Hans Nuttin

[Yann LeCun @ylecun]

My opinion of @elonmusk
I like his cars (I own a 2015 S, and 2023 S), his rockets, his solar energy systems, and his satellite communication system.
I also like his positions on open source and patents.

But I very much disagree with him on a number of issues.

I disagree with how he treats his scientists.
Technology/product development may not need openness and publications to advance, but forward-looking *research* sure does, whether it's in AI, neural interfaces, material science, or whatever.
Secrecy hampers progress and discourages talents from joining the effort.

I also disagree with the hype. I mean, expressing an ambitious vision for the future is great.
But telling the public blatantly false prediction ("AGI next year", "1 million robotaxis by 2020", "AGI will kill us all, let'spause",...) is very counterproductive (also illegal in some cases).

More importantly, I think his public positions on many political issues, journalism, the media and the press, and academia, are not just wrong but dangerous for democracy, civilization, and human wellfare.
Say what you want about "traditional media" but you can't really have reliable information without professional journalists working for a free and diverse press. Democracy can't exist without it, which is why only authoritarian ennemies of democracy rail against the media.

Finally he doesn't seem to hesitate to disseminate batshit-crazy conspiracy theories as long as they serve his interests (e.g. boosting "PizzaGate", "illegal immigrants corrupt elections in the US", "person X is a pedo",...).
One would expect a technological visionary to be a rationalist. Rationalism doesn't work without Truth.

This has become particularly concerning since he bought himself a platform to disseminate his dangerous political opinions, conspiracy theories, and hype.
He has been quite naïve about the difficulties of running a social network and the (legal) necessity of doing content moderation. One can claim to be a 1st Amendment absolutist, but a lot of content *must* be taken down by law, e.g. terrorist propaganda, child exploitation, blatant hate speech (in the EU and other regions).
Then, there is dangerous disinformation that puts public health in danger or corrupts the democratic process. You have to moderate that too.
Content moderation is a complicated problem whose best answer is not an attitude of total laissez-faire but a complex trade-off.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

Alfa Mist - "Foreword" https://t.co/NYEkbiVoOW via @YouTube

[Kwakzalverij @kwakzalverij]

Gisteren bewezen wij met @skepsisnl dat homeopathische middelen geen werkzame stoffen bevatten. Bij het standbeeld van Multatuli, het bekendste VtdK-lid, namen een aantal dappere vrijwilligers een overdosis homeopathische pillen.

#kwakzalverij #homeopathie #weekvandehomeopathie

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

@mckaywrigley @skdh How impressive GPT-4 is, if you think coding is about setting up a generic frontend and a generic backend with db, than think again. Software engineering is about solving complex domain problems, not about code bootstrapping which tools more than 20 years could already do.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

@divbyzero nice, is this available somewhere?

[Manuarii @manuarii]

I know ChatGPT is always rendering the most probable next word based on context, purely probabilistic, but I think experts underrated the effect of emergent behavior with a lot of complexity. We still don't know how to define what consciousness is; experts should be a bit more cautious.

[Thomas Van Oppens @ThomasVO]

Waarom is erfbelasting zo fair? Doden betalen die niet, maar erfgenamen. Ze krijgen geld en goederen waar ze niet voor gewerkt hebben. Leg dat naast de belasting op arbeid, waar iemand wel hard voor gewerkt heeft en dan weet je dat als er iets verlaagd moet worden het wel dat is.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

Philosophy and the Real World: An Introduction to Karl Popper by Bryan Magee
**** https://t.co/QEAjEXVtXQ

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

@vuurdistel Altijd links! #balance

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

Hoe kun je iemand pedant noemen als het gebruik van dat woord zelf pedant is?

[The Cultural Tutor @culturaltutor]

The Importance of Beauty in the Ordinary

(and the danger of things being bland)

A short thread...

[ACA Group @acagroup_be]

We zijn teamlid @bvanvelsen even uit zijn concentratie gaan halen om een gesprek te voeren over wat hij allemaal verwezenlijkt om mens, planeet en dier te helpen. Je leest er alles over in zijn blog: https://t.co/Hjh7kCLk3X 🌎🌱

#Sustainability at ACA

[Wendell Pierce @WendellPierce]

June 2, 2002, THE WIRE premiered on HBO. A visual novel. A reflection on our American dysfunction. A powerful piece of art. My life and career changed forever. Gratitude.

[ACA Group @acagroup_be]

Yes, last night, the ACA Group won the very first sustainability award at the DataNews Awards! Sustainability is not a solo sport or merit, it is the merit of the entire ACA team, pur customers and partners. Let's go one step further, each and every day. #Sustainability

[Arnold Schwarzenegger @Schwarzenegger]

I love the Russian people. That is why I have to tell you the truth. Please watch and share.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

@erikphoel No expert on this, but information in this context means level of organisation/order, and no algorithm or interpretation will change this? So that part could be seen as the ‘objective’ part of information.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

@erikphoel I guess there is, but then the algorithm itself would ‘contain’ more of the data. In my jpeg example you have a clear separation between the raw data and a generic algorithm. The horse animation merely seems a projection, and just like an algorithm does not add information.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

@erikphoel What’s the difference with a jpeg file? I doubt there’s an algorithm that can project it to a tiger, that would be very incidental.

[Hans Nuttin @hnuttin]

Byebye New York! #byebye #newyork #manhattan @ Manhattan, New York https://t.co/gLaDxmGEyV