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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 4h

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5h

I saw Vick pop up and figured you must have decided to try overcoming evil with being wild today.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5h

Funnily enough, this is not really a bad way to summarize the Bible's arguments against kings.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 21h

I wrote for Adventist Today on Zohran Mamdani's appearance at an Adventist Evangelistic series. It looks at why this is a surprising venue for a campaign stop given the denomination's history, and how we got to this point.

atoday.org/sickness-in-...

Sickness in the City of God – Adventist Today

atoday.org

Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 1d

I have a few FB use cases that keep from from dropping it. uBlock Origin and FBCleaner extensions get rid of ads, suggested posts, sponsored posts, and random reels. That plus going to Feeds -> Friends at least gives me a usable chronological feed where I just see what I've actually asked to.

Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 2d

The "from" is the key word in interpreting that quote. "From" any state and "to" Oregon.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 3d

Hope its not one of the important ones...

Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I hear you. Its a deep problem.

Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I have a lot of concerns about chatbot services and all minds honestly, and yes specifically younger ones. I also think there is a range of offerings that fall under AI or generative AI, and not all have the same level or kinds of concerns.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I typically just call it Babylon when I want to channel that language within my faith tradition, and it seems to register.

For the 2nd I would say 'false Christ' because it retains all the forms and trappings of Christianity. If only they were leaving for paganism...

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

When Julia asked if I wanted to add anything I said that raising kids in this era of rapid technology change is really hard and it's OK if you don't immediately figure it out.

We need deep charitability towards each other. The lack of is part of what draws people to chatbots in the first place.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I think one of the biggest arguments against AI for kids is that LLMs in particular present faux intimacy that can quickly become relationally destructive.

But I'm not sure the comments on the article are painting a picture that Bluesky at large has a healthy grasp on relational intimacy either.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I share this because it's interesting to see how someone can build a picture of you in 2-3 sentences, and be absolutely convinced its true.

Do I disagree with what some of the other parents are doing? Yeah (others feel that way about me obviously). Do I know them? Not in the slightest.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I know my parenting and while I make mistakes, my kids and I get lots of quality time away from screens. They ride horses, do gymnastics, and play piano. We spend most summer evenings on the trampoline for hours. We read together every night taking turns. Our home is a good safe place.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

In total my kids used it for an hour or so. Two tops. Usually in 10-15 minute spurts. Happened over the span of a couple months. They asked to generate pictures of unicorns eating cupcakes and the like. No LLM usage ever.

To see calls for CPS is a bit amusing and a tad scary with my name public.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

As mentioned in the article I was exploring it for work and trying to evaluate its impact on education (not mentioned is that I also serve on an edtech advisory committee at the national level for a school system). I knew in 6-12 months schools and parents were going to be blindsided by this tech.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

What people have deduced from those few sentences has been interesting to think on. When Midjourney first became capable of intelligible images when the story in the article took place, I only knew of one other person who even knew Gen AI existed, unlike today. I was in uncharted territory.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

I spoke with @joolia.bsky.social as she was writing this article. The Bluesky reaction on something AI wasn't a surprise to me at all, but it is interesting to be subject of it. Obviously I wasn't the article's main subject so our total convo got understandably boiled down to a couple quotes.

Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 6d

I spoke to parents who are letting their young kids play with generative AI and tried to sort through some of the questions they have about it.

"I don’t know what this is doing to their brains," one dad told me.

Meanwhile, Sam Altman says, "Kids love ChatGPT on voicemode."

‘My son genuinely believed it was real’: Parents are letting little kids play with AI. Are they wrong?

Some believe AI can spark their child’s imagination through personalized stories and generative images. Scientists are wary of its affect on creativity

www.theguardian.com

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 5d

Hey Matt, I'm the guy in the quote. My kids probably spent an hour or so of their lives over a couple months several years ago and haven't done anything since (also in the article). Most of the time they asked I said no. The house full of their art. The kids are alright.

A picture of a fridge full of kids artwork. Drawings and homemade magnets.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 9d

Are you trying to suggest say, Peter Thiel for a totally random example, would secretly get in the mix of someone else's civil suit in order to influence the outcome?

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Reposted by Ben Kreiter

Katherine Dee @defaultfriend.bsky.social · 9d

If you want to understand Internet-native nihilism, I recommend default.blog and this piece I did late last year:
www.tabletmag.com/feature/adam...

Adam Lanza Fan Art

My foray into the online world of true crime fandom, where people treat school shooters and serial killers not as criminals but like characters from their favorite movies or novels

www.tabletmag.com

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 12d

Trump has claimed 300 million of Americas 340 million population have died from drug overdoses last year, which experts say is "unlikely"

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 13d

Can I interest you in a slightly odd and amusing Jeb story?

www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...

Letters to Jeb Bush

In a moment of personal and professional failure, I began writing to someone who I thought might be in a position to understand.

www.newyorker.com

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 19d

Far as I can tell, the thing Bluesky uses to tell everyone (and itself) you are you is going to be owned by someone else now.

If other services that aren't Bluesky are going to form, they need to know how to reach you without relying on a competitor. Like how your cell # isn't tied to one carrier.

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Ben Kreiter @benkreiter.com · 19d

I think it's a bit more moderate than 99/1 but you seem to have your mind made up.

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