Yep, I do worry about efforts to purposefully slant the training data that goes into LLMs (e.g. replacing Wikipedia with Grokipedia). But I also suspect the other major labs will shy away from giving much weight to the effort.
There should only be two options for the structure of mass media businesses - either as a private/commercial (shareholder) controlled entity, or as a member controlled Co-operative type entity in a (new) Commons 'public' sector, under direct citizens' 'votes' control.
(Eg., the 'public' sector BBC Depts. could choose one or the other - no more corrupt Gov appointee run fake 'public' media.).
Mass media in Western societies is near all owned & delivered by a small group of wealthy elites, & significantly funded via advertising by a handful of large Corporations. That can have its place in providing public discourse & entertainment non-critical to 'democracy', but it should not be the only model for media with power (& reach).
We can easily create a system where citizens control a similar size sector of the media directly, through non-profit media Commons/Common Ownership structured publishers/providers, which exclude all private capital & revenue income. (Instead, they are controlled by members with equal voting rights, like Worker Co-ops or Community Businesses.)
In this sector, their only permitted income comes from our currency issuer Govs (at zero cost), but not directly. Instead of Gov directing which Commons Media enterprises get grant funding, citizens, equally, disburse the funds via an annual voucher system, whereby they sponsor their preferred Commons media provider(s).
This simple system ensures full democratic participation in a sector of mass media, & thus the political discourse which elevates politics to power.
And we need it now, as our *first* priority, before humanity's path to its own self-destruction becomes irreversible.
I don't know what questions you ask about vaccines or which answers given you think are scientifically accurate but it all depends how you phrase the question and how much you know about how AI works.
For example, if you ask 'is the US behind recent colour revolutions in, for example, Nepal?' the AI will unanimously say no. If you ask which organisations were behind them AI will give you a list of groups and names. If you think ask who funds these groups and names AI will tell you that it's the NED, USAID or Open Society.
If you ask are vaccines 'effective' the AI will reply with relative rather than absolute efficacy or the effectiveness seen in observational studies that is confounded by other factors.
The reason I would like an answer from a great climate scientist on which AI is better for determining how to surface reflection in a sane manner is because AIs are all data scrapers and their logic has a partiality. I want the best for surface reflection.
You might want to check out my recent close reading of Grokipedia: https://caad.info/analysis/newsletters/cop-look-listen-issue-09-20-nov-25/ -- though producing blandly right information most of the time, its still working in manipulation fairly regularly across entries
Yep, I do worry about efforts to purposefully slant the training data that goes into LLMs (e.g. replacing Wikipedia with Grokipedia). But I also suspect the other major labs will shy away from giving much weight to the effort.
Thanks Zeke, this helps explain how ChatGPT reached the same conclusion Prof. Dessler did regarding "...the most embarrassing error in the DOE Climate Working Group Report", from the brief fragment I gave it (https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/is-this-the-most-embarrassing-error/comment/162278086).
How is using X or Xai any different than buying lunch from the actual Soup Nazi? Seems immoral.
There should only be two options for the structure of mass media businesses - either as a private/commercial (shareholder) controlled entity, or as a member controlled Co-operative type entity in a (new) Commons 'public' sector, under direct citizens' 'votes' control.
(Eg., the 'public' sector BBC Depts. could choose one or the other - no more corrupt Gov appointee run fake 'public' media.).
Mass media in Western societies is near all owned & delivered by a small group of wealthy elites, & significantly funded via advertising by a handful of large Corporations. That can have its place in providing public discourse & entertainment non-critical to 'democracy', but it should not be the only model for media with power (& reach).
We can easily create a system where citizens control a similar size sector of the media directly, through non-profit media Commons/Common Ownership structured publishers/providers, which exclude all private capital & revenue income. (Instead, they are controlled by members with equal voting rights, like Worker Co-ops or Community Businesses.)
In this sector, their only permitted income comes from our currency issuer Govs (at zero cost), but not directly. Instead of Gov directing which Commons Media enterprises get grant funding, citizens, equally, disburse the funds via an annual voucher system, whereby they sponsor their preferred Commons media provider(s).
This simple system ensures full democratic participation in a sector of mass media, & thus the political discourse which elevates politics to power.
And we need it now, as our *first* priority, before humanity's path to its own self-destruction becomes irreversible.
I don't know what questions you ask about vaccines or which answers given you think are scientifically accurate but it all depends how you phrase the question and how much you know about how AI works.
For example, if you ask 'is the US behind recent colour revolutions in, for example, Nepal?' the AI will unanimously say no. If you ask which organisations were behind them AI will give you a list of groups and names. If you think ask who funds these groups and names AI will tell you that it's the NED, USAID or Open Society.
If you ask are vaccines 'effective' the AI will reply with relative rather than absolute efficacy or the effectiveness seen in observational studies that is confounded by other factors.
For how one must read against the grain of pharma funded research as well as AI, here's a primer https://jowaller.substack.com/p/vaccine-efficacy?utm_source=publication-search
Dr. Hausfather, I'd still love to interview you sometime in the upcoming weeks or months if you might be available for a video call!
Awesome article, Dr. Hausfather! I wrote something that touches on a similar positive case for LLMs that I published earlier today! https://sammatey.substack.com/p/mazu-and-mazu
The reason I would like an answer from a great climate scientist on which AI is better for determining how to surface reflection in a sane manner is because AIs are all data scrapers and their logic has a partiality. I want the best for surface reflection.
Great AI synopsis Zeke! Do you have any recommendations for increasing albedo on the surface?