[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 1 week ago

Questions To Which the Answer is No, an ongoing series:

Generative AI - Can it actually help with the day-to-day technical work of a practising engineer?

The upcoming Autumn Panel Discussion hosted by the UCD Engineering Graduates Association (EGA) will take place on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, at ESB's Headquarters. This event will explore several pressing topics at the intersection of engineering and artificial intelligence. Attendees will gain insights into current trends in AI, particularly the latest advancements in generative AI tools and platforms. The discussion will feature case studies that highlight the successful integration of AI into real-world engineering processes, offering practical examples of its applications. Additionally, the panel will address the essential skills that engineers need to effectively incorporate AI into their workflows, providing guidance on upskilling for the future. The event will conclude with a Q&A session, allowing participants to engage directly with the panelists and delve deeper into the ethical considerations surrounding AI in engineering.

No, not software engineers, engineer engineers. Yikes!

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 6 months ago

I don't know anything about evolution or genetics, and I'm pretty sure this guy doesn't either. Why would everyone become disabled because more disabled people survive and pass on their genes to their kids? We don't stone gingers to death and yet we are not all having red-headed kids.

The repeated use of the word "weak" (as opposed to "sick" or "disabled") seems revealing.

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 6 months ago

Damn, these guys really hate Stephen Jay Gould don't they.

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Jesus, that second post.

[Benzos are] not only a great amnestic, it’s also apparently one of the most heavily prescribed drug classes historically, and used recreationally - which puts very strong lower bounds on the drug’s safety in practice, and means it’s probably readily available.

Yeah, because no widely used drug has ever turned out to be harmful, right?! Right?! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to huff some glue. After all, glue huffing is widely practiced recreationally - by kids, even - so it's probably safe, right?

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 6 months ago

As far as I know, the only way to prevent people from joining a cult is a) warn people it's a cult and b) make the cult less powerful and attractive.

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

the context for them purchasing an extremely expensive castle is they had a lot of money (no shit)

Ohhh the hypocrisy. Wasn't EA meant to tackle these kind of inefficiencies???

[-] maol@awful.systems 9 points 1 year ago

Yeah the studies he cites are all over the place. One about how single motherhood isn't fun, which would seem like an argument for abortion, not against? It's just the aul "contraception causes pregnancy" argument catholic pro-lifers used to lose.

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 1 year ago

"6)deaths from abortion are a function of infrastructure, not law: pro-life countries/regions with good healthcare (e.g. Chile, Poland, Malta, South Korea (until recently), Ireland (until recently), North Africa, UAE, and almost all of Europe pre-legalisation) have very few, in many cases zero, deaths from abortion ."

Despite our good (?) healthcare, there was a high-profile death due to lack of abortion access in Ireland: Savita Halappanavar. And that's despite the fact that from 1996 (?) to 2018 abortion was legally permitted to "protect the life of the mother", if a panel of doctors agreed her life was in danger. In addition to Savita's death there was a case in which a raped, pregnant teenager became suicidal, but because doctors did not agree she should have an abortion, she was committed and put on suicide watch. How's that for harm? Women who travelled abroad for abortions also experienced significant medical and psychological harm as a result: consider the case of A, B and C vs. Ireland.

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 1 year ago

I used to read fanfiction, and by the standards of Harry Potter fanfiction, it's not even good fanfiction.

~~(insert "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" joke here)~~

Maybe it's just a matter of taste, but I couldn't get through more than a chapter. I wonder if most of the audience for it were people who didn't normally read fanfiction. Actually, I just looked it up on fanlore to see what fandom people have said about it, and the reviews are mixed....

"I read it longer than I planned to because I kept expecting it to turn into Harry/Draco slash [...] But then I realized the author was just a weird neckbeard who had some kind of strange Draco fixation but was probably not going to make them go gay. Also it was just a really bad fic."

Lots of gold in there. Apparently Eliezer was bullied by a Harry Potter fan forum, to the point that some of the users set up a blog called "Methods of Rationality sucks".

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 1 year ago

I reflexively downvoted this post because that tweet/reply is so appalling.

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 1 year ago

not really relevant, but: a quote from an interview with hard-living 60s rock band the Pretty Things:

"..microdosing LSD [is] a practice May thinks may have been invented by a keyboard player who performed with the band in the 70s. “He used to have a little lick of acid every morning while standing on his head, doing his yoga exercises.” And did it help him psychologically, as latterday devotees of microdosing claim it can? “Well, no, not really,” sighs May. “He went pretty loony, to be honest.”"

Source: this article

[-] maol@awful.systems 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

no irritating residents groups on Mars. And no need for an environmental impact report. It really is quite close to early colonialism

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maol

joined 1 year ago