Steve J. Wright
@stevejwright.bsky.social
Arts and sciences person, very unprofessional SFF writer and reviewer, blogs at stevejwright.com. Mastodon @stevejwright@c.im
Dunno about air fare, but I might chip in for postage.
November 18, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Dunno about air fare, but I might chip in for postage.
If someone's asylum claim is granted, they'll be able to work, and pay taxes, and contribute to the economy that way.
If it's not, then handing them an invoice while booting them back overseas will do no good to anyone.
This is nasty and stupid. It's like the Tories never went away.
If it's not, then handing them an invoice while booting them back overseas will do no good to anyone.
This is nasty and stupid. It's like the Tories never went away.
November 17, 2025 at 11:56 PM
If someone's asylum claim is granted, they'll be able to work, and pay taxes, and contribute to the economy that way.
If it's not, then handing them an invoice while booting them back overseas will do no good to anyone.
This is nasty and stupid. It's like the Tories never went away.
If it's not, then handing them an invoice while booting them back overseas will do no good to anyone.
This is nasty and stupid. It's like the Tories never went away.
It would be stream of consciousness, if she were only conscious.
November 17, 2025 at 10:22 PM
It would be stream of consciousness, if she were only conscious.
Congratulations! Great to see an amazing writer get the recognition they deserve.
November 17, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Congratulations! Great to see an amazing writer get the recognition they deserve.
Content warning: graphic image.
November 17, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Content warning: graphic image.
This is just vile. It's not remotely credible as a cost saving measure; it's a piece of petty nastiness, even more spiteful than Robert Jenrick ordering them to paint over Mickey Mouse.
It beggars belief that this might seriously be proposed by a Labour government.
It beggars belief that this might seriously be proposed by a Labour government.
November 17, 2025 at 12:49 PM
This is just vile. It's not remotely credible as a cost saving measure; it's a piece of petty nastiness, even more spiteful than Robert Jenrick ordering them to paint over Mickey Mouse.
It beggars belief that this might seriously be proposed by a Labour government.
It beggars belief that this might seriously be proposed by a Labour government.
Indeed. Hard to think of a more deserving recipient.
November 16, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Indeed. Hard to think of a more deserving recipient.
Anyway, I should get on with my novel. i'm writing it with my old-fashioned brain and fingers, and I've only managed 27000 words since the start of the month. I'm sure ChatGPT could beat that....
November 16, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Anyway, I should get on with my novel. i'm writing it with my old-fashioned brain and fingers, and I've only managed 27000 words since the start of the month. I'm sure ChatGPT could beat that....
Well, people have already lost fair amounts of money through following chatbots' advice.... And then there's the interesting practice of "slopsquatting": AI code calls on nonexistent libraries, so if you create those libraries and fill them with malware....
November 16, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Well, people have already lost fair amounts of money through following chatbots' advice.... And then there's the interesting practice of "slopsquatting": AI code calls on nonexistent libraries, so if you create those libraries and fill them with malware....
Yes, that too, given the LLM's "view" of the world is set by whoever tinkers with its parameters.
November 16, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Yes, that too, given the LLM's "view" of the world is set by whoever tinkers with its parameters.
Outsourcing their thinking to a machine that can't think.
November 16, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Outsourcing their thinking to a machine that can't think.
Yes, it seems the ChatGPT summary of my writing meets with approval. I'm just going to bang my head against a desk for a few hours now.
November 16, 2025 at 10:15 PM
Yes, it seems the ChatGPT summary of my writing meets with approval. I'm just going to bang my head against a desk for a few hours now.
I do hope this is just a thought experiment, because if you are taking actual tax advice from ChatGPT or its siblings, then pretty soon the Inland Revenue will be calling round to give you a very expensive lesson in why they don't work.
November 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I do hope this is just a thought experiment, because if you are taking actual tax advice from ChatGPT or its siblings, then pretty soon the Inland Revenue will be calling round to give you a very expensive lesson in why they don't work.
I would volunteer for Keeper of the Stick, except I'm pretty sure I know where it's going to be inserted.
November 16, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I would volunteer for Keeper of the Stick, except I'm pretty sure I know where it's going to be inserted.
I wrote a rather long essay about AI a while back. It's long, but I did try to keep it entertaining. The basic thesis is, if I chat to AI, of *course* I'm going to feel like I'm talking to a human being, because that's the way *my* brain's wired.
stevejwright.com/2025/01/30/t...
stevejwright.com/2025/01/30/t...
November 16, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I wrote a rather long essay about AI a while back. It's long, but I did try to keep it entertaining. The basic thesis is, if I chat to AI, of *course* I'm going to feel like I'm talking to a human being, because that's the way *my* brain's wired.
stevejwright.com/2025/01/30/t...
stevejwright.com/2025/01/30/t...
If people said "AI is a little teapot" as often as they assure us that "AI is here to stay", then it would say that it's a little teapot.
It has no mind. It has no thoughts, no judgment, no concept of true or false. It's a machine. Nothing more.
It has no mind. It has no thoughts, no judgment, no concept of true or false. It's a machine. Nothing more.
November 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM
If people said "AI is a little teapot" as often as they assure us that "AI is here to stay", then it would say that it's a little teapot.
It has no mind. It has no thoughts, no judgment, no concept of true or false. It's a machine. Nothing more.
It has no mind. It has no thoughts, no judgment, no concept of true or false. It's a machine. Nothing more.
AI is obviously going to tell you it's here to stay.
Not because it has thought about it. It can't think.
Not because it believes it. It can't believe.
But because the data fed into its language model indicates that's the most likely thing that's going to be said.
Not because it has thought about it. It can't think.
Not because it believes it. It can't believe.
But because the data fed into its language model indicates that's the most likely thing that's going to be said.
November 16, 2025 at 4:18 PM
AI is obviously going to tell you it's here to stay.
Not because it has thought about it. It can't think.
Not because it believes it. It can't believe.
But because the data fed into its language model indicates that's the most likely thing that's going to be said.
Not because it has thought about it. It can't think.
Not because it believes it. It can't believe.
But because the data fed into its language model indicates that's the most likely thing that's going to be said.
A discord of worldbuilders. I like these collective nouns. A murder of crows, a clowder of cats, a discord of worldbuilders....
November 16, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A discord of worldbuilders. I like these collective nouns. A murder of crows, a clowder of cats, a discord of worldbuilders....
In the Oikumene/Gaean Reach books,. there's an *entire major religion* that never gets explained, just mentioned. Because everyone already knows who (or what) Kalzibah is!
(All I know is that they've got a Sacred Shin. People go to Earth to worship in its shadow.)
(All I know is that they've got a Sacred Shin. People go to Earth to worship in its shadow.)
November 16, 2025 at 12:28 PM
In the Oikumene/Gaean Reach books,. there's an *entire major religion* that never gets explained, just mentioned. Because everyone already knows who (or what) Kalzibah is!
(All I know is that they've got a Sacred Shin. People go to Earth to worship in its shadow.)
(All I know is that they've got a Sacred Shin. People go to Earth to worship in its shadow.)
Jack Vance could do it both ways - he will focus on some little detail and do a deep dive on it, complete with bogus academic references.
But there's also background detail that is just, well, part of the general world-view. No explanations, no apologies.
But there's also background detail that is just, well, part of the general world-view. No explanations, no apologies.
November 16, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Jack Vance could do it both ways - he will focus on some little detail and do a deep dive on it, complete with bogus academic references.
But there's also background detail that is just, well, part of the general world-view. No explanations, no apologies.
But there's also background detail that is just, well, part of the general world-view. No explanations, no apologies.
I liked GRRM's earlier SF for this - there were occasional references that were never explained, because nobody in the story needed an explanation. E.g. once in a while some military type would name drop "Stephen Cobalt Northstar", and you knew he was a famous general, but they never said why.
November 16, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I liked GRRM's earlier SF for this - there were occasional references that were never explained, because nobody in the story needed an explanation. E.g. once in a while some military type would name drop "Stephen Cobalt Northstar", and you knew he was a famous general, but they never said why.