things i think about while powerwashing 21

schedule change!

Hey everyone, I have realized that publishing this newsletter on Friday morning is very unsustainable as I am usually too tired/lazy on Thursday nights to do any writing. Also I have no life and just stay in on Fridays. Thus, we shall be publishing on SATURDAY MORNINGS. WOO HOOOO.

Schedule changes aside, I wanna talk about ChatGPT, the hottest kid on the block. It's that kid who had the newest iPhone in seventh grade, showing off whatever new capabilities the fruit company was pumping out at the time. This time it's rather believable, yet vexing, text generation.

I've seen what it can do. Simple text generation, writing grammatically correct yet informationally lacking short articles — unless it's this one about me. Here's excerpt:

I was not born in Indiana and take offense to that notion. But I'll take the (also false) other parts, like taking down corrupt education officials and uncovering a web of corruption! Wish I did that.

Despite all this, I think it'll be useful — not a replacement — but useful. Ignoring the data scraping ethics of this (See this Reddit post about a different text generation AI getting its data off a fanfic website), I think artists will start to use this as a kind of tool. Yes, it's probably some type of crutch, the same way that some artists choose to use Photoshop instead of putting the oils on the canvas. But it could be a Tool That The People Can Harness, And It Won't Bite Us In The Ass.

That's the hopeful take.

The doomer take (and frankly realistic) is that copyright law will have to be thoroughly re-evaluated. Yes — the data that we generate every day (like I am doing by writing this newsletter), will now have a magnifying glass to it as people become more and more aware that the data THEY generate are being used for profit.

That's not to say this is happening now, but what happens when Ted Cruz and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have their speeches plagiarized (not such how much to plagiarize from Ted)? The higher ups will start noticing that something isn't right.

Alternatively, they may use this opportunity to make a text generation AI that tweets like Donald Trump. The duality of technology.

recent pictures

I went to the Grand Canyon and finally got some film photos back! Enjoy ~

pet of the week

Being a house pet sounds so nice. These rabbits in particular just jump around, having fun, eating their little snackies and getting pet. I'm born in the Year of the Rabbit. I qualify right. RIGHT. Release me from the shackles of capitalism, I would take the form of a rabbit to thump my way out of this society.

(jk i love/very much enjoy my job i am content)