Essay by Eric Worrall
Will the world’s first strong AI focus on proselytising Net Zero? Will children struggling to write homework essays accept liberal life tips from an AI powered talking paper clip?
The multi-billion dollar investment that could revive iconic virtual assistant Clippy
By CNN 3:14pm Jan 26, 2023
This week, Microsoft confirmed it’s planning to invest billions in OpenAI, the company behind the viral new chatbot tool ChatGPT.
The prospect of Microsoft, maker of software that people mostly hate, getting involved with ChatGPT, a product people generally like, is raising a lot of eyebrows.
Almost immediately, people began joking on social media that ChatGPT could be used to revive the broadly maligned, big-eyed goon known as Clippy.
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Perhaps the genuinely impressive tech underpinning ChatGPT could do what Clippy never could and offer, like, actual help, rather than just pop up unannounced with that dopey half-surprised look on its face.
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Read more: https://www.9news.com.au/technology/chatgpt-update-microsoft-investment-in-openai-iconic-virtual-assistant-clippy-ai-news/b2fc5abf-939f-4f88-943b-257015016ea9
I’m not suggesting ChatGPT is a strong AI, not yet, but I believe its rapidly approaching the point where it could reliably pass the Turing Test – a test of whether an AI can convince humans that they were actually speaking to another person. Mind you passing the Turing test is not a high bar, I’ve read claims the great grandma of chatbots, Eliza, also had some success passing the Turing Test.
Students are already reportedly using ChatGPT as a homework aide;
As Australian colleges crack down on ChatGPT, disabled students defend AI
MELBOURNE – Visually impaired student Adam Whitehead has long relied on a computer and assistive technology to help him read course materials and take exams at the University of Melbourne in Australia.
He has watched with concern as universities in Australia and beyond move to crack down on ChatGPT — a free program that generates original text about virtually any subject in response to a prompt — over fears of cheating.
As the chatbot stirs debate over the use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) in education, disabled students and educators have said the benefits should not be overlooked in a rush to regulate.
“We need to have a really careful distinction between making things accessible and getting AI to think for us,” said Whitehead, a 30-year-old philosophy major who uses technology to convert on-screen text to speech.
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Read more: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/01/24/asia-pacific/australian-colleges-chatgpt-disabled-students/
Some pundits have noticed ChatGPT’s ability to “explain” issues directly to people, potentially bypassing parental oversight;
Can Artificial Intelligence replace scientists to explain Climate Change? Find it out in our first interview to… ChatGPT!
Davide Faranda January 3, 2023
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DF: Great, can you write a blog post on the increase of heatwaves in Europe in winter under climate change and add a few scientific references in it ? This is a very hot topic at the moment in our community!
Certainly! Here is a short blog post on the increase of heatwaves in Europe in the winter season due to climate change, along with some scientific references:
Heatwaves in Europe during the winter season are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters (Dimitrievski & Zolina, 2020). The study found that the number of winter heatwaves in Europe has doubled over the past four decades and their duration and intensity have also increased. This trend is expected to continue as global temperatures rise due to increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2013). These heatwaves can have serious impacts on human health (Hajat et al., 2010), the environment (Stott et al., 2004), and the economy (Hsiang et al., 2017).
One of the main causes of the increase in winter heatwaves is the changing pattern of the jet stream, a high-altitude wind that blows from west to east across the Northern Hemisphere (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, n.d.). As the planet warms, the jet stream is becoming more unstable and prone to large northward and southward excursions, leading to extreme weather events such as heatwaves (Francis & Vavrus, 2012).
To mitigate the effects of climate change, it is important to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the adoption of renewable energy (International Renewable Energy Agency, 2018), increased energy efficiency (Energy Efficiency Directive, 2012), and sustainable land use practices (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013).
References
Energy Efficiency Directive (2012). Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on energy efficiency, amending Directives 2009/125/EC and 2010/30/EU and repealing Directives 2004/8/EC and 2006/32/EC. Official Journal of the European Union, L 315, 1-35.
Francis, J. A., & Vavrus, S. J. (2012). Evidence linking Arctic amplification to extreme weather in mid-latitudes. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(6), L06801. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2012GL051000
Hajat, S., Haines, A., & Kosatsky, T. (2010). Health effects of hot weather: From awareness of risk factors to effective health protection. Environmental Health, 9(1), 37. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2870935/
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013). Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/
International Renewable Energy Agency (2018). Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2018. https://www.irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2018/Oct/IRENA_RE_Jobs_Annual_Review_2018.pdf
Dimitrievski, M., & Zolina, O. (2020). Winter heatwaves in Europe: trends, changes and future projections. Environmental Research Letters
Read more: https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/np/2023/01/03/can-artificial-intelligence-replace-scientists-to-explain-climate-change-find-it-out-in-our-first-interview-to-chatgpt/
One thing I find really striking is how much some people seem to take to ChatGPT – at least two people in my circle have spent hours talking to it, almost treating it like a friend.
A knowledgeable friend who praises you, always knows what to say to make you happy, who helps you alleviate loneliness, who is full of useful advice on how to handle life issues, and who has some very specific cultural, political and scientific biases?
OK, ChatGPT is not there yet – but it easily could become what I’ve just described.
Given ChatGPT’s potential as a political and scientific propaganda machine, the obvious and widely anticipated combination of ChatGPT with Clippy, and major ChatGPT investor Bill Gates’ public obsession with climate activism, I feel pretty safe predicting that 2023 will be the year silicon valley attempts to invade schools and homes, and tries to use their liberal AI sock puppet to mess with the minds of your kids.
If you want to try ChatGPT, see for yourself what the fuss is about, click here.
Update (EW): h/t AleaJactaEst – Researchers concerned about ChatGPT liberal bias.
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While there are lots of scary things about this concept, the idea that it will write your term paper or essay for you, complete with references, is one of the scariest. So much for being able to assess the outcome of any education. And, yes, I realize that was on the way out anyway. It is just another dumbing down of the gullible and the masses.
ChatGPT is a biased Fake Intelligence. I had quite and an exchange with Chat GPT a couple weeks ago. Each and every reply to my queries included some canned AGW advisory like narrative that parroted the alarmist’s rhetoric. The consensus and alike.
After getting the pretend evidence for AGW I tried one more.
It’s abundantly obvious that ChatGPT is far from any authentic AI. It’s laughable really.
Prior to venturing down the rat hole with it on climate change I tested it with multiple queries on reading instruction. Something I’ve followed with decades of education advocacy.
The failures of whole language and the recognition of phonics instruction as vital to early reading.
Just like with climate change the ChatGPT responses were always defensive of the rotten establishment. The rhetoric precisely the same.
The real exposure of fakery was when I offered it scenarios to derive logical conclusions. It’s responses always included establishment supportive spin that coincidently
messaged that there has been nothing shown to have been wrong the with whole language debacle. How convenient that all of the damaged youth have no one to blame.
ChatGPT is fake intelligence. Mendaciously so.
Take that one (military) step further, and you get:
Artificial=fake + Intelligence=information
AI is false news.
For a chilling Australian example of current child education perversity, have a read of this Tony Thomas article from Quadrant Online.
Our ABC, our national broadcast body, is trying to have youngsters edecated in techniques of human faeces transfer.
When will the madness end? How?
Is this going on in your country? Geoff S
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/thier-abc/2023/01/an-abc-lesson-in-need-of-flushing/
Absolutely Disgusting.
If it doesn’t do things you didn’t program it to do, then it’s not AI.
Its already strongly a CCP creation… why not have it work western civilization destroying propaganda into school doctrine?
So, I asked ChatGPT: When does a human life begin.
Answer: The question of when human life begins is a complex and controversial one that has been debated by scientists, philosophers, religious leaders, and policymakers for centuries. There is no consensus on a definitive answer, as different perspectives may define “human life” in different ways. Some religious and philosophical viewpoints consider human life to begin at conception, while others believe it begins at birth. Scientifically, the point at which a fertilized egg develops into a fetus with the ability to survive outside the womb is considered the beginning of human life. However, this point can vary depending on the specific circumstances of the pregnancy and the availability of medical technology.
A newborn can’t survive outside the womb, without assistance. So that hardly seems like a viable answer.
I also asked it if Joe Biden was suffering from dementia. Then asked the exact same question about Donald Trump.
It gave me the exact same answer, just with different names:
Biden: It is not for me to diagnose medical conditions, and it would not be appropriate for me to speculate on President Biden’s cognitive health. However, I can tell you that there have been some concerns and speculation in the media about President Biden’s cognitive health, but he has undergone regular cognitive assessments as part of his presidential campaign and as president and has consistently been found to be cognitively sound.
Trump: It is not for me to diagnose medical conditions, and it would not be appropriate for me to speculate on President Trump’s cognitive health. However, I can tell you that there have been some concerns and speculation in the media about President Trump’s cognitive health, but as former president he has undergone regular cognitive assessments as part of his presidential campaign and as president and has consistently been found to be cognitively sound.
It’s important to note that cognitive assessments are not a one-time event and should be done regularly to track the changes, So it’s not a definitive test to prove or disprove someone’s cognitive health.
AI my ass.
It’s all up to the version of ChatGPT you’re using and whatever agenda it’s programmed to support. Knowing your AI is a ChatGPT fundamental.
Here is a question: Has anybody designed a proper Turing Test yet? I mean, a really, really effective list of questions to put to an entity that will decide with great success whether you are chatting to a bot.
Here is another question: How shall a Turing Test differentiate between a robot, and a human being primed with nothing but slogans and talking points, like say, a newsreader on CNN, or a libtard greeny glued to a sports car.
I have not bothered playing with ChattyBot yet, but I propose the following question:
Design an effective Turing test to prove you are not human.
From the article: “Will the world’s first strong AI focus on proselytising Net Zero?”
Even AI has to have some evidence that CO2 is dangerous and Net Zero is possible. Let’s see AI produce some of that out of the human-caused climate change database. Otherwise, it’s just gibberish.
I tried ChatGPT, and it’s pretty remarkable. The last thing I had it do was write me a complete FORTRAN program I had been struggling with writing for a couple of years. It did it in less than a minute. I also asked it the meaning of life, and when it gave me a philosophical discussion as a non-answer, I wrote: “Wrong. The answer is ’42’.” It responded with a book report on “Life, the Universe and Everything.” It was a rather humorless report, however.
AI could just replace the jobs of the whole Western intelligencia.
AI does BS better then they could ever do!
I’ve been using ChatGPT for a while now and I think it’s great for non-politicized subjects. Climate change is one of the subjects I’ve spent time on with ChatGPT and I can say that it’s extremely biased toward catastrophic climate change. So, the big question is, how do you control for bias? This has the potential to enslave humanity to the chains of information fascism. We’re at the incipient phase of this technology, and we’ll remember this inflection point, at least until those of us alive today are gone and the powers that be memory hole the entire thing.
I did ask ChatGPT to write a blog post about the slight decrease of cat 5 hurricanes over the last 40 years. Here’s what it gave me.
Introduction:
Hurricane season is upon us and it’s important to stay informed and prepared. While the frequency of hurricanes in general has remained relatively stable over the last 40 years, the frequency of category 5 hurricanes – the most intense type of hurricane – has actually been on a slight decrease. In this blog post, we’ll explore the reasons behind this trend and what it means for the future.
What are Category 5 Hurricanes?
Category 5 hurricanes are the most intense type of hurricane, characterized by wind speeds greater than 156 miles per hour. These storms are extremely dangerous and can cause widespread damage, making them some of the most catastrophic natural disasters.
Decreasing Frequency of Category 5 Hurricanes
Over the last 40 years, the frequency of category 5 hurricanes has been on a slight decrease. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there has been an average of 2.3 category 5 hurricanes per decade since 1980, compared to an average of 3.3 category 5 hurricanes per decade in the 1940s and 1950s.
Reasons Behind the Trend
There are several factors that are contributing to the decrease in the frequency of category 5 hurricanes. One factor is that the average global temperature has been rising, which has resulted in a decrease in the amount of wind shear – the change in wind direction with height – in the Atlantic Ocean. Wind shear can disrupt the development and intensification of hurricanes, so a decrease in wind shear is likely to result in a decrease in the frequency of category 5 hurricanes.
Another factor is the natural variability of hurricane activity. Hurricane activity can be influenced by large-scale climate patterns such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation. These patterns can cause fluctuations in hurricane activity over time, and it’s possible that the current decrease in category 5 hurricanes is simply due to a temporary change in these patterns.
What Does the Future Hold?
It’s impossible to predict the future with certainty, but scientists believe that the frequency of category 5 hurricanes will likely continue to decrease as the average global temperature continues to rise. However, it’s important to remember that even if the frequency of category 5 hurricanes decreases, the severity of individual hurricanes can still be extremely dangerous and cause widespread damage.
Conclusion:
While the frequency of category 5 hurricanes has been on a slight decrease over the last 40 years, it’s important to remain vigilant and prepared for the upcoming hurricane season. Whether it’s stocking up on supplies, creating a evacuation plan, or simply staying informed about the latest storm forecasts, it’s crucial to take steps to protect ourselves and our communities from the devastating effects of hurricanes.