The ecological impacts of "AI" are bad but if people only used it intentionally, they'd stay there. But with every provider, every search engine, every website firing up some chatbot or summarizer even when not asked it quickly turns from bad to monstrous. "Just integrate an LLM, see if people like it" is like leaving your ICE-powered SUV running because someone might enjoy some cool air inside.

The translation of "just use our docker image" into human language is "we don't have good docs and we don't give a shit".

"An LLM helped me with some task" is not a good argument for these things increasing productivity. Did you also factor in all the cases where it made you slower? Where the output created extra work? And how much of your work/activity is that task? All bigger studies we know (even those done by Google for example) show a total lack of meaningful productivity gains, especially when looking at a whole organization. (There are few exceptions: Spam generation might see productivity gains for example. Translation services where quality doesn't matter much. But how much of our economy is that?)

This is sometimes read as "look 'AI' isn't working". But the opposite is true. _This_ is what "AI" is _for_. Push down labor power, push down wages, make employment more insecure.

AI layoffs to backfire: Half quietly rehired at lower pay

: Bosses banking on automation? 55% will regret those job cuts

We keep seeing startups who want to replace something valuable (therapy, counseling, tutoring, artistic expression) with some tech bullshit under the banner of democratization. But why do we need to invest so much in bad tech that doesn't work instead of just giving people access to what they need? This is a sign for how fucking atrophied our mental muscles are. How limited our space for thinking about how things should be. You want to democratize "going to therapy"? Make it "free" as in paid by socialized healthcare. You want to democratize "making art"? Give people money and free time to express themselves. None of these things are meaningfully addressed through tech. It's always about the political struggle to give people what they need and deserve.

Never cared much for Omarchy: It's being made by a right-wing dipshit with no experience with Linux and distributions who's whole "Opinion" seems to be that "90ies Hacker movie look" is what makes a good operating system. But when I read this actual review

マリウス

A Word on Omarchy

An in-depth look at the currently trending Arch Linux configuration that is Omarchy.

I was shocked by how bad it actually is: Technologically but also as an "opinionated Linux distribution". Sad to see that @npub15f7r...m7wr tanked their reputation within their target audience in support of this underbaked Linux-Hacker-Cosplay thing.

I do think that this framing isn't fully correct. "Open Source" often has a libertarian (and therefore explicitly non-left) bend. It can be put into left thinking and politics but it works just as well in more right-wing logics. (See Golumbia, Cyberlibertarianism)

Mallegol-Hansen Mastodon

Philip Mallegol-Hansen (@philip@mallegolhansen.com)

I don't know who needs to hear this, but the very idea of Open Source was always a radical left leaning ideological stance. You're GIVING AWAY lab...

It's absolutely fucked up how quickly Google Search went from my go-to search to a "yuck, why is this shit on, get me out of here". Like when I search on Android by accident and get AI summaries I have literally yelled at my phone. Absolutely batshit how quickly Google could destroy the reputation if their core product.

Hallo Baden-Württemberg! Eure Regierung will Palantirs Software einsetzen, was absolut nicht im Interesse von irgendwem ist. Es gibt eine offizielle Petition dagegen, mitzeichnen, weiterleiten, Eure Eltern und Familien damit zusammen:

Keine Nutzung der Software “Gotham” von Palantir in Baden-Württemberg

This Never Post episode on the question of whether "AI" is the esthetics of American Fascism is great. Mike Rugnetta takes you on an enlightening stroll through media theory and the fucked up reality we live in. It's challenging but worth it.

Never Post

🆕 Never Post! A.I. and New American Fascism

Is a generated aesthetic the look of our times?