Buildings or albatrosses...?
Feb. 23rd, 2026 08:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosa_heartlilyThis time last year I was enjoying meeting up with old friends, adventuring with Atreus, making Scouse, and watching Dancing on Ice and Miss Austen (which I think I bounced off, despite the great cast).
Which reminds me, this year is set to be a bit of an Austen-fest. Netflix are doing P&P as a series and the Beeb are doing The Other Bennet Sister as a series, and there's a film version of S&S in the autumn.
And I learned about a game that looks like it could be fun - Relooted. Africans carrying out heists on museums to reclaim their treasures. It's due to be released in December, so that could well be my Christmas game.
Today's Transition Team meeting was looking at the thorny question of buildings. We have six parishes but 9 buildings (because CoE). There are two we're in the process of disposing of, and one of the parishes has asked for some good reasons to get rid of one of theirs. But our building doesn't have a proper roof, so we need to look at how much it would cost to put one up - and then decide if it's worth it. Of course, I'm going to say yes! Apart from it being 'mine', it gets the most use and is a very flexible space - although we can only really hire the whole building even if people only want one area because you have to go through the larger area to get to the toilets and the smaller area for the kitchen. And sound carries, so you couldn't have a quiet activity in one area and a noisy one in another.
I also watched a video by Hannah Fry about AI that whilst unsettling in some ways left me feeling basically reassured. She was talking up some of the positives, whilst encouraging us to all think really hard about making it work. I then read an article by Matt Schumer that left me feeling very alarmed. He's saying that AI is already streets ahead of where most people think it is. AI is building the next gen - if you use a computer to do your job, AI can probably already do your job. The worst part, though, was this paragraph...
Now, the bit about not clinging to a JD is probably sensible. But getting AI to write your book?! What are you saying? And, I suppose, it could do your cover art and maybe internal illustrations! Why pay expensive human artists? I despair, sometimes. But I'm already doing something about the possible existential threat to my job with the apprenticeship. It's looking even more well-timed by the second!
And then I watched a short video from LBC asking if the King might abdicate if the Crown is brought into disrepute by whatever the police find in Andrew's files. Only time will tell.
I finished the day on a bit of a high, though, because I had time for some TTPII and got through a few puzzles without much difficulty. I also noped out of a couple but we won't talk about that!
Which reminds me, this year is set to be a bit of an Austen-fest. Netflix are doing P&P as a series and the Beeb are doing The Other Bennet Sister as a series, and there's a film version of S&S in the autumn.
And I learned about a game that looks like it could be fun - Relooted. Africans carrying out heists on museums to reclaim their treasures. It's due to be released in December, so that could well be my Christmas game.
Today's Transition Team meeting was looking at the thorny question of buildings. We have six parishes but 9 buildings (because CoE). There are two we're in the process of disposing of, and one of the parishes has asked for some good reasons to get rid of one of theirs. But our building doesn't have a proper roof, so we need to look at how much it would cost to put one up - and then decide if it's worth it. Of course, I'm going to say yes! Apart from it being 'mine', it gets the most use and is a very flexible space - although we can only really hire the whole building even if people only want one area because you have to go through the larger area to get to the toilets and the smaller area for the kitchen. And sound carries, so you couldn't have a quiet activity in one area and a noisy one in another.
I also watched a video by Hannah Fry about AI that whilst unsettling in some ways left me feeling basically reassured. She was talking up some of the positives, whilst encouraging us to all think really hard about making it work. I then read an article by Matt Schumer that left me feeling very alarmed. He's saying that AI is already streets ahead of where most people think it is. AI is building the next gen - if you use a computer to do your job, AI can probably already do your job. The worst part, though, was this paragraph...
Your dreams just got a lot closer. I've spent most of this section talking about threats, so let me talk about the other side, because it's just as real. If you've ever wanted to build something but didn't have the technical skills or the money to hire someone, that barrier is largely gone. You can describe an app to AI and have a working version in an hour. I'm not exaggerating. I do this regularly. If you've always wanted to write a book but couldn't find the time or struggled with the writing, you can work with AI to get it done. Want to learn a new skill? The best tutor in the world is now available to anyone for $20 a month... one that's infinitely patient, available 24/7, and can explain anything at whatever level you need. Knowledge is essentially free now. The tools to build things are extremely cheap now. Whatever you've been putting off because it felt too hard or too expensive or too far outside your expertise: try it. Pursue the things you're passionate about. You never know where they'll lead. And in a world where the old career paths are getting disrupted, the person who spent a year building something they love might end up better positioned than the person who spent that year clinging to a job description.
And then I watched a short video from LBC asking if the King might abdicate if the Crown is brought into disrepute by whatever the police find in Andrew's files. Only time will tell.
I finished the day on a bit of a high, though, because I had time for some TTPII and got through a few puzzles without much difficulty. I also noped out of a couple but we won't talk about that!
(no subject)
Date: 2026-02-23 09:50 pm (UTC)Funny that you posted about AI today, because Neil Steinberg, a columnist in the Chicago Sun-Times, just did his yearly "have AI write a column for me" column. You can read the article here: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/02/22/artificial-intelligence-gemini-neil-steinberg
What makes me alarmed about AI is that people are trusting it when it lies, lies, lies. John Scalzi (sci fi author) has written a lot about AI on his "Whatever" blog - here's just one recent column - and he's tried to get the various AIs to answer factual questions... oh, let me find that column, one sec... here: an article in which he asked AI "What's the dedication in John Scalzi's book 'The Consuming Fire'" and not only did the various AIs get it wrong, but they actually started making stuff up as he was talking to them.
My library did a panel with various sci fi authors on AI a few years back, including Martha Wells. What I largely remember the authors saying then is "AI is a tool, like the camera; we don't know how it will be used yet" but they had sounded neutral about AI then, or even a bit positive. Not so no. Martha is often talking about AI on her Bluesky account, and she's very much not of the positive persuasion.
As a creative person, it does worry me. As someone who believes in facts, it DEFINITELY worries me. Interestingly enough, a friend linked to Cloudflare's new "Pay per crawl" site where they are trying to work with content creators so the creators get paid for letting AI crawl their works. It's an interesting idea, but as another friend said: too little, too late. Too much damage has already been done by AI stealing others' works.
(no subject)
Date: 2026-02-24 08:56 pm (UTC)The thing to remember about AI is that it's trained to respond with what logic tells it is the 'right' answer. So, if it doesn't 'know' the answer, it'll make one up so you aren't disappointed. Of course, when there is a real answer it should be able to find it.
But at the end of the day it is just a tool. Humans choose what to do with it.