Elizabeth Lopatto
This is just a good joke about two things that are very relevant to me.
I mean, look at that lil face.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Senior Reporter
Senior Reporter
More From Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
That otter stole that surfboard fair and square.
“When the surfer got the board back, there were bite marks on it.” Listen man, generally I feel that wildlife that has lost its fear of humans is a bad deal for everyone. However, in this specific case, I do want to see if the otter can actually hang ten.
Elizabeth Lopatto
“If writing is thinking, ordering one’s ideas, generating text with A.I. may be a way to avoid thinking.”
The New Yorker’s Kyle Chayka tried out an AI model fine-tuned and trained on his work:
No matter how many times I asked it to describe how I felt about being replaced, Robot Kyle always came to the conclusion that I would ultimately be happier as a result of my A.I. self. The program’s output reminded me of the fragility of language and original thought. As writers, we are all prone to falling into lazy patterns; avoiding them requires active effort. Robot Kyle is no different.
One hilarious possible outcome is that AI glurge makes real writers more expensive — but only, of course, if you care about quality. One more unsettling outcome is that you can train an AI to produce glurge in the style of a writer, ruining their reputation by mindlessly vomiting forth their prose tics.
My A.I. Writing Robot
[The New Yorker]
Elizabeth Lopatto
In Hollywood, the nerds are striking — and it looks like the hotties are about to join them.
The actors may join the writers on strike, and Hollywood’s publicists are freaking out.
“It would be a miracle at this point” to reach a deal by this Wednesday, one producer told Variety.
Elizabeth Lopatto
“A rising tide of anti-human disgust lifts the gaudy yachts higher, and brings the smell of rot.”
I enjoyed this story about Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav, who is the personification of the boring business bro who doesn’t care if a movie is good as long as it is profitable and predictable. But the phenomenon David Roth identifies here isn’t limited to Zaslav and could apply equally the AI cheerleaders, serving us glurge because these dead-eyed losers have no idea what is worthwhile about other people.
They Don't Want Us And We Don't Need Them | Defector
[defector.com]
Elizabeth Lopatto
The thing I enjoy the most about Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter is other people discovering what Elon Musk is like.
Here’s WIlliam Cohan on Musk’s various new legal stuff, including the nastygram Alex Spiro sent to Mark Zuckerberg:
I think there is only one person in the world who could make Zuckerberg appear sympathetic and we have found him in Elon Musk. Suing the company that may or may not have hired the employees he fired, many of whom he stiffed of their severance from Twitter? That takes an extraordinary level of hubris and a belief that the rules just do not apply to him.
As I have noted before, one service Musk provides is demonstrating exactly how much the rules truly don’t apply to him. Anyway I personally would not sue a pack of lawyers that already handed me my ass once, but I am not Musk.
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elon Musk is once again ruining Matt Levine’s time off.
This time, by suing Levine’s old law firm while Levine is on vacation without a laptop. I will update the story when Levine’s emergency newsletter drops.
A brief history of Elon Musk sabotaging Matt Levine’s time off
Elizabeth Lopatto
Elizabeth Lopatto
I have no idea if Ryan Broderick’s read on the inner workings of threads is accurate but I lol’d all the same.
Broderick didn’t follow anyone and bathed in the algorithm instead:
My verdict: Threads sucks shit. It has no purpose. It is for no one. It launched as a content graveyard and will assuredly only become more of one over time. It’s iFunny for people who miss The Ellen Show. It has a distinct celebrities-making-videos-during-COVID-lockdown vibe. It feels like a 90s-themed office party organized by a human resources department. And my theory, after staring into its dark heart for several days, is that it was never meant to “beat” Twitter — regardless of what Zuckerberg has been tweeting. Threads’ true purpose was to act as a fresh coat of paint for Instagram’s code in the hopes it might make the network relevant again.
The algorithmic anti-culture of scale
[www.garbageday.email]
Elizabeth Lopatto
Should you drink the coffee on an airplane?
On PJ Vogt’s new podcast, Search Engine, he tackles an old question: is the water on airlines safe? In 2002, WSJ reporters discovered that you should probably bring your own bottle onboard. Since then, new regulations have been passed in the US. Has that made things better? Can you drink that coffee?
Lots of flight attendants will tell you no. But Vogt calls in a microbiologist to really get down to brass tacks.
Elizabeth Lopatto
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