"Biden drops out!"

That was the news exactly one year ago and the title of my blog post on the occasion.

I said: "My longstanding tag — 'biden drops out' — has come true."

Actually, I believed Biden would resign the presidency within a few weeks of his inauguration in 2021, but I didn't use my "biden drops out" tag for that. I didn't begin that tag until January 30, 2024, when the Washington Post published "Biden faces treacherous political choices in answering deadly attack/Republicans demand that Biden attack Iran. Some warn that risks a wider Middle East conflagration" (WaPo).

I found this line deeply disturbing:

"During a live audio event on the social media platform, Musk’s team of all-male math, AI and engineering experts spoke about how they wanted to create an AI..."

"... that was smarter than humans with the goal of benefiting society. Musk said the fundamental goal of the company is to understand 'what the hell is really going on.' The event showcased how Musk seems to initially be more focused on answering deep scientific questions, rather than competing head to head with OpenAI, Google and Microsoft to create consumer AI products. Musk did say he saw his venture as an alternative to bigger AI companies but said xAI was still 'embryonic,' and that it would take time for it to catch up with OpenAI and Google...."

I'm reading "Musk’s new AI company, xAI, will aim to solve scientific mysteries The billionaire and his team of artificial intelligence researchers gave details of the company’s goals during a live Twitter event Friday" (WaPo).

If it's true that xAI is really about answering deep scientific questions — AKA understanding what the hell is going on — then this is a nice contrast to Mark Zuckerberg's Threads, which was created (it seems) to compete head to head with Twitter.

I went into the comments over there, mainly to see if they were saying what I expected them to say — essentially: We hate Musk. And, yes, there it is, right on top of the "most liked" pile of comments: "Just what we need, AI that is explicitly fascist and white supremacist."

IN THE COMMENTS: Leland writes:  

WaPo commenters are why ChatGPT does so well. Their comments seem like coherent sentences, but the words used don't create a coherent thought. What is explicitly fascist? Was Musk proposing having his AI collude with the government to control the population? That's fascism, and while it exists quite a bit these days; I don't think that is what Musk is proposing. Musk is proposing quite the opposite.

Instapundit quotes that comment in full and adds: "Nowadays anti-fascism is called 'fascism,' just as explicit racism is called 'anti-racism.'"

Highly recommended — "The Father" (the film Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for).

 

We watched this on Amazon Prime last night (paying $20 for the privilege). If anyone is wondering why the Oscar went to Hopkins, they need only watch the movie. 

This is a very cleverly structured depiction of elderly dementia, where what we see is the point of view of the person whose perceptions are deeply impaired. I won't say more than that other than it does the opposite of insulting your intelligence. It's not a heart-warming, sympathetic portrayal of unfortunate disease. I saw one review that criticized it for relying on horror movie tropes. There's truth in that, but it should not be a criticism, but high praise.

FROM THE EMAIL: Leland writes:

This is straight from Florian Zeller’s own play Le Pere. It provides an uncomfortable and thought-provoking evening under all circumstances. Remy Bumppo Theater in Chicago did a fantastic production of the play a few years ago with David Darlow in the leading role. In each scene there was less furniture in the room, and actors appeared in new roles as the father’s memory slipped away. 

The play is a landmark in the Theater of Unease.

Thanks! We knew it was based on a play and talked a lot afterwards about how it might have been done on stage. The changes in the set design — reflecting the deterioration of the mind — were fascinating to watch. I feel I need to watch it again before my $20 rental expires. Also, I'm buying the text of the play.