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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 1h

The whole thing just feels like background research in a pitch document for a mashup of Don't Look Up and Leave the World Behind, not so much 'in depth' as 'in the shallow end of a very weird online pool'. Apologies to anyone if that's overly harsh.

David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 1h

I mean...

Some tech companies say they don't always know why their products respond the way they do. Meta says there are some signs of its AI systems improving themselves.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 1h

The inevitable 2/3rds point of any article, the title of which includes a question; especially if that question is "Should we be worried?"

"Is it all alarmist nonsense?
Neil Lawrence is a professor of machine learning at Cambridge University. To him, this whole debate in itself is nonsense."

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 1h

I also loved this. I have first-hand experience of Wendy's eye-roll, and it's impressive. I'm pretty sure I induced it once or twice.

"Others are dubious. "They move the goalposts all the time," says Dame Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at Southampton University. "It depends who you talk to." We are on the phone but I can almost hear the eye-roll."

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 1h

This is one of the best bits. Yes, if civilisation collapses, the people who are expert in survival and the application of violence are likely to do much better than the people who currently do well because of their bank account.

"I once met a former bodyguard of one billionaire with his own "bunker", who told me his security team's first priority, if this really did happen, would be to eliminate said boss and get in the bunker themselves. And he didn't seem to be joking."

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 1h

This article on billionaire preppers is just 😂😂😂😂

Tech billionaires seem to be doom prepping. Should we be worried?

The debate is ramping up about what happens if - or when - computer intelligence overtakes humans

www.bbc.co.uk

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 3h

Ok, come to think of it, not when I lived in Bethnal Green and Galloway was the MP. But everyone else...

David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 3h

Literally everyone I know who is not used to dealing with MPs, who has then met their MP, wants to tell me the same thing: How surprised they are to discover that they are a fairly decent human being. Shocked I am, shocked. Every time.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 3h

There are amazing MPs, some really bad ones, and a lot of fair-to-middling ones. All of them try and convey that they are in the first group and most people assume they are in the second group. If there was an easy fix to this it would already have been found.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 3h

Nor is spending time on publishing this data likely to be good for anyone, but it will take time and introduce risk - as has been well-articulated already.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 3h

Sorry, I just don't think it's a good idea. The idea that locals will check their MP's diary to see how busy they are is not credible, and those that do are unlikely to be convinced of a view they don't already hold. I also think that 'T&M' info is not a good indication of public value derived.

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Reposted by David Evans

HappyToast @happytoast.co.uk · 4h

We're ruining (or improving) Bond posters on @b3ta.com this week

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 3h

Did anything come of pushing back on the IPCO-related matters that you'd previously mentioned? Assume it was a dead end again...

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 5h

The article says 40% of GDP growth this year, not 1/3 of GDP thankfully!

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 5h

That’s rough, sorry. Here’s a video of Holly on the dog sofa, dreaming of her next visit to the vets. I hope it’s soothing.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

For avoidance of doubt, I'm not suggesting the NHS should adopt the same strategy. I'm just saying that sometimes it's easier being a cute dog. I do love our vets, because they genuinely seem to love our dog.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

My Labrador *loves* getting a jab at the vets - gets really excited. She gets cuddles and treats from people who are very pleased to see her. Sure, there's this brief minor stingy thing, but the cuddles and treats continue and seem to be the main point of the visit.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

He's simply one of a long list of powerful and intelligent people in politics who don't know what they don't know about AI technology, and are perhaps a little too ready to believe the merchants of hype.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

Actually being serious for a second, I do think Rishi in office was very pro AI/tech because he thought it was a good thing. Him working with them is a natural thing to do given his former position and enthusiasms. I don't think he's corrupt.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

Are you talking about the AI market bubble, or the assumption that Prime Ministers in office act solely in the national interest and not just to ensure a good gig later? Because if the latter then I am a little shocked you'd be that cynical.

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Reposted by David Evans

Robert Hutton @roberthutton.co.uk · 6h

Yep. Bubble's bursting, lads.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 22h

Rishi Sunak takes advisory roles with Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic

Former UK prime minister told post-ministerial jobs watchdog roles would not involve lobbying or UK policy influence Rishi Sunak has been appointed as a senior adviser by the US technology companies Microsoft and Anthropic. The former British prime minister’s pair of new jobs emerged on Thursday in letters published by Westminster’s office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba). They add to his roles as a senior adviser to Goldman Sachs International, the investment bank, and speechmaker to investment firms including Bain Capital and Makena Capital in the US, which have netted him over £150,000 a talk. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

The endorphin rush of attention is powerful and addictive. Or so I've observed, anyway.

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

On such things, the world turns.

Hadley Beeman @hadleybeeman.bsky.social · 7h

So that’s my new job. I’m the system architect for the standards around barcodes, which means that everything from how they get encoded (how a number becomes those zebra stripes or QR code etc) through to what info goes in them so it can go beep at the bedside or cash register.

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Reposted by David Evans

Hadley Beeman @hadleybeeman.bsky.social · 7h

I have a new job.

To explain it, let me tell you a story.

Have you ever been in the hospital, or with a family member in the hospital, when all the chaos is surrounding you — the busy nurses, the other patients talking, the machines going beep-beep-beep, the occasional…

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David Evans @davidevans.org.uk · 6h

Possibly the most angry-making question I ever had from one of my kids when they were little was along the lines of "Daddy, how come Boris Johnson got to have a birthday party but I wasn't allowed to?"

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