arqalite's recent activity
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Comment on Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says in ~tech
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Comment on Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentAbsolutely, and I think it's easy to fall into the illusion of thinking an AI chatbot is the perfect confidant to tell all your secrets to. It stays on your phone, it only talks when you want it...Absolutely, and I think it's easy to fall into the illusion of thinking an AI chatbot is the perfect confidant to tell all your secrets to. It stays on your phone, it only talks when you want it to, and you assume nobody would know what you just told it. (Until you realize that every chat is used as training data, thus theoretically being able to extract all your messages from the model, with careful prompting and a bit of engineering.)
Coupled with being a more lonely person, or an introvert, I can see how it's easy to make an AI the main source of social interaction. Why hang out with your friends when it might be a little difficult to fit that in your schedules (with helicopter parents and the usual serving of extra-curricular activities, kids don't get to hang out as much as they should), when "Taylor Swift" is two taps away and willing to talk to you about anything?
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Comment on Audit of Mullvad VPN in ~comp
arqalite Link ParentOh god, I did not expect my retinas to be burnt by that green. I was having my phone on high brightness too... But yeah, at least we can appreciate the audit itself, we need more of these, more often.Oh god, I did not expect my retinas to be burnt by that green. I was having my phone on high brightness too...
But yeah, at least we can appreciate the audit itself, we need more of these, more often.
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Comment on Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentChatGPT can speak a lot of languages, I would expect other AI models to do that too (or follow suit soon), so it might be worth being cautious. I haven't tested C.AI myself, dunno if I want to...ChatGPT can speak a lot of languages, I would expect other AI models to do that too (or follow suit soon), so it might be worth being cautious. I haven't tested C.AI myself, dunno if I want to make an account to see it for myself, as I already know what Gemini and ChatGPT are capable (those have a lot of guardrails implemented and yet can still output content I wouldn't show to a kid).
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Comment on Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentYeah, I tried to tell her in broad words how AI models work, but she's not a technical person at all (unfortunately she does not have any computer literacy, as much as I tried to teach her the...Yeah, I tried to tell her in broad words how AI models work, but she's not a technical person at all (unfortunately she does not have any computer literacy, as much as I tried to teach her the essentials) so I had to resume to "this is a computer that downloaded all the information online, and when you talk to it, it tries to come up with a reply that resembles what is already online". It's not a great explanation, but at least it's something that lifts the magic veil off these AI models.
I do plan to have a longer discussion with her once I go back to my hometown for Christmas, with the goal of convincing her to uninstall the app, but I know she will be opposed to it. I don't want to remove her agency and just block the app remotely with the parental controls I already have, because I know I would have hated my parents (or in this case, my older sibling, if I had any) if this happened to me as a teen.
(God, this whole thing reminded me of how much I do not want kids - I can barely take care of myself, much less another person that relies fully on me for anything.)
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Comment on Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentI also don't get why you would want to do that, I was never into fandoms as a teen though so I guess I just don't relate to them (instead I just hyperfixated on hobbies and changed them like...I also don't get why you would want to do that, I was never into fandoms as a teen though so I guess I just don't relate to them (instead I just hyperfixated on hobbies and changed them like socks).
I do think it's an extension of the common teenager behaviors of idolizing an artist/band/whatever and making it your entire personality. Having an AI that pretends to be that only helps fuel your fantasies, and I guess helps with feeling like you have a chance to talk to your idol(s).
How healthy that is? I can't say for sure.
I do recommend at least telling her the bare minimum, and ensuring she is aware that such AI services are not real people. I do think the biggest problem with these chatbots is that they quickly make you treat them like real people, and with enough time spent, you might even form bonds with them (making it difficult to stop chatting, or even reducing the time spent with real people in order to have more time with the chatbot).
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Comment on Chatbots urged teen to self-harm, suggested murdering parents, Texas lawsuit says in ~tech
arqalite (edited )LinkMy 14-year-old sister uses Character.AI, mostly to interact with AI models of her favorite pop stars. I haven't monitored her chats but I did have a discussion with her about the possible harms of...My 14-year-old sister uses Character.AI, mostly to interact with AI models of her favorite pop stars. I haven't monitored her chats but I did have a discussion with her about the possible harms of C.AI and I trust her to avoid inappropriate content when it appears - however seeing all this, I'm wondering if I should ask for her phone and check these chats for anything harmful.
My parents are technologically illiterate and they cannot really step in outside of confiscating her phone (which I don't want) so it's something I have to deal with. I do want her to have the freedom to do the things she likes but I also have to ensure her online safety, so I dunno.
I'll try to talk to her about it and maybe convince her to use the app less often (or not at all). Worst case scenario I can block the app from her phone but I hope I don't have do to that.
EDIT: I reached out to her, I got the "well, I dunno, it hasn't happened to me" treatment. She's an active user of the app so it's gonna be an uphill battle to convince her to give it up. She did however say she always reminds herself that these AI models are robots and will never take advice from them. I'll monitor the situation.
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Comment on Romanian court annuls first round of presidential election in ~society
arqalite Link ParentIf the CCR has no jurisdiction to cancel the election, then who has it?If the CCR has no jurisdiction to cancel the election, then who has it?
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Comment on Spotify Unwrapped - How much do Spotify pay your favourite artist(s) on your behalf? in ~music
arqalite Link ParentSame here, I was really curious to find out how much of my money went to artists, but oh well.Same here, I was really curious to find out how much of my money went to artists, but oh well.
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Comment on Forced to upgrade [from iPhone 8] in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentI haven't dabbled in custom ROMs in a while, but weren't you able to simulate Integrity with a Magisk module previously? I remember getting my bank app to (mostly) work on LineageOS a few years...I haven't dabbled in custom ROMs in a while, but weren't you able to simulate Integrity with a Magisk module previously?
I remember getting my bank app to (mostly) work on LineageOS a few years back. But to be fair lots have changed since then.
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Comment on Far-right independent candidate (Calin Georgescu) takes shock lead in Romanian presidential election in ~society
arqalite LinkAs a Romanian, I'm in a state of shock right now. This guy came out of nowhere in the past week, rising through opinion polls and reaching 4th place in exit polls. Then the results started coming...As a Romanian, I'm in a state of shock right now. This guy came out of nowhere in the past week, rising through opinion polls and reaching 4th place in exit polls.
Then the results started coming in and he took first place, and by a significant margin.
He's a problematic figure for plenty of reasons (he sympathizes with the Iron Guard, has been largely welcomed by Russian media and authorities, and is very vocally anti-EU and anti-NATO) - so much so that the far-right party AUR cut ties with him for being too extremist.
What baffles me is that nobody knew he had such strong support. He had a large-scale campaign on TikTok and Telegram (and people speculate he made use of a large number of bots to propel himself on TikTok) but in real life and in traditional media you'd hear very few things about him. Even the most optimistic surveys had him behind the main 3 candidates (Marcel Ciolacu, Elena Lasconi and George Simion), not number 1.
In fact searches for "cine e Calin Georgescu" ("who is Calin Georgescu") skyrocketed once the election results started coming in.
This is not the end though - we still have the second round of the elections in 2 weeks, currently expected to be between him and Elena Lasconi (center-right, USR), and speculations are abound as to what each political party's voters will pick.
Furthermore, we will have parliamentary elections this coming weekend - assuming his voters don't fully sympathize with the far-right AUR and SOS parties (a large number inevitably will) we could expect to have a moderate government that could potentially keep him in check should he win the second round. But we'll see what happens.
This does raise alarms on the power that social media platforms like TikTok have on influencing elections. We've known about Cambridge Analytica, we knew how intense the online campaigning was for the US, but it never involved us. And now we found ourselves in the middle of it and we're completely unprepared for it.
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Far-right independent candidate (Calin Georgescu) takes shock lead in Romanian presidential election
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Comment on DeepComputing launches early access program for DC-ROMA RISC-V Mainboard for Framework Laptop 13 in ~comp
arqalite LinkThat's so cool, I love that third-parties are developing mainboards for Framework laptops. I just wish Framework was shipping to my country... :(That's so cool, I love that third-parties are developing mainboards for Framework laptops.
I just wish Framework was shipping to my country... :(
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentI mean, they're horribly slow, but important stuff like the Apache web server is still moving forward.I mean, they're horribly slow, but important stuff like the Apache web server is still moving forward.
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Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech
arqalite Link ParentThat's a genius idea actually, I wonder if they have any mechanisms for doing something like this.That's a genius idea actually, I wonder if they have any mechanisms for doing something like this.
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Comment on Linkin' Park - From Zero (2024) in ~music
arqalite Link ParentI would really consider trying to imagine yourself in her shoes. It's hard to leave a cult, no matter how much you want to, and with these guys it can be as dangerous as it gets. I agree that the...I would really consider trying to imagine yourself in her shoes. It's hard to leave a cult, no matter how much you want to, and with these guys it can be as dangerous as it gets.
I agree that the situation is not ideal, I wish she said out loud "yes, I'm still a Scientologist" or "no, I am not", and I'm definitely not 100% comfortable with supporting her, but on the other hand, I think it's worthwhile to try and believe in her, even for a moment.
Otherwise we'd have to shun every person that was indoctrinated into that cult by their parents, and that is heartbreaking - going through such a terrible childhood only to be judged as an adult for your parents' sins. Let her make her own sins first, and then we'll throw our stones.
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Comment on Linkin' Park - From Zero (2024) in ~music
arqalite Link ParentFrom the article you linked, I mostly gathered that her mom is a hardcore Scientologist and she was just indoctrinated into it as a kid. It doesn't really prove that she's engaging in it nowadays,...From the article you linked, I mostly gathered that her mom is a hardcore Scientologist and she was just indoctrinated into it as a kid.
It doesn't really prove that she's engaging in it nowadays, which is why I don't wanna pass judgement right away.
It would be helpful if she put out a statement saying yes or no clearly, but that might not be happening for a myriad of reasons (some stated in the article, maybe she fears retaliation).
Maybe I'm just too hopeful, dunno.
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Comment on Linkin' Park - From Zero (2024) in ~music
arqalite Link ParentAbout how deeply affiliated she is with Scientology.About how deeply affiliated she is with Scientology.
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Comment on In praise of Arcane season 2 in ~tv
arqalite Link ParentI still find it incredible that the game's lore is available in so many mediums except the game itself. They could have done PvE campaigns around lore events, maybe even a single-player mode that...I still find it incredible that the game's lore is available in so many mediums except the game itself. They could have done PvE campaigns around lore events, maybe even a single-player mode that you could repeatedly complete using different (relevant or not relevant) champions.
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Comment on Linkin' Park - From Zero (2024) in ~music
arqalite Link ParentI feel like there's too little information out there so I just decided to ignore it. If something new comes up I'll reconsider but for now I'll just keep supporting the band.I feel like there's too little information out there so I just decided to ignore it. If something new comes up I'll reconsider but for now I'll just keep supporting the band.
Thank you, I'll certainly try to do that.