Tech-inzichten door Niek de Greef. Reflecties op technologie, software development en de impact van digitale innovaties op cultuur en maatschappij.
The iHeart radio podcast company creates podcast enshittification with A.J. Jacobs’s very nice podcast The Puzzler. Of the 14 minutes a podcast lasts, 5 minutes are filled with ads, that is 35%.
Yes, Tim Ferriss (‘double-r-double-s’), arguably the best podcaster out there, preambles and postambles his podcasts with 5 minutes of ads; also annoying, but at least his podcasts are between 1 and 2 hours long!
As European users, we can opt out of Instagram and Facebook using our posts for AI training. I’ve exercised this control, as I am the product of Facebook and Instagram, but I strive to limit their use of me as such.
Opting out on Instagram looks deliberately cumbersome. However, from Facebook, which is also owned by Meta, I received an email with very simple instructions.
Now, I am curious if they can prove they are not using my data for AI.
Earlier I wrote that today there are excellent search engines as an alternative to Google search. To repeat the argument against Google search use: with Google search, in addition to being an Internet user, you are also part of the commercial product a product of Google, with all the consequences for reliability of results.
Another way to consume content from the Internet is through RSS feeds. Google doesn’t like that either, because with that, they can’t show you ads either. I switched to Newsblur after using locally installed QuietRSS for a while. I was missing the shared nature of the web, so I switched back to a tool with a web interface. Newsblur is good and has a fair price, but there are excellent other alternatives out there.
About two weeks ago, I wrote that I haven’t used Google for quite some time now, and I am missing nothing. Incidentally, Seth Godin writes this week how he uses Perplexity as an alternative to Google. Perplexity was not on my list; I haven’t researched Perplexity thoroughly yet, but I trust Seth’s words.
I stumbled upon this fascinating article by Stuart Mills looking at the challenges that further development and operations of AI models face.
The costs of model development and operation are increasing. Efficiencies in development and operation are challenging but may be addressed in the future. However, model quality remains a significant challenge that is more difficult to solve.
Data is running out. Solutions such as synthetic data also have their limitations.
There is also a severe challenge around chips. There is a supply shortage in the context of geopolitical tensions between China, the US, and the EU. Also, the environmental costs of running large AI models are significant.
The costs of model development and operation are increasing. Efficiencies in development and operation are challenging but may be addressed in the future. However, model quality remains a significant challenge that is more difficult to solve.
Data is running out. Solutions such as synthetic data also have their limitations.
There is also a severe challenge around chips. There is a supply shortage in the context of geopolitical tensions between China, the US, and the EU. Also, the environmental costs of running large AI models are significant.
Two revenue models may emerge in the AI industry, each with its own take on the cost aspects highlighted above. The first is the ‘foundation model as a platform’ (OpenAI, Microsoft, Google), which demands increasing generality and functionality of foundation models.
The second is the ‘bespoke model’ (IBM), which focuses on developing specific models for corporate clients.
Government action can support and undermine the AI industry. Investment in semiconductor manufacturing in the US and China may increase the supply of chips, and strategic passivity from governments around regulations such as copyrights is suitable for the industry. Government interventions should regulate the AI industry in areas related to the socially and environmentally damaging effects of data centers, copyright infringement, exploitation of laborers, discriminatory practices, and market competition.
There is no good reason why you should still rely on Google search for your search engine. Read this excellent article on Google’s practices, and Big Tech chills run down your spine. There are ample good alternative search engines these days that do have integrity:
Bing (though also Big Tech and historically suspect)
And there are more.
Lately, I’ve been using Ecosia and DuckDuckGo side by side. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything about Google.
When Artificial Intelligence-generated images win photo contests, should we oppose that?
I just think the developments of AI are telling us to do things differently, to stand out. AI has become the competition (and maybe just a tool), just like all other photographers are. So, we have to treat AI as competition, too. You can try to deny this reality, but you can also look at how you, as a photographer or artist, can differentiate yourself from this new collegue/competition.
Ideas:
Personal and analog distinguish you from the aggregated, statistically generated products of AI.
Amazon makes us pay too much, which is friendly phrasing for Amazon rips off all off.
Don’t buy through Amazon anymore. I quit.
How do you read comics digitally? On Windows I use SumatraPDF which is good in comic book reader formats. On my iPad I use Chunky. I use the excellent Calibre tool to manage my ebooks. It also has great tools to convert one ebook format to the other, transfer books to my ereader (currently an old Kindle Paperwhite 7th generation, I believe more than 5 years old. I like it despite its useless web browser).
Test your environmental footprint and how to better the world.
Here is the Dutch version I took. My usage result was 2.6 earths, which I did not really understand as a measure. But it is too high, yet somewhat below the average person in NL. This is the UK version of the footprint calculator. This has different questions, are a different measure as outcome. Most interesting is, of course, the advice about what you can do to reduce your footprint.
I ran out of max feeds on Feedly. I like the tool, but since I do not want to any more subscription-based software, so I looked for an alternative RSS reader.
It is a service but based on open source.
Tried to install in on my laptop.
Runs for a while, tries to run a sudo. That won’t work on Windows… 🙁
Immediately gave up. Considered for a minute running it on my Linux server, but I am actually looking for something simple.
Install, needs Java. Installed Java.
Needs Java 1.5. That is a very old version.
Gave up.
Installed like a charm.
Unfortunately no OPML import. So took some time to copy from the OMPL export from feedly into this tool.
Now trying this out.
Lovely old-style interface.
Reminds me of the old RSS reader I had years ago.