Tech Time by Tim #39

Thought you could catch your breath from all the summer showcases? Well, you were kind of right but also wrong. Because this week Japan has set a copyright ruling precent for generative AI. Chip manufacturers have also come out swinging and a big biology discovery kinda… turned out a bit differently than expected. There’s also the weather report ‘cloudy with a chance of orange apocalypse,’ and The Reddit Rebellion has made Amazon Twitchy. Last but not least, the 4chan conundrum, how free should information be?

At A Glance

A quick overview of this week’s content.

·??????The Week that Was: Copy-right Or Wrong, The Chip Chasers

·??????G’day Climate: Dead Bugs And Hopeful Mushrooms, Cloudy With a Chance of Orange Apocalypse

·??????Rules of Engagement: The Reddit Rebellion, The 4chan Conundrum

The Week that Was:

A look back at the tech world of the past week.

Copy-right or Wrong? AI Copyright And Disinformation:

The Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs (ACA) has recently released a document titled “About the relationship between AI and copyright.” This document makes a clear distinction between the training phase and the output phase of generative AI. The training phase, as one might guess, is where the models are trained, usually via publicly accessible data. At least part of Reddit’s reasoning for trying to shut down the free API was actually because of this very reason. The countless posts on Reddit were among the most widely used sources of training data. Alas, poor Reddit, at least in Japan, such ‘scraping’ is now considered to be perfectly legal.

That is because Japan’s legislators have chosen to be output focused. This means that the things made with generative AI, the output, must be proven to be derivative or dependent on existing copyrighted work. Then, and only then, can the Intellectual Property (IP) holder, sue for damages. That’s a big blow to the input side of the AI IP debate, the likes of Shutterstock and, as previously mentioned, Reddit. This isn’t just because the burden of evidence lies with the accuser. It is also because training data can’t be removed from a Machine Learning (ML) model after the fact. Perhaps that’s why Adobe now feels bold enough to cover all legal costs for users sued over its Firefly generative AI tool. Should Japan’s stance be taken as the new precedent, it would be ideal for entities that own both huge stockpiles of (potential) training data. It would be especially beneficial for those that also have their own generative AI offerings, Adobe, for example.

Having said that, I sure hope Disney villain turned presidential candidate Ron DeSantis didn’t use Firefly. He launched an AI-powered smear campaign against Donald Trump this past week. I’m sure that isn’t the kind of exposure Adobe was looking for with their PR play. DeSantis’ high-profile use of AI isn’t an isolated incident though. It is representative of the rapidly thawing sentiments of US lawmakers towards AI technology and its possibilities. These shifting attitudes can, in part, be attributed to successful charm offensives by prominent industry figures. LINK

The Chip Chasers Of The XR Arms Race:

Alrighty then, let’s dig into some chips! Computer chips, and definitely not the kind you’ll find in a ‘potato’ PC. Because hot on the heels of WWDC, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm ask for your attention. Intel ‘moved some stuff around’, on their chips, which supposedly led to a 5% boost in efficiency. That number might not sound particularly impressive at face value, but it certainly can be. If all goes well, chip-level efficiency improvements will be multiplied across an entire system as other components can get more results with less effort.

Meanwhile, AMD is continuing its gradual push to phase out the dedicated Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) by beefing up its integrated graphics. Next year’s Ryzen 8000 CPU series is rumored to be a close match for Nvidia’s RTX 3070, a decently powerful last-gen GPU. Though it remains to be seen how much of this rumor will actually become reality, it's certainly an exciting prospect. More build space and efficiency on AMD-powered hardware would be particularly helpful for handheld gaming PCs. These devices need all the extra space and efficiency they can get.

Talking about tight space and efficiency requirements, let’s take a closer look at Qualcomm. I mentioned how Apple was coming for them last week, but Qualcomm won’t go quietly. Its plan to contest Apple in the Mixed Reality (XR) space is to power as many non-Apple headsets as possible. All those headsets though, Apple or otherwise, will still rely on connectivity to be useful. That’s not nearly as straightforward as it might seem though, as evidenced by the bizarre reality of trying to get online in North Korea. LINK

G’day Climate:

Covering tech’s impact on the climate and our environment.

Dead Bugs And Hopeful Mushrooms:

Those familiar with South Park may remember the “aaaaaand it’s gone…” gag about an investment banker who brags about all the clever tricks and years of wisdom he’s employing to make sure an investment works out. The punchline being that the second the investment is made, he’s already lost the client’s money.

Though it does have the same energy as that South Park gag, I feel a lot sadder about this next item. Biologists discovered some new species of insects in the archives of museums and botanical gardens. These discoveries briefly set the scientific community abuzz. Right up until the realisation that this newly discovered life was ‘already dead.’ Dark extinction is the term for extinctions unknown to science.

It left a really sour taste in my mouth.?A sour taste that made it especially jarring to then read about a (bug) killer robot. Did humanity really need the help? It might, to reduce the impact of all the invasive species carelessly set loose upon unprepared ecosystems. It’s tragic that such a novel technological solution should be necessary for a problem we inflicted upon our environment. Be that as it may, it is a good thing that there might soon be a solution for those past mistakes.

And as far as improved awareness of the importance and versatility of nature go, there’s also new pushes in the field of education. Fungi, for example, have long been vital to the biotech industry, and now some new college courses are looking to ingrain knowledge of this fact in the latest crop of bio-pharma students. LINK

Cloudy, With A Chance Of Orange Apocalypse:

Anyone remember the Dyson Zone? Reporters laughed, I laughed, and Dyson’s PR department died a little inside. Every time they were told to figure out a new way to make it look appealing, another nail was hammered into the coffin. Well, seems Dyson might be having the last laugh after all. They are now the only company to provide chill beats to choke on toxic fumes to. The Dyson Zone is a $949 headset that has been combined with an air purifier. Though it is intended to tell you how safe the air you’re breathing is, and to purify unclean air… there are two main problems:

1.????If you are in an environment where you’re considering a gas mask or air purifier, you already know that the air isn’t safe.

2.????The Zone only measures Nitrogen Dioxide levels. Most real-world cases of dangerous air pollution feature complex mixtures of particles and gases.

In that sense, I’ve seen the Zone referred to as a ‘gaslight’ mask, rather than a gas mask. Its sleek apps will tell users everything is fine, even as the noise cancelling functionality struggles to smooth over the sirens of countless emergency service vehicles rushing past.

Emergency service vehicles such as fire-fighting trucks, many of which will be trying to deal with record breaking wildfires choking the skies of major North-American cities like New York. Those in the middle of this disaster feel like they are witnessing the actual apocalypse. However, there are plenty of onlookers abroad who have been quick to cry foul about these American trumpets of the orange hued apocalypse.

They contest that ecological and climatological disasters have been the lived reality of many 3rd world countries for decades. The question raised by such critics? “Is this only a problem now that toxic smog is blotting out your sun!?” Yet where some see disaster, others see opportunity. Tesla owners, for example, have seized the chance to test their car’s ‘bioweapon defence mode.’ LINK

Rules of Engagement:

Ethics and legal matters regarding tech engagement.

The Reddit Rebellion Makes Amazon Twitchy:

The Reddit rebellions continues, it’s promised blackout inevitably extended beyond the initial 48-hour ‘warning shot.’ Both Reddit and users are hard at work reinforcing their trenches for a war of attrition. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is using the tried and true strategy of ‘waiting for the storm to blow over.’ Though revenue supposedly isn’t affected right now, advertisers are concerned.

Speaking of concerned advertisers, Amazon’s long been controversial for its advertising aggression on streaming platform Twitch. It had already sparked a backlash back in September of 2022 after slashing subscription revenue for creators. The revenue split was changed from 70/30 to 50/50. Waiting for the storm to pass worked back then, so Amazon also hopes it will work again now. The situation is almost identical to the Reddit rebellion, though the nuance does differ a bit. Twitch has long been frustrated by independent sponsorships, much like how Reddit has long been frustrated by 3rd party apps being both more efficient, and ad free.

Already more lucrative even before the revenue split changes, content creators on Twitch loved external sponsorships. They’d promote the sponsor on their streams and not have to give Amazon a dime. This longstanding tension between Twitch and creators has now boiled over once more. Though supposedly backing down on its ‘Branded Content Guidelines” changes… people responding to Twitch on Twitter want to know why, allegedly, only the wording seems to have been slightly changed from the original version that sparked the initial outrage. LINK

The 4chan Conundrum – How Free Should Information Be?

I was somewhat surprised to find that 4chan, famed and feared for its anarchic, frequently hate filled approach to forums… actually has moderation. Unlike most social media, 4chan frowns upon users making themselves personally identifiable. Instead, users will have random codes associated with them. It could be said that (technically) 4chan’s users are freer than any of their peers on mainstream social media platforms.

Yet so called ‘janitors’ still moderate and steer the general ‘vibe’ of the site. These janitors are essentially moderators with an agenda. They are out of sight of regulators, and pushing the problematic content and opinions that they should, by legal obligation, be combating. Moderation is, as this situation highlights, a matter of perspective even more than it is a matter of policy.

That is exactly the context in which I interpret China’s prevailing fear of Apple’s Airdrop functionality. Though their human rights record would like a word, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) essentially views Airdrop as the 4chan of the material world. And why wouldn’t it? From the CCP’s perspective, the Hong Kong Protests, and the more recent protests during the CCP anniversary are acts of terrorism.

Thus, even after successfully forcing changes back in December 2022 (rolled out globally in iOS 16.2), the CCP still doesn’t feel safe. They use the so called ‘Great Firewall’ to wall China off from the rest of the world. Yet there remain many ways around, over, and under it. Did you know China actually has a booming industry entirely based around doing just that? There are entire bureaus catered towards helping rural influencers in particular find fame and fortune beyond the Great Firewall. Should that information be free, or is it a threat? It’s complicated. LINK ?

A Nice Cup of Serendipity:

Cool bits and bobs from around the web.

Wargames LINK

Wagner Interview LINK

Future Imperfect LINK

Clippy’s Creator LINK

Argentinian Nomads LINK

PirateGPT LINK

Subtitles On LINK

Green Bubble Blues LINK

Semi-Green LINK

Mind Map LINK

The Deep End:

A weekly batch of longform content recommendations.

Snowden 10 Years On:

A look back on the big leaks of classified US intelligence information by former contractor Edward Snowden. LINK

Armored Core Retrospective:

A chronological playthrough of 15 of From Software’s storied mech combat franchise Armored Core. LINK

Games That Aren’t Games:

Using the gaming medium to explore weird, wild, surreal spaces and experiences. LINK

Chat Notebooks:

A new way to integrate LLM’s into the notebook paradigm. LINK

One More Thing…

I’ve gotten some very positive feedback on the experiment last week, the audio recording of the newsletter! It makes me so happy to have people enjoy my content but having them also be happy with its delivery just feels extra special. Moving forward, I’ll be looking into whether or not it is practical to make the audio version of the newsletter a mainstay. I’ve even got a potential subheading for it. “Stay A While And Listen – For those that prefer listening to newsletters instead of reading them.” Yeah, if you know, you know.

When going through the feedback I received, I saw things like “I feel more of a connection with you like this” and “the jokes and wordplay land even better for me when you say them out loud.” That might have been the most surprising part of the experiment for me, which is honestly pretty funny when you remember how much I myself have written about parasocial relationships. In and of itself, this was also a fun and novel experience. Even if the feedback hadn’t been good, I’d probably still be satisfied. By the way, did you know that to get your voice across well, you practically have to have the microphone up your nose? I didn’t either!

We had to edit one bit out because I accidentally bumped into the mic with my nose. That thing tickled so bad I did like this weird yelp thing, which caused my colleague to laugh, and that caused me to laugh, and then we just needed to take a moment before we could continue.

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