Sparky
@sparkyzivin.bsky.social
Data-driven language crafter, translating #AI for the corporate world, #AvGeek, #Os fan, #Baltimore booster, former #neuro nerd, #KenyonCollege alum. All posts are personal and do not reflect the views of my employer or clients.
So, the cars found themselves in a situation with non-functioning traffic lights and chaotic drivers around them and said “You know what, we’re going to sit this out,” and somehow the media decides a fail-safe feature is suddenly a bug?
A massive power outage in San Francisco didn’t just darken homes. It also stopped Waymo’s robotaxis cold when traffic lights went out. f-st.co/NQcEr2t
San Francisco power outage brings Waymo robotaxis to a standstill
The blackout affected up to a third of the city and forced Waymo to temporarily suspend robotaxi rides.
f-st.co
December 23, 2025 at 12:32 AM
So, the cars found themselves in a situation with non-functioning traffic lights and chaotic drivers around them and said “You know what, we’re going to sit this out,” and somehow the media decides a fail-safe feature is suddenly a bug?
Reposted by Sparky
Ok I think I cracked it: If it’s bad and useless, we call it AI. If it’s the sort of thing that’s been quietly powering actuarial tables, fraud detection, protein folding and voice recognition for years, it’s Machine Learning.
Lmao, larian was talking about exactly how they use AI, in depth, this spring, but the headline said machine learning so nobody lost their minds
www.gamespot.com/articles/bal...
www.gamespot.com/articles/bal...
Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Embraces Machine Learning For "Tasks That Nobody Wants To Do"
Here are all the reasons why Larian believes machine learning-powered automation is the future.
www.gamespot.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Ok I think I cracked it: If it’s bad and useless, we call it AI. If it’s the sort of thing that’s been quietly powering actuarial tables, fraud detection, protein folding and voice recognition for years, it’s Machine Learning.
Reposted by Sparky
This is like those kids’ chemistry kits from the 50s that had poisons and radioactive elements in them.
New! We worked with the Public Interest Research Group to test a bunch of LLM-driven toys ahead of the Christmas. That sexual talking teddy bear wasn't a one-off; it turns out disturbing behavior is deeply built into these toys across the board.
AI toys for kids talk about sex and issue Chinese Communist Party talking points, tests show
New research from Public Interest Research Group and tests conducted by NBC News found that a wide range of AI toys have loose guardrails.
www.nbcnews.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:25 PM
This is like those kids’ chemistry kits from the 50s that had poisons and radioactive elements in them.
Reposted by Sparky
Today in the most depressing thing I've ever heard
You can go on a real live 'date' with an AI girlfriend at this NYC café — we wish we were kidding
It's like "Her" come to life
www.tomsguide.com
December 5, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Today in the most depressing thing I've ever heard
Reposted by Sparky
If anyone cares at all, EV battery recycling is now hitting 99% recovery for important metals
Please remind me again what the recycle rate for fossil fuels is
interestingengineering.com/energy/recyc...
Please remind me again what the recycle rate for fossil fuels is
interestingengineering.com/energy/recyc...
New recycling tech recovers nearly pure nickel and cobalt from old EV batteries
Researchers have developed an eco-friendly recycling tech that extracts 99 percent pure nickel and cobalt from waste batteries.
interestingengineering.com
December 5, 2025 at 12:17 AM
If anyone cares at all, EV battery recycling is now hitting 99% recovery for important metals
Please remind me again what the recycle rate for fossil fuels is
interestingengineering.com/energy/recyc...
Please remind me again what the recycle rate for fossil fuels is
interestingengineering.com/energy/recyc...
Reposted by Sparky
Today's absurd sci-fi headline that's somehow our reality: Fact-checkers barred from immigrating to the U.S.
Holy shit.
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
Reuters reporting that new admin instructions on visas are if you worked at a platform in trust & safety or content moderation or on fact checking or online safety at an platform you *and your loved ones* are ineligible for H-1B visa.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...
December 4, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Today's absurd sci-fi headline that's somehow our reality: Fact-checkers barred from immigrating to the U.S.
Maybe, the most complex, energy-intensive, and powerful technology we’ve developed shouldn’t be virtually free to use?
When the AI bubble pops the frontier labs will be okay, the chip makers will be okay, the data centers will be okay, but AI will get a lot more expensive to use.
When the AI bubble pops the frontier labs will be okay, the chip makers will be okay, the data centers will be okay, but AI will get a lot more expensive to use.
"the best worst option might be to call in some favors and walk away from data center commitments" www.ft.com/content/23e5...
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates
A burning platform
www.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Maybe, the most complex, energy-intensive, and powerful technology we’ve developed shouldn’t be virtually free to use?
When the AI bubble pops the frontier labs will be okay, the chip makers will be okay, the data centers will be okay, but AI will get a lot more expensive to use.
When the AI bubble pops the frontier labs will be okay, the chip makers will be okay, the data centers will be okay, but AI will get a lot more expensive to use.
Bookmarking this one
Aave Labs, the developer behind a popular decentralized lending service, announced plans to launch an app in Apple’s App Store and opened up a waitlist for interested users. trib.al/2rTYUUC
Company behind popular crypto lender Aave to launch app in Apple store that offers high-yield returns | Fortune
The Aave app will act like a savings account but give users more interest than they’d receive from conventional banks.
trib.al
November 17, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Bookmarking this one
How it started: Flying cars!
How it’s going: Butt breathing!
How it’s going: Butt breathing!
October 24, 2025 at 7:24 PM
How it started: Flying cars!
How it’s going: Butt breathing!
How it’s going: Butt breathing!
Reposted by Sparky
Former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns says she didn't say no to a work-related request for the first 15 years of her career, and it helped her climb the ladder at work.
This workplace 'superpower' helped me rise to the top, says first Black woman CEO in the Fortune 500
Former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns says she didn't say no to a work-related request for the first 15 years of her career, and it helped her climb the ladder at work.
cnb.cx
October 18, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Former Xerox CEO Ursula Burns says she didn't say no to a work-related request for the first 15 years of her career, and it helped her climb the ladder at work.
Reposted by Sparky
"A credible estimate suggests that AI capital expenditures may reach 2 percent of the gross domestic product in 2025, up from most likely less than 0.1 percent in 2022. To provide some sense of scale, that means the equivalent of about $1,800 per person in America will be invested this year on AI."
Opinion | There Are Two Economies: A.I. and Everything Else
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 10:50 AM
"A credible estimate suggests that AI capital expenditures may reach 2 percent of the gross domestic product in 2025, up from most likely less than 0.1 percent in 2022. To provide some sense of scale, that means the equivalent of about $1,800 per person in America will be invested this year on AI."
Reposted by Sparky
They created a highly advanced text-to-video app and this is the logo? This looks like the logo for an app you use to order more toilet paper
October 1, 2025 at 10:06 PM
They created a highly advanced text-to-video app and this is the logo? This looks like the logo for an app you use to order more toilet paper
Reposted by Sparky
Couldn't take Chicago, so he's going after Portland. Like a high school bully that got bodied by a wrestler so he tries to take it out on a theater kid. Pathetic.
September 27, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Couldn't take Chicago, so he's going after Portland. Like a high school bully that got bodied by a wrestler so he tries to take it out on a theater kid. Pathetic.
Reposted by Sparky
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
July 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Not really an overstatement to say that the test of a free society is whether or not comedians can make fun of the country's leader on TV without repurcussions.
Reposted by Sparky
Clearer every day that any authentic human future will need to take place off-line
September 15, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Clearer every day that any authentic human future will need to take place off-line
Reposted by Sparky
A word from our sponsor 👍🏼
September 13, 2025 at 7:57 AM
A word from our sponsor 👍🏼
Reposted by Sparky
SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
September 8, 2025 at 4:43 PM
SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in a college applicant's file is blatantly unconstitutional
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
ALSO SCOTUS: considering race as one factor in targeting whom to detain and deport is cool cool cool
Reposted by Sparky
How did AI chatbots become so persuasive — and what are the consequences for society if they're better at influencing people than humans? on.ft.com/4mfACEf
August 14, 2025 at 1:58 PM
How did AI chatbots become so persuasive — and what are the consequences for society if they're better at influencing people than humans? on.ft.com/4mfACEf
Reposted by Sparky
AGI might come soon. I talked to students who have dropped out of college now because of it: www.forbes.com/sites/victor...
Fear Of AGI Is Driving Harvard And MIT Students To Drop Out
AGI — a theoretical AI that can do many of the same tasks as humans can — could come within a decade. College students, including from elite universities, are abandoning school now to work full-time o...
www.forbes.com
August 6, 2025 at 7:11 PM
AGI might come soon. I talked to students who have dropped out of college now because of it: www.forbes.com/sites/victor...
Reposted by Sparky
The AI infrastructure build-out is so gigantic that in the past 6 months, it contributed more to the growth of the U.S. economy than /all of consumer spending/
The 'magnificent 7' spent more than $100 billion on data centers and the like in the past three months *alone*
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sili...
The 'magnificent 7' spent more than $100 billion on data centers and the like in the past three months *alone*
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sili...
August 1, 2025 at 12:19 PM
The AI infrastructure build-out is so gigantic that in the past 6 months, it contributed more to the growth of the U.S. economy than /all of consumer spending/
The 'magnificent 7' spent more than $100 billion on data centers and the like in the past three months *alone*
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sili...
The 'magnificent 7' spent more than $100 billion on data centers and the like in the past three months *alone*
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sili...
When AI (accidentally) becomes your manager
so chatgpt kept telling people to use a piece of software to do a thing that the software could not do, and the creator of that software got a bunch of complaints and bug reports because chatgpt told his customers it had the feature. eventually he just added it
www.404media.co/chatgpt-hall...
www.404media.co/chatgpt-hall...
ChatGPT Hallucinated a Feature, Forcing Human Developers to Add It
Welcome to the era of ‘gaslight driven development.’ Soundslice added a feature the chatbot thought it existed after engineers kept finding screenshots from the LLM in its error logs.
www.404media.co
July 24, 2025 at 5:38 PM
When AI (accidentally) becomes your manager
Reposted by Sparky
New: As Trump prepares to unveil his "AI Action Plan," more than 80 labor, environmental, consumer and tech watchdog groups have signed on to a "People's AI Action Plan" that calls for regulations that put ordinary people's interests over those of the industry. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Analysis | Trump’s ‘Artificial Intelligence Action Plan’ is already stirring debate
Critics unveiled their own “People’s AI Action Plan” ahead of new executive orders expected to address energy and “woke” AI.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 22, 2025 at 2:26 PM
New: As Trump prepares to unveil his "AI Action Plan," more than 80 labor, environmental, consumer and tech watchdog groups have signed on to a "People's AI Action Plan" that calls for regulations that put ordinary people's interests over those of the industry. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by Sparky
stop 👏 anthropomorphizing 👏 the 👏 chatbot 👏
July 20, 2025 at 10:18 PM
stop 👏 anthropomorphizing 👏 the 👏 chatbot 👏