STEM fuels thinkers; Wiley’s $23m AI windfall; Stanford stands down: Newsletter 19 June 2024
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STEM fuels thinkers; Wiley’s $23m AI windfall; Stanford stands down: Newsletter 19 June 2024

Newsletter 49. Why STEM education is about mind exercise, not job training. Plus, why AI is fair turnabout for journalists, ChatGPT is a bullshitter, and the Stanford Internet Observatory stops tracking the spread of lies. Plus, three people to follow and three books to read. Training thinkers For more than a decade, people have been…

OpenAI question: Should you trust a thief with receipts?

OpenAI question: Should you trust a thief with receipts?

OpenAI says it has proof that it didn’t steal Scarlett Johansson’s voice. Does that make it an honest company? OpenAI defends its actions Scarlett Johansson claimed OpenAI solicited her to train its latest AI, then released a voice called “Sky” that sounded just like her. Open AI says no, they didn’t use her voice, and…

AI tools write with an “accent.” Here’s how to detect it
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AI tools write with an “accent.” Here’s how to detect it

AI tools like Anthropic, ChatGPT, and Perplexity generate text intended to mimic human writing. They’re pretty good writers. But they write with telltale signs that they’re not human; you might say they write with an “accent.” Any native speaker can tell when another speaker’s first language doesn’t match the one he’s speaking. If you’re speaking…

Even if you use ChatGPT “just for research,” it’s still dangerous

Even if you use ChatGPT “just for research,” it’s still dangerous

I’d never use ChatGPT to write for me: it’s both boring and unreliable. But that said, it’s still quite useful, especially as a replacement for search (I’m using ChatGPT-4, which integrates with Microsoft Bing including up-to-date content.) The research method is simple: ask ChatGPT to find things, then check the source it finds to see…

What companies own is now almost worthless. Labor is winning.

What companies own is now almost worthless. Labor is winning.

Take a close look at what has happened in the last few months and at OpenAI, in the last few days. The Hollywood writers and actors went on strike, and the entertainment industry companies were forced to yield to their demands. Because without writers or actors, there is no entertainment. Movie theaters, streaming services, and…

The death of trust

The death of trust

Where do you go to find the answer to a question? Who do you trust? Before the Web, you went to the network news or the local newspaper. If you needed a practical answer, you might take a book out of the library or ask somebody who you thought was likely to know the answer…

Sarah Silverman will lose her copyright suit against OpenAI

Sarah Silverman will lose her copyright suit against OpenAI

The entertainer Sarah Silverman and other authors sued OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Silverman alleged that OpenAI violated her rights by ingesting her book The Bedwetter. Silverman’s suit claims that ChatGPT can summarize parts of the the book, so it has clearly read the book, and since the book is copyrighted, this constitutes a violation….