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Every article about AI this week is like “Today, there’s not yet a human who has eaten hot wings so hot that they spontaneously burst into flame. But, as we develop hotter and hotter sauces, we must confront the fact that one day — and that day may come very soon — one of the guests on Hot Ones will become The Inhuman Torch from Marvel Comics and annihilate the eastern seaboard in an all-consuming flame. We must prepare for that inevitable future.”

—@glyph

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In an un-Mastodonly move I think I posted this first behind a pay wall, now hopefully removed. A Jewish friend, with whom I’ve sung many a sea song, casually suggested I write a Red Sea shanty. An invitation to quirkiness and whimsy is seldom lost on me. Therefore, I offer this unorthodox retelling of the parting of the Red Sea. Spoiler alert, it involves an irreverent Phoenician sea captain and a flying ship. #HappyPassover! https://www.patreon.com/posts/red-sea-shanty-55271545

—@ChristineMalec

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news announcement at @fediforum: #flipboard has launched their Mastodon integration on Android!

This means you can follow Mastodon posts via Flipboard, and add them to your magazine, or share articles from your magazines directly to Mastodon.

Even better, full #ActivityPub integration is coming for the coming months, so it can work with the full fediverse (Pixelfed, anyone?).

https://about.flipboard.com/inside-flipboard/mastodon-on-android-flipboard-integration-is-here/

—@fediversereport

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Kentucky Republicans voted to override Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto –

This means republicans have effectively forced children to detransition while increasing their rates of suicide by 70%

No gender affirming care. No puberty blockers. No choice in which restroom to use

When a republican talks about protecting children…

They’re the party of child labor. The party of keeping child marriage. The party of demonizing certain children to force their agenda.

#TransRightsAreHumanRights

—@flexghost

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The fact that it is 2023 and we still must use sighted people to fill out paper forms when they originated in soft copy is unacceptable. And the fact that these uneducated overly paid paper pushers send and expect it returned in print when someone is being sent braille because they can’t read said print is beyond ridiculous! It must take barely one working brain cell to work for the social insecurity administration. We’re not in the wrong here. They are.

—@amy0223

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Yes! @TexasObserver is saved!

But this story is bigger than any one publication.

What we’ve just demonstrated:

* journalism can survive beyond Google, Meta, and Twitter
* private equity firms don’t get to decide what journalism matters
* big media conglomerates aren’t the only voices that matter

Journalists, are you seeing this? The Fediverse might be your future!

https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-observer-no-layoffs-remains-open-board-vote/

@fediversenews

—@atomicpoet

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Bing Chat has ads now, so it’s just like that person you know who tries to work their MLM scheme into every conversation.

Google ruins every good thing it does with twisted incentives that mean they shut it down in its infancy. Microsoft ruins every good thing it does by trying to cram ads into it.

—@Kye

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God damn it. I’ve literally been warning FOR YEARS that LLMs will cause someone to commit suicide. I use this example in all my talks on why we need more research on safe NLP systems. The example I literally use is that a chatbot will reinforce someone’s suicide ideation and they will act on it. Now it’s happened. Now it’s real.

“Belgian man dies by suicide following exchanges with chatbot”

https://www.brusselstimes.com/430098/belgian-man-commits-suicide-following-exchanges-with-chatgpt

—@Riedl

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WE DID IT! The Texas Observer will remain open!

Our board just voted to rescind both the layoffs and the closure. We’ll have more news soon, but we believe this is the start of a very positive transformation at our publication—and you were a huge part of it. THANK YOU! You proved to the world that #TexasNeedsAnObserver!

https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-observer-no-layoffs-remains-open-board-vote/

#Fediverse #Mastodon #WeWin

—@TexasObserver