The Hooverville Hexagon: Notes from Around

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Report on Fall:

Still Falling

by DG

The creek looks nice behind the supermarket.

 

The Anthropology of the 21st Century:

How 'I' is your AI?

by DG

The trick is to figure out what the tools can be used for, and what they can't.

 

This morning I ran across a wonderful quote from Ursula K Le Guin, which is not a sentence I say often. Here's what she said.

To be God you have to know what you're doing.

In other words, never give the reins of power to anyone incapable – whether through self-will or ignorance – of seeing the situation as a whole.

 

Or, as they told us at university, 'garbage in, garbage out.' This advice holds for elections as well as computer use.

 

I also read this morning that Google was threatening to deny US public school systems[1] access to their search engine if the schools insisted on turning off the AI search tools. Good, say I: school systems should commission an entirely new search engine that isn't allowed to talk back.

 

Before anybody says anything, I know, I know. You can't give school systems power over search

engines. That would mean that Joe Argumentative, the local car dealer with Opinions who has been on the school board since Nixon was president, will get to put in his oar. And the search engine won't be allowed to share links to Spartacus Educational. Because they're a bunch of socialists. And that's almost commies. I hear you. Spartacus Educational provides some good information. Check out their resources for A-level prep, British people.

So what can they do? Maybe shop around for a search engine that has decent settings and no AI. Surely somebody will be willing to do that. But it's worth the effort to keep the search engine people from contributing to Volksverdummung, which is not my favourite German word. It's hard enough to get schoolkids excited about writing without some smart-alecky robot showing up and making it harder.

 

In other news today I discovered an excellent use of 'AI', or at least, smart technology: keeping freezers and refrigerators at the right temperatures. Whoever messed with the supermarkets' coolant systems in European countries should be dragged to The Hague, say I.

 

But once they've solved the vulnerability problem, regulating systems is a good thing for the robots to be doing. Like old folks tending the fireplace or your cat watching for the mail. As my mom used to say to us when we were kids, 'That's a good job for you.' And then she assigned us something that got us away from the stove and into the silverware drawer.

 

 

Quote of the Day

Thanks to modern communications, we now have something we never had before: reason to mourn deeply the death or wounding of any human being on any side in any war.

Kurt Vonnegut, Sermon at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, 1983.

War Memorial #6:

Scottish National War Memorial

by Bluebottle

Every day until the day I still call Armistice Day, Bluebottle will be presenting a war memorial from somewhere. Today he takes us to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland.

The Isle of Wight's county war memorial was dedicated in 1929 – possibly inspired by this, the Scottish National War Memorial which opened in Edinburgh Castle in 1927. This records those who died during both World Wars, the Korean, Falklands and Gulf Wars, Malayan Emergency and Troubles, plus the recent Wars to Protect the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. The National War Memorial is a remodelling of Edinburgh Castle's North Barrack Block dating from 1755, which had been built on the site of the mediæval St Mary's Church.

 The National War Memorial is officially a secular building, though inside the atmosphere is very much of a church, with stained glass and sculpture. The interior is incredibly moving, though photography is not permitted inside.

Birds of the Day

by SashaQ

I don't know about you, but to me the Worm Dance beats The Nutcracker any day. DG

 

 

cu,

Dmitri Gheorgheni, Editor

 

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[1] For those who are confused: 'public schools' in the US are publicly-funded schools for the use of the public, i.e., everybody, as opposed to private schools, which charge fees and are exclusive. We hope this removes any lingering uncertainties in the minds of Old Etonians.