Signal to Noise Report
"It could take away the very soul of the world..."
The Signal to Noise Report collects headlines to illustrate humanity’s move into what is beginning to resemble a hybrid species: The Jetsons meets Blade Runner. The idea being that we have a proclivity to accept (with glee) whatever new techno gizmos are shoved at us, yet rarely question their purpose and/or their long-term effects on our health and sanity.
This A.I. Company Wants to Take Your Job
Dario Amodei, the chief executive of Anthropic, recently warned that A.I. could displace as many as half of all entry-level white-collar jobs in the next five years.
Mechanize is one of a number of start-ups working to make that possible. The company was founded this year by Mr. Besiroglu, Ege Erdil and Matthew Barnett, who worked together at Epoch AI, a research firm that studies the capabilities of A.I. systems.
Mechanize is starting with computer programming, an occupation where reinforcement learning has already shown some promise. But it hopes that the same strategy could be used to automate jobs in many other white-collar fields.
“We’ll only truly know we’ve succeeded once we’ve created A.I. systems capable of taking on nearly every responsibility a human could carry out at a computer,” the company wrote in a recent blog post.
“If society as a whole becomes much wealthier, then I think that just outweighs the downsides of people losing their jobs,” Mr. Barnett said.
Robert Reich: Peter Thiel’s Palantir poses a grave threat to Americans
In JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, a “palantír” is a seeing stone that can be used to distort truth and present selective visions of reality. During the War of the Ring, a palantír falls under the control of Sauron, who uses it to manipulate and deceive.
Palantir Technologies bears a striking similarity. It sells an AI-based platform that allows its users – among them, military and law enforcement agencies – to analyze personal data, including social media profiles, personal information and physical characteristics. These are used to identify and surveil individuals.
In March, Trump signed an executive order requiring all agencies and departments of the federal government to share data on Americans. To get the job done, Trump chose Palantir Technologies.
According to New York Times reporting, Palantir’s software may now be used to combine data gleaned from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. Meanwhile, the administration wants access to citizens’ and others’ bank account numbers and medical claims.
Their Water Taps Ran Dry When Meta Built Next Door
“It feels like we’re fighting an unwinnable battle that we didn’t sign up for,” said Ms. Morris, a retired payroll specialist, adding that she and her husband have spent $5,000 on their water problems and cannot afford the $25,000 to replace the well. “I’m scared to drink our own water.”
The Morrises’ experience is one of a growing number of water-related issues around Newton County, which is a one-and-a-half-hour drive east of Atlanta and has a population of about 120,000 people. As tech giants like Meta build data centers in the area, local wells have been damaged, the cost of municipal water has soared and the county’s water commission may face a shortage of the vital resource.
The situation has become so dire that Newton County is on track to be in a water deficit by 2030, according to a report last year. If the local water authority cannot upgrade its facilities, residents could be forced to ration water.
Nick Cave: “AI could take away the very soul of the world, which is the creative process…”
From Sensual Butt Songs to Santa’s Alleged Coke Habit: AI Slop Music Is Getting Harder to Avoid
Tim Ingham, the founder and publisher of the trade publication Music Business Worldwide, documented his own experience tracking AI-generated music on Spotify last week. Like Belden, the first AI-generated music Spotify served up to him fell under the adult novelty umbrella; instead of butt-themed country music, it was ’70s soul-inspired songs about substance use like “I Caught Santa Claus Sniffing Cocaine.” Browsing around Spotify, Ingham writes that he quickly identified 13 artists that appear to be AI-fueled “with approximately 4.1 million cumulative monthly listeners between them.” Not all of this music was overtly goofy—some of it simply imitates popular genres like country.
Spotify did not respond to requests for comment.
The next frontier in real estate: Data centers on the moon and space-support infrastructure
“We are in the early days of something that will be some major investments, and we’re creating these new rails of the future. In this case, it’s more into orbit instead of on the ground, but when you think about it that way, think about all the nodes that are going to get developed and created. It’s exciting, and I think investors need to be thinking that way,” he said.
One of those rails is data centers. They are going up at a quick pace all over the world, and at the same time sucking up more energy than most local grids can handle. Putting them in space offers a fully decarbonized energy solution.
“There is unlimited power in space because of the sun, there is unlimited cooling with the vacuum of space, and there’s unlimited real estate in terms of where you can put these things,” said Steinbach.
Why the world's superyachts are getting bigger and bigger
What exactly is a superyacht? While there is no official global classification, industry website and magazine Boat International describes one as "a luxury, privately-owned yacht that measures 24 metres or more in length, and is professionally crewed".
The magazine says that global sales boomed after Covid. With the super rich suddenly unable to go to luxury hotels, as they were all closed during the pandemic, many switched to superyachts instead.
As a result, 1,024 new superyachts were built or on order around the world in 2022, a 25% jump from 2021, and a then all-time high, according to Boat International's figures. This then increased to 1,203 in 2023, another new record.
"After the pandemic people considered their super yachts as safe islands both for themselves and their relatives," says Barbara Amerio who co-owns Italian family-run superyacht builder Amer.
Denmark to tackle deepfakes by giving people copyright to their own features
The Danish government is to clamp down on the creation and dissemination of AI-generated deepfakes by changing copyright law to ensure that everybody has the right to their own body, facial features and voice.
The Danish government said on Thursday it would strengthen protection against digital imitations of people’s identities with what it believes to be the first law of its kind in Europe.
'Anti-government militia' says it’s targeting Oklahoma weather radars
An “anti-government militia” called ‘Veterans on Patrol’ told News 9 on Tuesday that it is “targeting” Oklahoma weather radars, days after an individual vandalized News 9’s weather radar.
The group, which the Southern Poverty Law Center called an “anti-government militia,” shared with News 9 that they believe weather radars control the weather.
Meyer noted that he posted the sign, adding that he believes the government is modifying the weather.
"They can embed their technology and civilian infrastructure in every home and every household utilizing the phones and their network towers to not only control the weather, modify the weather, but they can [target] individuals,” Meyer stated.
News 9’s Chief Meteorologist David Payne said that’s not what weather radars do at all.
Ned Mudd resides in Alabama where he engages in interspecies communication, rock collecting, and frequent cloud watching. He is the author of The Adventures of Dink and DVD (a space age comedy). Some of Ned’s best friends are raccoons.
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gotta love the Danes!
Glad I was born when I was. Can posit it but that's all. But thanks Ned for the compilation. Ditto Tabby Ivy. Love their television series.