Per Axbom

Swedish communication theorist born in Liberia. Writing, speaking, teaching, podcasting and consulting for a more safe and compassionate Internet.

My posts are mostly in English, and sometimes in Swedish.

Active within #DigitalEthics #AiEthics #InclusiveDesign #Accessibility #UXDesign
#VisualExplainers #Mindmapping #ResponsibleInnovation #HumanRights #SustainableWeb

My first computer was a Sinclair ZX81.
My Fediverse platform is Akkoma.
My dog is a French bulldog.

Try to get paid for my work but I put most of it out there for free 😅

This is my 4th Fediverse account. My posts are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike unless otherwise specified.

#fedi22 tfr

Info & inspiration: https://axbom.info
Newsletter: https://axbom.com/newsletter
Username: [@axbom@axbom.me](https://axbom.me/users/axbom )
Pronouns: he/him

Public Key

npub1aer2en7pdvlrxha7fzthzt86cau4nxrqfy0ng3trgvl6hzgpkqls4f7756

NIP-05 Address

axbom_at_axbom.me@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswu34velqkk03nt7ly39m39navw72enpsyj8e5g435x0at3yqmq0cpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsju6n46

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1aer2en7pdvlrxha7fzthzt86cau4nxrqfy0ng3trgvl6hzgpkqls4f7756

Show more details

Last Notes

2024-08-27 19:01:59

Imorrn blir det att sätta igång på riktigt med rehab-träning på hemmaplan. Har hittat ett par sittgympa-filmer jag ska prova. Tveka inte att tipsa mig om tänkbara pass/aktiviteter ni snubblat över i andra sammanhang. Vill göra det här till något roligt. Promenader är inga problem även om det går lite långsamt. Hoppa studsmatta är väl kanske minst lämpligt. 😅
English: Tomorrow I’ll start up my rehab training at home for real. Found a couple of sitting exercise videos I'm going to try. Do not hesitate to suggest other possible sessions/activities you may have stumbled upon. I want to make this into something fun. Walking is no problem even if I’m a bit slow. Trampoline jumping is probably the least suitable. 😅
https://pm.axbom.se/rehab-gympa/

2024-08-10 18:00:32

- reply

Would it be okay for me to quote you in my blog post? It's a really great quote 😁
"I thought to myself, that's not the kind of viruses I used to worry about catching in a public bathroom ..."

2024-08-10 14:26:09

- reply

And needing to educate people on the fraudulent dangers of queuing was not the digital future I was hoping for back in the day.
We're adding a lot of cognitive load.

2024-08-10 14:23:21

- reply

Exactly this. 💯

2024-08-10 14:22:40

- reply

Ha ha, well put.

2024-08-10 11:35:39

- reply

I actually haven't, but I've had it recommended to me before! Will add it to my Kobo reader 😊

2024-08-10 10:28:04

It's called quishing when a criminal gets you on the hook via a QR code and you hand over personal information such as credit card details, passwords and your home address.
There are many hooks in our everyday environment today.
QR codes are found in hotels, gas stations, museums, restaurants, medical centers and many other places you trust. It takes a second for a criminal to cover a QR code with his own sticker. How would you tell the difference?
Via the fake QR code you are guided through a flow that feels like what you expect. It's just controlled by someone with nefarious intent.
The German magazine Auto Motor Sport reported earlier this week about how this affects gas stations. https://per.ax/autoqr
Imagine scanning a QR code at a charging station to start charging your electric car. You enter your credit card details and press start. But the charging doesn’t start. Because you just gave your card details to a criminal who put their own QR code sticker on the charging station.
A clever criminal will perhaps display an error message on the web page and redirect you to the real supplier, enabling you to start charging for real. In which case you may not even notice that money is being covertly withdrawn from your account until much later... or blame the charging supplier who is completely unaware...
But of course it doesn't just affect charging stations. It can happen anywhere.
Queuing systems at sampling locations increasingly rely on QR codes here in Sweden. Let's say a criminal covers this code with their own. You will arrive at a page that asks if you want to join the queue or pay the patient fee of 50 kronor in advance. You may know that you do not have to pay a patient fee. But does everyone know that? Maybe some will bite and pay.
If you join the queue, you will be directed to the correct queue. So not much to react to. And if you have paid the 50 kronor, you will then also be led to the correct queue.
The fake QR code can therefore go undetected for a long time.
As a company, do you know if someone perhaps has already covered your code and is quietly using it to create intermediate flows that steal personal data, or money? Do you have routines to check this? In some places, fake QR codes may live on year in and year out. Like a dripping data leak.
QR codes are in many cases a really, really bad idea from a security and privacy perspective. And it can be a real setback for your brand if people are duped on your premises. Or on your products.
So, do you encourage people to scan, or do you warn?
If I see a QR code in everyday life, I also see many ways to intercept and abuse it.
How did this vulnerability appear just about everywhere? It's as if QR codes have completely gone under the radar of security departments.
I will restructure this post for my blog/newsletter later, but didn't want to wait with my warning, after seeing the clear example from charging stations.

2024-08-10 09:36:56

- reply

Well, I loved it. I feel like films aren’t made like this anymore. The dialogue is some of the best I’ve experienced in a long time. Sure, some of it is certainly dated, but it came out 27 years ago.
As a Robin Williams fan it’s kind of wild for me to have missed seeing it for all these years.

2024-08-10 09:33:15

- reply

Incredible. Had not expected it to be this good.

2024-08-09 21:12:31

Watching Good Will Hunting for the first time. Yup, the first time.

2024-08-09 14:37:22

- reply

Älskar den här matchen!

2024-08-09 13:18:49

- reply

True. Though I feel for example the exploitation of cheap and underage labor has spun out of control. And general awareness about all these issues is higher. So then it becomes a question of balance, scale, opting for one methodology over another.

2024-08-09 12:53:45

"Cool, I found a good use for AI, this tech can really save time!"
If you're arguing that generative AI has both good and bad applications, but your main reasons for finding it positive is that you found some personally useful applications - for example formatting or summarising content - I don't feel you're considering enough what the concepts of good or bad entail.
I'd argue that the definition of good is not that it benefits you at the same time as many others are harmed.
If your personal benefit, formatting content much faster than before, comes at the expense of escalating carbon costs, unregulated child labour in hazardous mines and PTSD amongst AI gig workers, I would argue that calling this feature "good" is a stretch.
The bigger picture is a hassle to consider but I don't see how it could responsibly be ignored.

2024-08-09 08:42:56

Lagfinalen i bordtennis är klockan 15. 🏓

2024-08-09 04:50:36

- reply

Thanks. I can also suggest these two posts for more references. It's obviously a bit much for a 5-10 minutes presentation but might provide some new ideas and arguments.
The Elements of AI Ethics
https://axbom.com/aielements/
AI responsibility in a hyped-up world
https://axbom.com/ai-responsibility/
If one ever wants to dig deeper there's also my collection of 3,000+ articles 😅:
https://raindrop.io//digital-ethics-6334413
https://raindrop.io/axbom/digital-ethics-6334413

2024-08-08 09:01:48

- reply

Three days later. I went to leave a blood sample on Tuesday morning (the day after my CT-scan) per instruction by the doctor. He called today wondering why I hadn't. I said I did.
He then found that the requested test got mixed up with another doctor's requests (one I haven't met). The blood I left on Tuesday was tested for something completely different. So I have to go in again tomorrow and leave yet another blood sample. And my arm is bruised where the needle went in.
Closing in on too many weird mixups for comfort now.
#PatientStories

2024-08-05 14:13:06

Every time I see someone write about the westernized misrepresentation of Ikigai, I sigh. Because it’s of course been blended up with capitalism and hyperbole to become essentially a sales pitch.
Ikigai, to the Japanese, was never about what you can get paid for. Taking care of your grandkids can also be your Ikigai. The stuff you do after work can be your Ikigai. And it changes over time. To me it feels like western thinking really pollutes a lot of beautiful insight and opportunity.
Also, Ikigai is not a Venn diagram.
To be fair, if that framework is helpful to you and inspires you, by all means use it. But it’s not Ikigai. Catching up with your friends can be.
If you’re curious about what Ikigai means to the Japanese, give The Ikigai Podcast a chance: https://ikigaitribe.com/podcasts/ – It’s a series of interviews with Japanese professors, authors, experts, and people living their ikigai.

2024-08-05 07:26:37

- reply

Thanks. Yes, I'm meeting with the doctor right after the scan and will bring this up. You're right that many people won't be as confident asking questions and calling attention to discrepancies.
I ask for everything in writing and last time one of the nurses wrote a great text for me detailing everything that would happen to me. Otherwise I would not have not known myself… 😬

2024-08-05 07:04:56

"I added gen AI to my product and 10x:ed my carbon footprint."
Making memes on my phone in a hospital waiting room…
https://axbom.me/media/b8697c47-9169-4c93-99a5-ac453fd66eaa/F19F5D46-1581-41EC-99DB-28CF253F924D.png

2024-08-05 06:33:53

- reply

And now I just had to remind the head nurse that I was supposed to get medicine 30 mins ago to address my previous negative reactions to the contrast fluid.*
They had no note of this, searched, found it and thanked me for reminding them. Feels like many are back from their vacation today.
*Supposed to be administered 2 hours before the scan.
#PatientStories

2024-08-05 06:13:58

CT-scan today. The nurse who placed my PICC line also took my blood pressure. When detaching the cuff, the pen she had in her hand pressed against my side and drew a long ink line across my new green shirt. Themselves not noticing I pointed out "you just drew a line on my shirt with your pen". They said "I'm really sorry", packed up the stuff and left.
It felt like a weird interaction. And yes, it also wasn't painless.
Now trying to change perspective and have to assume they were very stressed. Lots of things in the interaction felt rough and rushed which would seem to support this.
Anyway. I doubt it will wash out, which made me a little sad. But also, it's just stuff.
#PatientStories

2024-08-04 19:26:52

- reply

Thank you Davor! 🫶

2024-08-03 15:31:59

I just re-read this post I wrote about the AI hype in March of last year and it's essentially the same things I would write today.
AI is moving so fast it's timeless 😁
https://axbom.com/ai-responsibility/

2024-08-03 10:37:25

- reply

Truth. 😁

2024-08-03 10:24:51

I just got one of the most beautiful well-wishes, with an account of how they had gotten to know me through first my panda model and then my writing, a great story about their grandma's heart surgery (including the maxim "Getting old is nothing for cowards") and some truly valuable insights about exertion and recovery.
So yes, I am now crying. In a good way.
And for everyone's wellbeing: I can really recommend starting a blog, even if it's just for yourself or a few close friends. ❤️

2024-08-03 05:40:34

- reply

Tack Ludvig! 🫶

2024-08-03 05:40:02

- reply

Thank you Anthony. 🫶

2024-08-02 18:01:08

- reply

Thank you. 🫶

2024-08-02 18:00:30

- reply

Thank you. 🫶

2024-08-02 15:51:28

- reply

Thank you David. 🫶

2024-08-02 15:51:03

- reply

Thank you Eric. 🫶

2024-08-02 15:50:08

- reply

Thank you 🫶

2024-08-02 15:42:13

- reply

Thank you Dorothea. 🫶

2024-08-02 15:41:41

- reply

Thank you 🫶

2024-08-02 15:22:09

- reply

Great way of seeing it. 🫶

2024-08-02 15:21:48

- reply

thank you jack 🫶

2024-08-02 15:21:01

- reply

Thank you Catherine. 🫶

2024-08-02 15:18:38

I'm in the process of preparing for open heart surgery. It's an elaborate procedure where I'll get a new mechanical heart valve and also replace about 6-7 centimeters of the aorta.
This is followed by sick leave and rehabilitation with, among other things, breathing techniques to make sure my lung capacity is restored. It takes about three months for my rib cage to just heal up.
Although I've been aware of my congenital heart defect for a long time, the news of needing an imminent operation came quite suddenly and surprisingly. So how did I end up here?
In this blog post I share my experience and the road ahead.
[This post was first written in Swedish. I've done my best to rewrite it in English in my own voice, not the voice of any AI tool.]
https://axbom.com/my-tender-heart-and-i/

2024-08-01 08:26:38

Today is Earth Overshoot Day – The day when we have consumed as much of the Earth's resources as it can replenish in a year.
But it's only today because many countries use far less resources than an equal consumption would allow.
If all countries consumed as much as Sweden, for example, the overshoot day would fall as early as April 21.
https://overshoot.footprintnetwork.org/newsroom/country-overshoot-days/

2024-08-01 05:30:42

- reply

So very true...

2024-07-31 13:44:40

Organisations when they hire consultancy services: “We need a company credit check and report to ensure your finances are stable and that this will be a sustainable relationship.”
Organisations when deciding on using OpenAI: “We understand you spend $700,000 per day and need $5 billion a year to survive as a company, which is way more than any company has ever raised in history. Please take our money. We will integrate your tool into all our tools now. The lottery is our favorite way of investing in our own future.”

2024-07-31 11:22:51

“Questioning and resisting the worst excesses of technology isn't antithetical to progress.”
https://thenib.com/im-a-luddite/

2024-07-29 20:10:40

The hidden costs of AI crawlers: https://front-end.social/@stefan/112863640599785389
#note174d…7ryw

2024-07-29 14:39:23

If a billionaire says that pigs will fly within two years and that this holds potential for billions dollar of financial growth, there will be no shortage of media outlets ready to repeat and debate this incessantly, no shortage of McKinsey consultants to confirm or inflate the numbers and publish whitepapers on the topic, and no shortage of Aeronautical Hog Experts on LinkedIn to advise you on this inevitable future that you must adapt to.
You may not be replaced by a flying pig but you will be replaced by someone else working with a flying pig.

2024-07-29 11:00:50

- reply

Good share, thank you. Had never heard about the vicious flower before.
I am also struggling with LinkedIn.
I so miss the blogosphere, where we grew alongside people we admired with healthy doses of content that people put their heart into.

2024-07-28 21:25:33

- reply

So much. And yes, it’s surprisingly short.

2024-07-28 20:23:19

- reply

Yes, this is definitely a coherent way of reading it. I’ve found that the more times I browse through it the more layered I find it. She asks a lot of questions about what we believe and what we find enjoyable… And it leaves so much open. Especially of course the end, and why people leave, rather than voice their objection.

2024-07-28 20:01:20

- reply

Thank you! I’ve just started following Joel on Nebula. I’m very fond of his articulate takes.
@biggestjoel@mastodon.social

2024-07-28 19:38:07

This morning I re-read Ursula K. Le Guin’s short story ’The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’ to find the bits I need to make a comparison to the AI hype of today.
It’s so very beautiful in it’s simplicity and also just tore my heart out. It was more detailed in the child’s suffering than I remembered.
I want to write an essay that brings attention everyone suffering for the AI benefactors to gain their advantages.
- the exploited labeling workers
- the people mining minerals
- the people who suffer from the data centre pollution and drainage
But I am afraid it’s going to be tough writing and people just won’t get it… I have seen the children that the child in the story reflects.
Will rest on this a few more days.
If you have not read it, it’s available here:
https://archive.org/stream/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas-ursula-k-leguin/The%20Ones%20Who%20Walk%20Away%20from%20Omelas%20-%20Ursula%20K%20LeGuin_djvu.txt

2024-07-27 15:54:20

- reply

Same. 😁

2024-07-22 16:03:33

"An important characteristic of our society is that it has developed technologies that distribute responsibility in a way so that no one has it."
– Joseph Weizenbaum in 'Islands in the Cyberstream'.

2024-07-22 15:15:13

If your excuse for harmful actions is "if I don't do it someone else will", then you are the equivalent of the person doing it when someone else refused.

2024-07-21 21:25:41

Okay so I gave ‘Fool Me Once’ a chance. Three episodes. But wow the dialogue and script is painstakingly bad.
Too bad, the idea for the setup was intriguing.

2024-07-21 08:33:30

- reply

Jag reflekterar över att människor skrev och sa exakt samma om Twitter en gång i tiden. Och det tänker jag att Andreas vet…

2024-07-20 11:30:28

«[AGI] interprets the Turing Test as an engineering prediction, arguing that the machine “learning” algorithms of today will naturally evolve as they increase in power to think subjectively like humans, including emotion, social skills, consciousness and so on. The claims that increasing computer power will eventually result in fundamental change are hard to justify on technical grounds, and some say this is like arguing that if we make aeroplanes fly fast enough, eventually one will lay an egg.»
– Alan Blackwell in "Moral Codes"
https://moralcodes.pubpub.org

2024-07-16 14:01:19

- reply

Same. I'm really happy I made the move from WP.

2024-07-16 07:16:46

- reply

I hope you're keeping an eye on Ghost's ventures into ActivityPub.
https://activitypub.ghost.org

2024-07-15 15:35:25

- reply

Tack ❤️

2024-07-15 08:19:11

- reply

Tack! ❤️

2024-07-15 08:18:09

- reply

Tack snälla. ❤️🫶

2024-07-15 05:48:17

- reply

Tack Leo! ❤️

2024-07-15 05:47:06

- reply

❤️

2024-07-15 05:46:46

- reply

Tack. ❤️

2024-07-15 05:43:10

- reply

Tack! 🙏❤️

2024-07-15 05:42:04

- reply

Tack. ❤️

2024-07-14 17:19:05

- reply

Tack. 😊❤️

2024-07-14 17:18:37

- reply

❤️

2024-07-14 16:12:40

- reply

❤️

2024-07-14 16:12:31

- reply

Tack. ❤️

2024-07-14 16:00:24

- reply

Tack Cecilia. ❤️

2024-07-14 15:57:13

- reply

Tack snälla Carl ❤️

2024-07-14 15:45:51

- reply

Tack ❤️

2024-07-14 15:38:00

Om ungefär en månad ska jag genomgå en öppen hjärtoperation. Det är en gedigen procedur där jag ska få en ny mekanisk hjärtklaff och även byta ut en sisådär 6-7 centimeter av aortan. Detta följs av sjukskrivning och rehabilitering med bland annat andningsteknik för att rädda lungfunktionen. Det tar cirka tre månader för mig att bara läka ihop. Trots att jag länge varit medveten om mitt medfödda hjärtfel kom beskedet om en snar operation ganska plötsligt och överraskande. Så hur hamnade jag här?
Idag en personlig berättelse, som ett sätt att bearbeta en stundande operation:
https://per.ax/hjartat

2024-07-11 03:45:56

The road to hell is paved with artificial intentions.

2024-06-20 07:10:45

Så Miljöpartiet gick inte bara emot sitt eget vallöfte gällande Chat Control, när de blir påkomna så ljuger de om att det var ett misstag (som om det ens det vore okej med misstag i så här viktiga frågor)… och sedan blir de påkomna med att det inte var ett misstag utan förankrat helt korrekt enligt MP:s rutiner.
Bedrövligt är bara förnamnet.
https://emanuelkarlsten.se/bildbevisen-miljopartiet-rostade-inte-fel-om-chat-control/

2024-06-20 06:07:45

- reply

So many wizards hiding behind curtains!! Thanks for sharing.
@npub1q4l…q39g @npub1dvk…2djf

2024-06-19 20:49:16

One of the best posts about “AI” I’ve read. Enjoy.
"A friend of mine was invited by a FAANG organization to visit the U.S a few years ago. Many of the talks were technical demos of impressive artificial intelligence products. Being a software engineer, he got to spend a little bit of time backstage with the developers, whereupon they revealed that most of the demos were faked. The products didn't work. They just hadn't solved some minor issues, such as actually predicting the thing that they're supposed to predict. Didn't stop them spouting absolute gibberish to a breathless audience for an hour though! I blame not the engineers, who probably tried to actually get the damn thing to work, but the lying blowhards who insisted that they must make the presentation or presumably be terminated.”
https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/
Thanks for the tip, @npub1q4l…q39g, and thank you @npub1dvk…2djf for writing it!

2024-06-18 13:33:10

Det är häpnadsväckande, men ändå inte i denna alltmer bisarra värld. Regeringen väljer att ge sitt stöd till version 2 av Chat Control, något som innebär att flera partier gör en tvärvändning gällande det motstånd till Chat Control som de förmedlade i sina kampanjer till EU-valet för bara ett par veckor sedan(!)
Det är också riktigt, riktigt illa, för denna dröm för diktatorer kan klubbas redan imorgon. 😡
Oerhört viktigt gräv av Emanuel Karlsten:
https://emanuelkarlsten.se/regeringen-kuppar-igenom-chat-control-kan-klubbas-i-eu-redan-onsdag/
Oisin Cantwell har skrivit också:
https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/kolumnister/a/gw6wLa/sverige-har-gett-tummen-upp-till-chat-control

2024-06-14 07:23:00

I see people far in the future laughing so hard at the gullibility and foolishness of 21st century homo sapiens worshipping at the altar of technological divinity.
Well, either that or crying.

2024-06-10 15:21:21

- reply

Thank you! This is really helpful. Thanks for sharing.

2024-06-10 10:26:40

- reply

It’s part of the Ambition Empower program which is a paid program where I teach, so no stream this time. But I know this is one of those talks I’ll want to be bringing to a wider audience so likely in September I could be ready to do a public one.

2024-06-10 09:44:52

Tomorrow I am giving a talk around the importance for designers to not strive for ‘digital literacy’ but rather for ‘nature literacy’.
I believe an understanding of our connection to nature is the only way people will find incentive to stop destroying it, and to make better decisions as creators. A willingness to spend time in nature every day is part of that mindshift.
Which is why I found this statistic so very disturbing. Our tech-centric world is teaching us to ignore nature:
"The average [US] person will now spend 93% of their life indoors.”
Only 7% of a lifetime outside. And likely a great deal of that time in environments made of concrete. This happens even though we know that a lack of exposure to sunlight is causing low energy levels, problems sleeping and depression.
Even though we inherently know how good we feel every time we immerse ourselves in greenery. My wife calls it “forest bathing” when we go on dog walks in the woods. And I recently learnt that this is simply a translation of the Japanese term ‘shinrin-yoku’, a term that emerged in the 1980s as a physiological and psychological exercise. The purpose was twofold: to offer an eco-antidote to tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the country’s forests.
During my first months in the Fediverse in 2022 I had two people reach out and mention to me that my writings reminded them of #solarpunk, which I had up 'til then never heard of. Solarpunk aspires to provide an alternative way of viewing the future with humans living in symbiosis with nature and technology – a future where technology is not destructive but only used purposefully where it boosts universal wellbeing and an ability to harmonise with the nature we ourselves are a small part of. Not the masters of. Not disconnected from.
What Solarpunk does for me personally is to provide a way to speak about a alternative futures, rather than get stuck in always criticising the current illusions of inevitable futures.
In a breakout session tomorrow I will be trying out the Solarpunk futures cards as an aid in thinking differently about digital design.
Would love to hear if anyone has experience with running or participating in a Solarpunk-related workshop and the types of concepts or ideas that resonate and contribute to pursuing a different way of making products and services.
"It is estimated that 80% of the environmental impact of products is determined during the product design phase.” – Publications Office of the European Union
—
Solarpunk futures storytelling game (free cards available in PDF format):
https://per.ax/solarpunkcards
A nice summary of the Solarpunk vision by Leonardo Amico:
https://per.ax/solarpunkvision
Getting back to nature: how forest bathing can make us feel better
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/08/forest-bathing-japanese-practice-in-west-wellbeing
This is your brain on nature (National Geographic):
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/call-to-wild

2024-06-09 05:23:02

- reply

Ja det var väldigt fint.
Mitt favoritstycke:
"I ett gott framtida samhälle mäste två unika mänskliga egenskaper fa fritt spelrum: originalitet och omhändertagande.
Originalitet är förmågan att skapa något nytt på vilket område det vara må. För det krävs det kunskap och fantasi, två resurser som inte uppmuntras i dag.
Men omhändertagandet är än viktigare.
Maskiner kan göra mycket men aldrig möta en människa. När maskiner blir billigare än människor hotar de att ersätta människor där människor är oumbärliga - i mötet öga
mot öga. Det får inte ske i ett gott samhälle.
Naturen är också föremål för mänsklig
omtanke. Sa måste det vara mer än någonsin. Människan är ju själv ett stycke
natur. Hon måste tillse att alla vi naturvarelser lever väl."
– Sven-Eric Liedman

2024-06-07 09:21:30

- reply

Haha, I like this line of thinking.

2024-06-06 08:37:09

- reply

I’m truly in complete agreement with you, though I expect the bulk of domain registrations are from delusional ideas and startups that will never see the light of day.

2024-06-06 06:51:07

If you see a domain name ending in .ai that means the island of Anguilla got some money, as it is the owner of this country domain.
”For each domain registration, Anguilla’s government gets anywhere from $140 to thousands of dollars from website names sold at auctions, according government data.”
In 2023 just over 20% of the government’s total revenue came from these registrations.
”[…] the government used the money to provide free health care for citizens 70 and older, and it has committed millions of dollars to finish building a school and a vocational training center. The government has also allocated funds to improve its airport; doubled its budget for sports activities, events and facilities; and increased the budget for citizens seeking medical treatment overseas.”
The island was hit hard by a hurricane in 2017 and tourism essentially disappeared during the covid pandemic. The .ai domain revenue has been a welcome injection into the economy.
Now you can’t say I never talk about AI in a positive light 😉
https://per.ax/angui

2024-06-05 05:23:51

In June 2023 I wrote:
«Will consumers perhaps come to see the phrase "AI-Powered System" in the same light as "Diesel-Powered SUV".»
Well, not yet it would seem.
In The Elements of AI Ethics from June of last year I build on The Elements of Digital Ethics from 2021. Which itself was the output of reading about digital harms for many years.
Seeing all of the categories of harms just get worse year on year is disheartening.
What goal is worth all this? I tend to fall back on a sentiment I use in my talks and teaching:
When a privileged group benefits from a technology, the more inclined they will be to ignore the harms done unto others by the same technology. Because drawing attention to the harm would suggest they should give up their personal gain to help someone else.
This appears to be true for the short term. In the long term the beneficiaries of technology will happily also ignore harm done unto themselves, as long as they get the experience boost in the moment.
What hope is there?
In my June 11 session for Ambition Empower I will be talking about how to champion technologies of compassion, drawing on work related to nature connectedness by P. Wesley Schultz, Marianne E. Krasny, F. Stephan Mayer and Cynthia M Frantz.
Technologies of compassion work in unison with an acknowledgement of our connection not only to each other but also to nature. Technology tends to separate us from nature, making us value it less - and causing us to increasingly worsen our own living conditions, and the conditions of all other species, over time.
But we can choose to design technology that takes nature into account.. Technology that works with, not against, nature. I believe this is what all schools must start teaching. Now.
Expect me to write more about this over the next year.
https://per.ax/aie
#solarpunk

2024-06-04 14:27:10

- reply

Än så länge är det bara nya Copilot+ PC som har det. Så det är ingen ko på isen, ännu.

2024-06-04 06:04:19

Alien historians:
For fifty years computers were used for their purpose: to compute exact, predictable and explainable responses to exact, interpretable queries and inputs.
Then, in what human timekeeping referred to as the early 21st century, the most exploitative classes of the human race decided that the best use of computers was to compute inexact - yet semantically believable - responses to inexact human phrasing. Each inexact response was different for multiple identical queries, and easily manipulated through more inexact phrasing.
And they chose to call those responses intelligence. We can only presume the decades prior, trusting computers for exact calculations, forced them into a delusional state of mind. Probabilistic word salad was treated as divine instruction. As further evidence of this delusion, we can refer to the sequence of events that followed.
To produce vast amounts of ’intelligence’ required extreme amounts of energy, causing consumption to skyrocket. This was during a time when it would appear that the human race were well aware that they actually needed to do the opposite: reduce energy consumption to minimise the effects of their climate crisis and save themselves.
Needless to say, much of human civilisation collapsed into a smoking pile of confusion. After their demise, Earth was again able to thrive, after we removed the heaps of harmful waste orbitting around it.

2024-06-03 20:33:03

1. År 2020 sätter Microsoft som mål att nå negativa utsläpp år 2030.
2. De gasar på och kör i helt motsatt riktning från målet och ökar i stället sina utsläpp med mer än 30%.
3. År 2024 handlar allt om att bygga ut och bygga nya datacenter.
4. De accelerar alltså nu ännu snabbare bort från målet de satte.
5. Idag frågar en journalist ”Är det möjligt att nå målet när ni expanderar så kraftigt inom datacenter?”
6. Och får till svar ”I nuläget är det svårare än när vi satte det 2020. Men det är viktigare än någonsin att nå det, och det är vi fast beslutna att göra.”
7. Ingen följdfråga på det.
8. Ridå.

2024-06-03 18:33:57

- reply

😁

2024-06-03 11:35:19

Just found the Solarpunk Futures storytelling game and now all I want to do is run a solarpunk workshop. 😊
https://thefuture.wtf
The free print-and-play version of the cards: https://per.ax/solarpunkcards

2024-06-03 10:55:37

Heja Sverige. Vår statsminister går ut och gör gemensam sak med ett amerikanskt storföretag, och hyllar dem för att de gör en rekordinvestering i sina egna datacenter, bokar upp resurser på vårt elnät, gör åverkan på natur och miljö – och ger dem sannolikt rabatt på elpriset för besväret. Investeringen kan summa summarum bli en kostnad för civilsamhället.
Allt för något som kallas för AI, och som ingen har definierat vad det är för något. Ett marknadsföringsbegrepp som kan betyda allt och inget. Just det, vi får några timmar i deras webbutbildning – troligen utan lärare – om deras egen proprietära “AI”, en webbutbildning som sannolikt redan ligger färdigproducerad. Tack för det Microsoft.
Söker journalister som kan problematisera detta…
Det här var mitt första utbrott. Ska fördjupa mig i respektive ämne på bloggen sedan.
Just det… det råkar vara ett storföretag som kritiserats starkt på senaste tiden för sina bristande säkerhetsrutiner… bland annat av Trafikverket, och släpper en dator med en funktion (Recall) som är som att bjuda cyberkriminella på buffé.

2024-06-03 09:40:02

- reply

Exakt så. Jag kokar här…

2024-06-03 09:28:03

- reply

Agree completely!

2024-06-01 06:08:31

When you have a qr code on a presentation slide you are welcoming people to take out their phones and get distracted by any notifications that happen to have appeared on screen, or just by the habit of tapping a specific app to check messages.
I actually miss business cards. But yeah, I still have a business card variant (just a url) that I sometimes hand out.

2024-05-22 04:42:56

- reply

Wow, this is a great report with so many useful references. Thank you for sharing!

2024-05-18 07:21:05

- reply

Thank you for teaching me the word jingoistic, I'm not sure I had even seen that word before. 🙏

2024-05-17 20:59:27

- reply

Thanks Steffen!

2024-05-17 14:14:05

Instead of a traditional online forum I am considering starting a mailing list (think listserv). Some of my best best online conversations were on mailing lists in the late 90s. And e-mail is, after all, pretty cool.
Oh yeah, I’ve just been reading about how Slack is now ingesting your messages for their AI “training”.