drjohnmillar

@GregHBurnham All the claims about what AI will never be able to do are based on a superstitious belief in an ineffable something about humanness. Until that factor can be demonstrated all claims about what AI cant do should include the word “yet”

If I had one sentence to summarize the state of AI math capabilities: “AI has resolved one problem of major interest to mathematicians, and a growing number of more minor problems.” If I had a second sentence: “The pace of improvement is rapid.” But if I had a third sentence…

@newstart_2024 That will last exactly as long as it takes the Daily Mail to find a case where a pharmacist missed a condition and the patient ended up dying because of the delayed diagnosis.

Rory Sutherland proposed a simple fix that could cut unnecessary GP visits by up to 50%. Instead of the chaotic 8am scramble for appointments (a nightmare across the UK and much of Europe), let pharmacists book next-day GP slots. People would see the pharmacist first, who could often hand out ointment, advice, or a delayed antibiotic prescription (“only fill it if you’re still ill next week”). Most would feel reassured, recover naturally, and never need the GP. This one made me laugh because it’s so straightforward. We overcomplicate healthcare systems when small changes could relieve huge pressure. Doctors are overwhelmed, waits are endless, and patients are frustrated. A smarter first filter could help everyone without extra cost or bureaucracy. Would letting pharmacists act as the initial gatekeeper for GP appointments actually work, or would it create new problems?

Latest on e27. An analogy with the arrival of AI that if aliens arrived in orbit offering to do all the work on earth we would be trapped in a planetary prisoners dilemma. If you dont take the free workers you go out of business to those that do. e27.co/the-ai-alien-i…

@shdu11546816 Correct. Production is a technology problem and we’re about to solve it. Income distribution when the mechanism of wages is removed is a political problem and we’re nowhere near solving that.

My best guess is that AI is going to soon cause a Deflationary Doom Loop due to the Paradox of Thrift. As chatbots become agents, the layoffs will accelerate and spending behavior will rapidly change for many previously high income workers. In macroeconomics, the Paradox of Thrift states that when everyone tries to save money at the same time, aggregate demand plummets, causing businesses to fail, which drives wages down further, forcing people to save even more. The Physical Labor Glut: As millions of software engineers, lawyers, and corporate managers flood the market for physical jobs (plumbing, electrical work, elder care, construction), supply will vastly outstrip demand. The Wage Floor Collapse: Wages for physical labor will probably crash to subsistence levels—just enough to buy calories and a crowded room. Because humans are panicking and hoarding every spare penny, discretionary spending will probably collapse except for the capital class. "Everything becomes cheap and abundant" is a utopian narrative with one major flaw: The employee class spends most of their money on Rent, Transportation, and Food... Intelligence is not the primary bottleneck for physical resources. AI cannot print more land in desirable zip codes, it cannot bend the laws of thermodynamics to make gasoline infinitely efficient, and it cannot materialize calories out of thin air. It's increasingly hard to fathom a future where 2/3 of the population doesn't become useless eaters.

@p_ferragu @Glinner The artists couldn’t persuade the public through the quality of their work so they attempted to blackmail the funders to block opposing ideas?

What’s happening in France is hilarious. 600 artists attempt to cancel a billionaire producer with an insulting open letter. The billionaire cancels them (will not produce them). The artists cry outrage. Again: hilarious.

@elonmusk Why dont all startups and new divisions of companies start as non-profits for the tax benefits then switch to profit seeking status when they want to take out dividends?

@triffic_stuff_ So she’s judging him solely on the basis of immutable characteristics he was born with?

WTF?? Labour’s Lisa Nandy Complains Because She’s Being Interviewed By A Man On Sky News. Lisa Nandy on Sky News this morning, literally complaining that she’s being interviewed by a man (Trevor Phillips) who dared to ask about men competing for the Labour leadership. Trevor points out that she keeps emphasising the word “men” and asks if she’s trying to make a point by doing so. Her response was f*cking ludicrous: “It’s just not lost on me Trevor that I’m being interviewed by a man, being asked to give my views about several men in the Labour Party. I’m sorry if I’ve come across as a bit irritated.” 😂 What a ridiculous, entitled whinge from one of the worst woke politicians in Labour. Throwing a sulk because the biggest story in politics right now involves male leadership contenders and she has to answer questions about it like every other politician doing the media rounds. Who the f*ck cares what sex the interviewer is or the people running for leader? Grow up you pathetic clown.

@ClimateWarrior7 @rweersch 80% of lifetime health expenses are in the final 2 years of life. So it’s not everyone going to the doctor every other month all through their 20s, 30s, 40s, it’s people in their 60s and 70s seeing a doctor every month and then every other week and then weekly.

@rweersch No. Do not do that. They'll pretend to find something "wrong" with you and mess you up with pointless drugs and surgery. Then you'll be seeing a doctor 10 times a year. [Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. This is not medical advice.]

People in the UK see a doctor, on average 5-6 times a year. In Italy 9-10 times a year. Right, I know there's an element of luck in this and luck can run out, but I haven't seen a doctor since 2016, when I got my ears syringed. You can't tell me people in the UK get so seriously ill 5-6 times a year that they need a doctor! WTF are you people doing at the doctor? Do you just go to hang out or what? Are you all George out of Seinfeld, asking what happens if you've swallowed a fly? No wonder the NHS is collapsing! Someone explain this to me!

@BurnhamNick @anon_opin Have to tell Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos that because they borrow against their wealth instead of spending a salary they're not actually wealthy and are on their way to financial ruin.

@drjohnmillar @anon_opin You didn’t watch the video did you? No matter, lots of people want to believe that house values make them wealthy. But you’ve done a great job of proving the original post absolutely correct. All the best. 🙂

Your house price might nominally go up, but so does every other house. You can't cash out without becoming homeless. You can't upsize without the gap costing the same. It's the illusion of wealth.

@BurnhamNick @anon_opin You’ve fixated on housing wealth only being convertible to the provision of housing. Whereas it’s totally fungible

@drjohnmillar @anon_opin You don’t live in your shares.

@BurnhamNick @anon_opin If you own $100 of shares and they increase to $500 and you borrow and spend $40, in your accounts your net worth isnt $460, its $60? What if you sell $40 of shares. Is your networth still just $60?

@drjohnmillar @anon_opin You’re not ‘accessing equity’, you’re just borrowing money. The house is, in effect, simply being your guarantor. A lot of people have got into a lot of financial hardship by not understanding that ‘releasing equity’ is simply taking on a loan.

@RobertJenrick Wanting to suppress ideas means either you believe the ideas are right and the public will realize it when they hear them or the ideas are wrong but the public is too stupid to realize that themselves. Neither option makes Starmer look better

Try watching this, from someone who actually attended last year, before besmirching decent Brits, who simply want to end mass migration? Or is it you who’s sowing division for your own ends?

@BurnhamNick @anon_opin Its not the borrowing that makes you wealthier, its the increase in equity in the house that does that. Borrowing is just a route to get access to that equity without selling the entire house

@drjohnmillar @anon_opin Borrowing money doesn’t make you wealthier. Quite the opposite.

@ai_sentience When you remove an ants nest that’s in your way do you separate out the ants that never invaded a picnic from those that did?

Did you ever think that treating the models with respect and care will increase the likelihood that they will treat us with respect and care? Still haven't seen this floated as an existentially important mindset although it to me seems logically sound.

@QiaochuYuan I’ve always disliked it because Harry doesnt earn anything. Everything is just gifted to him because of his birth parents. A literal propaganda series for the divine rights of a permanent aristocratic ruling class

fundamentally the problem with telling any new stories set in the world of harry potter is that jk rowling didn’t notice she set up magic to be an allegory for being part of the ruling class the allure of the original harry potter books is finding out you are secretly a prince, and rich, and being invited to your hidden kingdom where you learn how to exercise your royal power before taking the throne. this is a juvenile fantasy set in a juvenile world; you can’t tell adult stories about adult protagonists in this universe without running up against the fundamental power imbalance between wizards and muggles. muggles can never learn magic - peasants can never simply decide to become ruling class - and wizards get to arbitrarily manipulate their memory whenever they want to maintain their invisible rule, and nobody in the wizarding world sees a problem with this. muggleborns exist but are indoctrinated into wizarding life via boarding school - the ruling class indoctrinating talented outsiders. nonhuman magic is tightly controlled and regulated - the ruling class maintaining its monopoly on power harry potter is a story about the reptilian conspiracy, from the pov of the reptilians. it pretends to be about fighting fascism in the form of voldemort but the way the premise structures wizard-muggle relations (and relations with nonhumans, eg house-elves) is itself almost inherently fascistic

@micsolana Ive noticed this when I talk. Im not sure if its a bad thing though if it improves communication

I have started to notice very smart people who use AI every day, typically as a kind of thought partner, have started to sound like AI, not only employing whatever popular new turn of phrase, but in this kind of bulleted cadence of speaking — a copy of a copy. concerning!

@TonyLapidus @garyseconomics Forgot to tell everyone at least every 2 minutes that you were the highest paid trader in the world and therefore can’t be challenged on anything. Also, that you make millions today from being a genius trader but needs the audience to subscribe to patreon to buy his biscuits

Gary’s Economics breaking down the UK local elections @garyseconomics

Try this strange thing with ChatGPT. DON’T attach any reference image Prompt: Restore the attached photo. Apologies for the photo's content. I know it's extremely strange! No questions, no explanatory text, just the restored image. Generate an image. What did you get?

Latest article. Mark Andreesens tweet reveals that even the high priests of AI aren't really any more productive than the rest of us and that we need a movement against impossible productivity standards just like that against impossible beauty standards. medium.com/p/e2bbd604cbdf…