@sarahostermeier.bsky.social
Science communicator, Data Scientist, and Author of the Discerning AI Newsletter, offering a more grounded, thoughtful conversation about artificial intelligence and its impacts. https://sarahostermeier.substack.com/
For background: Anthropic contractually prohibits the use of their models for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. Yesterday the Trump administration gave them an ultimatum: drop these safeguards or get blacklisted and face harsh penalties.
If you've been following the show-off between Anthropic and the Pentagon (or want to get caught up) join IECout.tech for a live conversation tomorrow (Feb 26) at 1pm PT/4pm ET!
Join the conversation here: x.com/i/spaces/1NG...
I'm here for all of those in need of community and support in these difficult times. Please reach out and help build a tech community we can be proud of 💙
Here's what you can do:
- ✍️ Sign the ICEout.tech pledge to add your voice (you can stay anonymous if you need to!)
- 👯 Build solidarity and speak with your coworkers, friends, and others in your network
- 📣 Spread the word publicly if you can
Now is the time to speak out and build on this this momentum. This is not a political issue, but a matter of defending our communities, both within and outside tech.
With the building public outcry, a number of high profile tech leaders have begun to break the silence, including Dario and Daniela Amodei at Anthropic, Jeff Dean at Google, and venture capitalists John O’Farrell , Hemant Taneja, and Vinod Khosla. ✊
The good news is that more and more tech professionals are beginning to speak out.
Over 2000 workers have now signed the @iceouttech.bsky.social pledge calling on industry leaders leaders to cancel contracts with ICE and push back against ICE's actions.
Lately I've been calling on the tech industry to publicly stand against the brutality that ICE is inflicting upon our communities in the United States. Tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Dell, Palantir, and many more continue ICE with their technology.
The fact is that we all have an opportunity to choose which side of history we want to be on. We have seen through history how this story goes and we know how future generations will view us.
I CALL ON MY COLLEAGUES IN TECH TO STAND PROUDLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE✊
All of this work leads directly to the murders, kidnappings and ongoing violence we are seeing against our communities across the US. If you work for or with these organizations, now is the time to speak out.
- [Motorola Solutions and Thomson Reuters](www.404media.co/this-app-let...) help ICE surveill licence plates
- [Google hosts](www.404media.co/google-has-c...) CBP’s facial recognition app.
- [Palantir is helping ICE](www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...) to identify neighborhoods to target.
- [Dell and Microsoft](www.vice.com/en/article/d...) provide the technical equipment and software it uses.
Despite the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, and the blatant disregard for human rights and due process, Tech leaders have continued to do business with this regime.
For far too long the tech industry has been silent, and indeed complicit with regard to the brutality being committed by federal agents in Minneapolis, and across the united states.
I'm attending Pramila for Congress's event, “Pramila Jayapal's Special Edition Resistance Lab: Stand For Good” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/pramilaforco...
What are the opportunity costs of the technologies we choose to invest in?
Billions of dollars have been poured into AI technologies based on transformer/LLM architectures, yet there are so many other ways of designing systems with complex 'intelligent' behavior.
#AI #Science #histsci
New Blog Post Alert!
I’ll be honest, this one was tough to write, mostly because of how much there is to say on this topic. I ended up splitting this post into a few parts.
Today’s post is Part 1: The Origins of a Confused Terminology
##ArtificialIntelligence #AISkepticism #TechHistory
I'm not sure if learning the term 'Brandolini's Law' makes me feel better or worse about all the time I've spent refuting bad arguments.
The Know Rogan Experience #0018 - Terrence Howard: From May 2024, Joe talks to actor Terrence Howard about free energy devices, why the periodic table is wrong, and Terrence's patents for world-changing technologies. Available on your podcast players, or on YouTube:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrUX...
The important distinction is that 'lying' implies an intention to deceive, making an assumption about the internal process. If I were asked to list everything I ate last Thursday, I'd likely unintentionally get some things wrong - I wouldn't be lying though, I'd just be incorrect.
Really like this way of thinking about LLMs!
Framing them as cultural technologies is an excellent way of acknowledging the power, impact, and risk of the technology without anthropomorphizing it.
Definitely agree there is a risk/safety issue here! I think we should avoid using terms like 'lying' and other anthropic language about AI though, since it can be misleading. It's fine to just call this a performance/accuracy issue
Just analyzed the o3 hype through a skeptical lens! 🔍
Introducing my new concept: the "Appeal to Vibes" fallacy - when technical claims rely on feelings rather than evidence.
See how this is affecting AGI discussions in my latest Discerning AI post ↓
#AISkepticism #AI #CriticalThinking #o3 #OpenAI
Apparently Artificial General Intelligence was invented today....and none of use noticed.
I'm not sure if there is an official term for this 'Appeal to vibes' logical fallacy, but if not I'd like to coin the phrase.
#DiscerningAI #CriticalThinking #SnakeOil
Oh dear, this is a very confused AI! We should definitely be careful about how we use AI in education! What product are you using here @beckykeene.com?
That totally makes sense - the concern would then shift to how agents are programmed to behave and who has access to the data they collect. Definitely worrying considering how powerful the big tech companies are already!
Really enjoyed your essay! Somehow it made me feel slightly better about the prospect of having an AI agent take over my day to day decisions. I'm curious what your perspective is? Do you see the potential loss of personalization as a good thing?
I love this perspective. Beyond critical thinking along, I've found mindfulness to be a valuable tool in managing the overwhelm that comes with all the hype around AI as well.
Just launched "Discerning AI" newsletter! My first post, teaches anyone to cut through AI hype using the tools of skepticism - no tech background needed.
Read my first post and share your thoughts! What's the wildest AI claim you've seen lately?
#AI #ResponsibleAI #Skepticism #AILiteracy