. It's making us cognitively bankrupt.

Here's what 4 months of data revealed:

(hint: we've been measuring productivity all wrong)

[Pauline Mercier @InterpPauline]

If You Eat Meat You Should Know This https://t.co/DcTbchSnw7 via @YouTube

[The Serfs (youtube.com/theserftimes) @theserfstv]

Can a headline alone be eligible for a Pulitzer?

[Dave Keating @DaveKeating]

We did it guys!! 🇧🇪🏆
https://t.co/1Z6YHcyv1D

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

Good morning!

Who dresses better? Alpha males or little dogs? Let's explore. 🧵

[Anthony Mansuy @AnthonyMansuy]

Malgré un sentiment anti-immigration et sécuritaire similaire à la France, la Wallonie a voté à 2,8% pour l'extrême-droite aux européennes, tandis que la Flandre votait pour elle à 48% et la France à 37%. Oui, 2,8%. Avec @societyofficiel, on s'est demandés : mais pourquoi ? 1/12

[Pauline Mercier @InterpPauline]

@Rothmus @Zarbo_A

[Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand]

These have undoubtedly been the wildest 72 hours in French politics in my lifetime. Pretty incredible stuff.

A 🧵

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

he's going to ask about kate middleton

[Pauline Mercier @InterpPauline]

"J’ai fait rentrer la parole de ceux qu’on ne connaît pas : les livreurs, les chauffeurs VTC… Et ce, grâce à un outil magique, que je mets à leur disposition : l’interprétation."https://t.co/81sTgRllDz

[Tom Moylan @moylato]

I asked ChatGPT to generate an image of an EU Commissioner - and then asked it several more times to "make him more European!"

[Kevin Dahlstrom @Camp4]

New policy.

[Tim Smit @_TimSmit]

Very Belgian problems at school!

[Andrew Stroehlein @astroehlein]

Belgium is showing the way on the #Gaza crisis.

✅ Condemned 7/10 killings by Palestinian armed groups;

✅ Questioned legality of some Israeli airstrikes;

✅ Condemned Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians & called for targeted sanctions on those responsible;

1/n

[franceinfo @franceinfo]

"Le terrorisme n’existe pas en droit international", répond Agnès Callamard, face à des critiques émises contre Amnesty International. "Il n’a pas de définition juridique. Ce que le Hamas a fait, c’est un crime de guerre, ça pourrait même être un crime contre l’Humanité."

[Timothy Barton | Anglo Premier Translations @anglopremier]

Can ChatGPT explain why two interpreters per language are needed for simultaneous interpreting? Nope. I wonder how much false information is published by people using ChatGPT to write about topics they know nothing about. If I didn't know better, I might have believed this: