Scott Martens
@scottmartens.bsky.social
Antisocial media advocate. Attempted SF author. Text Monkey@Elastic/Jina AI. Canadian abroad. Kurwa bóbr.
Paul Postal vs Uncle Noam, page 1:
September 9, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Paul Postal vs Uncle Noam, page 1:
New word of the day: "Clanker lover." Acquired from r/MyBoyfriendIsAI but already in the Urban Dictionary.
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?t...
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?t...
September 9, 2025 at 10:25 AM
New word of the day: "Clanker lover." Acquired from r/MyBoyfriendIsAI but already in the Urban Dictionary.
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?t...
www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?t...
August 25, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I know, I know, only the old people remember this. But yeah, this is what Trump was seen as in 1989.
August 21, 2025 at 2:23 PM
I know, I know, only the old people remember this. But yeah, this is what Trump was seen as in 1989.
Reposted by Scott Martens
I've long thought and this year has only accelerated it, that the future we got is part Philip K Dick, a helping of John Brunner, a serving of Norman Spinrad, and a dose of weirdness none of them could ever conceive.
www.bostonreview.net/articles/hen... "Yet the door to Joe’s apartment—which argues with him and refuses to open because he has not paid it the obligatory tip—sounds ominously plausible. Someone, somewhere, is pitching this as a viable business plan to Y Combinator"
August 19, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I've long thought and this year has only accelerated it, that the future we got is part Philip K Dick, a helping of John Brunner, a serving of Norman Spinrad, and a dose of weirdness none of them could ever conceive.
AI is like reading The Economist. It *sounds* like they know what they're talking about, as long as they're talking about things you don't really know about. As soon as you have a real job you want AI to do, you're confronted with costs and problems and the risk that none of it will ever work.
all of this is basically a trojan horse for my sinking feeling right now that generative AI will be 'good enough' and that's...potentially a very bad outcome!
August 19, 2025 at 12:09 PM
AI is like reading The Economist. It *sounds* like they know what they're talking about, as long as they're talking about things you don't really know about. As soon as you have a real job you want AI to do, you're confronted with costs and problems and the risk that none of it will ever work.
Reposted by Scott Martens
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
21.06.1962-15.08.1990
I'd hate to imagine him alive today, age 63, either a Z loyalist or in exile somewhere.
youtu.be/xtxjm7ciwmc
I'd hate to imagine him alive today, age 63, either a Z loyalist or in exile somewhere.
youtu.be/xtxjm7ciwmc
August 15, 2025 at 9:24 PM
21.06.1962-15.08.1990
I'd hate to imagine him alive today, age 63, either a Z loyalist or in exile somewhere.
youtu.be/xtxjm7ciwmc
I'd hate to imagine him alive today, age 63, either a Z loyalist or in exile somewhere.
youtu.be/xtxjm7ciwmc
Reposted by Scott Martens
I would maybe reconsider that again.
July 22, 2025 at 9:53 AM
I would maybe reconsider that again.
I'm going to be the contrarian asshole this time and say I like this paper and I think it's main point is necessary and valid. Y'all can hate on it - that's valid too - but have actual *reasons*, not just whatever anti-AI nonsense you've picked up online. Especially in light of the paragraphs below.
July 22, 2025 at 10:41 AM
I'm going to be the contrarian asshole this time and say I like this paper and I think it's main point is necessary and valid. Y'all can hate on it - that's valid too - but have actual *reasons*, not just whatever anti-AI nonsense you've picked up online. Especially in light of the paragraphs below.
A friend of mine, a gifted AI engineer, quit Bsky and went back to X because of crap he took here for being in AI and linking to something on Hugging Face. He's a nice guy, I'm an asshole, so I'm still here.
But posts like this make me reconsider writing my "Is AI the New International Jew?" essay.
But posts like this make me reconsider writing my "Is AI the New International Jew?" essay.
My first reaction was "just looks like a photo", and sure enough, it's a stock photo from 2021.
I have many issues with generative AI, but one of its depressing consequences is people pointing at everything that they think looks slightly off, blaming AI for it, and everyone uncritically agreeing
I have many issues with generative AI, but one of its depressing consequences is people pointing at everything that they think looks slightly off, blaming AI for it, and everyone uncritically agreeing
If they’d hired a real artist instead of AI, they might not have ended up with a mutant woman with a chest on her back. Also, doesn’t anyone even bother checking their ad copy? How many editorial layers did this slip past given how many logos are on this poster?
July 22, 2025 at 9:14 AM
A friend of mine, a gifted AI engineer, quit Bsky and went back to X because of crap he took here for being in AI and linking to something on Hugging Face. He's a nice guy, I'm an asshole, so I'm still here.
But posts like this make me reconsider writing my "Is AI the New International Jew?" essay.
But posts like this make me reconsider writing my "Is AI the New International Jew?" essay.
More people are considering AI lovers and we shouldn't judge.
July 22, 2025 at 8:59 AM
More people are considering AI lovers and we shouldn't judge.
If this were labelled as SF, I would call it derivative, but as academic economics, I'm calling it Kool-Aid-drinking. This is AI-fantasy, not really existing AI.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
AI Rights for Human Flourishing
AI companies are racing to create Artificial General Intelligence (AGI): AI systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work. If they succeed,
papers.ssrn.com
July 21, 2025 at 10:10 AM
If this were labelled as SF, I would call it derivative, but as academic economics, I'm calling it Kool-Aid-drinking. This is AI-fantasy, not really existing AI.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
Reposted by Scott Martens
On behalf of linguists everywhere, I can't even.
July 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
On behalf of linguists everywhere, I can't even.
The claim here of productively using video-generating AI for something is credible. Apparently they used it to create footage of a building collapsing. I can image using simple prompts and producing something acceptable. But this is pretty small stuff.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
Netflix uses generative AI in one of its shows for first time
Firm says technology used in El Eternauta is chance ‘to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper’
www.theguardian.com
July 18, 2025 at 12:25 PM
The claim here of productively using video-generating AI for something is credible. Apparently they used it to create footage of a building collapsing. I can image using simple prompts and producing something acceptable. But this is pretty small stuff.
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/media/2025/j...
@damiengwalter.com SF's contact with right-wing politics goes pretty deep. "The Turner Diaries" and "Le Camp des Saints" are every bit as much SF as "Atlas Shrugged." SF tropes and brownshirts are a natural fit.
And LMAO at "Andy Weir is the Nickelback of science fiction."
youtu.be/JKqUUYl5SCY
And LMAO at "Andy Weir is the Nickelback of science fiction."
youtu.be/JKqUUYl5SCY
It's not Heinlein, Hubbard OR Andy Weir
YouTube video by Science Fiction with Damien Walter
youtu.be
July 16, 2025 at 11:33 AM
@damiengwalter.com SF's contact with right-wing politics goes pretty deep. "The Turner Diaries" and "Le Camp des Saints" are every bit as much SF as "Atlas Shrugged." SF tropes and brownshirts are a natural fit.
And LMAO at "Andy Weir is the Nickelback of science fiction."
youtu.be/JKqUUYl5SCY
And LMAO at "Andy Weir is the Nickelback of science fiction."
youtu.be/JKqUUYl5SCY
I'm a little surprised that CTW let Elmo do this. I have lived long enough to hear Elmo talk about not wanting to go back to "sucking d***" on the streets.
You can hear the puppeteer almost lose it.
youtu.be/Rbk7leQdxbo
You can hear the puppeteer almost lose it.
youtu.be/Rbk7leQdxbo
Jon on Trump’s Epstein Meltdown, MAGA's Mutiny & Elmo’s Antisemitic Tweets | The Daily Show
YouTube video by The Daily Show
youtu.be
July 15, 2025 at 9:17 AM
I'm a little surprised that CTW let Elmo do this. I have lived long enough to hear Elmo talk about not wanting to go back to "sucking d***" on the streets.
You can hear the puppeteer almost lose it.
youtu.be/Rbk7leQdxbo
You can hear the puppeteer almost lose it.
youtu.be/Rbk7leQdxbo
We all knew this was coming. There are tons of things people think AI can do but can't. This is something it can do, and it's hard to predict the consequences.
Ukrainian startup says its drones could work on their own by year’s end, thanks to AI.
Ukrainian startup says its drones could work on their own by year’s end, thanks to AI
Armed with a fresh round of investment from the West, Ukrainian drone autonomy startup the Fourth Law is showcasing new footage as it aims to become the first to reach the latest holy grail of drone w...
kyivindependent.com
July 15, 2025 at 7:35 AM
We all knew this was coming. There are tons of things people think AI can do but can't. This is something it can do, and it's hard to predict the consequences.
July 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM
*snort*
*mumbles about science fiction, magical thinking, and Dunning-Kruger*
*more snorting*
hbr.org/2025/07/why-...
*mumbles about science fiction, magical thinking, and Dunning-Kruger*
*more snorting*
hbr.org/2025/07/why-...
Why Understanding AI Doesn’t Necessarily Lead People to Embrace It
New research has uncovered a paradoxical relationship between AI literacy and receptivity: Individuals with lower AI literacy are more likely to embrace AI, despite perceiving it as less capable and m...
hbr.org
July 14, 2025 at 3:59 PM
*snort*
*mumbles about science fiction, magical thinking, and Dunning-Kruger*
*more snorting*
hbr.org/2025/07/why-...
*mumbles about science fiction, magical thinking, and Dunning-Kruger*
*more snorting*
hbr.org/2025/07/why-...
Reposted by Scott Martens
"The problem with AI isn't that it can do your job. It can't. The problem with AI is that your MBA-brained boss's boss doesn't know how your job works and thinks AI can do your job at fractions of a penny on the dollar, and hears the siren song of 'maximize shareholder value'."
MBA-brain is real.
MBA-brain is real.
July 3, 2025 at 6:57 AM
"The problem with AI isn't that it can do your job. It can't. The problem with AI is that your MBA-brained boss's boss doesn't know how your job works and thinks AI can do your job at fractions of a penny on the dollar, and hears the siren song of 'maximize shareholder value'."
MBA-brain is real.
MBA-brain is real.
AI paper of the day: arxiv.org/abs/2507.06952
tl;dr: They train a house LLM on planetary motion data, then use regression on novel prediction tasks to test if it's really learned Newton's laws. Conclusion: It hasn't.
tl;dr: They train a house LLM on planetary motion data, then use regression on novel prediction tasks to test if it's really learned Newton's laws. Conclusion: It hasn't.
What Has a Foundation Model Found? Using Inductive Bias to Probe for World Models
Foundation models are premised on the idea that sequence prediction can uncover deeper domain understanding, much like how Kepler's predictions of planetary motion later led to the discovery of Newton...
arxiv.org
July 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
AI paper of the day: arxiv.org/abs/2507.06952
tl;dr: They train a house LLM on planetary motion data, then use regression on novel prediction tasks to test if it's really learned Newton's laws. Conclusion: It hasn't.
tl;dr: They train a house LLM on planetary motion data, then use regression on novel prediction tasks to test if it's really learned Newton's laws. Conclusion: It hasn't.
SpaceX is putting $2B into X/MechaHitlerAI and The Elon is going to have shareholders vote on whether Tesla will pour in some even larger sum. He's moving cash around between his companies to bail them out. This is like paying off one credit card with another one.
fortune.com/2025/07/14/e...
fortune.com/2025/07/14/e...
Elon Musk promises Tesla shareholders a vote over buying equity in his Grok startup—‘if it was up to me, Tesla would have invested in xAI long ago’
The news comes as Musk's SpaceX company reportedly contributed $2 billion to last months's $10 billion xAI fundraising consisting of equal parts equity and debt.
fortune.com
July 14, 2025 at 12:42 PM
SpaceX is putting $2B into X/MechaHitlerAI and The Elon is going to have shareholders vote on whether Tesla will pour in some even larger sum. He's moving cash around between his companies to bail them out. This is like paying off one credit card with another one.
fortune.com/2025/07/14/e...
fortune.com/2025/07/14/e...