Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
@iainrb.bsky.social
Fights cancer with computers in Toronto, Canada. Fan of SF, cinema and various sports. Sort of an ominous robed figure pointing and saying "BEWARE" in a hoarse voice every time AI is mentioned. 🇨🇦/🇬🇧 citizen. Parent, husband, cat servant. He/him.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
This is the second time in as many days I’ve seen someone link the Fremen Mirage series. I wish more people read these essays because it’s a VERY useful framing
indeed weirdo right wing chuds can't shut about history and rome and sparta and blah blah blah. they want to keep the subject matter but kick out all the people who might disagree with them. like this guy
acoup.blog/2020/01/17/c...
acoup.blog/2020/01/17/c...
Collections: The Fremen Mirage, Part I: War at the Dawn of Civilization
This week’s post is the first in a four part series (II, IIIa, IIIb, interlude, IV) looking at what I’m going to term the Fremen Mirage (a play on Le Mirage Spartiate, which we’ve…
acoup.blog
February 16, 2026 at 8:51 PM
This is the second time in as many days I’ve seen someone link the Fremen Mirage series. I wish more people read these essays because it’s a VERY useful framing
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Great show. Season One might be a bit clumsy, but 2-4 are just amazing. Also the later arc is depressingly relevant to our current situation in the US. If you’ve never watched this show I’d strongly recommend it.
February 16, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Great show. Season One might be a bit clumsy, but 2-4 are just amazing. Also the later arc is depressingly relevant to our current situation in the US. If you’ve never watched this show I’d strongly recommend it.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
The Twilight Zone episode “Miniature” always makes me sob. Robert Duvall played a lonely man many today would see as autistic, with such kindness and heart. Like Boo Radley, he made us feel compassion. Thank you for the humanity you gave us, Mr. Duvall.
RIP
RIP
February 16, 2026 at 7:03 PM
The Twilight Zone episode “Miniature” always makes me sob. Robert Duvall played a lonely man many today would see as autistic, with such kindness and heart. Like Boo Radley, he made us feel compassion. Thank you for the humanity you gave us, Mr. Duvall.
RIP
RIP
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
“Someday this war’s gonna end.”
February 16, 2026 at 6:45 PM
“Someday this war’s gonna end.”
RIP Robert Duvall.
February 16, 2026 at 7:17 PM
RIP Robert Duvall.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Shifting culture is a long, slow process. The USA used to believe a false and harmful myth of the Old West, backed by Western movies. That's changed, driven in part by newer Westerns. We fix bad art with good art and education. Telling John Wayne to be more responsible wouldn't have helped. /end
February 16, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Shifting culture is a long, slow process. The USA used to believe a false and harmful myth of the Old West, backed by Western movies. That's changed, driven in part by newer Westerns. We fix bad art with good art and education. Telling John Wayne to be more responsible wouldn't have helped. /end
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Yes yes yes yes TIME FOR THE BEST SHOW TO COME BACK I MISSED MY IDIOTS
February 14, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Yes yes yes yes TIME FOR THE BEST SHOW TO COME BACK I MISSED MY IDIOTS
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Oregon Trail was a great game even though the graphics were a little buggy
February 14, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Oregon Trail was a great game even though the graphics were a little buggy
The famously terrible sequel "Independence Day: Resurgence" turned a healthy profit ($389m box office, budget $165m). Profitable films can be bad.
February 16, 2026 at 1:45 AM
The famously terrible sequel "Independence Day: Resurgence" turned a healthy profit ($389m box office, budget $165m). Profitable films can be bad.
I enjoyed watching Predator: Badlands last night. Fun and satisfying monster movie. Of the three protagonists, two don't speak English, one doesn't speak at all, and none are human.
February 16, 2026 at 1:44 AM
I enjoyed watching Predator: Badlands last night. Fun and satisfying monster movie. Of the three protagonists, two don't speak English, one doesn't speak at all, and none are human.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
I went to the theatre to watch Star Trek: Into Darkness and there was a power cut after like 10 min and they gave us all refunds and I still haven't seen it because every time I tell this story someone who has seen it is like "wow wish I was that lucky"
February 15, 2026 at 9:42 AM
I went to the theatre to watch Star Trek: Into Darkness and there was a power cut after like 10 min and they gave us all refunds and I still haven't seen it because every time I tell this story someone who has seen it is like "wow wish I was that lucky"
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
I'm not sure I could ever forgive this government if it allows the BBC World Service to die
And another bites the dust?
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: this is London calling | Editorial
Editorial: With just seven weeks before its funding runs out, the UK’s greatest cultural asset and most trusted international news organisation must be supported
www.theguardian.com
February 15, 2026 at 8:28 PM
I'm not sure I could ever forgive this government if it allows the BBC World Service to die
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
"Bitcoin is a viable replacement for national currencies" and "LLMs are conscious" are equally delusional statements.
But the first one is just stupid.
The second one, if you (a) actually believe it, and (b) think it's fine to enslave these conscious beings as you see fit, is a moral abomination.
But the first one is just stupid.
The second one, if you (a) actually believe it, and (b) think it's fine to enslave these conscious beings as you see fit, is a moral abomination.
February 15, 2026 at 5:52 PM
"Bitcoin is a viable replacement for national currencies" and "LLMs are conscious" are equally delusional statements.
But the first one is just stupid.
The second one, if you (a) actually believe it, and (b) think it's fine to enslave these conscious beings as you see fit, is a moral abomination.
But the first one is just stupid.
The second one, if you (a) actually believe it, and (b) think it's fine to enslave these conscious beings as you see fit, is a moral abomination.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
God, this annoys me. If you “don’t know” then the precautionary principle applies. You either accept that it’s possible and behave as if you’ve created a novel consciousness with rights, and your company is now essentially a nature reserve/maternity ward… OR…
February 15, 2026 at 2:49 PM
God, this annoys me. If you “don’t know” then the precautionary principle applies. You either accept that it’s possible and behave as if you’ve created a novel consciousness with rights, and your company is now essentially a nature reserve/maternity ward… OR…
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
On this National Flag Day, the Maple Leaf flies at half-mast.
Today our flag carries a message for the community of Tumbler Ridge: Canada is with you.
Today our flag carries a message for the community of Tumbler Ridge: Canada is with you.
February 15, 2026 at 3:28 PM
On this National Flag Day, the Maple Leaf flies at half-mast.
Today our flag carries a message for the community of Tumbler Ridge: Canada is with you.
Today our flag carries a message for the community of Tumbler Ridge: Canada is with you.
Getting back to my Chernobyl metaphor: Yes, improved regulations for Soviet nuclear power are all well and good. But for right now, we have a disaster zone full of lethal radiation. Our priority should be sealing it in a concrete sarcophagus.
…That "Generative AI" does not tell you the truth, that it doesn't give you facts, & that when its outputs conform to factual reality, it's by fucking happenstance. These systems are not all-in-1 answer production machines, they are collections of stats & regularities spat out via fucking dice rolls
How many times, in how many contexts, in how many ways am I going to have to say that this is what "AI" does— what it fundamentally *is*— before it sinks in? That all Bullshit engines do is statistically correlate training data & inputs via their weights to produce outputs you are likely to accept…
February 15, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Getting back to my Chernobyl metaphor: Yes, improved regulations for Soviet nuclear power are all well and good. But for right now, we have a disaster zone full of lethal radiation. Our priority should be sealing it in a concrete sarcophagus.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
This is the most important thing to understand about AI.
…That "Generative AI" does not tell you the truth, that it doesn't give you facts, & that when its outputs conform to factual reality, it's by fucking happenstance. These systems are not all-in-1 answer production machines, they are collections of stats & regularities spat out via fucking dice rolls
How many times, in how many contexts, in how many ways am I going to have to say that this is what "AI" does— what it fundamentally *is*— before it sinks in? That all Bullshit engines do is statistically correlate training data & inputs via their weights to produce outputs you are likely to accept…
February 15, 2026 at 4:11 AM
This is the most important thing to understand about AI.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
The thing about Casablanca being the greatest film of all time is people don't believe you and then they watch it
You ever stop and think about CASABLANCA? You ever stop and think about "Welcome back to the fight, this time, I know our side will win?" You ever think about a bar full of people defiantly singing La Marseillaise, played by a soundstage full of Jewish refugees? You ever think about CASABLANCA??????
February 15, 2026 at 12:26 PM
The thing about Casablanca being the greatest film of all time is people don't believe you and then they watch it
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward.
February 14, 2026 at 9:14 PM
We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not forward.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
35 years ago today THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was released in theaters and the pull quote it received on this newspaper ad has never been topped.
February 14, 2026 at 4:33 PM
35 years ago today THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was released in theaters and the pull quote it received on this newspaper ad has never been topped.
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Links related to humans on Mars, with some prefatory remarks
If you clicked over and started reading that thread, you'll notice that Pethokoukis appears to be another one of those people whose view of humans in space is "Musk says. It must be so."
For most of my life, I was a big fan of the 1/9
If you clicked over and started reading that thread, you'll notice that Pethokoukis appears to be another one of those people whose view of humans in space is "Musk says. It must be so."
For most of my life, I was a big fan of the 1/9
February 14, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Links related to humans on Mars, with some prefatory remarks
If you clicked over and started reading that thread, you'll notice that Pethokoukis appears to be another one of those people whose view of humans in space is "Musk says. It must be so."
For most of my life, I was a big fan of the 1/9
If you clicked over and started reading that thread, you'll notice that Pethokoukis appears to be another one of those people whose view of humans in space is "Musk says. It must be so."
For most of my life, I was a big fan of the 1/9
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Yep. I was reading a book (which I will not name) with a prophet who supposedly inspired nations by the power of her words. Unfortunately her words were about on the level of Alanis Morissette lyrics.
Writing a character who is smarter than you are is very, very hard.
Writing a character who is smarter than you are is very, very hard.
Alien: Earth suffers from the common problem of writers trying to write geniuses who pontificate on genius matters. Boy Kavalier is meant to be the world's greatest genius, but his philosophical musings are thin and, well, not at all genius. Undergrad level stuff, maybe.
February 13, 2026 at 10:41 PM
Yep. I was reading a book (which I will not name) with a prophet who supposedly inspired nations by the power of her words. Unfortunately her words were about on the level of Alanis Morissette lyrics.
Writing a character who is smarter than you are is very, very hard.
Writing a character who is smarter than you are is very, very hard.
A sure sign of bad writing: "This widely admired dead guy, who is unable to speak for himself, would surely agree with everything I'm saying!"
Oh this is gonna be rough.
The preface opens with Carl Sagan’s “pale blue dot” photo of earth from deep outer space.
Pethokoukis wants to reimagine the dot, not as the fragile planet we inhabit together, but as the past two centuries of technological and economic progress.
This guy sucks.
The preface opens with Carl Sagan’s “pale blue dot” photo of earth from deep outer space.
Pethokoukis wants to reimagine the dot, not as the fragile planet we inhabit together, but as the past two centuries of technological and economic progress.
This guy sucks.
February 14, 2026 at 5:40 PM
A sure sign of bad writing: "This widely admired dead guy, who is unable to speak for himself, would surely agree with everything I'm saying!"
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Reposted by Iain Bancarz 🇨🇦
Executive at massive tech company: The time of the AI God is at hand. Soon you peons will be useful only for the protein content of your bodies.
Random Bluesky user: AI sounds really shit.
Very Serious Commentators: Why is AI discourse so bad? I, for one, blame random Bluesky users.
Random Bluesky user: AI sounds really shit.
Very Serious Commentators: Why is AI discourse so bad? I, for one, blame random Bluesky users.
February 13, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Executive at massive tech company: The time of the AI God is at hand. Soon you peons will be useful only for the protein content of your bodies.
Random Bluesky user: AI sounds really shit.
Very Serious Commentators: Why is AI discourse so bad? I, for one, blame random Bluesky users.
Random Bluesky user: AI sounds really shit.
Very Serious Commentators: Why is AI discourse so bad? I, for one, blame random Bluesky users.