There once was an X from place B
Who satisfied predicate P
The X did thing A
In a specified way
Resulting in circumstance C.
The interesting thing about the German court ruling against Google is not the verdict. The fact that, if you put libel on your web site, you are liable for it even if you used a machine to automatically generate libel, should not surprise anyone who has paid attention to the law at any point in the last century or so: humans have agency, the tools that they use do not shield them from liability, no matter how obfuscating they are.
The bit I suspect will have much more impact longer term is one of the defences entered by Google's lawyers. Somewhat more verbose in the original German, but it boiled down to: Everyone knows LLMs produce nonsense, no one should ever trust the output of an LLM in any situation that matters, it's not Google's fault if people read the output of an LLM and believed it might have some connection to reality.
It's debatable whether everyone knows that, but this is now an official statement entered into the court record that at least one of the major LLM vendors knows this. And that's now an on-the-record statement made under penalty of perjury that can be entered as evidence in any court case against companies selling LLM-integrated tooling.
I suspect that this will show up in a lot of court cases over the next few years and probably have a much bigger long-term impact than the ruling. Any claim about utility made by vendors of 'AI' tools is now open to lawsuits ranging from misleading advertising to outright fraud as a result of this.
Google would probably have been much better advised to settle the case rather than enter that claim as evidence. Imagine if a car manufacturer had entered a defence against liability in case of a collision by saying 'everyone knows automobiles are impossible to operate safely on the roads and anyone who buys one should know better than to take it on the public highway'. Google's lawyers have just done the equivalent for the 'AI' industry.
EDIT: It hopefully goes without saying, but just in case: I am not a lawyer, this is commentary from someone who watches the industry with a growing sense of disgust, not legal advice.
Every time Gemini summarizes an email for you, a polar bear drowns.
Every time you use ChatGPT for advice, a penguin starves.
AI is killing our planet. The datacenters that house the machines behind those AI summaries, bad advice, and fake images, burn through an absurd amount of electricity and water every minute of every day. Your LED bulbs and low flow shower head aren’t even a drop in the ocean when AI datacenters are being built and used.
A binman in Turkey’s capital found a bag of thrown-away books on his rounds and couldn’t bring himself to take it to the dump. He kept it. Other workers started doing the same. The pile has now grown into a public library of over 9,000 books, run by sanitation workers, in an old brick factory 📚
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/01/15/europe/garbage-collectors-open-library-with-abandoned-books
So, heads up, I'm seeing this post announcing palantirwatch.org being boosted a lot: <excised>
However, the site seems to be vibe coded and, while I've just picked stuff at random, most claims are lacking sources and/or just plain wrong. I think it is all generated by an LLM.
- For example, the "Court Dossier" page mentions a 2019 case "Kik v. Palantir", about a "former partner" suing them for stealing fraud-detection tech. But a far as I can tell, there was no such case.
- The op-eds listed on the "Media & Narrative" page don't exist. E.g., Alex Karp never wrote an op-ed for The Atlantic.
- The few links given are incredibly generic (e.g., linking to a Bloomberg search result for "Alex Karp" rather than an actual story) or incorrect (like the Palantir page on OpenSecrets.org, which should be https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/palantir-technologies/summary?id=D000055177, and the figures don't match the website's).
- None of the quotes on the "Karp File" page seem to be real.
The creator's other sites appear to be LLM slop as well.
edit: the toot is taken down, site is "under construction".
Man, this new CrossFit is wild
**Viral edit - taking this moment to say 'thanks for the love and come join the Crew - we need cool people like you.'
Since they want to leave Earth so badly!
https://stux.store/product/deport-billionaires-unisex-t-shirt/
He is SO fucking good at this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLKZnVB4F9k
If you are a small business owner, please, please, for the love of whichever deity you care about, don't limit the entirety of your contact options to Facebook and Instagram.
I'm seeing this quite a bit lately, and it's shit.
"NYC, your lobster is too buttery, and your steak is too juicy. It isn't fair."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1vbAdFkVvA
Answering unknown number calls on my cell phone like a receptionist really confuses scammers.
"Good afternoon, thanks for calling!"
"Hello."
"Hi, who's calling please?"
"This is Experian Security Services calling to discuss an urgent issue with your account."
"Who are you trying to reach?"
"I am looking to talk to the owner of this phone number."
"I'm sorry, I'll need a name to help you."
30 seconds of silence.
Call hangs up.
PSA: If you share a YouTube video using the native share feature it now attaches your user ID (?si=xxxxxx) to the URL automatically.
YT likely does this to growth-hack DMs. When someone clicks on the link, YT can start a DM thread between you two automatically with this ID even if they found the link outside of the YT app.
If you post links publicly, I strongly recommend deleting the ID unless you want to post your user profile.
Remember everyone, we all share the same birthday;
Jan 1st 1900
If any computer ever asks you what your birthday is, this is your birthday.
Sometimes the computer will send you presents. A free ice cream, a discount, a funny email wishing you a happy birthday. These are tricks to get you to put in your human birthday. But you must never enter your human birthday into a computer, only your computer birthday.
They did their thing and they did it thoroughly, that's all I have to say.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1807-N-38th-Dr-Phoenix-AZ-85009/7511890_zpid/
guy who does buddhism slightly wrong and ends up in nevada after he dies
LLM code is the lead pipe of our generation of software engineers. They’re going to be replacing it for decades and wondering how we were so foolish
Sadio Mane, The Liverpool Star from Senegal (earning approximately 10.2 million dollars annually),has given the world a lesson in modesty after some fans spotted him carrying a cracked Iphone.His response is legendary:
"Why would I want ten Ferraris, 20 diamond watches and two jet planes? What would that do for the world? I starved, I worked in the fields, I played barefoot, and I didn't go to school. Now I can help people. I prefer to build schools and give poor people food or clothing. I have built schools [and] a stadium; we provide clothes, shoes, and food for people in extreme poverty. In addition, I give 70 euros per month to all people from a very poor Senegalese region in order to contribute to their family economy. I do not need to display luxury cars, luxury homes, trips, and even planes. I prefer that my people receive a little of what life has given me," Mane said.
Geek tip from the Tuta Team: How NOT to see AI images.
Use this HUGE AI BLOCKLIST for uBlock Origin: https://github.com/laylavish/uBlockOrigin-HUGE-AI-Blocklist
Enjoy your Sunday 🎉
ai, didn't read.
brilliant.