Conflated Automatons
@conflatedauto.bsky.social
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I am neither of these things but I am an architectural historian and some things were absolutely and beyond a doubt built as a bit, so, seems plausible to me
November 27, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I am neither of these things but I am an architectural historian and some things were absolutely and beyond a doubt built as a bit, so, seems plausible to me
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"It is against the TOS to be talked into suicide by our LLM" is possibly the most evil tech bro thing I've ever read
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 26, 2025 at 12:29 AM
"It is against the TOS to be talked into suicide by our LLM" is possibly the most evil tech bro thing I've ever read
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AI PRs where the author doesn't have an understanding of the system shift the burden of understanding onto the reviewer.
So now it's on the reviewer to gain an understanding of this area to either confirm or refute. The author saved time at the expense of the reviewer.
So now it's on the reviewer to gain an understanding of this area to either confirm or refute. The author saved time at the expense of the reviewer.
November 15, 2025 at 7:33 PM
AI PRs where the author doesn't have an understanding of the system shift the burden of understanding onto the reviewer.
So now it's on the reviewer to gain an understanding of this area to either confirm or refute. The author saved time at the expense of the reviewer.
So now it's on the reviewer to gain an understanding of this area to either confirm or refute. The author saved time at the expense of the reviewer.
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I am not generally interested in reading about “the craft of writing”(even though I wish to become a better writer). But I did read this from @katewagner.bsky.social on “how to choose a topic”(!) and it was great!! and actually really helpful. www.late-review.com/p/some-essay...
some essays on how to write essays (p. 1)
intro / choosing a subject
www.late-review.com
July 24, 2025 at 1:04 AM
I am not generally interested in reading about “the craft of writing”(even though I wish to become a better writer). But I did read this from @katewagner.bsky.social on “how to choose a topic”(!) and it was great!! and actually really helpful. www.late-review.com/p/some-essay...
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
The third stack is here.
A path for ai that isn’t the stale U.S.–China binary, but something assembled, sovereign, and stubbornly local.
My essay in Noema: www.noemamag.com/a-third-path...
A path for ai that isn’t the stale U.S.–China binary, but something assembled, sovereign, and stubbornly local.
My essay in Noema: www.noemamag.com/a-third-path...
A Third Path For AI Beyond The US-China Binary | NOEMA
What if the future of AI isn’t defined by Washington or Beijing, but by improvisation elsewhere?
www.noemamag.com
September 16, 2025 at 4:14 PM
The third stack is here.
A path for ai that isn’t the stale U.S.–China binary, but something assembled, sovereign, and stubbornly local.
My essay in Noema: www.noemamag.com/a-third-path...
A path for ai that isn’t the stale U.S.–China binary, but something assembled, sovereign, and stubbornly local.
My essay in Noema: www.noemamag.com/a-third-path...
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“Effective LLM use is metaprogramming for wordcels and that’s why almost nobody is doing it: because they either don’t know metaprogramming or they are not wordcels”
a sentence I just uttered at work, help
a sentence I just uttered at work, help
September 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
“Effective LLM use is metaprogramming for wordcels and that’s why almost nobody is doing it: because they either don’t know metaprogramming or they are not wordcels”
a sentence I just uttered at work, help
a sentence I just uttered at work, help
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Does the Empire have equipment fanboys, like the A-10 Warthog stans we have in real life? I like to imagine some Imperial Remnant Lieutenant General ordering an AT-AT through a mountain pass the width of a McDonald's drive-through and shouting "all terrain means *all* *terrain*!"
September 23, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Does the Empire have equipment fanboys, like the A-10 Warthog stans we have in real life? I like to imagine some Imperial Remnant Lieutenant General ordering an AT-AT through a mountain pass the width of a McDonald's drive-through and shouting "all terrain means *all* *terrain*!"
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imagine if a family of beavers randomly showed up right now and finished whatever thing you've been putting off
September 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
imagine if a family of beavers randomly showed up right now and finished whatever thing you've been putting off
This is completely wrong: neither LLMs nor product managers are abstractions because there is no systematic understanding of what information is lost in forming the model. It is just indirection.
Abstractions are the fundamental building block programmers use to build things, but at the same time, we always abhor some of them. Nobody can agree on which ones are bad though
August 19, 2025 at 10:58 PM
This is completely wrong: neither LLMs nor product managers are abstractions because there is no systematic understanding of what information is lost in forming the model. It is just indirection.
This is completely right: the whole project of management - especially indirect management - is controlling people through language and resources
Have you ever considered that your PM is “vibe coding” you
August 19, 2025 at 10:57 PM
This is completely right: the whole project of management - especially indirect management - is controlling people through language and resources
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Seems like an excellent idea.
In Germany, plug-in panels are sold at supermarkets, "renters have a legal right to balcony solar," & the tech has been proven safe. Almost 10% of households have plug-in solar.
We need this in the US, too.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
In Germany, plug-in panels are sold at supermarkets, "renters have a legal right to balcony solar," & the tech has been proven safe. Almost 10% of households have plug-in solar.
We need this in the US, too.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Column | Can’t put solar panels on your roof? Plug-in ‘balcony solar’ may be for you.
Balcony solar promises to cut energy costs and grid reliance for renters and apartment-dwellers. I did a trial run at my home.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 17, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Seems like an excellent idea.
In Germany, plug-in panels are sold at supermarkets, "renters have a legal right to balcony solar," & the tech has been proven safe. Almost 10% of households have plug-in solar.
We need this in the US, too.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
In Germany, plug-in panels are sold at supermarkets, "renters have a legal right to balcony solar," & the tech has been proven safe. Almost 10% of households have plug-in solar.
We need this in the US, too.
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
ChatGPT talks to adults like it’s grooming them. Ohhhh wowwwww you’re so mature for your age. Nobody understands you.
August 12, 2025 at 2:24 AM
ChatGPT talks to adults like it’s grooming them. Ohhhh wowwwww you’re so mature for your age. Nobody understands you.
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1954 Shawmut Bank (Boston) ad: “What will YOU do with Cybernetics?” (H/t Sean Manion!) — makes some familiar promises re: “substituting the machine for the many functions of the human mind,” leading to “more production, more jobs, more income and far, far more leisure.”
August 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM
1954 Shawmut Bank (Boston) ad: “What will YOU do with Cybernetics?” (H/t Sean Manion!) — makes some familiar promises re: “substituting the machine for the many functions of the human mind,” leading to “more production, more jobs, more income and far, far more leisure.”
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Image from a 1952 Esquire article, “Cybernetics: Doom or Destiny?” in which we see the birth (?) of the “robot using a machine rather than being the machine” trope
August 10, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Image from a 1952 Esquire article, “Cybernetics: Doom or Destiny?” in which we see the birth (?) of the “robot using a machine rather than being the machine” trope
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
While OpenAI keeps trying to create a "PhD level" chatbot, Google did it by mistake.
Google Gemini doesn’t appear to be doing too well:
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
‘"I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes . . . I am a disgrace to all possible and impossible universes and all that is not a universe," the bot continued.’
Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments
Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."
www.businessinsider.com
August 7, 2025 at 11:20 PM
While OpenAI keeps trying to create a "PhD level" chatbot, Google did it by mistake.
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
this is why we need robots because otherwise they get entitled to put humans in that position and will organize society for the worse to get them
People like servants. Source: human history.
August 5, 2025 at 1:59 AM
this is why we need robots because otherwise they get entitled to put humans in that position and will organize society for the worse to get them
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All the sins of Wade–Giles romanization, rendering
北京 as "Peking" and all,
are forgiven for setting up this joke.
北京 as "Peking" and all,
are forgiven for setting up this joke.
June 25, 2025 at 8:38 PM
All the sins of Wade–Giles romanization, rendering
北京 as "Peking" and all,
are forgiven for setting up this joke.
北京 as "Peking" and all,
are forgiven for setting up this joke.
Thoughts on Manchukuo 1987, the rich, pulpy, violent alt history by @yoshimired.bsky.social
conflatedautomatons.org/2025/08/04/m...
conflatedautomatons.org/2025/08/04/m...
Manchu Days
Manchukuo 1987, yoshimi red I picked up Manchukuo 1987 as a low stakes pulp alt-history wheeze by an amusing internet rando. A few days later I was depriving myself of sleep to find out what a fasc…
conflatedautomatons.org
August 5, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Thoughts on Manchukuo 1987, the rich, pulpy, violent alt history by @yoshimired.bsky.social
conflatedautomatons.org/2025/08/04/m...
conflatedautomatons.org/2025/08/04/m...
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
COMRADES! MANCHUKUO 1987, THE ALT HISTORY MILITARY SCIFI DETECTIVE NOVEL...
IS NOW AVAILABLE!
IN A DYING FASCIST EMPIRE, WAR CRIMINAL KEIZO MUNEKATA TRIES TO FIND JUSTICE
PURCHASE LINK BELOW
VVVVVV
IS NOW AVAILABLE!
IN A DYING FASCIST EMPIRE, WAR CRIMINAL KEIZO MUNEKATA TRIES TO FIND JUSTICE
PURCHASE LINK BELOW
VVVVVV
May 27, 2025 at 12:59 PM
COMRADES! MANCHUKUO 1987, THE ALT HISTORY MILITARY SCIFI DETECTIVE NOVEL...
IS NOW AVAILABLE!
IN A DYING FASCIST EMPIRE, WAR CRIMINAL KEIZO MUNEKATA TRIES TO FIND JUSTICE
PURCHASE LINK BELOW
VVVVVV
IS NOW AVAILABLE!
IN A DYING FASCIST EMPIRE, WAR CRIMINAL KEIZO MUNEKATA TRIES TO FIND JUSTICE
PURCHASE LINK BELOW
VVVVVV
“Instead, there are exquisitely layered performances […] and many, many candlelit silences into which Mark Rylance’s Thomas Cromwell glides, his expression, as always, that of a ferret saddened by developments in France.”
I’ve written about TV’s best and worst historical epics
TV’s best (and worst) historical epics: from Wolf Hall to I, Claudius
July 30, 2025 at 2:05 PM
“Instead, there are exquisitely layered performances […] and many, many candlelit silences into which Mark Rylance’s Thomas Cromwell glides, his expression, as always, that of a ferret saddened by developments in France.”
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
I am running another contest to award $2000 to the ten best pieces of original solarpunk art.
The contest will run from Jun 20 - Aug 20, 2025.
Details within - and if you support this, please send this to your best artist friends!
medium.com/@yishan/sola...
The contest will run from Jun 20 - Aug 20, 2025.
Details within - and if you support this, please send this to your best artist friends!
medium.com/@yishan/sola...
Solarpunk Art Contest 2025
I am running a contest with awards totaling $20,000 for the ten best pieces of original solarpunk art.
medium.com
June 22, 2025 at 6:39 AM
I am running another contest to award $2000 to the ten best pieces of original solarpunk art.
The contest will run from Jun 20 - Aug 20, 2025.
Details within - and if you support this, please send this to your best artist friends!
medium.com/@yishan/sola...
The contest will run from Jun 20 - Aug 20, 2025.
Details within - and if you support this, please send this to your best artist friends!
medium.com/@yishan/sola...
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
There's a paper at the top of my Philpapers page called 'Can we repudiate ontology altogether?' and I keep misreading it as 'Can we repudiate ontology together?' which makes it sound like the best chat-up line ever
July 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
There's a paper at the top of my Philpapers page called 'Can we repudiate ontology altogether?' and I keep misreading it as 'Can we repudiate ontology together?' which makes it sound like the best chat-up line ever
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
Unfortunately, the existing literature runs kind of orthogonally to what I want to do with it, but I'm starting to put together a through line. The end goal is an argument about the ways Mormon doctrine shaped information technology and the methods of the modern administrative state.
specifically mormon understandings of temporality and how this links to (genealogical and other) record-keeping practices.
June 10, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Unfortunately, the existing literature runs kind of orthogonally to what I want to do with it, but I'm starting to put together a through line. The end goal is an argument about the ways Mormon doctrine shaped information technology and the methods of the modern administrative state.
Reposted by Conflated Automatons
next time I teach these courses I'm setting the final assessment as an interpretative dance piece
June 5, 2025 at 10:44 AM
next time I teach these courses I'm setting the final assessment as an interpretative dance piece