David Wells
@davidwellsct.bsky.social
910 followers 650 following 130 posts
Global security consultant focused on terrorism, counter-terrorism & technology (particularly AI): Former head of research & analysis at UN CTED: Ex UK/Aus intelligence
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Reposted by David Wells
profannawatts.bsky.social
Lol the Nobels can't even acknowledge women's contribution to discovery. But sure let's acknowledge The Machines.
Headline from an article in Nature this week that states "Prizes must recognize machine contributions to discovery. The future of science will be written by humans and machines together. Awards should reflect that reality."
Reposted by David Wells
sundersays.bsky.social
Shadow Justice Secretary has made a symbolic gesture of support for Quran burning, both in law & apparently in practice too
Reposted by David Wells
faineg.bsky.social
I think the killer argument against relying upon AI to write is the massive amount of thinking and concept-welding that goes on for me (and I assume most everyone else) during the *process* of writing something - it’s a cognitive process and I know I’d actively get stupider if I skipped it
buckrawheat.bsky.social
I also just wonder if any of these people have ever really appreciated the value added in going through the experience of something like this. The fact that it changes you to engage with and puzzle over your own work, that you're not a content printer that just needs juicing to go faster.
Reposted by David Wells
faineg.bsky.social
there’s this weird idea a lot of people seem to have about how all of us writers and artists must secretly want to use AI and are merely resisting temptation for ethical reasons, and like, no, it’s not hard for me to resist drinking the bowl of Piss With Glass In It actually
Reposted by David Wells
jacobware.bsky.social
Yes. Really important point. Much far-right violence is internecine and fratricidal. So, Pape's argument that "although using the partisan identity of targets as a proxy for the partisan motivations of perpetrators is not a perfect approach, it is a fairly good one" does not hold up.
dhnexon.bsky.social
What Bob leaves out is that the rise in threats against Republican officials is driven, in no small measure, by stochastic MAGA terrorism aimed at cowing anyone who does, or might, cross Trump.
jacobware.bsky.social
"Violent populism—a phase of politics characterized by high levels of political violence and broad support for it—now represents a greater risk to American democracy than any competition with another country or any menace by a foreign terrorist group."🎯
Reposted by David Wells
Reposted by David Wells
lucyosler.bsky.social
Chatbots are explicitly being designed “to elicit intimacy and emotional engagement in order to increase our trust in and dependency on them” (me in Wired magazine 🤭). This designed intimacy combined with AI sycophancy creates serious risks for delusional thinking

www.wired.com/story/ai-psy...
AI Psychosis Is Rarely Psychosis at All
A wave of AI users presenting in states of psychological distress gave birth to an unofficial diagnostic label. Experts say it’s neither accurate nor needed, but concede that it’s likely to stay.
www.wired.com
Reposted by David Wells
propublica.org
A former DOGE staffer developed an AI tool that hallucinated the size of Veterans Affairs contracts.

For example, it concluded that more than a thousand deals were each worth $34 million, when in fact some were for as little as $35,000.

(Published June)
DOGE Developed Error-Prone AI Tool to “Munch” Veterans Affairs Contracts
We obtained records showing how a Department of Government Efficiency staffer with no medical experience used artificial intelligence to identify which VA contracts to kill. “AI is absolutely the wron...
www.propublica.org
Reposted by David Wells
blipstress.bsky.social
An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.
Reposted by David Wells
hypervisible.blacksky.app
Altman claims the company didn’t anticipate people not wanting their deepfakes to say “offensive things or things that they find deeply problematic,” which sounds like a lie but is also indicative of how they recklessly release tech into the world.
OpenAI wasn’t expecting Sora’s copyright drama
It felt “more different to images than people expected.”
www.theverge.com
Reposted by David Wells
okwonga.bsky.social
"German authorities registered approximately 3,200 right-wing extremist-motivated crimes committed by people up to the age of 24 in 2020. Last year, the number was more than double, at over 7,100....most of these crimes were committed by male adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17."
Reposted by David Wells
mc00.bsky.social
I feel like if you had to ban social media for any group of people for their own protection, you should probably start with people over 60.
profjacob.bsky.social
🚨🚨 #Denmark aims to ban #socialmedia for children under 15. PM Mette Frederiksen says "We have unleashed a monster" to Danish lawmakers. 🧵https://www.politico.eu/article/denmark-mette-frederiksen-partially-ban-social-media-children-under-15/
Denmark aims to ban social media for children under 15, PM says
“We have unleashed a monster,” Mette Frederiksen tells Danish lawmakers.
www.politico.eu
Reposted by David Wells
vox-pol.bsky.social
We're launching our latest report on researching the far-right at 6pm UK/1pm US east coast time today.

The webinar will be chaired by @lizzypearson.bsky.social & feature author @antoniavaughan.bsky.social & discussant @audreygagnon.bsky.social.

More info.: voxpol.eu/events/new-v...

#PleaseRS
Reposted by David Wells
davidwellsct.bsky.social
New paper out with the CoE exploring how and how quickly terrorists adopt new technologies. It identifies factors inhibiting or encouraging new tech adoption - with two case studies on virtual assets and drones - and analyses the impact of new tech on terrorism in Europe rm.coe.int/report-on-th...
rm.coe.int
Reposted by David Wells
alexhanna.bsky.social
I'm not an economist but seems worrying that the whole US economy is seven companies in a trenchcoat, passing the same $20 up and down
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
NVIDIA and OpenAi:

Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“

@bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Reposted by David Wells
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
NVIDIA and OpenAi:

Concerns that their “increasingly complex and interconnected web of business transactions is artificially propping up the trillion-dollar AI boom.“

@bloomberg.com $NVDA 👀
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
Reposted by David Wells
Reposted by David Wells
generalboles.bsky.social
Everyone who advocates for turning the UK into the UAE assumes they'll be the one with a marina penthouse rather than the guy working on a building site in 50c heat
davidwellsct.bsky.social
New paper out with the CoE exploring how and how quickly terrorists adopt new technologies. It identifies factors inhibiting or encouraging new tech adoption - with two case studies on virtual assets and drones - and analyses the impact of new tech on terrorism in Europe rm.coe.int/report-on-th...
rm.coe.int
Reposted by David Wells
boozybadger.lawyersandliquor.com
Dunno man, seems a little misleading to write an article about Trump describing activity in Portland and Chicago as “insurrection” with a 33 year old photo of a burning donut shop taken in the 1992 LA Riots (sans caption explaining that) as the header on all your posts about it.
The picture from
The article with a picture of an armed men standing in front of a burning donut shop. You must click through to read the caption “
Two National guardsmen stand guard outside a burning donut shop in Los Angeles on April 30, 1992.
The National Guard was called in to aid police during the second day of rioting in the city.”
Reposted by David Wells
jsrailton.bsky.social
NEW: breach of Discord age verification data.

Including some users passports & DLs

Age verification is a badly implemented data grab wrapped in a moral panic.

Mark my words, as age verification mandates expand, we'll end up more surveilled and less secure. 1/
Reposted by David Wells
rikefranke.bsky.social
And here we go. I never wrote this article, and yet it is cited here.

www.liberalbriefs.com/geopolitics/...

And of course, it sounds so plausible, I seriously checked whether I had forgotten it, or the footnote was slightly wrong.

#AIisnotresearch