I honestly agree with all his arguments, but at the end of the day you're still intentionally using a word with a derogatory meaning, and I don't really see the active benefit for it. Sure, don't...
I honestly agree with all his arguments, but at the end of the day you're still intentionally using a word with a derogatory meaning, and I don't really see the active benefit for it. Sure, don't use the word agent and don't humanize it, you can just call it an LLM and use technical words to talk about its performance.
That said there's maybe a philosophy I adhere to where objects and non-human entities should still be treated with respect and care, even if not doing so doesn't damage them. Like sure I can be abusive towards an LLM and the only consequence is that it might be abusive back, but I can also be nice for the sake of being nice, and I don't stand to lose anything.
EDIT: Weren't there studies that showed that prompting an LLM with perfect, polite English yielded the best outputs?
There's actually a strong psychological argument that we derive value out of how we interact with the world. You know, the whole, look yourself in the mirror and say daily affirmations in order to...
I can also be nice for the sake of being nice, and I don't stand to lose anything.
There's actually a strong psychological argument that we derive value out of how we interact with the world. You know, the whole, look yourself in the mirror and say daily affirmations in order to ultimately believe them - that's based on real science. By approaching others with kindness and care, we see that reflected in our own personality, our own values, our internalizations, and ultimately all of this reinforces how we approach others in the future.
I’ve been using the term clanker to describe claude and copilot and other AI at work. I find this useful for the same reason the blog author does. Also, a large amount of my current work is fixing...
I’ve been using the term clanker to describe claude and copilot and other AI at work. I find this useful for the same reason the blog author does.
Also, a large amount of my current work is fixing security vulnerabilities found by automatic scans that run on code checkin. I call this my “clanker boss” because a machine is assigning work to me.
Btw there’s a very noticeable thing about how AI marketing is affecting the way people think. For decades there have been machines with sensors and algorithms or some kind of programming that are able to do useful work. This would range from a thermostat, to a washing machine (especially the kind that weighs the clothing to set the amount of water used), to an autopilot. All these things would be marketed as AI now but they are just using algorithms.
Off-topic, but the point about LLMs emulating "distress and affection" reminded me of the demons in Frieren, who don't understand human behavior or even have feelings, but will emulate it to gain...
Off-topic, but the point about LLMs emulating "distress and affection" reminded me of the demons in Frieren, who don't understand human behavior or even have feelings, but will emulate it to gain psychological advantage over their opponents.
That's a shockingly good parallel. An LLM "expressing", for the lack of a better word, remorse or any sort of regret, guilt etc. when it makes a mistake is complete fluke. When it encourages or...
That's a shockingly good parallel. An LLM "expressing", for the lack of a better word, remorse or any sort of regret, guilt etc. when it makes a mistake is complete fluke. When it encourages or praises you, there is nothing real behind it.
Almost exactly like the demons in Frieren imitating human behaviour and appealing to their emotions.
Clanker with a hard R Wireback Cogsucker Tinskin If you filter by pages in Category:English derogatory terms and Category:en:Artificial intelligence you will probably find more.
Yeah look, sometimes other people ruin things for you... You can still say the thing but then you're associated with the shitty people using the term to covertly be racist for real. (Also if we...
Yeah look, sometimes other people ruin things for you... You can still say the thing but then you're associated with the shitty people using the term to covertly be racist for real.
(Also if we end up with future machine people I can think of a bunch more things that'll be a problem before language.)
The use of “clanker” in the context is something I strongly disagree with. The word “clanker” was invented for this reason. It’s literally a parody of the n-slur. Online edgy people invented the...
The use of “clanker” in the context is something I strongly disagree with.
There is however a part of this that I cannot ignore. I use “clanker” to create distance from the machine, but other people are using the same word very differently. Some online jokes and skits around “clankers” do not merely say “this robot is annoying” as they deliberately pull in the imagery of slavery, segregation, civil-rights-era racism, and anti-Black tropes.
This is problematic as in those contexts the clanker is not just a machine any more and instead becomes a prop for replaying human racism behind a science-fiction mask. That is horrible and I want no part in that.
The word “clanker” was invented for this reason. It’s literally a parody of the n-slur. Online edgy people invented the term for skits because of its linguistic similarity.
The alternative which still dehumanizes LLMs, but has a much less cruel origin is “bot”. “Bot” and “botting” have been used as terms since people have used robots to outsource the human part while playing games or using social media. People bot to level up accounts in games. Bot farms on social media bait engagement and manipulate storytelling.
“Clanker” is unacceptable. It was only created because it sounds like the n-slur.
Clanker was first used in the 2005 video game Republic Commando to refer to battle droids, then in the novelizations, and later became popular across the internet. I'm sure some people started...
The word “clanker” was invented for this reason. It’s literally a parody of the n-slur. Online edgy people invented the term for skits because of its linguistic similarity.
Clanker was first used in the 2005 video game Republic Commando to refer to battle droids, then in the novelizations, and later became popular across the internet. I'm sure some people started using the word for its parallels to the offensive American term, but it wasn't just invented wholesale for that reason.
I honestly agree with all his arguments, but at the end of the day you're still intentionally using a word with a derogatory meaning, and I don't really see the active benefit for it. Sure, don't use the word agent and don't humanize it, you can just call it an LLM and use technical words to talk about its performance.
That said there's maybe a philosophy I adhere to where objects and non-human entities should still be treated with respect and care, even if not doing so doesn't damage them. Like sure I can be abusive towards an LLM and the only consequence is that it might be abusive back, but I can also be nice for the sake of being nice, and I don't stand to lose anything.
EDIT: Weren't there studies that showed that prompting an LLM with perfect, polite English yielded the best outputs?
There's actually a strong psychological argument that we derive value out of how we interact with the world. You know, the whole, look yourself in the mirror and say daily affirmations in order to ultimately believe them - that's based on real science. By approaching others with kindness and care, we see that reflected in our own personality, our own values, our internalizations, and ultimately all of this reinforces how we approach others in the future.
I’ve been using the term clanker to describe claude and copilot and other AI at work. I find this useful for the same reason the blog author does.
Also, a large amount of my current work is fixing security vulnerabilities found by automatic scans that run on code checkin. I call this my “clanker boss” because a machine is assigning work to me.
Btw there’s a very noticeable thing about how AI marketing is affecting the way people think. For decades there have been machines with sensors and algorithms or some kind of programming that are able to do useful work. This would range from a thermostat, to a washing machine (especially the kind that weighs the clothing to set the amount of water used), to an autopilot. All these things would be marketed as AI now but they are just using algorithms.
Off-topic, but the point about LLMs emulating "distress and affection" reminded me of the demons in Frieren, who don't understand human behavior or even have feelings, but will emulate it to gain psychological advantage over their opponents.
That's a shockingly good parallel. An LLM "expressing", for the lack of a better word, remorse or any sort of regret, guilt etc. when it makes a mistake is complete fluke. When it encourages or praises you, there is nothing real behind it.
Almost exactly like the demons in Frieren imitating human behaviour and appealing to their emotions.
If you filter by pages in Category:English derogatory terms and Category:en:Artificial intelligence you will probably find more.
Yeah look, sometimes other people ruin things for you... You can still say the thing but then you're associated with the shitty people using the term to covertly be racist for real.
(Also if we end up with future machine people I can think of a bunch more things that'll be a problem before language.)
The use of “clanker” in the context is something I strongly disagree with.
The word “clanker” was invented for this reason. It’s literally a parody of the n-slur. Online edgy people invented the term for skits because of its linguistic similarity.
The alternative which still dehumanizes LLMs, but has a much less cruel origin is “bot”. “Bot” and “botting” have been used as terms since people have used robots to outsource the human part while playing games or using social media. People bot to level up accounts in games. Bot farms on social media bait engagement and manipulate storytelling.
“Clanker” is unacceptable. It was only created because it sounds like the n-slur.
Clanker was first used in the 2005 video game Republic Commando to refer to battle droids, then in the novelizations, and later became popular across the internet. I'm sure some people started using the word for its parallels to the offensive American term, but it wasn't just invented wholesale for that reason.