Umbrella organization rethinking machine-learning technology as tools that work for people, not just corporations
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Artists, raison d'être: Can we re-think tech that works for people, & not just corporations? Can we improve the world our children inherit? Deliberate, discuss, develop. This is DARKSHAPES. We build
Dark Cloud Gathers as Bill Comes Due for AI Industry
AI companies are finding they can no longer sustain footing the bill of their heavily vibe coding customers.
The Applied Machine Learning Collective of the Rockies
We're building a hands-on, community-led space where AI/ML practitioners actually grow together. A modern guild where newcomers learn from journeymen, journeymen sharpen their skills alongside experts, and everyone works on real problems that matter.
Data Leverage: A Framework for Empowering the Public in its Relationship with Technology Companies
Many powerful computing technologies rely on implicit and explicit data contributions from the public. In this paper, we synthesize emerging research that seeks to better understand and help people action this data leverage. Drawing on prior work in areas including machine learning, human-computer interaction, and fairness and accountability in computing, we present a framework for understanding data leverage that highlights new opportunities to change technology company behavior related to privacy, economic inequality, content moderation and other areas of societal concern.
Microsoft’s AI Red Team Has Already Made the Case for Itself
Since 2018, a dedicated team within Microsoft has attacked machine learning systems to make them safer. But with the public release of new generative AI tools, the field is already evolving.
When everyone has AI and the company still learns nothing
Are people using AI, or is the organization learning from it? What changed because we spent those tokens? And who moves discoveries from individuals to teams to organizational capabilities?
Deconstructing the Machine Learning Value Chain
This essay offers a materialist analysis of machine learning in the form of a critical intervention that deconstructs the value chain of this technological para
Against the dark forest
The complex of ideas I’m going to call the Dark Internet Forest emerges from mostly insidery tech thinking, but from multiple directions.
Cory Doctorow: The people who tell you ‘AI is changing everything’ are lying
It has become impossible to tell managers mesmerised by artificial intelligence that the tools are not, in fact, helpful. So employees just play along with the fiction to keep their jobs, writes our tech columnist
Companies Are Being Torn Apart by AI "Workslop," Stanford Research Finds
Not only is AI hampering productivity, but it's also blowing up collaboration and souring employee dynamics.
Deep Breath: Okay, Let’s Talk About That Controversial DLSS 5 Demo
The polarization over any and all uses of artificial intelligence and machine learning continues. And, to be clear, I very much understand why this is all so controversial. Any new technology that …
Deep Fakes: A Looming Challenge for Privacy
Harmful lies are nothing new. But the ability to distort reality has taken an exponential leap forward with “deep fake” technology. This capability makes it possible to create audio and video of real people saying and doing things they never said or did. Machine learning techniques are escalating the technology’s sophistication, making deep fakes ever more realistic and increasingly resistant to detection. Deep-fake technology has characteristics that enable rapid and widespread diffusion, putting it into the hands of both sophisticated and unsophisticated actors.While deep-fake technology will bring certain benefits, it also will introduce many harms. The marketplace of ideas already suffers from truth decay as our networked information environment interacts in toxic ways with our cognitive biases. Deep fakes will exacerbate this problem significantly. Individuals and businesses will face novel forms of exploitation, intimidation, and personal sabotage. The risks to our democracy and to national security are profound as well.Our aim is to provide the first in-depth assessment of the causes and consequences of this disruptive technological change, and to explore the existing and potential tools for responding to it. We survey a broad array of responses, including: the role of technological solutions; criminal penalties, civil liability, and regulatory action; military and covert-action responses; economic sanctions; and market developments. We cover the waterfront from immunities to immutable authentication trails, offering recommendations to improve law and policy and anticipating the pitfalls embedded in various solutions.
These billion-dollar AI startups have no products, no revenue and eager investors
A new wave of startups some have dubbed “neolabs” are focusing on long-term research and developing new AI models over immediate profits.
These Billion-Dollar AI Startups Have No Products, No Revenue and Eager Investors
A new wave of startups some have dubbed “neolabs” are focusing on long-term research and developing new AI models over immediate profits.
Can data collectives help strengthen vulnerable cultures in the face of AI?
"Data collectives and cooperatives, which let creators control the collection and distribution of their data, are emerging as preferred alternatives to big tech companies."
