The Off Topic Topic

[Valmy]

Older than Pong?

Well he said the oldest playable BOARD game, grumbler.

[Jacob]

That's cool. And that guy is very enthusiastic too, I love it

[HVC]

Older than Pong?

Who is that, Grogs brother?

[grumbler]

Older than Pong?

Well he said the oldest playable BOARD game, grumbler.

Back in my day, we played pong on a board, because our parents wanted to use the TV for watching the Andy Griffith Show.

[grumbler]

Older than Pong?

Who is that, Grogs brother?

Pong was Nebuchadnezzar's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate

[HVC]

Older than Pong?

Who is that, Grogs brother?

Pong was Nebuchadnezzar's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate

So close personal friend of yours?


sorry, it was right there

[Sheilbh]

Interesting read on the shrimp Jesus etc stuff going on on Facebook now:
https://www.404media.co/email/24eb6cea-6fa6-4b98-a2d2-8c4ba33d6c04/

[crazy canuck]

That's cool. And that guy is very enthusiastic too, I love it

If you get a chance, watch some of his lectures.  He is fantastic.

[grumbler]

Pong was Nebuchadnezzar's father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate

So close personal friend of yours?


sorry, it was right there

I was the other roommate.

(No need to be sorry. "Grumbler is old" jokes are a staple here and the age basis behind them is correct.  I've never pretended to be a spring chicken and enjoy the cracks when they are well-crafted.)

[Razgovory]

Interesting read on the shrimp Jesus etc stuff going on on Facebook now:
https://www.404media.co/email/24eb6cea-6fa6-4b98-a2d2-8c4ba33d6c04/

Thanks.  

[Admiral Yi]

Interesting read on the shrimp Jesus etc stuff going on on Facebook now:
https://www.404media.co/email/24eb6cea-6fa6-4b98-a2d2-8c4ba33d6c04/

But it doesn't tell me why humans would like and pass on shrimp Jesus in the first place.

[viper37]

The Titan Submersible Disaster Shocked the World. The Exclusive Inside Story Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Imagined

[Jacob]

Interesting read on the shrimp Jesus etc stuff going on on Facebook now:
https://www.404media.co/email/24eb6cea-6fa6-4b98-a2d2-8c4ba33d6c04/

Fascinating read.

It'll be interesting to see whether this sort of AI talking to AI ecosystem becomes a drag on Facebook or not, and whether and to what degree it leaks out into the larger world.

I'd also be very interested to understand what FB is doing here. Is this a deliberate attempt to achieve some end with AI, is it deliberate metrics gaming by FB in some way, or is it an infection they can't find a good way to cure without hurting themselves? What's their view?

[Sheilbh]

I'd also be very interested to understand what FB is doing here. Is this a deliberate attempt to achieve some end with AI, is it deliberate metrics gaming by FB in some way, or is it an infection they can't find a good way to cure without hurting themselves? What's their view?

Who knows?

I mean that literally there's been a few court filings in cases in California which basically make it sound like Facebook aren't entirely sure how Facebook works in some ways. I've certainly no idea.

One possible guess is this isn't deliberate but that (in the West) Facebook is becoming a bit like MySpace but for an older generation - and Facebook's on-platform advertising and monetisation model is actually like an unsophisticated media company where it's all about pageviews and clicks. So I wonder if there's a reinforcing cycle of less and less human content, but algorithms designed to drive pageviews and clicks are driving and creating incentives for weird AI farms.

Obviously Facebook is still very much an active social network in the rest of the world. Insta is the only platform I know of where people really really like the advertising (because the entire platform is lifestyle - one of the other challenges for news media ). And WhatsApp - (500 million users in India alone) - is a messaging platform but also one that allows businesses to use it.

So there's lots of bits where they have a business that makes sense with a core (human) audience and I don't think any of them are generating weird AI content for AI accounts.

But it may not be that.

[grumbler]

The Titan Submersible Disaster Shocked the World. The Exclusive Inside Story Is More Disturbing Than Anyone Imagined

Paywalled.  Executive summary?