array_key_first (u/array_key_first)

array_key_first commented on Testing Ads in ChatGPT openai.com/index/testing-... · Posted by u/davidbarker

wilg · 16 hours ago

Why does it have to be "manipulation"? If you don't know about something that you might want to buy, learning about it isn't being manipulated.

Also, the lifespan thing is crazy - what if you learned about something that improved your health, like an exercise machine or something? You can't just ignore the upsides. What if you bought something that saved you money in the long run, like a quality tool?

array_key_first · 10 hours ago

It's manipulation even if the outcome is considered good. Did it change your behavior, or intend to change your behavior? Yes? Then it's manipulation.

The truth is that you did not come up with the idea to buy it. Their goal isn't even to convince you to buy it. Its to convince you that you yourself want to buy it, and if you do, you decided it all on your own.

Think of it this way. Could you have gotten a better power tool somewhere else? Surely. So why that one? And, since money was spent, wouldn't it be in your favor to just believe you made the best choice?

array_key_first commented on Testing Ads in ChatGPT openai.com/index/testing-... · Posted by u/davidbarker

FergusArgyll · 18 hours ago

OpenAI: Gets money Shoe store: gets customers ChatGPT user: gets to use chatgpt

Yes, everyone

array_key_first · 16 hours ago

The premise of advertising is that it's manipulation to trick you into spending money you wouldn't otherwise spend. We know this because companies pay for ads with the intention you spend more money.

Every ad you see materially makes you a little bit poorer and cuts off a small amount of your life. Think of it this way - every ad is a few seconds lost, maybe a few minutes, and a few cents down the drain.

But this isn't understood because it's so abstracted. The link between your personal shopping habits and advertising is not understood, and, in fact, cannot be understood, because it's fundamentally brain hacking.

If you believe you are immune to ads, you are not. Or, at least, you can never prove it.

Cumulatively, this adds up. If you never saw ads, how much longer would you live? A year, maybe two? If you never saw ads, how much richer would you be? 200%, 500%? Who knows.

array_key_first commented on Testing Ads in ChatGPT openai.com/index/testing-... · Posted by u/davidbarker

Aurornis · 18 hours ago

> and the best monetization plan is ads.... Again?

Their monetization plan is to have ad-free subscription options from $20 to $200/month and an API which charges by token.

These ads are for the free and new low-cost ad-subsidized tier that comes in below their existing $20/month plan.

array_key_first · 16 hours ago

For now, but they'd be stupid to not push ads on all their tiers.

You know what's better than 20 bucks a month? 20 bucks a month and ads.

array_key_first commented on Can Ozempic Cure Addiction? newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/adrianhon

Cthulhu_ · a day ago

"diet" implies a temporary change to achieve a certain goal. However, "changing your diet" has long term permanence in it. But this is hard for a lot of people because they don't have a fixed diet to begin with, instead just eating whatever whenever they're hungry. Same with exercise, people need to make that into a habit.

But forming habits / making lifestyle changes is hard. And when people hear they can just take an injection instead of make lifestyle changes they're like oo, easy!

array_key_first · 17 hours ago

The injection doesn't mean you don't make lifestyle changes. People have this delusion that GLP-1s just make you lose weight.

They don't. People on GLP-1s lose weight the same as you or I, through diet and exercise. It just makes it easier to build those habits.

Which I think reveals the obvious. Diet and exercise ARE NOT root cause solutions. Meaning, the root cause of obesity IS NOT eating too much. Rather, it's a propensity to eat too much. And, in that regard, GLP-1s are a root cause solutions, whereas diet necessarily is not.

array_key_first commented on X offices raided in France as UK opens fresh investigation into Grok bbc.com/news/articles/ce3... · Posted by u/vikaveri

timmg · 6 days ago

If the tool generates it automatically or spuriously, then yes. But if it is the users asking it to, then I'm not sure there is a big difference.

array_key_first · 2 days ago

The most obvious difference is the amount of CSAM, which does matter. It might matter most.

array_key_first commented on OpenAI exec becomes top Trump donor with $25M gift finance.yahoo.com/news/op... · Posted by u/doener

darthnebula · 2 days ago

What he does with his own money is none of anyone's business. I live in a state where it is pretty evenly divided between parties. I have friends who support Trump and friends who don't like him. All of them are nice people who have valid reasons for who they support. Demonizing people because they don't agree with you is detrimental to society and it is not sustainable.

array_key_first · 2 days ago

This reads like a lack of conviction. If you're willing to be friends with people who do deplorable things, that's your business. That's not a sign of maturity. That's cowardice, weakness, and an almost pathetically pathologic need to be liked. As an alternative to simply throwing your beliefs away in the pursuit of image, consider therapy. It worked for me.

array_key_first commented on OpenAI exec becomes top Trump donor with $25M gift finance.yahoo.com/news/op... · Posted by u/doener

simianwords · 2 days ago

This is obviously not ideal but what would have been a better alternative?

Democrats are pushing anti tech agenda without understanding the consequences. And this is not because democrats are stupid, it’s because there’s a large population who feels the same way.

array_key_first · 2 days ago

Tech is one of the most important tools in propping up a fascist state, through digital share cropping, surveillance, and propaganda. The right is currently, and has been, on a descent into fascism. The left understandably does not want that.

Ergo, they have an anti-fascist position, which currently also means they have an anti-tech position. And yes, I work in tech as a developer.

array_key_first commented on War Department Cuts Ties with Harvard University war.gov/News/News-Stories... · Posted by u/geox

halJordan · 3 days ago

A Republican: "I want to establish deterrence by creating lethal warriors"

HN: "oh my god, they're begging to start a war!"

array_key_first · 2 days ago

Republicans are war-mongers, everyone knows that, including their consistency. It's a key part of why people vote for them.

Now, granted, most US politicians are war-mongers. It's just part of our blood. But still, that shouldn't be a surprise.

array_key_first commented on France's homegrown open source online office suite github.com/suitenumerique... · Posted by u/nar001

consp · 3 days ago

> Definitely a source of slowness.

I would first blame the programmers, the design and lack of specialty offloading before blaming any programming language. Well designed web calls scale nearly linearly with usage and usually poor design or programming is the source of slowness. You can always trade language complexity for speed but assuming it is the cause of all perceived slowness is a poor man's view.

It is the same story every time again, first it was java, which has so many large scale projects most people won't even know it's running things they use, now it's apparently python who is to blame for all slowness on the web. When the next JIT or scripted language comes along which is not someone's favourite pet that will get the blame.

array_key_first · 3 days ago

Python is slow, though, and so was java compared to other compiled languages of its time. Sure, it might not matter much if you're mostly doing database calls. If you're not, though, then yes, it's the languages fault if your app is slow. You can try to make it faster, but it's gonna be marginal gains. Or, you could just switch to another language and get a 100x speedup for free.

I also denounce the notion that trading language complexity for slowness is the case. Python is already complex, and there's some language and frameworks that are actually quite a bit easier to use for web backends. Like java, or dotnet. It just makes no sense to use python for this usecase, even if you ignore the slowness.

But that's not completely true, there is one very good reason to use python. Your devs know it. But, that doesnt say anything about the language itself.

array_key_first commented on Hello world does not compile github.com/anthropics/cla... · Posted by u/mfiguiere

DustinEchoes · 3 days ago

It’s a fear response.

array_key_first · 3 days ago

It could also be that, so often, the claims of what LLMs are achieve are so, so overstated that people feel the need to take it down a notch.

I think lofty claims ultimately hurt the perception of AI. If I wanted to believe AI was going nowhere, I would listen to people like Sam Altman, who seem to believe in something more akin to a religion than a pragmatic approach. That, to me, does not breed confidence. Surely, if the product is good, it would not require evangelism or outright deceit? For example, claiming this implementation was 'clean room'. Words have meaning.

This feat was very impressive, no doubt. But with each exaggeration, people lose faith. They begin to wonder - what is true, and what is marketing? What is real, and what is a cheap attempt for companies to rake in whatever cold hard AI cash they can? Is this opportunistic, like viral pneumonia, or something we should really be looking at?