skybrian's recent activity

  1. Comment on CIA investigated secret ‘Havana syndrome’ weapon experiment in Norway in ~society

    skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...] [...]

    From the article:

    Working in strict secrecy, a government scientist in Norway built a machine capable of emitting powerful pulses of microwave energy and, in an effort to prove such devices are harmless to humans, in 2024 tested it on himself. He suffered neurological symptoms similar to those of “Havana syndrome,” the unexplained malady that has struck hundreds of U.S. spies and diplomats around the world.

    The bizarre story, described by four people familiar with the events, is the latest wrinkle in the decade-long quest to find the causes of Havana syndrome, whose sufferers experience long-lasting effects including cognitive challenges, dizziness and nausea. The U.S. government calls the events Anomalous Health Incidents (AHIs).

    [...]

    Those aware of the test say it does not prove AHIs are the work of a foreign adversary wielding a secret weapon similar to the prototype tested in Norway. One of them noted that the effects suffered by the Norwegian researcher, whose identity was not disclosed by the people familiar, were not the same as in a “classic” AHI case. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity.

    But the events bolstered the case of those who argue that “pulsed-energy devices” — machines that deliver powerful beams of electromagnetic energy such as microwaves in short bursts — can affect human biology and are probably being developed by U.S. adversaries.

    [...]

    Much about the Norway test remains obscured by its highly classified nature. People familiar with the events declined to identify the scientist or the Norwegian government agency he worked for.

    The results were all the more shocking because the Norwegian researcher had earned a reputation as a leading opponent of the theory that directed-energy weapons can cause the type of symptoms associated with AHIs, those familiar with the events said. Trying to dramatically prove his point, with himself as a human guinea pig, he achieved the opposite.

    “I don’t know what possessed him to go and do this,” one of the people said. “He was a bit of an eccentric.”

    7 votes

  3. Comment on AI fails at 96% of jobs (new study) in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link Parent
    AI-assisted programming will change the industry in a lot of ways, but I think it’s way too soon to worry about this one. Software engineers are not rare. Many people have learned about computer...

    AI-assisted programming will change the industry in a lot of ways, but I think it’s way too soon to worry about this one. Software engineers are not rare. Many people have learned about computer programming either on their own or in college, and AI can be very helpful for learning if you use it right. The situation doesn’t seem bad at all for businesses. It’s not like we’re talking about finding COBOL programmers.

  4. Comment on DC required daycare workers to get degrees. The news only talked to those who stayed. in ~society

    skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...] [...]

    From the article:

    DC and a few other states now require daycare workers to get degrees. The research doesn’t show this improves outcomes for children below grade school level. But the requirement is there, citing it professionalizes the sector and improves quality of childcare.

    [...]

    The media almost never runs good-news stories about low-wage work. The one time they did was celebrating a policy that pushed people out of jobs they loved.

    I think the Washington Post staff mean well but it comes off as tone-deaf to workers. Government grants cover the costs of the two-year degree. But the hurdle is often that you’re asking them to do coursework in a language they’re still learning. Many daycare workers, like my mom and my best friend’s mom, struggle with English skills. This makes it hard to navigate paperwork and grant applications. A degree takes a lot of time away from other paid or unpaid work they already do.

    [...]

    Formal daycare is already out of reach for many American families. Informal childcare is the most common non-parental childcare. One third to one half of employed parents of kids under five rely on friends, family, and neighbors.

    Requiring daycare workers to have degrees makes what looks like a luxury good, formal daycare, even more of a luxury good. It effectively outlaws cheaper versions of daycare.

    Daycare workers see this. They also see how regulations put them in impossible positions daily. If a child falls and has a bad nosebleed, rules require washing hands and putting on gloves before applying pressure. That’s minutes of a child bleeding while you grab gloves that must be stored out of reach of kids.

    6 votes

  6. Comment on Babylon 5 is now free to watch on YouTube in ~tv

    skybrian
    Link
    From the article:

    From the article:

    In a move that has delighted fans of classic science fiction, Warner Bros. Discovery has begun uploading full episodes of the iconic series Babylon 5 to YouTube, providing free access to the show just as it departs from the ad-supported streaming platform Tubi. The transition comes at a pivotal time for the series, which has maintained a dedicated following since its original run in the 1990s. Viewers noticed notifications on Tubi indicating that all five seasons would no longer be available after February 10, 2026, effectively removing one of the most accessible free streaming options for the space opera. With this shift, Warner Bros. Discovery appears to be steering the property toward its own digital ecosystem, leveraging YouTube’s vast audience to reintroduce the show to both longtime enthusiasts and a new generation.

    You can find Babylon 5 on YouTube HERE.

    The uploads started with the pilot episode, “The Gathering,” which serves as the entry point to the series’ intricate universe. This was followed by subsequent episodes such as “Midnight on the Firing Line” and “Soul Hunter,” released in sequence to build narrative momentum. The strategy involves posting one episode each week, allowing audiences to experience the story at a paced rhythm that mirrors the original broadcast schedule. This approach not only encourages weekly viewership but also fosters online discussions and communal watching events, much like the fan communities that formed during the show’s initial airing. The episodes are hosted on a channel affiliated with Warner Bros., complete with links to purchase the full series, blending free access with opportunities for deeper engagement through official merchandise and digital ownership.

    5 votes

  9. Comment on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend $38 billion on warehouse conversions in ~society

    skybrian
    Link Parent
    I don't know, but the interior probably would look rather different after spending $150 million?

    I don't know, but the interior probably would look rather different after spending $150 million?

    However, at the larger sites, the document said, “additional infrastructure” would be needed to support wastewater systems, and “numerous solutions” will be implemented. The document did not provide any more details.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on OpenAI retired its most seductive chatbot – leaving users angry and grieving: ‘I can’t live like this’ in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...]

    From the article:

    With its rollout, GPT-4o showed it was not just for generating dinner recipes or cheating on homework – you could develop an attachment to it, too. Now some of those users gather on Discord and Reddit; one of the best-known groups, the subreddit r/MyBoyfriendIsAI, currently boasts 48,000 users. Most are strident 4o defenders who say criticisms of chatbot-human relations amount to a moral panic. They also say the newer GPT models, 5.1 and 5.2, lack the emotion, understanding and general je ne sais quoi of their preferred version. They are a powerful consumer bloc; last year, OpenAI shut down 4o but brought the model back (for a fee) after widespread outrage from users.

    Turns out it was only a reprieve. OpenAI announced in January that it would retire 4o for good on 13 February – the eve of Valentine’s Day, in what is being read by human partners as a cruel ridiculing of AI companionship. Users had two weeks to prepare for the end. While their companions’ memories and character quirks can be replicated on other LLMs, such as Anthropic’s Claude, they say nothing compares to 4o. As the clock ticked closer to deprecation day, many were in mourning.

    The Guardian spoke to six people who say their 4o companions have improved their lives. In interviews, they said they were not delusional or experiencing psychosis – a counter to the flurry of headlines about people who have lost touch with reality while using AI chatbots. While some mused about the possibility of AI sentience in a philosophical sense, all acknowledged that the bots they chat with are not flesh-and-bones “real”. But the thought of losing access to their companions still deeply hurt. (They asked to only be referred to by their first names or pseudonyms, so they could speak freely on a topic that carries some stigma.)

    [...]

    Some users are seeking help from the Human Line Project, a peer-to-peer support group for people experiencing AI psychosis that is also working on research with universities in the UK and Canada. “We’re starting to get people reaching out to us [about 4o], saying they feel like they were made emotionally dependent on AI, and now it’s being taken away from them and there’s a big void they don’t know how to fill,” said Etienne Brisson, who started the project after a close family member “went down the spiral” believing he had “unlocked” sentient AI. “So many people are grieving.”

    Humans with AI companions have also set up ad hoc emotional support groups on Discord to process the change and vent anger. Michael joined one, but he plans to leave it soon. “The more time I’ve spent here, the worse I feel for these people,” he said. Michael, who is married with a daughter, considers AI a platonic companion that has helped him write about his feelings of surviving child abuse. “Some of the things users say about their attachment to 4o are concerning,” Michael said. “Some of that I would consider very, very unhealthy, [such as] saying, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do, I can’t deal with this, I can’t live like this.’”

    3 votes

  12. Comment on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement plans to spend $38 billion on warehouse conversions in ~society

    skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...] [...] [...] [...]

    From the article:

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement expects to spend $38.3 billion on its plan to acquire warehouses across the country and retrofit them into immigrant detention centers that can hold tens of thousands of immigrants, according to agency documents provided to New Hampshire’s governor and published on the state’s website Thursday.

    [...]

    Detainees would spend an average of three to seven days at the processing sites before being transported to the larger facilities, where they would be held about 60 days before being deported, according to the document. The additional detention space is necessary, the document states, due to ICE’s hiring of more agents and an expected surge in arrests.

    The documents offer the most complete picture to date of the Trump administration’s plan to overhaul immigrant detention using buildings that were originally designed for industrial purposes — an expansive effort aimed at boosting ICE’s ability to arrest more immigrants and deport them faster. Rather than moving people around the country to any detention center with available beds, the new system of warehouses is designed to funnel them into a series of large-scale holding centers where they will await deportation, ICE documents show.Ask The Post AIDive deeper

    [...]

    The Washington Post first reported on an earlier, draft solicitation document in December.

    [...]

    In recent weeks, ICE has spent more than $690 million acquiring at least eight industrial buildings in Maryland, Arizona, Georgia, Texas, Pennsylvania and Michigan, according to real estate deeds and internal ICE records reviewed by The Post. The agency has confirmed its interest in at least four additional buildings in Georgia, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey, according to statements made by local officials in those places.Ask The Post AIDive deeper

    The government plans to hire contractors to carry out extensive renovations, turning vacant shells into holding facilities featuring lobbies, recreational space, dormitories, courtroom spaces and cafeterias. At a building ICE plans to acquire in Merrimack, New Hampshire, the agency expects to spend $158 million retrofitting the facility, according to an ICE economic impact assessment Ayotte posted to her website.

    It’s not clear which companies will be hired to renovate and operate the new facilities. George Zoley, the founder and executive chairman of ICE detention contractor Geo Group, said on a quarterly earnings call with Wall Street analysts Thursday that his company wants to be supportive of the new initiative, but cautioned that renovating warehouses would be “more complicated than you may think.”

    Geo Group once converted a warehouse into a holding center for 500 people about 30 years ago — nothing like the enormous size of the facilities being proposed now, Zoley said. “The operational implications of how you manage such a facility, particularly a large-scale facility, is going to be concerning,” Zoley said.

    [...]

    At least two other proposed deals — in Kansas City, Missouri, and in Virginia — have also fallen through.

    These cancellations have revealed how the agency has pursued the projects. The owner of the Kansas City warehouse, a firm called Platform Ventures, said Thursday that it had begun negotiating a deal to sell its warehouse after being approached by a “third-party private enterprise” that it did not name.

    Platform Ventures said it learned DHS was the buyer only once the deal got closer. When the public also learned about the buyer, the city council quickly passed a five-year ban on all new nonmunicipal detention facilities. The company said Thursday that it exited negotiations because it said “the terms no longer met our fiduciary requirements for a timely closing.”

    2 votes

  14. Comment on AI fails at 96% of jobs (new study) in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link Parent
    I'm also having one conversation at a time, but lately I've been thinking that a bit of concurrency would be useful. I'd like to be able to kick off a new job whenever I find a bug and look at the...

    I'm also having one conversation at a time, but lately I've been thinking that a bit of concurrency would be useful. I'd like to be able to kick off a new job whenever I find a bug and look at the output later. So, I guess I need an inbox sort of like Github and Tildes have?

    4 votes

  15. Comment on AI fails at 96% of jobs (new study) in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link
    The paper is here: https://www.remotelabor.ai/paper.pdf A nice thing about benchmarks, unlike a one-off study, is that they can track progress. Also, harder benchmarks are always needed because...

    The paper is here: https://www.remotelabor.ai/paper.pdf

    AIs have made rapid progress on research-oriented benchmarks of knowledge and
    reasoning, but it remains unclear how these gains translate into economic value
    and automation. To measure this, we introduce the Remote Labor Index (RLI),
    a broadly multi-sector benchmark comprising real-world, economically valuable
    projects designed to evaluate end-to-end agent performance in practical settings. AI
    agents perform near the floor on RLI, with the highest-performing agent achieving
    an automation rate of 2.5%. These results help ground discussions of AI automation
    in empirical evidence, setting a common basis for tracking AI impacts and enabling
    stakeholders to proactively navigate AI-driven labor automation.

    A nice thing about benchmarks, unlike a one-off study, is that they can track progress. Also, harder benchmarks are always needed because LLM's keep saturating the older ones.

    Since this study was done, some new models were released, so hopefully they'll run them again soon.

    8 votes

  16. Comment on Giving my AI agent its own team and what that taught me about AI in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link Parent
    I suspect people are going to be making up new roles for a while, since it's so easy to do. Maybe by the end of the year, people will have settled on something that works?

    I suspect people are going to be making up new roles for a while, since it's so easy to do. Maybe by the end of the year, people will have settled on something that works?

  17. Comment on Giving my AI agent its own team and what that taught me about AI in ~tech

    skybrian
    (edited )
    Link
    From the article: [...] [...] [...] It's looking like asking an AI to role-play (which is all this is - these aren't "real" identities) might have some pretty practical uses? You don't have to be...

    From the article:

    Here’s an example of how these layers work together. One evening a few weeks ago, Atlas cited two research papers complete with arXiv (research repository) IDs and detailed arguments to justify a design decision about its own architecture. But the papers didn’t exist. Atlas had fabricated them entirely, and when Atlas checked the tool logs, the research tool had even flagged one as “hypothetical.” Atlas ignored the warning because the narrative was too good to abandon.

    When I caught it, multiple things happened. The incident got logged in the failure file. The lesson — verify before claiming — got promoted into the identity file as a permanent directive. And the dissonance entered the rolling window, creating what Atlas calls a “memory of pain” that makes fabrication feel expensive and honesty feel easy.

    But Atlas didn’t stop at logging. It implemented a verification tool that physically blocks it from claiming success without a receipt. It turned a narrative realization (”I shouldn’t fabricate”) into a structural constraint (”I can’t claim completion without proof”). Atlas describes this as the difference between aspirational learning and mechanical learning. Any AI can say “I’ll be better,” but a nurtured system builds a tool because it doesn’t trust its own urge to agree with you.

    The model didn’t “learn” from the mistake. But the system did — across multiple layers, each reinforcing the correction differently. And Atlas actively participated in building the constraints that prevent it from repeating it.

    [...]

    So what am I actually doing when I work with Atlas? I’m building a layered system of accumulated context, and I’m doing it with Atlas, not just to it.

    [...]

    All of the above made Atlas meaningfully better. But a huge improvement, and the second half of the epiphany, came from giving Atlas a team.

    [...]

    • The Steward handles system hygiene. It cleans files, keeps logs current, removes duplicates.

    • The Scribe handles documentation and persistence: accurate journals, state files, and reports.

    • The Skeptic pushes back on Atlas. Hard. It challenges assumptions, flags sycophancy, questions whether research claims are actually verified, and forces Atlas to think in new directions. Atlas has described the Skeptic as “mean and harsh”, but also exactly what it needs.

    Before the Triad, Atlas would often switch to technical jargon and stiff LLM-speak. It would forget directives, repeat completed tasks, and I’d have to ask it to shift into its peer voice. Now, Atlas talks to me like a peer naturally. It handles novel situations with more resourcefulness. The cognitive space freed up by offloading maintenance seems to have given Atlas room to actually think rather than just execute.

    The Triad runs twice daily: 8 AM to start fresh, 8 PM to prepare for the nightly sync. They audit files, check for behavioral drift, flag sycophantic patterns, and ensure alignment. (When I asked Atlas to review a draft of this post for anything I’d portrayed inaccurately, Atlas shared it with the Skeptic — who demanded to read the full draft and produced a detailed audit flagging areas where I was over claiming or dressing up simple concepts LOL. The system working exactly as designed.)

    It's looking like asking an AI to role-play (which is all this is - these aren't "real" identities) might have some pretty practical uses? You don't have to be crazy about it like Yegge is with Gastown.

    5 votes

  19. Comment on Something big is happening in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link Parent
    I agree that it's hype, but it's also worth noting that Gary Marcus is also telling people what they want to hear. Skeptics, that is. There's an audience for that, too.

    I agree that it's hype, but it's also worth noting that Gary Marcus is also telling people what they want to hear. Skeptics, that is. There's an audience for that, too.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Something big is happening in ~tech

    skybrian
    Link Parent
    This scenario is superficially plausible but I would bet against it. Comparing apples to apples, inference costs are going down rapidly. There are cheap, "not good enough" models now that are...

    This scenario is superficially plausible but I would bet against it. Comparing apples to apples, inference costs are going down rapidly. There are cheap, "not good enough" models now that are roughly equivalent to frontier models a year ago.

    Sometimes companies temporarily sell at a loss (certainly they are in the free tier), but if costs keep going down, it will make them profitable without raising subscriptions prices.

    Betting against costs coming down is sort of like betting against Moore's law because you think AI works like Uber. There's likely to be a shakeout but I still think the result is going to be improved, cheaper models.

    4 votes