If you’ve ever heard the Damon story from the set of GONE GIRL where Fincher sees an extra cross the screen and says “Who the fuck walks like that?” and wondered how bad the walk could’ve been, we’ve now mastered the technology to demonstrate it on an unprecedented scale
Ordinary Abundance. This is the greatest thing I've read in weeks. No kidding. This should win a Pulitzer in a category not yet invented. https://t.co/iqnoACNt6z
🇫🇷 INSOLITE : Un interviewer demande à un monsieur qui habite là depuis 40 ans s’il peut visiter son appartement qui a une vue exceptionnelle sur la Tour Eiffel.
He's not just defending AI energy use. He is smuggling in a whole anthropology where humans are basically inefficient meat computers that you have to pour food and years into before they become useful. And once you accept that, the next move is obvious. If people are just costly biological training runs, then burning mountains of electricity to build synthetic intelligence starts to feel not only equal, but superior, even if it negatively impacts actual humans.
That is the dystopian. It makes human development sound like a bug in the system, and it makes sacrificing human and creational flourishing for more computational power sound logical. To him, the grid gets strained, prices go up, ecosystems get hit, but hey, humans eat too, so what's the difference?
The difference is that humans aren't an inefficient line item. They're the point. If your worldview can look at a child growing into an adult and describe it as energy spent to train intelligence, you haven't said something profound. You've revealed a horrifically rotten worldview.
Today, the UK government announced a proposal to change copyright law - for the benefit of AI companies - that would cause huge, irreversible harm to creators.
More info below, but most importantly here's what you can do (wherever you live):
1. Email your MP. If you're in the UK, here's a template letter you can copy - https://t.co/c3pfbTndak - and you can find your local MP's details here - https://t.co/bPTOeVK6xt.
2. If you're a creator, email your representatives. Your publisher, record label, union - whoever represents you. Here's a second template letter you can copy - https://t.co/zEcP6tvuH5. You need to know your representatives are representing your views.
3. Respond to the consultation. You can do so by emailing [email protected]. If possible, write your own response, and go into all the detail you can. Feel free to use info / data I've prepared here - https://t.co/hbQE9f0Mm2.
4. Share these template letters with anyone you know. The more people get involved, the more the government will get the message that a broad copyright exception is the wrong path to be pursuing.
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And here's a summary of the government's proposal, and why I think it's so problematic:
- Broad new copyright exception for commercial generative AI training. AI companies will be able to train on British copyrighted work without a licence, even if the AI model is designed to compete with the creators whose work is trained on. This would make the UK one of the most punitive jurisdictions for creators in the world.
- Rights holders can 'reserve their rights', i.e. opt out. But opt-outs don't work (you can't successfully opt out downstream copies of your work), most creators miss the chance to opt-out, doing so is a huge admin burden, etc. AI companies should be getting opt-in consent - it's unfair to shift the burden to creators.
- AI companies must offer some level of transparency over their training data. This would be good if presented on its own, but it's much less helpful if you're packaging it up with a broad copyright exception that lets AI companies train on most of the UK's creative output with impunity.
The consultation on these proposals lasts for 10 weeks. Anyone who cares about this issue should do whatever they can to make their views known to government now - there will only be one chance.
So thrilled that @Waterstones have picked BLACK HOLE CINEMA CLUB as one of their Best Paperbacks of the Year! Thank you to all the brilliant booksellers at @WaterstonesKids. I'm so proud to be part of this stellar list! @NosyCrow
Hit sketch podcast The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show is back. It's been getting great reviews. The latest episode is here:
https://t.co/8XtrJkUTaT
We're nearing the end of Sports Horn season two, here's the latest episode:
🎧 https://t.co/0DphRUZWBF
Thank you to our amazing guest voices:
@mrjfirth (Muzzy Izzit)
@lucyroslyn (Helen)
@maxdowler (Danny Didcot)
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@BrittanyLaudaVO@VACastingRT Hi Brittany, UK voice here, remote, mid 40s, versatile. Reels here, drop me a message if I can help 👍 https://t.co/LZoTPXUQ1Q
@MoreSamanthaMor@VACastingRT Hi Samantha, please see the first scene in my showreel here https://t.co/gb4SydO9mT I'm based in London. Voice reels here https://t.co/LZoTPXUQ1Q