BlueMonday1984

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this.)

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this - gonna try posting last week's thread a different way this time)

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

Last week's thread

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this - this one was a bit late, I got distracted)

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

Last week's thread

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this)

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

Last week's thread

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this)

Well, Trump's got elected, I'm deeply peeved about the future, and I need to feel like I can see the future coming.

Fuck it. Here's some off-the-cuff predictions, because I need to

1. There's a Spike in Infanticides

Under normal circumstances, anyone who doesn't want to deal with raising crotch goblins has two major options: use contraception to keep the pregnancy from happening at all, or shitcan the unborn fetus by getting an abortion.

Abortion's been on the way out since Roe v. Wade got double-tapped, and contraception's probably gonna get nuked as well, so giving the baby to an early grave is probably gonna be the only option for most unwanted births.

Chance: Low/Moderate. This is more-or-less pure gut feeling I'm going on, and chances there's gonna be a lot of abortions getting recorded as infanticides and skewing the numbers

2. America's Reputation Nosedives

Gonna just copy-paste istewart's comment for this, because bro said it better than I could:

I am left thinking that many people here in the US are going to have a hard time accepting that having this person, at this stage in his life, as the national figurehead will do permanent damage to the US’ prestige and global standing. Doesn’t matter if Reagan was sundowning, media was more controlled then and his handlers were there to support the institution of the presidency at least as much as they were there to support a narcissist. In 2016, other countries could look at Trump as a temporary aberration and wait him out. This time, it’s clear that the US is no longer a reliable partner.

Chance: Near-Guaranteed. With 2016, the US could point to Hillary winning the popular vote to blunt the damage. 2024 gives no real way to spin it - a majority of Americans explicitly wanted Trump as president. Whatever he does, its in their name.

3. Violence Against Silicon Valley

I've already predicted this before, but I'm gonna predict it again. Whether its because Trump scapegoats the Valley as someone else predicted, labor comes to believe peace is no longer an option, someone decides "fuck it, time to make Uncle Ted proud", or God-knows-what-else, I fully expect there's gonna be direct and violent attacks on tech at some point.

No clue on the exact form either - could be someone getting punched for wearing Ray-Ban Autodoxxers, could be rank-and-file employees getting bombed, could be Trumpies pulling a Pumped Up Kicks, fuck if I know.

Chance: Moderate. The tech industry's managed to piss off both political wings for one reason or another, though the left's done a good job not resorting to pipe bombs during my lifetime.

4. Another Assassination Attempt

With Trump having successfully evaded justice on his criminal convictions (which LegalEagle's discussed in depth), any hope that he's going to see the inside of a jail cell is virtually zero. This leaves vigilante justice as the only option for anyone who wants this man to face anything approaching consequences for his actions.

Chance: Low. Presidents are very well-protected these days, though Trump's own ego and stupidity may end up opening him up to an attempt.

5. A Total Porn Ban

Project 2025 may be defining everything even remotely queer as "pornography", but nothing's stopping a Trump presidency from putting regular porn on the chopping block as well. With the existing spate of anti-porn laws in the US, there's already some minor precedent.

Chance: Moderate/High. Porn doesn't enjoy much political support from either the Dems or the Reps, though the porn industry could probably get the Dems' support if it knows what its doing.

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

Last week's thread

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this)

Need to let loose a primal scream without collecting footnotes first? Have a sneer percolating in your system but not enough time/energy to make a whole post about it? Go forth and be mid: Welcome to the Stubsack, your first port of call for learning fresh Awful you’ll near-instantly regret.

Any awful.systems sub may be subsneered in this subthread, techtakes or no.

If your sneer seems higher quality than you thought, feel free to cut’n’paste it into its own post — there’s no quota for posting and the bar really isn’t that high.

The post Xitter web has spawned soo many “esoteric” right wing freaks, but there’s no appropriate sneer-space for them. I’m talking redscare-ish, reality challenged “culture critics” who write about everything but understand nothing. I’m talking about reply-guys who make the same 6 tweets about the same 3 subjects. They’re inescapable at this point, yet I don’t see them mocked (as much as they should be)

Like, there was one dude a while back who insisted that women couldn’t be surgeons because they didn’t believe in the moon or in stars? I think each and every one of these guys is uniquely fucked up and if I can’t escape them, I would love to sneer at them.

Last week's thread

(Semi-obligatory thanks to @dgerard for starting this)

(This is an expanded version of two of my comments [Comment A, Comment B] - go and read those if you want)

Well, Character.ai got themselves into some real deep shit recently - repeat customer Sewell Setzer shot himself and his mother, Megan Garcia, is suing the company, its founders and Google as a result, accusing them of "anthropomorphising" their chatbots and offering “psychotherapy without a license.”, among other things and demanding a full-blown recall.

Now, I'm not a lawyer, but I can see a few aspects which give Garcia a pretty solid case:

• The site has "mental health-focused chatbots like “Therapist” and “Are You Feeling Lonely,” which Setzer interacted with" as Emma Roth noted writing for The Verge

• Character.ai has already had multiple addiction/attachment cases like Sewell's - I found articles from Wired and news.com.au, plus a few user testimonies (Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit C) about how damn addictive the fucker is.

• As Kevin Roose notes for NYT "many of the leading A.I. labs have resisted building A.I. companions on ethical grounds or because they consider it too great a risk". That could be used to suggest character.ai were being particularly reckless.

Which way the suit's gonna go, I don't know - my main interest's on the potential fallout.

Some Predictions

Win or lose, I suspect this lawsuit is going to sound character.ai's death knell - even if they don't get regulated out of existence, "our product killed a child" is the kind of Dasani-level PR disaster few companies can recover from, and news of this will likely prompt any would-be investors to run for the hills.

If Garcia does win the suit, it'd more than likely set a legal precedent which denies Section 230 protection to chatbots, if not AI-generated content in general. If that happens, I expect a wave of lawsuits against other chatbot apps like Replika, Kindroid and Nomi at the minimum.

As for the chatbots themselves, I expect they're gonna rapidly lock their shit down hard and fast, to prevent themselves from having a situation like this on their hands, and I expect their users are gonna be pissed.

As for the AI industry at large, I suspect they're gonna try and paint the whole thing as a frivolous lawsuit and Garcia as denying any fault for her son's suicide , a la the "McDonald's coffee case". How well this will do, I don't know - personally, considering the AI industry's godawful reputation with the public, I expect they're gonna have some difficulty.

Gonna add the opening quote, because it is glorious:

You cannot make friends with the rock stars...if you're going to be a true journalist, you know, a rock journalist. First, you never get paid much, but you will get free records from the record company.

[There’s] fuckin’ nothin' about you that is controversial. God, it's gonna get ugly. And they're gonna buy you drinks, you're gonna meet girls, they're gonna try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs. I know, it sounds great, but these people are not your friends. You know, these are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars and they will ruin rock 'n' roll and strangle everything we love about it.

Because they're trying to buy respectability for a form that's gloriously and righteously dumb.

Lester Bangs, Almost Famous (2000)

EDITED TO ADD: If you want a good companion piece to this, Devs and the Culture of Tech by @UnseriousAcademic is a damn good read, going deep into the cultural issues which leads to the fawning tech press Zitron so thoroughly tears into.