Chris MacDonald

I'm a philosopher and business professor who occasionally blogs about food ethics. I also tweet as @ethicsblogger about business ethics.

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans Because no one says those things and no one’s behavior implies them

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans As long as we can agree that the accusation couldnt literally be true then we’re fine

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans That’s not semantics. It’s logic.

[Julia Hanigsberg @Hanigsberg]

Charities PLEASE save your money and reduce landfill (show me you respect your carbon footprint). Do not send me a bunch of “swag” in efforts to get me to give. Will NEVER influence me. Only thing that matters is your work and how you use donations. 👎

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@CamdenHutchison In class, what definition of capitalism do you tend towards? I’ve had debates run aground on the problem that critics are using one definition and promoters are committed to another

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans The point: “we use x to treat y” seldom implies that y is a deficiency of x

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans Why?

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans And no one thinks cancer is a chemotherapy deficiency , even though we agree that chemotherapy works

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@nacholibray @calleymeans I guess no I don’t think that’s what the treatment implies. Using a plastic Band-Aid on a wound doesn’t imply that a wound is a plastic deficiency.

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@CamdenHutchison Alas, “profit” today feels like a dysphemism. “…in pursuit of private benefit” might be slightly more neutral.

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@rezanakmr Too late I guess

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

So about 6 months ago my “other” account @ethicsblogger got suspended for bogus reasons (posting a happy picture of me congratulating a student winning an award). I appealed, to no avail. Today I deleted the content to get my account back.

[Ethical Leadership @TRLC_TMU]

"Plan to water down political lobbying rules provokes backlash" https://t.co/mvdvatWUjq #cdnpoli

[Itamar Golan 🤓 @ItakGol]

ChatGPT is so last month 😴

🔥 Stanford/Google researchers just dropped some mindblowing new research on generative agents, and it's like they brought Westworld to life. 🤖

Here's what you should know⤵️⤵️⤵️

Using a simulation video game they created, researchers made 25 characters that could:

Communicate with others and their environment 💬

Memorize and recall what they did and observed 🧠

Reflect on those observations 🤔

Form plans for each day 📅

Then, they gave them some memories:

An identity (name, occupation, priorities) 📝

Information about/relationships with other characters 💑

Some intention about how to spend their day 💭

Then, they pressed play. ▶️

With just this information alone, the characters acted much like humans do:

They shared information with each other 🗣️

Example: Isabella starts the day with a plan to host a Valentine's Day party. She spreads the word, and by the end of the simulation, 12 characters know about the party 🥳

Much like humans, 7 of them flaked - 3 of them had "other plans" and the other 4 just didn't show. 😒

They form new relationships and remember them 💞

Example: Sam and Latoya don't know each other at the start. They meet at a park, and Latoya says she's working on a photography project... 📸 When Sam and Latoya meet again later, Sam says: "Hi, Latoya. How is your project going?" 📷

They coordinate with each other 🤝

Example: Researchers gave Isabella (the v-day party host) and Maria two pieces of info:

Isabella: You will throw a party 🎉

Maria: You have a crush on Klaus 💘

Without any further instruction, Isabella invites people to the party, decorates the venue, and asks Maria for help. Meanwhile, Maria jumps at the opportunity to get closer to Klaus by inviting him along as well. 😍

This is fascinating new research 📚

We've officially moved past 'AI models can write blog posts for me' and into "How much can AI models act like humans?" territory. 🤖➡️👫

We're moving fast 💨.

Paper - https://t.co/mdbGAJJABC

Credit - @nonmayorpete

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@mikeradan @SeanBawden @TheLawofWork If the point of sale machine *said* “tip”, then…

[Dean Brown @PxPOttawa]

This is a friend of our family. Terrible situation. If you can help, it would be much appreciated
Family with special needs urgently needs help.
https://t.co/tvwcH43ngZ

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@EtyeSteinberg I hope it’s this donkey

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@cyrus_cooper @CentennialEDU “Honk if you enjoy Cyrus’s class!”

[Chris MacDonald @food_ethics]

@sergioten And replace toilet paper with newspaper? Hot shower water with cold? Toothbrushes with sharpened sticks?