Links for 2023-02-02
Weaponizing ChatGPT to infinitely-patiently argue politics on Twitter ("Honey, I hacked the Empathy Machine! Weaponizing ChatGPT against the wordcels", Aristophanes) https://bullfrogreview.substack.com/p/honey-i-hacked-the-empathy-machine
OpenAI: “We’re launching a classifier trained to distinguish between AI-written and human-written text.” https://openai.com/blog/new-ai-classifier-for-indicating-ai-written-text/
Grounding Language Models to Images for Multimodal Generation https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1620602402813648898.html
Can language models understand images? https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1620259379223343107.html
Looped Transformers as Programmable Computers: Presents a framework for using transformer networks as universal computers by programming them with specific weights and placing them in a loop. https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.13196
A browser add-on that completes tasks for you, described by a text prompt https://multion.ai/
“Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) say they have successfully modified a conventional diesel engine to use a mix of hydrogen and a small amount of diesel, claiming their patented technology has cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 85%.” https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64248564
NASA, DARPA Will Test Nuclear Engine for Future Mars Missions https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-darpa-will-test-nuclear-engine-for-future-mars-missions
“Unfortunately, the AI alignment research has so far mostly shown how difficult it is, and no one can currently point out any safe way forward.” https://haggstrom-blogspot-com.translate.goog/2023/01/denna-text-om-chatgpt-kan-ni-inte-lasa.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp
“My highly personal skepticism braindump on existential risk from artificial intelligence” https://nunosempere.com/blog/2023/01/23/my-highly-personal-skepticism-braindump-on-existential-risk/
Thread about Taiwan's low altitude short-range air defense https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1617999919071264768.html
Educational attainment polygenic scores are associated with cortical total surface area and regions important for language and memory. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811920301786
Although Ukraine may now get longer-range weapons (150 km), it still won't get ATACMS (297 km). What is the logic here, salami-slicing tactics? Because I strongly doubt that Putin will tell the Russian people that they must all die in a nuclear war because the country they attacked is firing back. I also do not believe that the Russian generals are prepared to sacrifice their families and the world to save Putin's presidency. That’s absurd.
And if that were the case, the right decision would be to launch a preemptive nuclear attack. Because that would mean we were dealing with a crazy doomsday cult that was prepared to destroy the whole world to get what it wants. A doomsday cult that is actively planning to build more doomsday weapons. There would be no guarantee that they would stop demanding more concessions until they subjugated the world.
Now, I do not believe that Russia is so psychopathic or insane to destroy the world in order to achieve foreign policy goals. So a preemptive strike would make little sense. Their nuclear rhetoric is only meant to influence gullible people in the West, people who are vulnerable to having their behavior altered by threats. But if you are dealing with someone who is truly insane and threatening to kill everyone, it makes sense to take them out before they become even more dangerous.
P.S.
If you say why not bomb them tomorrow, I say why not today? If you say today at 5 o'clock, I say why not one o'clock?
― John Von Neumann, advocating an immediate pre-emptive nuclear war against Russia
There is one thing and one only which could save the world, and that is … that America should make war on Russia during the next two years, and establish a world empire by means of the atomic bomb.
― Bertrand Russell
P.P.S
It is worth remembering that Ukrainian forces are spread across a front line of more than 1,000 kilometers, while the kill radius for tactical nuclear weapons is less than 2 km.
Another not-insignificant problem is that Russian troops are often in close proximity. They would have to be withdrawn, giving early warning of an impending attack.
Most importantly, the use of nuclear weapons would draw international condemnation and remove any restraint the West has in arming Ukraine.
In other words, the use of such weapons would be extremely ineffective and would mainly benefit Ukraine.
If Russia or China were to destroy GPS satellites and cause Kessler Syndrome, they would mainly be hurting themselves.
Not only can Starlink replace GPS, but because of its low orbit, it cannot be affected by Kessler Syndrome because debris falls back to Earth quite quickly.
Also, don't forget that the Russians have to use commercial GPS units to navigate their fighter jets.
One note about diplomatic solutions. Here is what Bill Clinton said in 1994 about the North Korean nuclear deal: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-the-nuclear-agreement-with-north-korea
This agreement is good for the United States, good for our allies, and good for the safety of the entire world. It reduces the danger of the threat of nuclear spreading in the region. It's a crucial step toward drawing North Korea into the global community.
[…]
This agreement represents the first step on the road to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula. It does not rely on trust. Compliance will be certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency.