Anybody who thinks LLMs are a direct route to…AGI that could fundamentally transform society…is kidding themselves. – Gary Marcus
It’s rare these days to see a judge side with justice against power:
Years after a SWAT team in Texas destroyed an innocent woman’s home while [pla]ying [war with] a fugitive, the local government [has been ordered] to pay her $60,000 in damages plus interest…the end…[of] a legal odyssey that saw Vicki Baker…left with…the bill for…damages…[after pigs maliciously] detonated about 30 tear gas grenades inside Baker’s home, blew off the garage entryway with explosives, and careened a BearCat armored vehicle through her backyard fence. They smashed the windows and drove through her front door…[despite already having been] given…a garage door opener and the code to enter the home…[these theatrics] were [also performed despite the fact that kidnapper] Wesley Little…had…[already] released the [victim] unharmed [and committed]…suicide…
Civil rights advocates often joke that the Third Amendment is the only one that hasn’t been undermined, but I fail to see any important difference between the government forcibly taking people’s homes to quarter troops and forcibly taking them to enable cops and robbers games.
Other California cops are learning from drone-happy Chula Vista:
Sacramento County is eyeing a new approach to track and [spy on homeless] people…The county’s probation department [pretends] it [“]needs[“]…drones to [harass] homeless people who are on probation…The drones…will be [equipped with speakers] to [allow cops to oink at] homeless people…[without] exposing themselves to potential risk…and [thereby plan a strategy]…to move in [for pogroms. Another]….goal is to [expedite] issuing warrants when a homeless person does not show up for their probation check-ins…The Sacramento Homeless Union [obvious]ly opposes the plan…Crystal Sanchez, the union’s president, [said this]…”is just the latest escalation in a disturbing trend – treating people in crisis as if they are criminals to be surveilled…Instead of investing in real housing solutions, the county is doubling down on tactics that traumatize, intimidate and further destabilize those who are already vulnerable”…
As I keep saying: these algorithms are not “intelligent” in any way:
Apple researchers have found “fundamental limitations” in cutting-edge [“]artificial intelligence[“] models, in a paper…[demonstrating] that large reasoning models…faced a “complete accuracy collapse” when presented with…complex problems…[LLMs] outperformed LRMs in low-complexity tasks, while both types of model suffered “complete collapse” with high-complexity tasks…Gary Marcus, a US academic who has [not drunk the “]AI[” Kool-Aid], described the Apple paper as “pretty devastating”…The paper also found that reasoning models wasted computing power by [attempting to brute-force]…solutions and…for higher-complexity problems…fail[ed] to generate any correct solutions…even when provided with an algorithm that would solve the problem…The paper concluded that the current approach to AI may have reached limitations [just as critics like Maggie McNeill have predicted for decades]…
To clarify that last editorial insertion: I’ve been saying since the early ’90s that digital computers, by reducing everything to binary, are fundamentally unable to think as we understand the concept, regardless of how big or fast they are or how complex the software, because intelligence requires grasping the concept “maybe”, which is excluded by binary data processing.
The Supreme Court [has] allowed members of [Elon Musk’s so-called] Department of Government Efficiency to access [confidential] Social Security Administration data [in violation of the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act]…the Trump [regime had asked] the justices to lift an injunction issued by a federal judge in Maryland…in [response to a] lawsuit challenging [“]DOGE[“] actions…filed by…the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees…the American Federation of Teachers…[and] the Alliance for Retired Americans…the groups said…”This ruling will enable…Trump and [Musk’s minions] to steal Americans’ private and personal data”…In a separate order…the Supreme Court…allow[ed] the [regime] to…shield [“]DOGE[“] from freedom of information requests…
IOW, the “justices” say Musk and his stooges have the “right” to know everything about us, but we have no right to know anything about them.
The only way to stop these maniacs is to hit them where it hurts most:
After five years of…being called a “smut peddler” and a “pedophile” by a woman from a [the pro-censorship cult “Moms for Liberty”], West Michigan librarian Christine Beachler…filed a civil lawsuit against the [harasser], Stefanie Boone…Michigan libraries and librarians [have] fac[ed aggressive] attacks from [“Moms for Liberty” and other wannabe censors who often hide their identities to avoid public ridicule, but]…librarian[s are public employees so it was easy] for…Boone [to] wage…a relentless “smear campaign” against…Beachler…Boone…has read excerpts from books out of context at school board meetings…posted floods of [lies] about her on Facebook saying she provides pornography to minors…called [her] a groomer…a pedophile…[an]d a whore…Boone [also] filed her own [frivolous] lawsuit against Beachler, as well as the school district and several school employees for what she says are violations of her…right…to…indoctrinat[e]…students…
The State tortures thousands of people for crossing an imaginary line:
Immigrants [caged] in…[Leavenworth] prison in…Kansas and their attorneys reported an unsanitary, inequitable and unhealthy environment that has left people, even those who have won their immigration cases…[trapped in] crowded [cages with] extended lockdowns, de[nied]…medical treatment, restricted contact with their families, and no access to religious services [or sunlight]. In some cases, these conditions have led to suicide attempts…
Why are people shocked when men paid and encouraged to behave violently, behave violently?
…a…[typical and representative Minnesota cop named]…Larry D. Alstead…sustained multiple gunshot injuries in [a shootout with fellow cops] but died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound…[the cops invaded his home after his wife] report[ed he had attacked her in a] domestic assault…and th[en] locked [himself] in the basement…
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