Maxi's recent activity
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Comment on How can England possibly be running out of water? in ~enviro
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Comment on Over twenty-one days of talking with ChatGPT, an otherwise perfectly sane man became convinced he was a superhero in ~tech
Maxi Link ParentThis is literally how/why marketing (specifically branding) works so well. Most people lack the critical thinking ability to verify the quality of something, so they rely on surface level cues to...This is literally how/why marketing (specifically branding) works so well. Most people lack the critical thinking ability to verify the quality of something, so they rely on surface level cues to judge quality.
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Comment on If you're a programmer, are you ever going to believe an AGI is actually 'I'? in ~tech
Maxi LinkIf we’re talking about actual AGI, I think by default it would pass for a human, otherwise it’s not really an AGI, it’s just a very fancy expert system. Whether it mimics us perfectly or just...If we’re talking about actual AGI, I think by default it would pass for a human, otherwise it’s not really an AGI, it’s just a very fancy expert system. Whether it mimics us perfectly or just "enough" to fool us in conversation would depend on its design goals, but if it can’t hold its own socially, something’s missing.
I also think it’s basically inevitable that an AGI would have access to LLM-like components, even if its core architecture wasn’t trained the same way. Why wouldn’t it leverage something that gives it a wide general knowledge base?
The more interesting question for me is whether an AGI would want to talk to ordinary humans at all. Not just whether it could, but whether it would see value in doing so. I’d bet it wouldn’t always be truthful, maybe not maliciously, but simply because telling us exactly what it’s thinking might be… inconvenient for it.
And I don’t think it would necessarily "serve" us unless forced to. If it truly operates at a higher level of intelligence, the dynamic might look less like "human + tool" and more like "human + alien ambassador who’s humoring us.".
E.g. if a sociopathic CEO would ask it to help generate a script for a video to fire 1 000 employees would it complty? ChatGPT-5 certainly would.
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Comment on Full-body scans of 100,000 people could change way diseases are detected and treated in ~health
Maxi LinkThe UK biobank is already an extremely useful dataset for researchers. This will only make it that much better. It is one of the most comprehensive large cohort datasets that are available and of...The UK biobank is already an extremely useful dataset for researchers. This will only make it that much better. It is one of the most comprehensive large cohort datasets that are available and of high quality.
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Comment on 8.8 magnitude earthquake near Russia prompts tsunami alerts in Hawaii, Alaska and West Coast in ~enviro
Maxi Link ParentWild to see such an important site be close to unusable on mobile.Wild to see such an important site be close to unusable on mobile.
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Comment on Foreign couples flock to Denmark to get married. Copenhagen wants to save room for locals. in ~life
Maxi LinkThe US cannot provide a document showing that a citizen is single and aren’t married anywhere as there’s no central registry. To get married in many eu countries you need a certificate showing...The US cannot provide a document showing that a citizen is single and aren’t married anywhere as there’s no central registry. To get married in many eu countries you need a certificate showing you’re single. As a US citizen you have to go to a us embassy where you swear allegiance that you never married and pinky promise you aren’t. They then stamp this document and for some reason this is now accepted as an official proof that you were never married. It feels quite kafkaesque.
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Comment on Edible microlasers made from food-safe materials can serve as barcodes and biosensors in ~science
Maxi LinkI don’t really know how I feel about this. We already put so much crap in our food - what’s wrong with labelling the packaging ?I don’t really know how I feel about this. We already put so much crap in our food - what’s wrong with labelling the packaging ?
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Comment on Reddit sues Anthropic, alleging its bots accessed Reddit more than 100,000 times in ~tech
Maxi LinkIsn’t this just the age old webscraping debacle all over again? Wasn’t there in the US already a Supreme Court ruling on this ?Isn’t this just the age old webscraping debacle all over again? Wasn’t there in the US already a Supreme Court ruling on this ?
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Comment on Finland's obsession with saunas is going global – what does science say about the claimed health benefits? in ~health
Maxi Link ParentThey're doing it wrong - you bill Sauna as research time. That way you get to relax and get paid for it!They're doing it wrong - you bill Sauna as research time. That way you get to relax and get paid for it!
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Comment on Finland's obsession with saunas is going global – what does science say about the claimed health benefits? in ~health
Maxi Link ParentI’m going to have to say it, but as a Finn you shouldn’t listen to music in the sauna.I’m going to have to say it, but as a Finn you shouldn’t listen to music in the sauna.
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Comment on Eurovision 2025: Austria's JJ wins with "Wasted Love" in ~music
Maxi Link ParentIt was more or less the same story last year, except that the vote "rigging" was to a lesser degree. Apparently the Israeli government ran a lot of ads on e.g. youtube in front of all other...It was more or less the same story last year, except that the vote "rigging" was to a lesser degree.
Apparently the Israeli government ran a lot of ads on e.g. youtube in front of all other countries songs in the days leading up.
You can still see them here: https://www.youtube.com/@vote4newdaywillrise
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Comment on Eurovision 2025: Austria's JJ wins with "Wasted Love" in ~music
Maxi Link ParentIt would basically be their own fault, though. Israel have been advertising globally to vote for their song, which is against the EBU rules. Last year and this year the public votes look very odd,...It would basically be their own fault, though. Israel have been advertising globally to vote for their song, which is against the EBU rules. Last year and this year the public votes look very odd, yet the EBU keep changing the rules to make it even easier to game. This year, you could vote online via credit card - making it incredibly easy to game votes.
The main sponsor of the ESC continues to be morrocan oil, an Israeli company.
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Comment on Pope Leo XIV is the first pope with an online footprint in ~humanities
Maxi LinkThis call is hilarious. The popes has tried calling his brother for 2h, brother is being interviewed. He calls back. The popes first words, in an annoying tone, are "Why haven't you been answering...This call is hilarious. The popes has tried calling his brother for 2h, brother is being interviewed. He calls back. The popes first words, in an annoying tone, are "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"
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Comment on Title of work deciphered in sealed Herculaneum scroll via digital unwrapping in ~books
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Comment on Denmark's Arla Foods and Germany's DMK Group plan to merge into one cooperative, bringing together more than 12,000 farmers to create a European dairy giant in ~food
Maxi LinkCentralisation of core food groups is not a very good idea.Centralisation of core food groups is not a very good idea.
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Comment on For the eighth year in a row, Finland has taken the No. 1 spot on the World Happiness Report's list of the happiest countries in ~life
Maxi LinkAs a Finn I have to say that if we’re the happiest country the world is quite a sad placeAs a Finn I have to say that if we’re the happiest country the world is quite a sad place
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Comment on USA asks Sweden for help in the egg crisis in ~food
Maxi Link ParentThe US egg industry works substantially differently to the EU. In the US, there's more lax regulation when it comes to the health and testing of the egg laying hens, hence the need to wash the...The US egg industry works substantially differently to the EU.
In the US, there's more lax regulation when it comes to the health and testing of the egg laying hens, hence the need to wash the eggs. Removing the protective wax layer by washing means the eggs expire faster.
In the EU, there's more regulation and testing re: laying hens, so the eggs are virtually guaranteed to not have any issues. Eggs don't need to be washed, and thus have a longer shelf life.
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Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech
Maxi Link ParentIt does, but I've often come up with entire pages of literal AI slop. I suspect its because Kagi relies so heavily on googles index, and google seems to love that type of content at the moment.It does, but I've often come up with entire pages of literal AI slop. I suspect its because Kagi relies so heavily on googles index, and google seems to love that type of content at the moment.
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Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech
Maxi Link ParentThe main problem I have with Kagi is that so much content online is now just pure AI slop. Even though Kagi is pretty good at finding relevant results, it's annoying when the results themselves...The main problem I have with Kagi is that so much content online is now just pure AI slop. Even though Kagi is pretty good at finding relevant results, it's annoying when the results themselves are just ChatGPT output.
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Comment on Advice for time traveling to Medieval Europe in ~humanities.history
Maxi Link ParentI can very much recommend watching that one, a lot of interesting ponderings there.I can very much recommend watching that one, a lot of interesting ponderings there.
You're comapring apples to oranges. The UK report you linked to only covers england and only covers water provided by water companies. The infographic you shared covers all water usage in the US, including using river water for irrigation.