ZachWeinersmith

ZachWeinersmith, 10 months ago to random

So, what's your view on how we should legally think about AI art models that use copyrighted art for training data? I'm not sure there's a compelling analogy?

Clearly this is what human artists do all day long, of course. And the question is in what way is that different form having an AI do it. Any thoughts? I'm particularly interested in people familiar with the most relevant law.

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

There should be a reverse Indiana Jones film where a South American tribe sneaks into the Vatican, steals some relics, and gets away on a boat while a bunch of men in golden robes shake their fists and shout their strange language.

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

I'm not a crazy AI hype guy, but I keep meeting people who think it won't work because it can't [x], when X is something it's quite good at, at least compared to most humans e.g. ascertaining context, providing nuance, using heuristics. It's dumb about a LOT of stuff and it hallucinates citations so you have to be careful, but it's an outstanding learning tool.

ZachWeinersmith, 6 months ago to random

HI! I'm stuck in a hotel lobby for a while! AMA

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

What are your answers to the three questions on the cover?

ZachWeinersmith, 10 months ago to random

It really weirds me out how non-douchey Mastodon is. I have to use twitter for business, for now anyway, but I always feel a little antsy posting there. Like, even nice people sometimes seem like they're just itching to call you at as a moron or bastard. On mastodon, people talk and support. I wonder if the lack of QTs is a big part of it?

ZachWeinersmith, 10 months ago to random

I guess on some deep level I don't understand why Mark Zuckerberg needs all of my personal data three separate times. It's starting to seem like an obsession.

ZachWeinersmith, 9 months ago to random

Do you think better AI will change the way we store files? Meaning basically, right now you make specific folders and ideally nest them so you can locate stuff. But maybe in the future everything just goes in a bin and you say "hey AI, get me that one file about the thing"

ZachWeinersmith, 6 months ago to random

OK guys, A City on Mars is out.

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/639449/a-city-on-mars-by-kelly-and-zach-weinersmith/

Heretofore I've had to hold back a bit on discussing it, but now the book is going out into the world, so Ask Me Anything about space settlement: science, politics, law, historiography, etc. I'll do my best to answer.

ZachWeinersmith, 10 months ago to random

Do you think there's a way the Internet could've been designed differently, early on, which would've made it better than it is now?

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

Hey Francophones - possibly offensive question. Beyond ending sounds, are there other rules of thumb for guessing gender of a word without knowing it? I may be imagining it, but I feel I can get pretty far imagining a sexist past society, e.g. large scary animals, new technology, important things often male. House stuff, small cute things often female.

ZachWeinersmith, 7 months ago to random

Where do you draw the line between AI you like and dislike? My sense is there's a serious disdain for e.g. generative art or text, but not for other machine-learning stuff, like plant ID apps or speech to text software.

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

I'm sure there's a tendency to always view the past as better, but the social-media-ification of the Internet has really sucked a lot of the joy out of entertaining people. When it was peripheral to the broader Internet, you spent most of your time making stuff. Now you gotta learn 8 to 12 platforms that mostly want you to act like an employee of their algorithm.

ZachWeinersmith, 6 months ago to random

What food tradition do you think is the best at taking shitty ingredients and making something really tasty?

ZachWeinersmith, 7 months ago to random

What are your last three book purchases and are you ashamed?

ZachWeinersmith, 7 months ago to random

But how to end this perfect setup?

ZachWeinersmith, 7 months ago to random

Game:

Suppose JK Rowling were not British. What names do her British token characters have?

Edit: Please feel free to provide sample dialog from your character(s).

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

So, you frequently see these charts showing the relative value of e.g. an engineering degree vs. a sociology degree. Are there any papers that try to compare student quality prior to degree selection?

(I'm allowed to ask this as an English major! My experience was the top people in both English and Physics are very good, but the average ability and effort was much higher among physics majors)

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

Anyone else out there boring enough to keep a 3 ring binder of recipes? How do you organize?

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

Stupid econ question:

Why isn't food more deflationary? Like, I understand why jobs involving humans have to keep up with the rising price of labor, but food gets more and more automated, no?

Or is it actually deflationary, but only on long scales? Or, will it become super deflationary once it's possible and economically viable to e.g. hire fruit pickers?

But that still wouldn't explain why, e.g. cereal, has gotten pricier over time.

ZachWeinersmith, 10 months ago to random

Someone defend Chicago pizza. I don't get it.

ZachWeinersmith, 8 months ago to random

Who's an author everyone likes because they read his/her books as a kid, but which you read later and do not get?

Edit: movies or TV shows are also acceptable!

ZachWeinersmith, 6 months ago to random

If one more person critiques A City on Mars for not accounting for something that is in fact accounted for one the book, I am going to... feel moderately annoyed but take no action.

ZachWeinersmith, 7 months ago to random

Something I've been thinking on lately re: pedagogy. I feel like the best learning I do in my life happens when there are real stakes. Like, I know space settlement literature quite well, in part because I had to write a book a lot of people would read and judge. Topics where I just read for fun? I do not retain them well.

Part of why kids don't remember shit is, I suspect, that there are few meaningful stakes for them.

ZachWeinersmith, 7 months ago to random

Holy shit, the day after I did a comic about Ronald McDonald crying blood for mcrib they're bringing it back?

What else would you like me to do with this power?