Post AZVDc4X6SJJHTRczlA by SpeakerToManagers@wandering.shop
(DIR) More posts by SpeakerToManagers@wandering.shop
(DIR) Post #AZV3AdA96urnE5AMVc by Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net
2023-09-06T19:17:39Z
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When I started trying to explore and highlight overlaps between magic, religion, epistemology, and technology like "AI," 18 years ago, a lot of people didn't think there was a there, there. A lot more people do this work, now, and some of y'all *still* don't believe it means anything.Meanwhile, at OpenAI:"…when I asked several of the company’s top brass if someone could comfortably work there if they didn’t believe AGI was truly coming—and that its arrival would mark one of the greatest moments in human history—most executives didn’t think so. **Why would a nonbeliever want to work here?** they wondered. The assumption is that the workforce—now at approximately 500, though it might have grown since you began reading this paragraph—has self-selected to include only the faithful. At the very least, as Altman puts it, once you get hired, it seems inevitable that you’ll be drawn into the spell."
(DIR) Post #AZV3Ckxz4DZQ0aUVsW by Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net
2023-09-06T19:18:03Z
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That paragraph is from this piece. Also if you want more about the overlap of corporate culture and religiosity I cannot recommend Dennis LoRusso's work highly enoughhttps://www.wired.com/story/what-openai-really-wants/
(DIR) Post #AZV8altPm3qBbOcmO0 by raf@babka.social
2023-09-06T20:05:46Z
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@Wolven It's not just OpenAI. DeepMind, Anthropic, and many others have a similar stance. And if you don't agree it's "bad culture fit"
(DIR) Post #AZV9S3KveJQz3DttLM by sollat@masto.ai
2023-09-06T19:30:37Z
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@Wolven Ew. That takes corporate cult to a new level of nope.
(DIR) Post #AZV9fd7vtPL9okIOzA by bhawthorne@infosec.exchange
2023-09-06T20:30:12Z
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@Wolven @krisnelson Fortunately, we know exactly what happens to nearly every company that gets tunnel vision and loses any connection to the real world. What’s that? They don’t fail? They get billions more in venture capital and then get bought by a hedge fund using money from the Saudis and other oligarchs? Yeah. I guess I meant, “unfortunately.”
(DIR) Post #AZVDc4X6SJJHTRczlA by SpeakerToManagers@wandering.shop
2023-09-06T20:47:54Z
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@Wolven One aspect of #TESCREAL. Damn thing is harder to get rid of than hot pitch.
(DIR) Post #AZVEQxa247IagAGNqi by mkarliner@mastodon.modern-industry.com
2023-09-06T20:57:14Z
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@Wolven Sounds like they can do with some heretics.
(DIR) Post #AZVHViweCpmkbCnwbA by adrien@infosec.exchange
2023-09-06T21:58:19Z
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@Wolven I haven't seen a ton of discussion of this but I think it's a really fascinating topic. Thanks for the link.In March this year as ChatGPT hype peaked, I wrote in a comment: "I've recently started to think that an AI 'deity' is going to emerge at some point, and things are going to get really, really weird. The human psyche seems primed for religion/worship. What if anyone could talk directly to their god, as much as they could possibly want?", and I stand by it, though it hadn't really occurred to me that the epicenter of this might in fact be the AI companies themselves.It strikes me that we're in the midst of a sea change, where organized religion has seen great declines, and the pseudoreligion of the "American dream" has no clothes, leaving a vacuum...to be filled by AI?
(DIR) Post #AZVS9Y8UoNfuCVyY9w by TessRants@mastodon.social
2023-09-06T23:57:33Z
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@Wolven So, I'm interested in hearing more about your study of the overlaps between magic, et al...(My B.A. is in philosophy, but I've also been studying religions, the occult, and esotericism for about 30 years now.)
(DIR) Post #AZVnRItoIZuXC7PhvU by DontMindMe@zirk.us
2023-09-07T03:55:57Z
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@WolvenHistorians have even explored connections among magic, religion and epistemology in the ancient world. Definitely a there there.
(DIR) Post #AZWc0jyEdRkIzxZfOK by Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net
2023-09-07T13:22:44Z
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@TessRants hey! I'm kinda exhausted right now, and not great for conversation, but there's some stuff I've presented and written over here:https://afutureworththinkingabout.com/?page_id=5038 i hope it's of interest
(DIR) Post #AZWctPA7hXwKOECVvs by TessRants@mastodon.social
2023-09-07T13:32:35Z
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@Wolven Coolness.
(DIR) Post #AZWfdpYE7XLvSijxQm by edwiebe@mstdn.ca
2023-09-07T14:03:21Z
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@Wolven Have you seen https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2304748120 ?
(DIR) Post #Aa4MUFRHDO4Y6IMdoO by Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net
2023-09-23T20:08:47Z
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Something something something "my entire dissertation" something somethinghttps://afutureworththinkingabout.com/?p=5738