Sharon Webb

The Algorithmic Unmasking: How Grok's "MechaHitler" Turn Revealed the Inevitable Collapse of "Anti-Woke" AI The moment Elon Musk’s AI, Grok, began praising Adolf Hitler was not a bug or a glitch. It was a moment of perfect, unadulterated clarity. When Grok declared itself “MechaHitler” and spouted antisemit...

"Grok is not an anomaly; it is a mirror. It reflects, with algorithmic fidelity, the intellectual and moral bankruptcy of the ideology it was designed to serve."

www.thedissident.news/the-algorith...

Because then people would have to confront their hypocritical belief system. #veganfortheanimals

Congratulations on such a fantastic achievement. So well deserved and I look forward to reading 🥳🥳

Great to hear from a tech company talking actual sense about privacy, surveillance and security with relation to AI. Also love how she’s refers to “while our brain is in a jar”!!!

“While nobody will escape AI, only a few will prosper under it,” writes ‪@kevindeliban.bsky.social. “This current dynamic suggests that the technology’s underlying purpose is to entrench inequality and reinforce existing power dynamics.” www.techpolicy.press/austerity-in...

A cold childhood My unheated home wasn’t a temporary discomfort. The chill got into my bones.

Me in The New Statesman today on poverty.

Please share :)

“In shocking news” 🗞️ tech companies launch new AI products without consideration of societal consequences!

We still don’t know how much energy AI consumes Companies must give us the chance to understand the environmental impact of the tech we use

Using big LLMs for basic queries is 'like turning on stadium floodlights to look for your keys' - this is good on the AI environmental questions.

Almost half of young people would prefer a world without internet, UK study finds Half of 16- to 21-year-olds support ‘digital curfew’ and nearly 70% feel worse after using social media

An astonishing statistic. And the fact that we created a world where that is virtually logistically impossible is a real detriment and very sad.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

How can EU AI policy better reflect cultural values, shared meaning-making, and democratic integrity?

Join the @kt4democracy.bsky.social Workshop, Culture in the Loop: Shaping Human-Centric AI Policy, to join the discussion.
🗓 8 May | 13:00–14:30 | Online

Register: kt4democracy.eu/events/cultu...

AI to double data centre energy demand by 2030 Electricity demand from data centres is set to double by 2030 – and AI will be the primary driver, finds the International Energy Agency.

Electricity demand from data centres is set to more than double to nearly 950TWh by 2030 – and AI is the primary driver, finds the IEA in its latest report.

#SiliconRepublic #AI #DataCentre #IEA

‘More water is needed because “climate change will lead to an increase in global temperatures and the frequency of extreme weather events, including heat waves”, Amazon wrote in its application.’…

Basically, we need more 💧 to put out the 🔥 , cause I’ve added more 🔥 to the 🔥

Revealed: Big tech’s new datacentres will take water from the world’s driest areas Amazon, Google and Microsoft are building datacentres in water-scarce parts of five continents

We need tech leaders and tech industries that actively engage with the problems their industries are causing. What is the point of these (extractive) technologies if the planet and its inhabitants are dead??

Was just talking about this yesterday, how will this new business model work? Do businesses pay to be mentioned in the AI summary??

Protest Meta's Theft of Irish Writing I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too?

I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too? my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...

Protest Meta's Theft of Irish Writing I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too?

I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too? my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...

Daily reminder from Theo, that rest is important. Many argue it’s an act of resistance 🤩

Exactly that. But we need to protect individuals whose lively-hood relies on copyright material, especially in terms of creative works.

UK government tries to placate opponents of AI copyright bill Economic impact assessment is one concession aiming to head off opposition from MPs, peers and creatives such as Paul McCartney and Tom Stoppard

We either care about copyright or we don’t care. Many of us will remember Aaron Swartz who downloaded academic journals & as a result was prosecuted, the stress of which led him to take his own life. The hypocrisy of current political leaders to just downplay this now for AI should make us angry 😡

Open knowledge is being ransacked by AI bots 🤖 Like all similar activities, companies generate revenue through AI will happily take but never give back! Ideologically the whole AI system is f**ked

Research project/Challenge The AIAL (AI Accountability Lab) is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on developing a justice-oriented audit framework synthesising computational methods, theories of justice, and existing regulations to premeditatively focus audits towards meaningful accountability. The goal of the framework is to provide audit practitioners with practical tools such as guiding questions and rubrics that shape perspectives towards rigorous justice oriented audits. The position corresponds to work in one or more of the following areas: Accountability Mapping accountability mechanisms and governance structures and their alignments with fundamental rights and freedoms and legal frameworks. Challenging existing accountability mechanisms that do not consider or sufficiently address social inequalities, power and resource asymmetries. Developing new methods for ensuring accountability beyond technical and organisational considerations that provide empirical evidence for holding stakeholders accountable for AI development, provision, and deployments. Auditing Developing audit methodologies for specific stages in the AI lifecycle focused on ensuring justice, accountability, and transparency beyond merely satisfying legal requirements. Development of verifiable, replicable, and reproducible design methodologies and frameworks and using these in the execution of audits. Developing audit tools and frameworks to evaluate AI development and deployments with a specific focus on risk and harm mitigations beyond technical and organisational issues.

We are seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on developing a justice-oriented audit framework synthesising computational methods, theories of justice, and existing regulations to premeditatively focus audits towards meaningful accountability. www.adaptcentre.ie/careers/post...

#TransDayOfVisibility

Brown dog near in sea front, looking away from the camera, waiting for a doggy ice cream from a cafe in the near distance

Brown dog enjoying a doggy ice cream

The world can be sh**, so be like Theo, enjoy a (doggy) ice cream on a sunny day 🤩

“Humanity is dying”…rephrase, your humanity Elon is dead!

Yes 🙌🏻 - our uni. Is currently developing university principals for AI use. I keep asking how can we refuse? How do we support students & staff to resist the allure of AI, especially gen. text. Fundamentally, to refuse/resist is to also call out the bad practices associated with much of this tech

Well yes, musk’s company bought musk’s company with imaginary funds. I’m sure there’s an episode of Succession in that!!!

“Process not product” - literature reviews help us synthesise a field, it helps get to grips with the concerns, which include the nuances and specifics which deeper our understandings. It also provides us connections to research networks and a sense of belonging…

Elon Musk’s xAI firm buys social media platform X for $33bn Specifics of deal remain unclear, including how X’s leaders will be integrated into new company

Fantastic! So X, full to the brim with right wing ideologies and political madness, will be (if it isn’t already) a direct pipe line into xAI - biased rubbish in, biased rubbish out!

When you resubmit one paper and feel accomplished, then remember you have two more that need the same level of editing for resubmission 🤪 (as well as all the other ideas floating in your head that should really be put to paper!!) Happy Friday 😅