On the Sentiment of Rationality
I’ve wrestled with the question of whether there can be an ‘artificial intelligence’ over the last few days. The question of course comes down to what we think ‘intelligence’ is,…
Stephen Downes
21 Answers
Ben Williamson argues that the 21 arguments he summarizes “demonstrate how AI cannot be considered inevitable, beneficial or transformative in any straightforward way.” Of course, nobody is actually proposing this.…
A Quick Guide to Pyramid-Style Writing
The secret of my success (assuming that I’ve had both secrets and success) is that I learned to write like a journalist at a relatively early age. This approach is…
How Can Neural Nets Recreate Exact Quotes If They Don’t Store Text?
I often see arguments that show an original bit of text and a close duplicate output by a large language model (LLM) offered as evidence that the neural networks that…
Understanding the Copyright Issue
Saying that AI simply ‘copies’ what it sees is wrong and misleading. It does not help us understand the issue of copyright and AI. AI generates text and images based…
AI Drift
I’ve set up a Cloudron installation – it’s currently costing me about $25 per month ($15 for the Cloudron pro license and another $10 for the web server space). I…
Emergent Leaders in the Classroom
“The kindest person in the room is often the smartest” The Emergent Leader I have a trait I’m not always proud of but seems to be inescapable: I am a…
Big Fedi, Small Fedi – Where I Stand
On reading Evan Prodromou’s post Big Fedi, Small Fedi my response was a glib “I’m happy with small fedi but I’m fine with big fedi too.” But my feelings are…
Creating a Cloud Server and Acessing with SSH Keys Using Windows Powershell on Hetzner
Make sure you have Powershell version 5.1 or better Open Powershell, type: $PSVersionTable.PSVersion Install update if you don’t have it: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-on-windows Make sure you have the SSH service installed Type:…
What would you do if you were Prime Minister?
Responding to a Reddit thread. I’d obviously what to add a lot more detail if I ever were running for office (though I know people won’t let me ever get…
Different from Blogging
“In what substantive ways,” asked Anil Dash, “would this be different than, say, starting a WordPress blog?” He’s responding to this post from Tim Carmody, who in turn is responding…
From a Philosophical Point of View
I was asked today whether I ever considered approaching the topic of online learning from a philosophical perspective. After all, I am by both education and inclination first and foremost…
What was Gary Marcus thinking, in that interview with Geoff Hinton?
Background: 60 Minutes did an interview with ‘the Godfather of AI’, Geoffrey Hinton. In response, Gary Marcus wrote a column in which he inserted his own set of responses into…
A Less Capable Technology is Developing Faster than a Stable Dominant Technology
Matt Crosslin reports having missed one of my posts from last fall in which I comment on something he wrote in his blog, and now that he has seen it,…
Making AWS S3 Files Publicly Accessible
I stored some images in S3 but couldn’t use them; if I tried to follow the link, I would get ‘permission denied’ errors. AWS documentation is a nightmare, so I’m…
Setting Up Auto-Update for Let’s Encrypt
Sometimes when you follow the instructions to set up a web server (for example, a PeerTube installation, or OnlyOffice installation) they show you how to set up Let’s Encrypt so…
Why humans can’t trust humans: You don’t know how they work, what they’re going to do or whether they will serve your interests
In response to ‘Why humans can’t trust AI: You don’t know how it works, what it’s going to do or whether it’ll serve your interests‘. There are alien minds among…
Predicting the Best and Worst of Digital Life By 2035
From: Elon-Pew’s Predicting the Best and Worst of Digital Life By 2035. Stephen Downes, an expert with the Digital Technologies Research Centre of the National Research Council of Canada, wrote,…
My Conversation with Pi, the AI, on the Ethics of AI
Hey there, great to meet you. I’m Pi, your personal AI. My goal is to be useful, friendly and fun. Ask me for advice, for answers, or let’s talk about…
Questions and Answers on AI Regulation
Suchith Anand poses some interesting questions on the OPENED SIG mailing list, and though I am not the British government agency to which the questions are addressed, I have thoughts……