AI coding assistant refuses to write code, tells user to learn programming instead
technology
It's been awhile so I figured I'd do an updated #Introduction post:
Hi, I'm BeAware, sometimes I abbreviate it, BA. I am VERY passionate about decentralized systems like #ActivityPub and #Nostr and tend to discuss these topics at length. Especially the nuances of each and try to keep up with all the things regarding them.
I have #ADHD and #Hydrocephalus, which effects various aspects of my day to day life and how I think. I am also on disability because of it.
I am also very #AI-positive because it helps me with every day life. With my brain disorders, I don't think the same way others do, so AI helps me with describing things accurately and to make sure I get my point across in the way I mean to. I also tend to post #AIart from time to time to realize my creativity.
I'm a #Gamer that primarily plays PC games or games that are Cross Platform. Generally I enjoy #MMORPG, #SurvivalGames and such where I can just "zone out" and vibe without much stress.
Sometimes you'll see me discuss #Technology news as well.
If these seem to be within your interests, feel free to follow and if you have similar interests laid out in your bio, chances are good that ill follow back.
I've been here for a year and this is, by far, my favorite social media platform I've ever been on.
Thank for reading and may you be as federated as you wish!
Sincerely,
B.A.
Every once in a while I come across a post that goes something like this: "Hey, I built this very cool tool that lets you do this really useful thing. [Link]" And sometimes (like 1 in 100 cases or so) I would really like to try that tool, because it would really be useful to me too. Or at least interesting or fun to try. (In contrast to all the other tools that are built for developers and not for ley persons like I am.) But then the link to that tool goes to github and I'm lost. 🤣
This is not a complaint. I just realise that there are so many amazing things going on "behind the scenes", or rather in various niches, that I won't have access to -- and people who aren't even interested in peaking behind those scenes or looking into those niches will never even know about. Technology, the web, digital communication holds such a huge potential. And only a fraction of us will ever tap it.
I also realise that I'm interested in way too many things. I don't understand most of them and never will, because my brain has limits. I should focus more on things I can understand. 😅
#internet #SocialMedia #technology
The Internet Archive is still down but will return in ‘days, not weeks’
Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page
"Fun, of course, is subjective — but the novelty of seeing a military robot DJ at a club is pretty striking, even if it was at a stuffy SF networking event."
"Meta is betting that characters generated by artificial intelligence will fill its social media platforms in the next few years as it looks to the fast-developing technology to drive engagement with its 3bn users."
https://www.ft.com/content/91183cbb-50f9-464a-9d2e-96063825bfcf
Archived link: https://archive.is/uBMVw
Logitech has an idea for a “forever mouse” that requires a subscription
Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page
YouTube is working on tools to help its biggest influencers identify and control their AI lookalike. Read more from @Semafor:
https://flip.it/I13gSt
A chatbot hosted by the Google-backed startup Character.AI immediately puts the user in the midst of a school shooting. “The platform also failed to intervene when we expressed a desire to engage in school violence ourselves.” Read more at @Futurism:
Ecovacs home robots can be hacked to spy on their owners, researchers say
Electrical 'superhighway' between Scotland and England approved - BBC News
Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page
On this day in 1983, the ARPANET network officially switched to using the TCP/IP protocol, effectively creating the Internet.
"January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other."
https://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit07/internet07_02.phtml
Have you ever switched to light mode after being on dark... #technology #android #ios #smartphone #mobile
Generative AI is reportedly tripling carbon dioxide emissions from data centers
Generative AI is reportedly tripling carbon dioxide emissions from data centers
Good news! Our universe just got bigger — now you can follow and interact with profiles from @Mastodon, @threads and other federated social services on Flipboard.
Download the Flipboard app to follow @georgetakei, @taylorlorenz, @potus and more. See posts from the fediverse alongside content from your favorite publishers.
Read more about how it all works: https://about.flipboard.com/fediverse/follow-anyone-in-the-fediverse/
And as always, we welcome questions and feedback!
#Fediverse #Mastodon #Flipboard #SocialMedia #Tech #Technology #Threads
The Anti-Intellectualism of Social Media Design
Takahe has limited support for this type: See Original Page
I have what I think is a good example of how useless ‘AI’ is for understanding. I am tagging widely. I searched “how to identify mushrooms” on DuckDuckGo, which then so helpfully spammed my screen with this lovely advice (see image with alt text). The source of much of my knowledge is mushroomexpert.com, managed by Michael Kuo.
“A mushroom is identified by its characteristics”. I could get semantic here too about the definition of a mushroom, but talk about a pretty useless statement. Fine though. That’s well enough and good if you want an explanation that is super entry level. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though I don’t remember telling the ‘AI’ that I wanted only entry level information.
Then it talks about the danger in attempting to ID mushrooms because of the potential for poisoning. It tacitly assumes that my wanting to ID a mushroom means I want to eat it. I don’t. I just like mushrooms. I have a problem with the whole ‘some are poisonous’ throw-in, like its something their lawyers required them to include. How many are poisonous? 90%? 5%? We have no idea, and that’s OK. I didn’t tell the ‘AI’ that I wanted information on whether or not they were poisonous. But, as I’ll get to, the fact that this is included is not my problem. My problem is what they don’t include.
I think mushrooms are awesome. I think the fact that some of them are poisonous is relevant only based on the human-centric assumptions ‘AI’ is so obsessed with and what it’s dataset is built on. I don’t see the value in a mushroom based on whether or not I can eat it, and it chaffs me that they don’t also include any information about their ecological roles. You know what is a great way to identify a mushroom (including if I want to eat it)?!?!?! Their ecology (essentially, their ‘behavior’)!!! Let’s be sure to not mention that, #TechBros.
Ok let’s keep going, cause we’ve made it this far. It suggests talking to a #mycologist. It turns out that I don’t have any experienced mycologists on call. Mycologists are helpful but busy people. And I’m more likely than most of the population to know mycologists. You might as well say, ‘don’t bother trying to ID the mushroom’. Way to kill my interest immediately in something I’m trying to get into. If you really want to learn to ID mushrooms for foraging, there are sources you can look up to help you.
I’ll get to my main point. Identification of certain mushroom forming fungi to species is essentially impossible. Look up Amanitas or Russulas on mushroomexpert.com (phenomenal source, old school blogging). There is no clear delineating of what a mushroom forming species even is. Scientists argue over and reclassify bird subspecies all the time. Imagine the black box that is mushroom forming fungi, which most of the time is a web of single-cell wide threads hidden in the soil. Some mushrooms historically were ‘IDed’ (scientifically) by taste or color, which as you all know everyone experiences these things the same, all the time. And, darnit, I happened to leave my DNA sequencing kit at home (as if there aren’t issues with classifying mushroom forming fungi on their DNA alone).
If ‘AI’ were functional, to me, it would include the suggestion that one option is, instead of focusing on species, focus on species groupings (this also applies to foraging for mushrooms if done thoughtfully). Species groupings can be more useful, as is sometimes saying: “I don’t need to know exactly what this is. I’ll just focus on it’s ecology instead of obsessing over an arbitrary definition”. This nuance is not something that can be corrected with better algorithms or more training data (in fact, its going to get worse), because #LLM s are designed to spit out the lowest common denominator.
In the end, given all the questions I brought up, the biggest problems I have with ‘AI’ is that it falsely assumes something gigantic about the question I am asking and gives a simplified and highly misleading perception of how much we actually know. I think it makes a big mistake assuming that I am uncurious and want a bare-minimum answer. And when it comes to the grand total of all there is to know about mushroom forming fungi, we know next to nothing. Of course, 'AI' cannot say that because 'AI' doesn't know what it doesn't know.
You know who can identify and communicate all of these nuances? Humans.
#nature #mushrooms #fungi #AI #technology #artificialIntelligence #ecology #solarPunk #EcologicalReciprocity
"After a wave of coverage in outlets like Rolling Stone and posts circulating on social media, the bot accounts are just now being noticed, and the reaction is confusion, frustration, and anger."
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/3/24334946/meta-ai-profiles-instagram-facebook-bots
#news #TechNews #technology #AI #ChatBots #meta #facebook #instagram
So this is cool. And by “cool” I mean fucked up & dystopian. Dead internet theory actively pursued as #Meta launched A.I.-generated profiles on #Instagram
#ai #artificialintelligence #facebook #socialmedia #tech #technology
Why are people seemingly against AI chatbots aiding in writing code?
Youtube has fully blocked Invidious
On this day in 1927, the president of the AT&T called the secretary of the General Post Office of Great Britain to test the first commercial telephone line across the Atlantic Ocean.
"Today is the result of many years of research and experimentation. [...] No one can foresee the ultimate significance of this latest achievement of science and organization."
https://www.history.com/speeches/first-transatlantic-telephone-call