Janelle Shane
@janelleshane.com
I write about the strange side of AI at aiweirdness.com
Also a research scientist in optics.
She/her. Colorado, USA
I am so proud of everyone.
I’m not sure the “uncommon” questions are turning up unusually low quality answers - it may be just easier to notice them here than in more specialized domains.
@NBCNews: Social media has been buzzing with examples of Google’s new, “experimental” AI tool going awry.
A Google spokesperson said the company believes users are deliberately attempting to trip up the technology with uncommon questions. https://t.co/Wj9iuKzzHk
Asked chatgpt+bluesky to generate a damaged fresco, then restore the face to how it was when it was freshly painted.
Worse with every repair attempt. (Unless you only like your Jesus smooth)
405 532 633 800 1030 1064 1550
What are some numbers in your field that anyone else in it would identify without even thinking about it, but folk outside may have no idea.
Just the numbers, no explanations. Yet.
105 148 210 297 420 594 841 1189
One problem with generated art I've noticed: the more it tries to revise an image, the more hilariously awful it gets.
www.aiweirdness.com/an-exercise-...
An exercise in frustration
There's an anonymous facebook posting that's been making the rounds, in which a studio art director tried to hire AI prompters to make art, only to discover that they were completely unable to carry o...
www.aiweirdness.comPosting this terrific @sarahpinsker.bsky.social multiverse murder mystery here for no particular reason www.uncannymagazine.com/article/and-...
Of the glittering array of SFF-related trophies handed out each year, some are *surprisingly* menacing... @jdnicoll.bsky.social offers a survey of the bluntest instruments and pointiest prizes to ever grace a mantlepiece:
reactormag.com/ranking-scie...
Ranking Science Fiction's Most Dangerous Awards - Reactor
A scientific survey of the relative heft, pointiness, and durability of SFF's most sought-after trophies.
reactormag.comI always look forward to @charliejane.bsky.social ‘s book review column because I’ve gotten some killer book recommendations from them. This time I insta-bought three!
Lately I've noticed a LOT of science fiction books that take place in a post-climate change future where a lucky few live in luxury and everyone else lives in the dirt. I've also noticed a lot of fantasy novels that lean into cozy sweetness. Five new books illustrate this perfectly!
wapo.st/4bBdf2o
Review | May’s books offer a choice: Dark science fiction or cozy fantasy
Dystopia or delight? These stories from Victor Manibo, Peter S. Beagle and others let you take your pick.
wapo.stAurora seen from Boulder Reservoir. Brightness really picked up around midnight.
Now picturing a laser lab full of coiled cobras instead of lasers
He made one extra all of his own creation that I love but I can’t use due to pedantic hero nerds and the best herp nerds who desperately would want to know about this breeding program and could they have one.
I checked, @seananmcguire.bsky.social wants a laser cobra.
My new mental rubric for the realism of a space opera setting includes whether this sort of thing could happen
These Pokémon Go players want to catch Wigletts so bad they're inventing fake beaches on a real map that real people use.
In other words, "Oh dear, a new Pokemone":
www.404media.co/pokemon-go-p...
Pokémon Go Players Invent Fake Beaches on Real Maps to Catch Rare Wigletts
Volunteer maintainers of the widely used OpenStreetMap are battling Pokémon Go players who are vandalizing the map with fake data in order to cheat in the game.
www.404media.co
Pumpkin and ghost!
Information retrieval at its finest
So I was rereading @janelleshane.com's piece on neural network-created knitting patterns and wondered if ChatGPT could create cross stitch patterns for me. Sort of? Maybe?
(Bing CoPilot could not produce anything usable.)
janellecshane.substack.com/p/skyknit-wh...
I moved www.aiweirdness.com from Substack to Ghost a couple of years ago and I’m really glad I did.
I want to talk about my move from Substack to Ghost for a second, and what it's been like working with a nonprofit tech company that actually lives its values.
Especially if you're a writer still on Subtack, please read. 1/x
First of all, about the org: They are a nonprofit, I just met employee +
Ghost: Independent technology for modern publishing
Beautiful, modern publishing with newsletters and premium subscriptions built-in. Used by Sky, 404Media, Lever News, Tangle, The Browser, and thousands more.
ghost.org
This was a perfect Saturday morning breakfast read by @sarahpinsker.bsky.social Ordinary people working urban infrastructure in a fantasy setting - Collecting garbage and serving justice!
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/one-...
One Man's Treasure - Uncanny Magazine
Aden had never once forgotten his gear for bulk trash day, but he found it touching that Nura still taped a monthly reminder note on the door from the kitchen to the garage. Sweet of her to remember, ...
www.uncannymagazine.comI wrote about a study showing GPT detectors have significant false positive rates that are biased against non native English speakers: www.aiweirdness.com/dont-use-ai-...
Don't use AI detectors for anything important
I've noted before that because AI detectors produce false positives, it's unethical to use them to detect cheating.
Now there's a new study that shows it's even worse. Not only do AI detectors falsel...
Products like these are pure unredeemable grift.
If you type "reddit" at the end of your Google searches, we regret to inform you that Reddit threads are being poisoned by AI-generated posts designed to promote products "in conversations naturally."
www.404media.co/ai-is-poison...
AI Is Poisoning Reddit to Promote Products and Game Google With 'Parasite SEO'
A market for manipulating Reddit using AI have emerged.
www.404media.coI’m not sure exactly where they got it - I didn’t replicate it when I asked ChatGPT but I don’t know what info they were prompting it for
And I then proceeded to give a talk about why you can’t trust what these algorithms generate!
This happened to me too! They asked if they could congratulate me on my recent wedding in Toronto (I'm not married, and have never been to Toronto).
I had the awkward experience recently of being onstage at an event and having someone read a bio of me that was factually inaccurate. I’d have known it was AI-written—even if they hadn’t told me beforehand, proudly, that they’d “asked ChatGPT” the answers to some factual questions.
My cat Neon is very adept at locking up my browser with his butt. And typing special characters
GBBO… in space???
Instant preorder! Can’t wait to read this!
⭐️COVER REVEAL⭐️
I’m thrilled to *finally* share the gorgeous, delectable cover for my new novel: INTERSTELLAR MEGACHEF!
If you want a book that’s all things food… in space(!), then this is for you 👀
Out November, preorder now:
geni.us/Megachef
Cover: Sam Gretton
ChatGPT can generate Magic Eye pictures! At least according to ChatGPT.
www.aiweirdness.com/hidden-3d-pi...
Instant subscribe! Can’t wait till this comes out!
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Hey look I’m doing a thing youtu.be/L5YO9nmojo4?...
A Podcast About The Entire History Of The Universe
Introducing the very first Crash Course Podcast! Over the next 11 episodes, John Green and Katie Mack will walk through the entire history of the universe… even the parts that aren’t written yet. Episode 1 premieres April 24th and can be streamed here on the Crash Course channel and wherever else you get your podcasts. Subscribe at https://complexly.io/theuniverse Thank you to the Perimeter institute for letting us use some of their footage here. You can find those videos featured here: Introducing: Quantum 101 with Katie Mack https://youtu.be/Xt1hO7YvNx0?si=PPxFf0sfndSRynkt Katie Mack is coming to Perimeter Institute https://youtu.be/fa4cLiAwgVA?si=3dzM_79AU42wUy1L Additional footage provided by NASA. *** Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse Thanks to the following patrons for their generous monthly contributions that help keep Crash Course free for everyone forever: Leah H., David Fanska, Andrew Woods, DL Singfield, Ken Davidian, Stephen Akuffo, Toni Miles, Steve Segreto, Kyle & Katherine Callahan, Laurel Stevens, Burt Humburg, Perry Joyce, Scott Harrison, Mark & Susan Billian, Alan Bridgeman, Breanna Bosso, Matt Curls, Jennifer Killen, Jon Allen, Sarah & Nathan Catchings, team dorsey, Bernardo Garza, Trevin Beattie, Eric Koslow, Indija-ka Siriwardena, Jason Rostoker, Siobhán, Ken Penttinen, Nathan Taylor, Barrett & Laura Nuzum, Les Aker, William McGraw, Vaso, ClareG, Rizwan Kassim, Constance Urist, Alex Hackman, Pineapples of Solidarity, Katie Dean, Stephen McCandless, Wai Jack Sin, Ian Dundore, Caleb Weeks __ Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet? Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thecrashcourse/ Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse CC Kids: http://www.youtube.com/crashcoursekids
youtu.be
The Terraformers by @annaleen.bsky.social
*the trains are actually fairly well behaved
**unless you are an exploitative corporation
Six dead, eight missing after the red line suddenly got the zoomies
“an LLM has no concept of chemical incompatibility, just how to make an answer that is MSDS shaped.”
Because I was asked in Toronto if I had ever wrote all of a rant I gave them down, and the answer was no, I did so. Please enjoy Phil vs. LLMs.
CW: Child poisoning, train derailment, mass casualty
Phil vs. LLMs - Funranium Labs
Last year, my friend Ed made a post regarding the nascent proliferation of ChatGPT and competitors in to various search engines and other products. With a moment’s contemplation after reading it, I ju...
www.funraniumlabs.com
I know an audiobook is good when I deliberately stop listening to it, go listen to a podcast, come back and read a bit more - all so it will last longer and I have time to think about each story
Like my cat putting her favorite toy in my shoe only so she can come back to it in a few minutes
That lineup of authors! I can’t wait to read this!
Booksellers, librarians, bloggers, and reviewers get NEW ADVENTURES IN SPACE OPERA, the new anthology from award-winning editor @jonathanstrahan.bsky.social #netgalley #edelweiss
https://buff.ly/3U0UwHp
@deuceofgears.bsky.social @byzantienne.bsky.social @tkingfisher.bsky.social
1/2
I am 1.2 stories into the audiobook so far and absolutely loving it. This is the stuff.
LAKE OF SOULS, my collection of short fiction, is available TOMORROW! Wherever fine books are sold!
Happy trans day of visibility! Sending love and support to all my trans friends and family.
Genuinely curious if the people rushing to build these chatbots don’t know that their answers are frequently bogus, or don’t care
themarkup.org/news/2024/03...
NYC’s AI Chatbot Tells Businesses to Break the Law – The Markup
The Microsoft-powered bot says bosses can take workers’ tips and that landlords can discriminate based on source of income
themarkup.orgIt's so good! And, considering the complexity of the narrative voice, the audiobook is exceptionally well done.
If you try to scrape a protected seafloor, the spiky art will mess up your tools.
#glaze #nightshade
www.wired.com/story/underw...
The Undersea Art Gallery That Ensnares Illegal Trawlers
Trailing weighted nets across the seabed wrecks fish stocks and kills carbon-capturing seagrasses—but one fisherman’s sculpture project has turned the tide.
www.wired.com
Hahaha what
Pills dissolve much faster if you lie on your right side
Useful but cursed human anatomy knowledge
engineering.jhu.edu/magazine/202...
Prime Posture for Pill Taking - JHU Engineering Magazine
When you have a headache and reach for a pain reliever, you’re probably not thinking about your body position when you swallow that pill. But a new study by Johns Hopkins engineers finds your posture ...
engineering.jhu.eduAbsolutely loved Adjoa Andoh’s reading of The Raven Tower - she is so good at gravitas!
The fact that even a 5yo can call out this DALL-E3 generated image as nonsense doesn't mean that it's an unusually bad example. It's just what happens when the usual AI-generated information intersects with an area where most people are experts.
www.aiweirdness.com/shaped-like-...
Wow, and it's still up: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Tell me you (Elsevier) publish journal articles without either review or editing without telling me...
Preordered! I loved Elatsoe and am super excited for a prequel. It's super refreshing to read a kid's book where the adults are reasonable and supportive but don't overpower the kid with their adulty competence.
My latest review at @skiffyandfanty.bsky.social enthusiastically recommends Sheine Lende: A prequel to Elatsoe, by Darcie Little Badger. A Lipan Apache teenage girl tries to find her mother and some missing children, with the help of a ghost dog, friends, and others. I couldn't put it down!
The Skiffy and Fanty Show: Book Review: Sheine Lende, by Darcie Little Badger
I happily devoured the nearly 400-page novel within one day, although I had to stay up a few hours late to finish it. I just couldn’t put it down.
skiffyandfanty.com
When chatbot customer service claims to be human, it’s worse for everyone.
Of course when they’re based on large language models you can’t really stop them from saying anything
This is a confirmed (via call to the office) chatbot claiming to be a real person named Lisa, trying to provide customer service and failing. We’re living in hell.
