retrospectology

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Privacy in Ars Technica reports Microsoft will add AI to Windows, to steal your corporate secrets

At first glance, the Recall feature seems like it may set the stage for potential gross violations of user privacy. Despite reassurances from Microsoft, that impression persists for second and third glances as well. For example, someone with access to your Windows account could potentially use Recall to see everything you've been doing recently on your PC, which might extend beyond the embarrassing implications of pornography viewing and actually threaten the lives of journalists or perceived enemies of the state.

Despite the privacy concerns, Microsoft says that the Recall index remains local and private on-device, encrypted in a way that is linked to a particular user's account. "Recall screenshots are only linked to a specific user profile and Recall does not share them with other users, make them available for Microsoft to view, or use them for targeting advertisements. Screenshots are only available to the person whose profile was used to sign in to the device," Microsoft says.

This sounds very much like on of those claims that has an invisible "for now" attached to it. It's always going to be a slow roll out with these kinds of things.

retrospectology , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to Privacy in Ars Technica reports Microsoft will add AI to Windows, to steal your corporate secrets

Can't view the post without the reddit app, have a direct link to the actual article?

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Technology in FBI Arrests Man For Generating AI Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

If it was photoreal and difficult to distinguish from real photos? Yes, it's exactly the same.

And even if it's not photo real, communities that form around drawn child porn are toxic and dangerous as well. Sexualizing children is something I am 100% against.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Technology in FBI Arrests Man For Generating AI Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

The fuck are you talking about? No one's "enslaving" you because they're trying to stop you from generating child porn.

Fucking libertarians dude.

retrospectology , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to Technology in FBI Arrests Man For Generating AI Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

Thats not the question, the question is not "can we stop AI entirely" it's about regulating its development and yes, we can make efforts to do that.

This attitude of "it's inevitable, can't do anything about it" is eerily similar logic to what is used in climate denial and other right-wing efforts. It's a really poor attitude to have, especially about something as consequential as AI.

We have the best opportunity right now to create rules about its uses and development. The answer is not "do nothing" as if it's some force of nature, as opposed toa tool created by humans.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Technology in FBI Arrests Man For Generating AI Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

Lemmy really needs to stop justifying CP.
We can absolutely do more than "eDuCaTiOn". AI is created by humans, the training data is gathered by humans, it needs regulation like any other industry.

It's absolutely insane to me how laissez-fair some people are about AI, it's like a cult.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Technology in FBI Arrests Man For Generating AI Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

The arrest is only a positive. Allowing pedophiles to create AI CP is not a victimless crime. As others point out it muddies the water for CP of real children, but it also potentially would allow pedophiles easier ways to network in the open (if the images are legal they can easily be platformed and advertised), and networking between abusers absolutely emboldens them and results in more abuse.

As a society we should never allow the normalization of sexualizing children.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Lefty Memes in Lefty Nemesis

Yeah, this is kind of what I'm talking about. You can't on one hand say you're for progressive leftist ideals, which are centered on human rights and democratic freedom and then also employ the rhetoric of a far right dictatorship. You're just soft-selling authoritarianism at that point in defense of some empty label.

Criticizing the US is one thing, even wanting their power balanced by other nations is sensible, but pretending the CCP is anything but a far-right totalitarian dictatorship isn't productive if the goal is a world with more opportunities for progressive ideas to take root -- there is no scenario that manifests out of the CCP increasing its geopolitical influence that isn't objectively worse, regardless of what bones there are to pick with the right-wing in the US. The goal should be defeating the far-right in the US, not kneecapping the US so the CCP can start expending their imperial ambitions.

China accumulating power only moves the global needle further towards authoritarian norms, not away from them. It results in more cross pollination between right-wing groups internationally. We are witnessing it right now, as US democracy declines (not US power) and China rises we see a not-so-coincidental rise in far-right groups everywhere else too (which China and Russia happily foster and weaponize. Very progressive of them).

In the US (or any democracy) there is still much more political diversity, so if you criticize US actions you're really criticizing one of those groups and their abuse of US power. By contrast, China has a single state party with a single person at its head with more or less unrestricted power. It is quite a few steps ahead on the road to fascism even compared to the US. So it doesn't make sense to try and bill them as the same thing.

There is no internal force within China working to reform it, not even potential for it, but there are progressive groups in the US pushing against the right-wing authoritarianism rising in their own country. If there weren't we wouldn't be seeing the evolution of public perception on issues like Israel/Gaza. That is a direct result of Americans themselves pushing from within using their (slowly diminishing) rights. You see nothing like that in China because it's simply not possible, fascism is already locked in there. It doesn't help you or anyone else for them to gain more influence.

Dictatorship and authoritarianism are diametrically opposed to every progressive political goal, they aren't concepts that can be harnessed for some greater good, they are never a means to an end.

This is because, as you allude to, the defining characteristic of the "left" is that it is always looking to evolve society past the solutions that have proven to be failures (like monarchy, theocracy, corprotocracy, communism, libertarianism etc.) in favor of decision-making that's based on reality as we understand it now and can be adapted without concentration camps and mass graves.

"Leftism" is when people try to use knowledge for the goal of fostering human dignity, well-being and freedom, but it is also when people are ready to cast aside ideas that fail to produce. It doesn't matter what flavor of progressive someone is, those are still the central defining notions that unite anyone inclined to be "left wing".

If someone finds themselves defending ideas or groups that don't serve those basic purposes they're simply no longer promoting progressive/left ideas -- they're promoting failed ideas that will inevitably be incorporated by the right to open new routes to the same resolution as any right-wing effort. That's what conservativism is; a failure to move as our understanding of reality moves.

So, yeah, some people only just becoming politically aware might have muddled thinking about things they were taught along the way, but they need to be shown how those ideas don't really reinforce the end goal they actually want, not to have those ideas treated as legitimate and valid forms of progressive political philosophy. They need to be taught how to examine any idea for what it is, not what they want it to be.

This is the problem with having loyalty to labels, specific theories and personalities over basic principles and practical realities. You become inflexible and vulnerable to having your good intentions exploited, ending up in these weird positions where you're supporting the very thing you claimed to be against (like self-proclaimed leftists who still defend Stalin or the CCP despite the mind-boggling levels of human suffering they've produced)

I don't care about implementing one specific left-branded ideology or another, my concern is more with ejecting conservative political thought so that ideas and information can be discussed and debated to find the solutions that actually produce good for everyone. That simply isn't possible until the people get past the corpses of their darlings, whatever they may be.

That deliberation should be able to happen without people dogmatically attempting to shoehorn in ideas that have already been tried and failed. Progressives should not be precious with ideas that way and should be willing to label ideas based on what they produce in reality, not just in theory.

retrospectology , 1 month ago (edited 1 month ago) to Lefty Memes in Lefty Nemesis

I think the real division on the "left" can be boiled down to those using all the language and rhetoric of left wing ideology but in service of fascist and conservative ideas.

For example, tankies or people who have been brainwashed by tankies; a person can spend all day talking about how they support Palestine and BLM and LGBT rights etc. but then turn around and defend the CCP, which completely undermines any claim that they're actually on the left/center.

So in that way it's less of a "progressives never agree" and more of a "anti-progressive ideas are constantly pushed into progressive spaces to undermine them."

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Technology in Google's call-scanning AI could dial up censorship by default, privacy experts warn

Combined with how easy it is becoming to create an AI copy of a person's voice you're pretty soon not going to ever be sure if what you're saying or hearing on a phone is actually what's being said or if it's being edited in real time. China's gonna love this shit.

Really hate tech bros who just keep recklessly pushing ahead on this stuff. Absolutely the worst scenario for AI.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Technology in Cruise is back driving autonomously for the first time since pedestrian-dragging incident

The worst thing about the driveless car fad is that you can opt out of riding in them but none of us can opt of being run down by them.

I'm beginning to despise tech bros more and more every day.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Memes in For anyone asking: Yes, I am paid by the Chinese government 🤣

Found the tankie, lol.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Memes in For anyone asking: Yes, I am paid by the Chinese government 🤣

Not all of them are paid, some are just useful idiots.

retrospectology , 1 month ago to Memes in For anyone asking: Yes, I am paid by the Chinese government 🤣

Well that's not fair, not everyone who defends the CCP is being paid, some are just useful idiots.

retrospectology , 2 months ago to Technology in Jack Dorsey claims Bluesky is 'repeating all the mistakes' he made at Twitter

I'll take your word for it, you literally couldn't pay me to watch Joe Rogan lol.