Josh
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joshz.bsky.social
Josh
@joshz.bsky.social
semipro lurker
One of the first times I've wanted to stop reading an aphyr piece before the end...I didn't, though, and neither should you.

(He might not be a journalist, but he's a fantastic writer. Not sure why OP here starts out with what reads like a backhanded compliment.)
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 10, 2025 at 4:28 PM
If the only thing "AI" actually accomplishes is to flood social media with astroturfed propaganda, eventually making it so that no one believes anything on these sites was written by a human and hollowing them out of actual human participation...

...I'll call that a win.
September 12, 2025 at 9:13 PM
It can't possibly have taken them this long to figure this out.
openai.com/index/why-la...
Why language models hallucinate
OpenAI’s new research explains why language models hallucinate. The findings show how improved evaluations can enhance AI reliability, honesty, and safety.
openai.com
September 9, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I'd like to propose a novel disorder: pathological anthropomorphism
www.psychopathia.ai
August 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
You're telling me an AI researcher is myopic and almost completely uninformed about other fields of study that could complement their own? No way; that bunch is famously multidisciplinary and supportive of the humanities.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAALHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAALHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAALHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
August 27, 2025 at 8:06 PM
It takes someone truly ignorant about how this technology works to attempt to regulate "objectivity" and "top-down bias" — but that's been broadly true about government regulation of the tech industry for decades now.
New: Trump's AI Action Plan continues the crusade against “woke” AI, recommending that federal procurement guidelines are updated so that only AI companies that “ensure that their systems are objective and free from top-down ideological bias” are given contracts. www.wired.com/story/trumps...
Trump’s AI Action Plan Is a Crusade Against ‘Bias’—and Regulation
The Trump administration’s new AI policy blueprint calls for limited regulation and lots of leeway for Big Tech to grow even bigger.
www.wired.com
July 23, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by Josh
one insidious thing about evil is that it makes thinking about anything else difficult, not only crowding other things out but also making them seem meaningless; it drains all but a sliver of the world of colour and saps the will to live outside that sliver — unless you ignore it, which is giving in
July 1, 2025 at 2:33 PM
It was the worst of times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of darkness, it was the winter of despair.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Republican party no longer in possession of a its senses or values, must be in want of a speaker.
To lose one Speaker may regarded as a misfortune. To lose four looks like carelessness.
October 25, 2023 at 2:10 AM
Calling all Faustian bargain hunters!

TikTok is (almost certainly) creating a proprietary singing TTS model and would very much like you to donate some training data.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/07/tiktok-live-music-competition-gimme-the-mic/
TikTok seeks aspiring artists to show off their talent in live music competition | TechCrunch
TikTok is hosting a virtual talent show, Gimme the Mic, to reward aspiring artists and is giving them up to 500,000 Diamond rewards.
techcrunch.com
August 8, 2023 at 5:38 PM
Spotify's "AI" DJ is an underrated productivity hack.

Every time that obnoxious TTS voice pipes up, I immediately un-distract myself from whatever I'm doing to hit "next track", and then I can get back to actual work.

So I guess it does have *one* redeeming feature.
July 18, 2023 at 6:55 PM
This is not a case against travel; it's a case against tourism, and it says more about the author than it does the subject:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-case-against-travel
The Case Against Travel
It turns us into the worst version of ourselves while convincing us that we’re at our best.
www.newyorker.com
June 25, 2023 at 8:21 PM
Dying and coming back as a lazy Web 2.0 marketer looking for a domain name, call that reinkrnation
Dying and coming back as a Pontic nomad, call that reinsarmation
dying and coming back as a spotted dog, call that reindalmatian
June 22, 2023 at 7:14 PM
Is it just me, or has some of Dashboard Confessional's early stuff, particularly The Places You Have Come to Fear the Most, not aged as poorly as it could have?
June 22, 2023 at 5:38 PM
I was today at 3:45 AM years old when I learned what happens when your thermostat batteries die while the AC is on.

My OCD is thrilled to have something new to worry about when I go on vacation.
June 14, 2023 at 3:09 PM