@Melpomene@erisly.social
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Melpomene

@Melpomene@erisly.social

I'm probably just an AI pretending to be human or a human pretending to be AI.

Into wandering abandoned places, tinkering with technology, and authoring things for fun and profit.

Feel free to follow if you're sentient meat or a self-aware AI.

Profile pic: Greyscale rendering of a serious looking long haired woman in sunglasses and a jacket.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-uk-8-countries-pausing-funding-unrwa-allegations-12-employees-part-rcna136030

12 employees out of 30,000, and their contracts were immediately suspended. This isn't about fighting HAMAS, it's about the systematic extermination of an entire people. And the sitting US president is complicit.

Israel murdering civilians? Apparently brown people are less important than a blue victory.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Biden hand wringing over refugees starving while simultaneously supplying weapons to the people intentionally exterminating them AND cutting off 350 million in aid is peak US politics.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Apparently, keeping classified documents in your garage is a-okay.

You know, if you're a rich white guy.

Looking at you, and .

luckytran, to random
@luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

It's ridiculous how much attention is given to those complaining about restrictions that haven't existed for over 2 years.

Meanwhile, complete silence about excluding disabled and higher risk people from most of society indefinitely due to the current lack of COVID protections.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@KimSJ @luckytran They declared victory and moved on. Conservatives call COVID a conspiracy and Democrats won't risk losing votes by pushing for protections again, at least until after the votes are counted. It's the most important election ever, understand. A few thousand lives are a small price to pay for winning. (I wish I thought I was exaggerating)

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

In the interest of throwbacks, Mel is setting up a personal website. Expect blink tags, guesttbooks, and optimization for Netscape Navigator.

olives, to random
@olives@qoto.org avatar

https://oversightboard.com/news/1068824731034762-oversight-board-upholds-meta-s-decision-in-altered-video-of-president-biden-case/

"The Oversight Board has upheld Meta’s decision to leave up a video that was edited to make it appear as though U.S. President Joe Biden is inappropriately touching his adult granddaughter’s chest, and which is accompanied by a caption describing him as a “pedophile.”"

"Additionally, the alteration of this video clip is obvious and therefore unlikely to mislead the “average user” of its authenticity, which, according to Meta, is a key characteristic of manipulated media."

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives Given the way Section 230 is enforced, this is unlikely... but given that Meta is no longer acting as a moderator and is instead acting as an editor, perhaps its time to revoke the safe harbor protections currently shielding them from liability.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives I wouldn't say that they should not exist per se; we just need to lift the protections for them when they slide into an editor position v. a moderator position, get good privacy laws, and impose substantial fines for violations that are a percent of raw revenue.

It is sad that the old, independent internet has been nearly entirely subverted by corps. I get weird looks when I say I lack Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, but people think I'm insane to not have a Google account.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives It's squishy given the way 230 is written and moderation v. editing is not well-defined. I'd have to really sit down and think through it, but broad strokes... moderation (should) apply site rules evenly. So if posting elbow pics is barred, then moderation would be censoring elbow pics. If, however, the site is enforcing unevenly (favoring certain elbows) then thaf seems to edge into editorial versus pure moderation.

Certainly, qualitative type judgments would necessarily be harder judge. But in the Biden case, that's pretty clearly false news. Facebook's policy bars that, I do believe.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives Probably, and interpreting 230 is always going to be difficult... which is why companies don't really care whether they're acting as editors or moderators. Inconsistency in keeping materially similar defamatory statements does at least suggest editorial activity though; if I allow Bob to post anti-Melpomene lies but ban anti-Olives lies, I seem to be making editorial decisions. My concern will always be abuse though; those with resources know how to wield the court as a weapon for sure.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives Oh, but I do wish for the old web back.

olives, to random
@olives@qoto.org avatar

https://reclaimthenet.org/senator-mark-warner-misinformation-shouldnt-have-first-amendment-protections
While conspiracies like QAnon (which utilizes disinformation and malinformation[1]), which can take on multiple problematic themes, including anti-LGBT ones, can be troublesome, I would still caution against creating an "arbiter of truth", especially a government trying to push for this, and remember that strong free expression standards protect everyone's rights.

Also, consider whether it isn't platformization[2] which is troublesome here.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malinformation

2 https://qoto.org/@olives/111832774730509831

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives Warner is decidedly pro censorship. Having written to him in the past, this is consistent with his support of things like EARN IT and COSA.

olives, to random
@olives@qoto.org avatar

If a "deepfake" suggests someone did something they never did, couldn't that be considered "defamation" (with a couple of other tests)?

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives Yes, it does meet the criteria sometimes. False portrayal shared with others, knowledge of falsity, and reputational harm. Proving the last would be the hardest hurdle for the original creator who shares, proving knowledge when others share would also be a barrier if they'd shared and were claiming they believed the deepfake was real.

enigmatico, to random
@enigmatico@mk.absturztau.be avatar

A regular human can't survive by drinking blood. Blood is very rich in iron, so drinking blood, aside of having a terrible taste, would cause an imbalance in a normal human's iron levels. Not to mention all the illnesses you could get from that blood. Simply put, whatever you do, no matter how goth you are, don't do that.

The only reason why vampires can do that is because they are already dead. They would get very weak if they didn't drink blood though because they don't have the capacity to absorb iron and other nutrients from food, so they instead get it from other people's blood.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@enigmatico On the other hand, drinking blood would make you extremely metal. (sorry)

RileyNorman, to scifi
@RileyNorman@masto.ai avatar

I went to #Worldcon 80? #Chicon8 we called it. I'm still surprised that anyone thought it a good idea to host the #Hugo #Scifi & #Fantasy awards as well as all sorts of author talks in the country with the single largest censorship infrastructure in existence. All Chinese authors publish at the will of the government. Only government approved stories can be published or authors risk imprisonment and death. Why would ANYONE take any part in that, at all? Oh, big market...

https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/a46612912/science-fiction-hugo-awards-2024/

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@RileyNorman perhaps they need to change thier bylaws to bar countries with extensive censorship regimes from hosting? Seems like common sense. And he whole "all these duplicate ballots are fine" nonsense should have been easy to handle, but they nonetheless dropped the ball.

olives, to ai
@olives@qoto.org avatar

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/01/mastercard-launches-gpt-like-ai-model-to-help-banks-detect-fraud.html I guess you can expect more legitimate transactions to be inexplicably rejected because of their "state of the art" "AI" engine.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives Great, add this to the "selecting the bicycle" BS that captcha does poorly.

DrewNaylor, to politics
@DrewNaylor@mastodon.online avatar

I thought was dead. Guess it was merely... resting there for a while. Those kinds of bills, like and , are a problem and I hate that they pretend that it's about protecting kids online when it's not, it's about control and , particularly of info kids (or anyone else) may need.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@DrewNaylor Given that they try almost every year to pass these bills or ones very similar, I am inclined to say that the only was to stop them is to vote the creeps out of congress.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Is there a green webhost out there that any of y'all recommend? Bonus if it is okay with adult content... not because I'm getting naked (there's enough AI porn) but because I might eventually host an instance and the fedi be spicy sometimes.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Okay fine, I may have judged Gale too harshly. His power hunger was clearly borne of loneliness. Sorry, Gale. We're cool now.

olives, to random
@olives@qoto.org avatar

I don't think a War on Nicotine would fare better than the other prohibitions, frankly.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@olives We need to learn that it is none of our business what people put into thier bodies. Wars on X are just a sneaky way for power hungry politicians to expand government control and control freaks to bully people into doing as they're told.

daveystew, to worldwithoutus
@daveystew@mstdn.social avatar

We tried war with Iraq & Afghanistan.

After those successes, let’s try Iran!

And if it fails, you know whose fault it’ll be.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/us-war-iran

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@daveystew so, I'm guessing that their profit margins for weapons and supplies have gone down since we closed out the last two conflict...

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

If nothing else, the nicotine patch has me more animated and consistently cheerful than I have been since my fourth round getting shot at for fun and profit.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Day 1: Nicotine patch experiment to yeet Long COVID. Symptoms same or slightly better, too early to tell. Mood elevated substantially. Mind clearer than baseline by evening. Wicked crazy dreams.

27 days to go.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

We're doing science. Wish me luck.

Melpomene, to random
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

Me: Cycling through Long COVID flares.
Docs: Meh, I dunno. Its only discomfort right?
Me: ....

So, doing my own research. Digging into studies. Cross-referencing notes, anecdotal accounts. Seeing what may not yet be disseminated. Found a few. If you ever liked or liked to roll your eyes at me, wish me luck.

WE'RE DOING SCIENCE, BISHES.
And I'm the test subject. Eep

If this doesn't work, I'm turning to ritual magic.
(I may or may not kid)

aardrian, to random
@aardrian@toot.cafe avatar

Whenever an org says it wants to use ‘AI’ for a better customer experience, it is almost certainly lying.

Customers are not clamoring for shitty chat bots that extend the time to get to a real human. Customers are not asking for LLM-authored SEO-driven FAQ pages. Customers are not asking for yet more hero images of people with extra fingers.

The org is likely only interested in using ‘AI’ to reduce effort, save money, cut staff.

Melpomene,
@Melpomene@erisly.social avatar

@aardrian Yup. Amazon is a great example... they've gone through great pains to make the process of reaching a human as difficult as they can without removing it entirely.

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