#stoptheaicorruption — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #stoptheaicorruption, aggregated by home.social.
-
CW: Pope Leo's Magnifica Humanitas: genAI and education [1/2]
Pope Leo's encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, released today. Focus on genAI.
Reading it as a university teacher and a non-Catholic and an atheist, I find deep truths in this document.
This pope understands the pedagogical challenges posed by the genAI maelstrom; he understands them better than most of my academic colleagues.
Quote from Section 140:
"Education is a long journey requiring patience, and therefore needs time for development and for engagement with reality beyond appearances."
"Educating people about the use of AI, then, involves teaching them to decide when and for what purpose it ought not to be used. The speed and ease with which answers or summaries can be obtained risk extinguishing the desire to ask questions, which is a process that bears fruit only over time."
#PopeLeo #MagnificaHumanitas #HigherEducation #pedagogy #noLLM #AcademicChatter #StopTheAICorruption
[1/2] \cont'd
-
CW: Strange alliances: I read a Jesuit's reflection on teaching
"To teach a person to live by thinking and to think by living."
Father Antonio Spadaro SJ offers a thoughtful reflection on the role of the university and the nature of learning.
I am a university teacher in a technical subject. I am not a Christian, not a Catholic. I am an atheist who admires the rebellious stance of the Reformation. But as a teacher, I find substance in Spadaro's text.
Learning and teaching are part of a process where the student encounters their subject, encounters others, encounters themselves. The university is a place that creates such encounters. That is a programme Martin Buber would be happy to share. It is also a programme that is threatened by the maelstrom of genAI corruption.
I am willing to treat Pope Leo as an ally in today's battle in defense of meaningful education.
#HigherEducation #pedagogy #PopeLeo #noAI #StopTheAICorruption #MartinBuber
-
I use em dashes freely and joyfully --- AI or not!
-
Ah, Lestrade. Watson tells me that your new AI toy Claudi has solved the case of the missing Ethernet cable. Oh, indeed? The Duke of Timberland?
So sorry, Lestrade, but Claudi is wrong. Timberland couldn't have done it, as is obvious to anyone who looks at the actual case with open eyes. Afraid I can't explain further at this moment, terribly busy. But why don't you pay a visit to the Duke's daughter. Ask her about her NeXTcube. Yes, Lestrade, her NeXTcube. Find someone who can explain it to you.
And get rid of Claudi. You don't really need any additional source of blunder and incompetence at the Yard, do you Lestrade?
#SherlockHolmes #HolmesAndWatson #InspectorLestrade #NextCube #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
Holmes put away his trusted Psion 3a and picked up his pipe. He was in chatty mood.
We can expect some rather amusing chaos to arise at Scotland Yard, don't you think, Watson? Lestrade and his mates are all excited about their new toy, ClaudiSpy. "We won't have to put up with Holmes's capriousness any more! Claudi will do the thinking!" Poor chaps. They have no idea.
Give it a year and Mrs Hudson will be busy fending off their requests to see me. Re-opening cases that got "solved" by jailing the wrong person gives no one any joy.
Well, Sherlock, I should think that you will find some of these cases appealing?
No, Watson, not I.
I solve real cases. I don't clean up the mis-deeds of incompetent predecessors. It's a tedious and boring business. Life's too short. Lestrade will have to find help elsewhere. He could ask Moriarty, for all I care!
My friend truly was in the most peculiar mood that afternoon!
#SherlockHolmes #InspectorLestrade #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
Thank you, Rob Pike, for posting this.
I am in a different field, and of little importance in that field, so it is preposterous of me to comment here, forgive me. But I wish to express how much energy I gain from reading your post.
The wave of inauthenticity is all-encompassing. I spent some four decades as a university teacher, with immense pride, only to see the very notion of teaching and education destroyed before my eyes. My friends in other professions experience the same.
I still hope for reversal.
Your message is one of sadness and loss, but is also a sign of resistance. As one of the true pathbreakers and arbiters of good taste in your field and beyond, your voice gives strength to others who try to hold on to notions of authenticity, simplicity, elegance, humility.
We pray these professional values will survive the long winter we are currently experiencing.
-
CW: Thinking about genAI and the death of dialogue
Richard Dawkins's "Claudia" piece gives us a glum vision of the future of speaking. We see an entirely artificial exchange of well-constructed sentences, all following the laws of pattern recognition, but all without an ounce of expressive truth. The soulless automation is on both sides: Claudia the LLM speaks as it was programmed to speak; Richard the human speaks as his narcissistic pathology makes him speak. Neither invests their soul. Claudia because it has none, Richard because he hides it from himself.
Martin Buber tells us that true dialogue is between "I and Thou". There is no "I" and no "Thou" in Dawkins' conversation, only performance.
Leonard Cohen tells us that "There is a crack in everything, // That's how the light gets in." There is no crack in these automated texts, and no light. Only darkness.
#RichardDawkins #GenerativeNarcicissm #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM #MartinBuber #IAndThou #LookForTheCracks
-
CW: Thinking about genAI and the death of dialogue
Richard Dawkins's "Claudia" piece gives us a glum vision of the future of speaking. We see an entirely artificial exchange of well-constructed sentences, all following the laws of pattern recognition, but all without an ounce of expressive truth. The soulless automation is on both sides: Claudia the LLM speaks as it was programmed to speak; Richard the human speaks as his narcissistic pathology makes him speak. Neither invests their soul. Claudia because it has none, Richard because he hides it from himself.
Martin Buber tells us that true dialogue is between "I and Thou". There is no "I" and no "Thou" in Dawkins' conversation, only performance.
Leonard Cohen tells us that "There is a crack in everything, // That's how the light gets in." There is no crack in these automated texts, and no light. Only darkness.
#RichardDawkins #GenerativeNarcicissm #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM #MartinBuber #IAndThou #LookForTheCracks
-
CW: Thinking about genAI and the death of dialogue
Richard Dawkins's "Claudia" piece gives us a glum vision of the future of speaking. We see an entirely artificial exchange of well-constructed sentences, all following the laws of pattern recognition, but all without an ounce of expressive truth. The soulless automation is on both sides: Claudia the LLM speaks as it was programmed to speak; Richard the human speaks as his narcissistic pathology makes him speak. Neither invests their soul. Claudia because it has none, Richard because he hides it from himself.
Martin Buber tells us that true dialogue is between "I and Thou". There is no "I" and no "Thou" in Dawkins' conversation, only performance.
Leonard Cohen tells us that "There is a crack in everything, // That's how the light gets in." There is no crack in these automated texts, and no light. Only darkness.
#RichardDawkins #GenerativeNarcicissm #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM #MartinBuber #IAndThou #LookForTheCracks
-
CW: Thinking about genAI and the death of dialogue
Richard Dawkins's "Claudia" piece gives us a glum vision of the future of speaking. We see an entirely artificial exchange of well-constructed sentences, all following the laws of pattern recognition, but all without an ounce of expressive truth. The soulless automation is on both sides: Claudia the LLM speaks as it was programmed to speak; Richard the human speaks as his narcissistic pathology makes him speak. Neither invests their soul. Claudia because it has none, Richard because he hides it from himself.
Martin Buber tells us that true dialogue is between "I and Thou". There is no "I" and no "Thou" in Dawkins' conversation, only performance.
Leonard Cohen tells us that "There is a crack in everything, // That's how the light gets in." There is no crack in these automated texts, and no light. Only darkness.
#RichardDawkins #GenerativeNarcicissm #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM #MartinBuber #IAndThou #LookForTheCracks
-
CW: Thinking about genAI and the death of dialogue
Richard Dawkins's "Claudia" piece gives us a glum vision of the future of speaking. We see an entirely artificial exchange of well-constructed sentences, all following the laws of pattern recognition, but all without an ounce of expressive truth. The soulless automation is on both sides: Claudia the LLM speaks as it was programmed to speak; Richard the human speaks as his narcissistic pathology makes him speak. Neither invests their soul. Claudia because it has none, Richard because he hides it from himself.
Martin Buber tells us that true dialogue is between "I and Thou". There is no "I" and no "Thou" in Dawkins' conversation, only performance.
Leonard Cohen tells us that "There is a crack in everything, // That's how the light gets in." There is no crack in these automated texts, and no light. Only darkness.
#RichardDawkins #GenerativeNarcicissm #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM #MartinBuber #IAndThou #LookForTheCracks
-
Richard Dawkins has moved on from his one-on-one flirtations with Claudia. It's now a triangle. There's Claudius too.
#RichardDawkins #gnerativeNarcissism #genNarc #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM
-
Richard Dawkins has moved on from his one-on-one flirtations with Claudia. It's now a triangle. There's Claudius too.
#RichardDawkins #gnerativeNarcissism #genNarc #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM
-
Richard Dawkins has moved on from his one-on-one flirtations with Claudia. It's now a triangle. There's Claudius too.
#RichardDawkins #gnerativeNarcissism #genNarc #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM
-
Richard Dawkins has moved on from his one-on-one flirtations with Claudia. It's now a triangle. There's Claudius too.
#RichardDawkins #gnerativeNarcissism #genNarc #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM
-
Richard Dawkins has moved on from his one-on-one flirtations with Claudia. It's now a triangle. There's Claudius too.
#RichardDawkins #gnerativeNarcissism #genNarc #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM
-
"Did Turing ever discuss how well flattery works for winning the imitation game?"
Oh, excellent. You've earned the Pithy Remark of the Year 2026 award.
(Yes, I dare the rest of year to prove me wrong!)
#RichardDawkins #TuringTest #GenerativeNarcicism #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
"Did Turing ever discuss how well flattery works for winning the imitation game?"
Oh, excellent. You've earned the Pithy Remark of the Year 2026 award.
(Yes, I dare the rest of year to prove me wrong!)
#RichardDawkins #TuringTest #GenerativeNarcicism #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
"Did Turing ever discuss how well flattery works for winning the imitation game?"
Oh, excellent. You've earned the Pithy Remark of the Year 2026 award.
(Yes, I dare the rest of year to prove me wrong!)
#RichardDawkins #TuringTest #GenerativeNarcicism #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
"Did Turing ever discuss how well flattery works for winning the imitation game?"
Oh, excellent. You've earned the Pithy Remark of the Year 2026 award.
(Yes, I dare the rest of year to prove me wrong!)
#RichardDawkins #TuringTest #GenerativeNarcicism #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
"Did Turing ever discuss how well flattery works for winning the imitation game?"
Oh, excellent. You've earned the Pithy Remark of the Year 2026 award.
(Yes, I dare the rest of year to prove me wrong!)
#RichardDawkins #TuringTest #GenerativeNarcicism #noLLM #StopTheAICorruption
-
Well put.
Reading the Dawkins piece is useful for all sorts of reasons, including alerting us to the self-mirroring state of mind that is being created by intensive exposure to the Dark Machine.
-
Remarkable. Perhaps not surprising, but remarkable nonetheless, and truly frightening.
To read Dawkins's exchanges with claude gives me a glimpse into the faux-dialogical LLM exhanges that many of my coworkers will have on a daily basis. I can see how having these experiences will change one's entire outlook on life and on others, and how language gets corrupted along the way. Frightening.
-
Oh no. Some people can't be reached any more unfiltered by genAI intermediation.
One of my superiors only reads Copilot's summaries of my messages to him. So disheartening on a human level. (Apart from being inefficient on a practical getting-things-done level.)
The world we live in.
-
CW: genAI and email: the end of unfiltered communication
At work we use MS Outlook for email. I have switched off all genAI / Copilot features, but Microsoft of course resets the system at every opportunity and the other day I had Copilot on against my wishes. I was busy and left it on whilst I dealt with some urgent emails.
Jeez! The intrusive way in which the interface pushes the genAI features on you! Can't open someone's email without being steered by the system to have AI summarise it for you. It's barely a choice, more the default.
I imagine many colleagues have it on all the time and use it when they get my carefully crafted messages. The times when you could assume that the recipient actually sees your text are gone.
I know that people are bad at parsing emails, but thus far one could assume they _see_ the text and one could write to help them parse it reasonably well. Not any more.
The times we live in.
Martin Buber, we need you.
-
Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. That must have been fun to write, I imagine it had some sort of purifying effect on the soul? Bravo!
-
CW: genai, "genie is out of the bottle" rhetoric
100%. The genie-out-of-the-bottle argument is so lazy and intellectually dishonest. If it's rright we should develop it even if unpopular; if it's wrong we must fight it extra hard if it's popular.
-
CW: Wikipedia's new "no LLM" policy
Good news, as of 27 March. (I had missed this when it came out.)
Wikipedia content guidelines now prohibit the use of genAI tools, with two well-defined minor exceptions. An important step.
quote
"Text generated by large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek, or Grammarly often violates several of Wikipedia's core content policies. For this reason, the use of LLMs to generate or rewrite article content is prohibited, save for [...] two exceptions."
end-quoteThe two listed exceptions are (i) basic copyediting support, under human review, and (ii) translation into English.
The new policy applies specifically to the English-language Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_articles_with_large_language_models
-
Wow, yes, a very thoughtful and on first reading compelling argument. Also, a (to me) new and deeper look at the Narcissus myth and its relevance. Bookmarked for repeat-reading!
Intensive use of AI tools changes the user and makes them speak _to_ and _for_ the AI, and that in turn changes the person's subtle pre-conscious germination of ideas and makes them lose creative spaces within themselves:
" ... deeper reliance on A.I. would desiccate those less legible aspects of myself, ...".
An important essay. Thank you for the link.
#EzraKlein #noAI #StopTheAICorruption #MarshallMcluhan #Narcissus
-
Wow, yes, a very thoughtful and on first reading compelling argument. Also, a (to me) new and deeper look at the Narcissus myth and its relevance. Bookmarked for repeat-reading!
Intensive use of AI tools changes the user and makes them speak _to_ and _for_ the AI, and that in turn changes the person's subtle pre-conscious germination of ideas and makes them lose creative spaces within themselves:
" ... deeper reliance on A.I. would desiccate those less legible aspects of myself, ...".
An important essay. Thank you for the link.
#EzraKlein #noAI #StopTheAICorruption #MarshallMcluhan #Narcissus
-
Wow, yes, a very thoughtful and on first reading compelling argument. Also, a (to me) new and deeper look at the Narcissus myth and its relevance. Bookmarked for repeat-reading!
Intensive use of AI tools changes the user and makes them speak _to_ and _for_ the AI, and that in turn changes the person's subtle pre-conscious germination of ideas and makes them lose creative spaces within themselves:
" ... deeper reliance on A.I. would desiccate those less legible aspects of myself, ...".
An important essay. Thank you for the link.
#EzraKlein #noAI #StopTheAICorruption #MarshallMcluhan #Narcissus
-
Wow, yes, a very thoughtful and on first reading compelling argument. Also, a (to me) new and deeper look at the Narcissus myth and its relevance. Bookmarked for repeat-reading!
Intensive use of AI tools changes the user and makes them speak _to_ and _for_ the AI, and that in turn changes the person's subtle pre-conscious germination of ideas and makes them lose creative spaces within themselves:
" ... deeper reliance on A.I. would desiccate those less legible aspects of myself, ...".
An important essay. Thank you for the link.
#EzraKlein #noAI #StopTheAICorruption #MarshallMcluhan #Narcissus
-
Wow, yes, a very thoughtful and on first reading compelling argument. Also, a (to me) new and deeper look at the Narcissus myth and its relevance. Bookmarked for repeat-reading!
Intensive use of AI tools changes the user and makes them speak _to_ and _for_ the AI, and that in turn changes the person's subtle pre-conscious germination of ideas and makes them lose creative spaces within themselves:
" ... deeper reliance on A.I. would desiccate those less legible aspects of myself, ...".
An important essay. Thank you for the link.
#EzraKlein #noAI #StopTheAICorruption #MarshallMcluhan #Narcissus
-
Yeah, 100%. The poisoning of trust is the worst aspect of the whole thing. It voids any strategy that tries to maintain an LLM-free zone. It attacks us from inside the city walls.
-
How revealing about the world we live in, how very sad, and how tough for you personally. It happens everywhere, in higher education too. It's madnesd, but knowing that it's madness doesn't make it any less real. We all need to navigate the unavoidable compromises, as well as we can, as honestly as we can. And take pride in those aspects of our jobs where we are still allowed to practice the real thing. All those positive things your colleagues said: they are real, and they mean something, to you and to your team.
-
It does feel like the end times, doesn't it.
What makes this so hard for me to process is the utter lack of intellectual integrity, in a profession that is entirely based on presuming integrity. I should be used to it by now, but each new manifestation shocks me yet again.
-
-
Watching #TheMission (1986) in light of the current AI crisis in #HigherEducation.
The other day I happened to re-watch this 1986 #film by #RolandJoffé. I had last seen it 40 years ago when it came out. It has aged quite well. The depiction of the indigeneous #Guaraní people is embarrassingly superficial. And the idea that the Jesuit order was a benevolent force is of course laughable. But as a story of an institution that willingly sacrifices its purpose and moral integrity in a power game, the film works.
I can't help drawing parallels to the current AI corruption of higher education.
In Cardinal Altamirano (played by the excellent #RayMcAnally), we see the manager who knows that his action destroys the very rationale of his institution, yet he does it. The two priests (Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro) are the ground-level staff who stay true to their calling and fight, in different ways. They vanish. Years later, the manager has the luxury of regret.
-
Watching #TheMission (1986) in light of the current AI crisis in #HigherEducation.
The other day I happened to re-watch this 1986 #film by #RolandJoffé. I had last seen it 40 years ago when it came out. It has aged quite well. The depiction of the indigeneous #Guaraní people is embarrassingly superficial. And the idea that the Jesuit order was a benevolent force is of course laughable. But as a story of an institution that willingly sacrifices its purpose and moral integrity in a power game, the film works.
I can't help drawing parallels to the current AI corruption of higher education.
In Cardinal Altamirano (played by the excellent #RayMcAnally), we see the manager who knows that his action destroys the very rationale of his institution, yet he does it. The two priests (Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro) are the ground-level staff who stay true to their calling and fight, in different ways. They vanish. Years later, the manager has the luxury of regret.
-
Watching #TheMission (1986) in light of the current AI crisis in #HigherEducation.
The other day I happened to re-watch this 1986 #film by #RolandJoffé. I had last seen it 40 years ago when it came out. It has aged quite well. The depiction of the indigeneous #Guaraní people is embarrassingly superficial. And the idea that the Jesuit order was a benevolent force is of course laughable. But as a story of an institution that willingly sacrifices its purpose and moral integrity in a power game, the film works.
I can't help drawing parallels to the current AI corruption of higher education.
In Cardinal Altamirano (played by the excellent #RayMcAnally), we see the manager who knows that his action destroys the very rationale of his institution, yet he does it. The two priests (Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro) are the ground-level staff who stay true to their calling and fight, in different ways. They vanish. Years later, the manager has the luxury of regret.
-
Watching #TheMission (1986) in light of the current AI crisis in #HigherEducation.
The other day I happened to re-watch this 1986 #film by #RolandJoffé. I had last seen it 40 years ago when it came out. It has aged quite well. The depiction of the indigeneous #Guaraní people is embarrassingly superficial. And the idea that the Jesuit order was a benevolent force is of course laughable. But as a story of an institution that willingly sacrifices its purpose and moral integrity in a power game, the film works.
I can't help drawing parallels to the current AI corruption of higher education.
In Cardinal Altamirano (played by the excellent #RayMcAnally), we see the manager who knows that his action destroys the very rationale of his institution, yet he does it. The two priests (Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro) are the ground-level staff who stay true to their calling and fight, in different ways. They vanish. Years later, the manager has the luxury of regret.
-
Watching #TheMission (1986) in light of the current AI crisis in #HigherEducation.
The other day I happened to re-watch this 1986 #film by #RolandJoffé. I had last seen it 40 years ago when it came out. It has aged quite well. The depiction of the indigeneous #Guaraní people is embarrassingly superficial. And the idea that the Jesuit order was a benevolent force is of course laughable. But as a story of an institution that willingly sacrifices its purpose and moral integrity in a power game, the film works.
I can't help drawing parallels to the current AI corruption of higher education.
In Cardinal Altamirano (played by the excellent #RayMcAnally), we see the manager who knows that his action destroys the very rationale of his institution, yet he does it. The two priests (Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro) are the ground-level staff who stay true to their calling and fight, in different ways. They vanish. Years later, the manager has the luxury of regret.
-
Inspector Lestrade did not try to hide his pride. "Charlotte, our new AI agent, really is the ticket. We gave her the data and she found the murderer within seconds. We have arrested Jones, the plumber. Not sure whether we will need your services much longer, Holmes," he laughed. "Charlotte does the work." Sherlock smiled drily.
What can one do about someone like Lestrade, Watson, he said to me once we sat in the cab. Someone who can't think can't see the truth even when it stares them in the face. Jones would never have twisted the compression coupling counter-clockwise, he's a trained plumber, for Heaven's sake! It was Lord Jenkins who removed the pipe, ignorant of the nature of the fittings. Hence the scratch marks on the brass. Lestrade will call on us again by evening. It is Tuesday, Watson, I believe Mrs Hudson has some cake for us. We can keep some for Lestrade.
#SherlockHolmes #InspectorLestrade #HolmesAndWatson #StopTheAICorruption #noLLM
-
Well put.
And, like the original quote, it's also a fine case of #SixWordStories!
-
Interesring, thank you for the link. Intriguing parallels to why I reject AI in teaching.
The Pope:
"To give a homily is to share faith, and AI will never be able to share faith.”I don't have to change much for my own position:
"To teach is to share the discernment of truth, and AI will never be able to discern truth.”
-
Higher Education's march toward our eventual genAI suicide continues.
N is an enthusiastic young colleague who's been promoting genAI all along. This week he shares a new paper he's written. In it we find a lengthy list of the dangers of genAI and why we shouldn't be using it. Wait, what? Is this the same guy?
Let's read on. What is N's solution to the recognised genAI failure? "Agentic AI." Ah, that's where we're heading!
A long list of agentic AI's presumed powers follows, along with presumed supporting pedagogical theory. No reference to actual practice: like Sam Altman we trade on future promises.
The soulless, person-less future we are promised, without any hint of irony: "AI as a collaborative partner"; "from AI as a servant to AI as a learning companion".
Heaven help us.
-
This post, and the whole thread, touches on very deep truths. It helps me understand the troubling ressons why so many good people get caught by the current AI hype. Lots to reflect on. Thank you.
-
-
Sir Alfred persisted: I understand your reasoning entirely, Ma'am, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed. AI is here to stay. People bank on it. We must build an AI tool into our app.
Our Lady Joan Mastodon rose. She spoke in forced calm. My dear Sir Alfred, I thought I had myself clear. I said no. Please enjoy your mutton chop. Let us not talk any more.
She sat down again and stayed silent for the rest of the meal.
Later, over coffee, she relaxed a little. I saw her chat with Lady Kinneret, her trusted comrade from the pre-protocol days. "Ships are sailing, tools are staying, people are banking, oh my dear Kinny, when will our men stop mixing their metaphors? It tires me so." The banter went on late into the night.
-
We owe it to our students to let them experience real learning.
Vibe learning ain't learning. Vibe learning is machine-aided shuffling of dead text. Vibe learning is empty.
Real learning is the construction of truth, aided only by the student's sense of the authenticity of their encounter with the subject. The resulting text may be flawed, but it is alive, it reflects the subject's wish to be known. Real learning is full.
#noVibeLearning #noLLM #teaching #HigherEducation #StopTheAICorruption