Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 4h

Sigh.

1 7

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 4h

Lol.

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 4h

OH MY GOD Steven Pinker is one of the judges of this meme contest. OMG! LOL.

2 18

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 4h

"The best meme wins a $10,000 prize." Not kidding. These TESCREAL folks have so much money they don't know what to do with it, lol.

3 15

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 4h

That Pavement show continues to be one of my top highlights in Germany! Thanks so much for making it happen. :-) Really hope you're doing well, and let's reconnect sometime on Signal.

1 1

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 23h

Great way to put it!

Paul Rosenberg @paulrosenberg.bsky.social · 1d

🎯The REAL "Great Replacement" conspiracy is actually even weirder than the imaginary one! 🧵

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

Most of us know about Silicon Valley pronatalism--people like Musk having as many kids as possible. But did you know that a peculiar kind of *antinatalism* is also becoming popular in the Valley? In this article, I name the phenomenon: replacement antinatalism. Read below:

1

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

Most of us know about Silicon Valley pronatalism--people like Musk having as many kids as possible. But did you know that a peculiar kind of *antinatalism* is also becoming popular in the Valley? In this article, I name the phenomenon: replacement antinatalism. Read below:

2 9 24

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 23h

It's long, but I think it's worth having in the public record. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe!

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/democracy-...

Democracy Is a Really Bad System and AI-Induced Human Extinction Would Be Just Fine: My Conversation with Dr. Richard Sutton

The Turing Award winner chats with me about a wide range of issues, and what he says is eye-popping.

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

4 16

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 23h

Last year, I interviewed computer scientist Richard Sutton. He won the Turing Award for his work on reinforcement learning. He's also a pro-extinctionist who's okay with humanity being replaced by AI, and he thinks democracy is a terrible form of government. Here's the interview.

3 6 19

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

Remmelt 🛑 @artificialbodies.net · 8d

❮ “AI” — a marketing term coined in 1955 to attract funding from the US war machine — will never by themselves lead to AGI. Scaling up these models will not yield superintelligent machines that take over the world or usher in “utopia.” ❯

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 8d

New article just dropped! The claim that AGI is imminent is a lie. Stop believing it. Scaling up LLMs won't get us there, but that hasn't deterred the AI hypesters from making outrageously absurd claims about AGI being right around the temporal corner. Read it 👇👇👇

5 21

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

Peter Tarras @petertarras.bsky.social · 8d

If the current 'AI' hype seems ideologically motivated to you, it's because there's a whole bundle of ideologies operating in the background. Timnit Gebru @timnitgebru.bsky.social and Émile Torres @xriskology.bsky.social call it the 'TESCREAL bundle'. You can read their fundamental paper here:

The TESCREAL bundle: Eugenics and the promise of utopia through artificial general intelligence | First Monday

firstmonday.org

20 78

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

Gah! I can't believe I wasn't following you here on Bluesky. That's now been rectified! :-)

1 1

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

Carley Carden @carleycarden.bsky.social · 4d

[we anti-TESCREALists up in this muh’ going CRAZY upon hearing ab a forthcoming book from @xriskology.bsky.social]

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 6d

New article!! I have some incredibly exciting news to announce: I'll be writing a book next year for Verso about the TESCREAL ideologies, Silicon Valley pro-extinctionism, eugenics in the tech world, and the AGI race. More details are included here: www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/the-right-...

The Right Time for a Realtime Roundup!

Here are the fun topics we covered over the past two months!

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

1 4 11

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

samcborn.bsky.social @samcborn.bsky.social · 3d

Existentialism gone wrong by men unwilling to look in the mirror.

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · Sep 10

Part 2 of 3 on Silicon Valley pro-extinctionism, an extremely important topic (imo) that almost no one is talking about right now. Lots of people in Silicon Valley WANT our species to die out in the near future by being replaced by AGI. Some receipts:

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/meet-the-r...

Meet the Radical Silicon Valley Pro-Extinctionists!

Pro-extinctionism is no longer a minority view — to the contrary, it's becoming the mainstream position within Silicon Valley, which is terrifying because these people are serious.

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

3 12

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

and leave a comment. I'd love to know what you think!

(I'll be exploring this issue in my forthcoming book, so your feedback is very much appreciated! :-)

5

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

antinatalism, which says that it's unethical to have children AND that there should be no future generations. In contrast, replacement antinatalism says that it's unethical to have children YET THERE SHOULD BE future generations--in the form of nonbiological AGIs. Check it out ...

1 1 12

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

Basically, these replacement antinatalists believe that it's "fundamentally unethical" to have kids because the future is digital, and hence there's no point to bringing new biological people into the world. It's a fascinating new twist on traditional

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/the-strang...

The Strange Rise of Antinatalism in Silicon Valley

Most of us are aware that pronatalism is popular within Silicon Valley. But there's a new kind of antinatalism that's catching on, too! In this article, I give it a name: replacement antinatalism.

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

1 2 11

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 1d

Most of us know about Silicon Valley pronatalism--people like Musk having as many kids as possible. But did you know that a peculiar kind of *antinatalism* is also becoming popular in the Valley? In this article, I name the phenomenon: replacement antinatalism. Read below:

2 9 24

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 4d

Lolol. Well, thanks. :-)

1

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 5d

The Realtime Techpocalypse Newsletter is two months old! We've covered: the TESCREAL ideologies, Silicon Valley pro-extinctionism, the AGI race, AI slop and AI bloopers, etc. If these topics interest you, please subscribe, share, and recommend! :-)

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/the-right-...

The Right Time for a Realtime Roundup!

Here are the fun topics we covered over the past two months!

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

1 10 25

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 5d

The Realtime Techpocalypse Newsletter is two months old! We've covered: the TESCREAL ideologies, Silicon Valley pro-extinctionism, the AGI race, AI slop and AI bloopers, etc. If these topics interest you, please subscribe, share, and recommend! :-)

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/the-right-...

The Right Time for a Realtime Roundup!

Here are the fun topics we covered over the past two months!

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

1 10 25

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 6d

New article!! I have some incredibly exciting news to announce: I'll be writing a book next year for Verso about the TESCREAL ideologies, Silicon Valley pro-extinctionism, eugenics in the tech world, and the AGI race. More details are included here: www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/the-right-...

The Right Time for a Realtime Roundup!

Here are the fun topics we covered over the past two months!

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

5 13 45

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 6d

In case you missed it, here's my latest newsletter article in which I argue that AGI is not, in fact, imminent. Would love to know your thoughts on this! :-)

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com/p/stop-belie...

Stop Believing the Lie that AGI Is Imminent — "Experts" Have Been Saying This Since 1956!

What did Ilya see? Nothing — he saw nothing, because we're nowhere close to achieving "AGI" (whatever that means exactly).

www.realtimetechpocalypse.com

6 32

Reposted by Dr. Émile P. Torres

Keith Frankish @keithfrankish.com · 10d

Important 2023 piece by @xriskology.bsky.social on the inhumane and arrogant ideology of AI fanatics. I urge everyone to read it.
www.truthdig.com/articles/the...

TESCREALism: The Acronym Behind Our Wildest AI Dreams and Nightmares

To understand the divide between AI boosters and doomers, one must unpack their common origins in a bundle of ideologies known as TESCREAL.

www.truthdig.com

1 8 20

Dr. Émile P. Torres @xriskology.bsky.social · 9d

Fantastic quote here. Thanks for sharing!

1 3