Though wrapped in the aesthetic of science, this paper is a pure expression of the AI hype’s ideology, including its reliance on invisible, alienated labor. Its data was manufactured to spec to support the authors’ pre-existing beliefs, and its conclusions are nothing but a re-articulation of their arrogance and ideological impoverishment.
First reaction: “Wait, that was in Nature?”
Second reaction: “Oh, Nature Scientific Reports. The ‘we have Nature at home’ of science journals.”
Among many insights, Davis (politely) points out that one of the AI-generated Chaucer poems is just “the opening of the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales.”
Whan that Aprille with the fuck?
That’s exactly why the series is about papers on Nature.com. They’re trading on the prestige of the domain to spinoff various portfolio journals and companies get to go to potential customers saying, “according to a study published in Nature…”
Fantastic write-up. Gonna add your RSS to my list!
I like your blog because (years ago, when I first learned the word), I used to attach negative connotations to the word “luddite”, and your blog’s name and topics made me realise my interpretation of historical Luddites was uncharitable.
To be fair, as a Millennial, most of my earliest experiences with tech were super positive, so it’s no wonder why I simplified things down to “luddites = anti-technology = bad”.
I’m really glad to hear that, because that was exactly my hope. It’s always impactful to realize that the history you thought you knew was just capital’s side of the story. It has happened to me too many times to count, and I’m sure that it’ll happen a million times more.
I’ve got some pretty good news for you - Brian Merchant’s been doing plenty of work on rehabilitating the Luddites’ image as well, and in his own words he’s seen plenty of progress on that front.
Yeah I’m a fan. I’ve always had a bit of a niche interest in proto-socialist movements, like the luddites, the diggers, etc., so, at first, it felt like a sorta crazy coincidence that I started writing my blog just before his book came out, but then I realized that it’s not. We, like everyone else, are just living through the same stupid shit.
Just forwarding along the last mention of this by @blakestacey
Which links to this discourse
Shocking that anyone would believe, let alone publish that headline. It comes across as obviously false given the ultra-subjective and human nature of poetry.
Also, I ended up reading about six more blog posts, lol. You’re excellent at piecing together many disparate pieces into a cohesive whole, which is well supported by facts. I particularly liked your piece on “capture platforms”, and your whole blog was a good reminder regarding the power of the abstractions we make as developers. It’s easy to forget the importance of what we do and how it has real effects on the world.
Thank you so much! That’s the nicest thing to read because it’s exactly the kind of thought that I hope to inspire in my fellow developers.
Capture Platforms might be my favorite post, though it’s hard to compare it with the less serious, more fun kind. It’s certainly the one that I worked on the longest. I read at least 2 entire books and countless papers, essays, and book excerpts in the process of making it.
