There’s a South Park episode where they use “Emoji Analysis” to determine the identities of internet trolls. I am not original commenter but I laughed when I read their comment because indeed this research is a bit similar to the trend analysis they do in that episode.
“Interestingly, this effect cannot be explained by differences in participants’ experience with generative AI models, as that variable is insignificant in the mode”
When predictors are correlated, which is most likely the case here, this analysis cannot separately estimate their effects. The software will end up splitting the total effect size between the two predictors. Without describing collineariry between predictors, it’s not possible here to judge whether experience with AI is truly unimportant or the analysis is merely incapable of spotting the effect.
As for eroding confidence in reviews, this will make it worse, but I already put next to no stock in user reviews anymore. You don’t need AI to make a good human-like review that lies about a product, and there are plenty of those around.
I don’t read five star reviews ever anymore. If I want to find a believable endorsement of a product, I’ll look for a four-star review that contains a criticism that isn’t that bothersome to me personally, but legitimate enough that I can imagine a customer who would be deterred by it.
We moved a year ago, and I found my favorite pizza guy, Tony, by maybe the most convincing online review I’ve ever read. The most recent review on google maps was a one-star that was basically like “I met Tony and he casually used foul language etc etc there is no need for profanity etc pizza was some of the best I’ve ever had though”
I read all the one star reviews. If they are all something akin to “my food was too colorful” or “the waitress didn’t refill my water enough” then it’s probably ok
I love when owners give a sassy response, or when a one star review tells a story about the owner that makes me laugh.
My favorite local pizza shop is several generations family run, everything from scratch, and everything is done a certain way. I know everyone who works there and has ever worked there, and when me and the boys read this review, even though we all moved away, we knew it was true because it’s completly on brand.
Tony’s great. He does a thing he calls “Detroit style stuffed pizza” which does not really seem to be a Detroit style pizza at all but it’s fantastic nonetheless.
A lot of people like his sandwiches and visually they look very appetizing, but for whatever reason they don’t hit the spot for me. His pizzas are spectacular, and good breadsticks and wings too.
Often times reviews are written by people with English not as a first language, or the reviews are machine translated (nowadays with AI itself). Many AIs use real reviews as templates to train on, so its not surprising to me that the differences aren’t easily spotted. The main tells are when it uses too flowery language and tone and doesn’t get to the point.
To me it seems similar to if you heard an electronic speaker playing a bird call vs. a real bird call, could you tell the real one from a distance?
If you were an expert birdwatcher you could probably tell easier. If the speaker repeated the exact same call on a loop you could tell, if you were in earshot of electronic buzzing in the background you could also, but depending on how sophisticated the speaker is setup (like delay and variety of calls, you might not.
Yeah, reviews are relatively easy to fake with current technology. They’re short and most of them follow a fairly limited set of formats. This isn’t like generating hands where there are a ton of ways for an AI to give itself away. Not that most humans are very good at drawing hands.
I mean, just look at reddit. It’s full of whole fake threads of bots talking to bots using copied comments and the only way you can guess it’s a bot is by going through their history.
Seems like good old Word Of Mouth where information is relayed among people who know each other in real life, is probably going to make a big comeback for this kind of stuff.
Because if you can’t trust any media on the internet being “real” the only trustworthy sources you’ll have is the real people in your real life.
we conducted both individual interviews and focus groups with nine adult […] staying at […] a rehabilitation clinic for individuals living with morbid obesity
They extrapolate from nine adults in a clinic to “adults living with obesity” which is up to 50% in a population with wildly different lifestyles? Get outta here.
The paper, authored by Naoki Nomura, Koichiro Matsuno, Tomoaki Muranaka, and Jun Tomita, explores timing adjustment in living organisms, emphasizing the distinction between external observations of timing and organisms’ internal decisions on when to act. It introduces concepts like upbeat/downbeat in music as analogies for predicting future actions and the E-series time, derived from semiotic/communicative perspectives, to demonstrate timing as a communicative, anticipatory, and meaning-entailing system.
IDEAS:
Timing is crucial for organisms to act appropriately in their environments, yet traditional notions of time may not apply internally to these organisms.
Organisms integrate time with actions rather than perceiving it as an independent entity.
The concept of E-series time involves timing co-adjusted through interaction, contrasting with objective or subjective time.
Upbeat/downbeat analogies from music help explain organisms’ anticipatory actions.
Organisms’ timing decisions are based on internal models or maps of their environment, rather than predetermined schedules.
The interaction between organisms, such as bumble bees and plants, can demonstrate anticipatory behavior and communication, leading to mutual benefits.
Timing in organisms involves a continuous process of learning and adaptation through trial and error.
The paper suggests that biological timing systems are fundamentally different from mechanical clocks, emphasizing communication and internal adjustments.
QUOTES:
“Timing adjustment is an important ability for living organisms.”
“For us humans, time independently exists regardless of one’s being or acting.”
“Our research team has been exploring avenues to the comprehensive time theory that covers biological behaviors.”
“Without sensing some type of distinction or difference, it is difficult to attain meaning or information.”
“Anticipation in this sense is not the projection of a definite outcome but a readiness to interpret emerging novelty.”
“Bumble bees damage plant leaves and accelerate flower production when pollen is scarce.”
“Timing (v.) is organizational because upbeat together with downbeat pick up momentum to organize the subsequent actions to follow.”
“Biological systems are actuated with meaning and time in the E-series as a meaning procreator is synonymous with organizational.”
"Unlike physical movements, the movement for time-ing accompanies the crossing between the different tenses."
FACTS:
Wild animals, plants, and humans must decide the optimal moment for actions like catching prey, blooming, or social interactions.
E-series time involves timing co-adjusted through interaction, essential for activities like singing in a chorus or birds flying in formation.
Upbeat/downbeat and command/report functions are used to explain timing adjustment in organisms, linking them to anticipation and future actions.
Learning in organisms is a process of continuous improvement through trial and error, different from the static behavior of machines.
The interaction between bumble bees and plants underlines the anticipatory and communicative nature of timing adjustments in the biological realm.
REFERENCES:
McTaggart’s philosophical time series and its application to biosemiotics.
The musical concept of anacrusis (upbeat) as a model for understanding anticipatory behavior in organisms.
Studies on bumble bees damaging plant leaves to accelerate flowering, illustrating inter-species communication and anticipatory behavior.
Concepts like quorum sensing in bacteria, illustrating timing and communication at the microbial level.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Consider the applicability of E-series time in understanding cooperative and communicative behaviors across different species.
Explore the role of internal models or maps in organisms’ timing decisions, highlighting the significance of internal vs. external time perception.
Investigate the implications of timing adjustments on evolutionary processes and inter-species relationships.
Further research into how anticipatory behavior and timing adjustments contribute to the resilience and adaptability of biological systems.
Study the potential for applying concepts from timing in organisms to improve human-designed systems, emphasizing flexibility and adaptability.
Felipe Villa-Larenas, Miquel Llorente, Katja Liebal, and Federica Amici’s study explores gestural communication in wild Geoffroy’s spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), focusing on the use of visual and tactile gestures, the influence of age on gesture use, the intentionality behind gestures, and their effectiveness in communication.
IDEAS:
Younger spider monkeys prefer tactile gestures over visual ones, contrasting with no age differences in visual gesture use.
The study’s findings challenge the notion that manual gestures with communicative purposes are unique to great apes.
Differences in gesture use across ages reflect variations in social activities and physical interactions within the group.
Vocalizations preceding gestures enhance the likelihood of attention from recipients, indicating a strategic use of multimodal communication.
The existence of a large and varied gestural repertoire in spider monkeys supports the idea that complex gestural communication is not exclusive to apes.
Spider monkeys’ gestural communication includes intentional gestures aimed at specific recipients, showing a sophisticated level of social interaction.
The study underscores the importance of considering the context in which gestures are used to fully understand their meaning and function.
The observed differences in gesture use based on age and context suggest a degree of social learning and adaptation in spider monkeys’ communication.
The research highlights the potential of spider monkeys as a model for studying the evolutionary origins and development of gestural communication in primates.
The findings contribute to the broader understanding of primate communication, suggesting that complex gestural systems have evolved multiple times across different primate lineages.
QUOTES:
“Gestures play a central role in the communication systems of several animal families, including primates.”
“Our study provides first evidence of gestural production in a Platyrrhine species.”
“Younger spider monkeys were more likely than older ones to use tactile gestures.”
“Using vocalizations right before the gesture increased the probability of gesturing towards attentive recipients and of receiving a response.”
“Overall, our study confirms this taxon as a valid candidate for research on animal communication.”
“Repertoire size did not vary with age.”
“The probability of accounting for recipients’ attentional state was higher for older monkeys than for younger ones, especially for gestures in the visual modality.”
“In contrast, we found no inter-individual differences in the probability of producing visual gestures.”
“The study highlights the importance of observational effort and context in understanding gestural communication.”
"The findings offer valuable insights into the complex social dynamics and communication strategies of spider monkeys."
FACTS:
Spider monkeys utilize both visual and tactile gestures for communication.
The study observed a wild group of 52 Geoffroy’s spider monkeys.
Researchers identified 43 different gesture types used by the monkeys.
Tactile gestures are more frequently used by younger individuals.
The use of vocalizations increases the effectiveness of gestures.
There’s no significant variation in the repertoire size of gestures with age.
Spider monkeys account for the attentional state of their recipients, especially in visual communication.
The study was conducted in the natural protected area of Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh in Yucatan, Mexico.
The communication system of spider monkeys includes gestures directed towards specific recipients and produced in a goal-directed manner.
The research on spider monkeys’ gestural communication offers insights into the evolutionary origins of primate communication systems.
REFERENCES:
Bradbury and Vehrencamp (2011) on different communication modalities among animals.
Fishbein et al. (2019) on the characteristics of vocal communication systems in primates.
Call and Tomasello (2007), Cartmill and Maestripieri (2012), Pika and Liebal (2012) on the role of gestures in primate communication.
Studies of gestural communication in siamangs (Symphalangus syndactylus) by Liebal et al. (2004) and macaques (Macaca spp.) by Gupta and Sinha (2016, 2019), Maestripieri (1996a, b, 1997), and Meunier et al. (2013).
Freeberg et al. (2012) and Prieur et al. (2020) on aspects of gestural communication like repertoire size and intentionality.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Future research should adopt a longitudinal approach to study the development of gestural communication in spider monkeys.
Studies should consider the context of gesture use to fully understand their function and meaning within primate communication systems.
Further investigation into the role of multimodal communication strategies, including the use of vocalizations and gestures, is recommended.
Comparative studies across different primate species can provide deeper insights into the evolutionary origins of gestural communication.
Research should explore the potential for social learning and adaptation in the development of gestural repertoires among spider monkeys.
The study of attention-getting behaviors and their impact on the effectiveness of communication offers a promising area for future research.
Investigating the relationship between physical activities, such as play and social interactions, and the use of tactile gestures could provide valuable insights.
The influence of demographic factors, such as group size and composition, on gestural communication warrants further exploration.
The development of a standardized ethogram for spider monkey gestures could facilitate comparative studies and enhance understanding of primate communication.
Research should aim to identify the specific goals and outcomes associated with different gestures to elucidate their significance in spider monkeys’ social interactions.
Beware of extrapolating such a conclusion from people in Germany - among the best-informed countries - to a headline implying it applies to the world.
Also, looking at that scatterplot, without the lowest knowledge chunk on the left, it seems there would be no correlation aomng the rest.
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