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Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 6th September 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
my Rationalist Sense smells Effective Altruists all over this in c/sneerclub@awful.systems
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 16th August 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 9th August 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 2nd August 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 2nd August 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
The Oblivious Inside Story Of Leverage Research 1.0 in c/sneerclub@awful.systems
Real branding an actual startup went with in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 14th June 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Disney's Living Characters: A Broken Promise in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Stubsack: weekly thread for sneers not worth an entire post, week ending 7th June 2026 in c/techtakes@awful.systems
Total Reciprocity Public License in c/notawfultech@awful.systems
[–] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

We distinguish between "Functional" and "Content" output.

I think we really shouldn't have ceded this in the first place. An AI model isn't "output" it's a derivative work full of samples. It should follow the same rules that musicians have to. Only problem is there's been a concerted effort to defang IP for decades led by tech giants and heavily affecting the terminally online software folks who might be expected to care about GPL violations. In this respect the horses have already left and I'm not sure closing the barn door matters.

There's also the issue of enforceability. I could write a license that says 'if you want to use my library in your vibe coded slop you must first submerge your hand in boiling water for no less than ten seconds.' I don't think I'm going to be able to convince a judge that their failure to perform this entitles me to damages. Likewise I suspect that now that the practice is there a license like this isn't going to do anything to giants. The GPL came before anything worth stealing was licensed under it and helped shape the norms.

A more straightforward approach I've seen is a less ambiguous statement I see in books nowadays: this may not be used to train AI. I'd like to see versions of conventional licenses with this specific carveout.

I'll finally note that we have seen an attempt to do something like this before in the form of the AGPL which almost nobody ever uses. Contemplate why.

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    60
    JD Vance outs himself as an SSCer, SSCers react (www.reddit.com)
     

    I haven't read the whole thread yet, but so far the choice line is:

    I like how you just dropped the “Vance is interested in right authoritarianism” like it’s a known fact to base your entire point on. Vance is the clearest demonstration of a libertarian the republicans have in high office. It’s an absurd ad hominem that you try to mask in your wall of text.

    28
    SlateScott talking race and IQ: very cool and truth seeking. Revealing SlateScott's powerword: what's the public interest in that? (www.lesswrong.com)
     

    The actually not even really a hatchet job NYT piece on SlateScott that mostly just called him a weird little guy has nonetheless created a festering psychic wound that oozes to this day. Here manifests as an interview with the author on LW. See also: discussion on reddit.

    My favorite section, talking about how people are mad that be brought up Scott's notorious race stuff™️:

    CM: That's great. That's a valid position. There are other valid positions where people say, we need to not go so close to that, because it's dangerous and there's a slippery slope. The irony of this whole situation is that some people who feel that I should not have gone there, who think I should not explore the length and breadth of that situation, are the people who think you should always go there.

    37
    Guess who's having a big mad about Journalism again! (www.astralcodexten.com)
     

    Hounding the president of Harvard out of a job because you think she's a DEI hire is one thing, but going after a Billionaire's wife? How dare these journalists! What big bullies.

    Bonus downplaying of EA's faults. He of course phrases the Bostrom affair as someone being "accused" of sending a racist email, as if there were any question as to who sent it, or if it was racist. And acts like it's not just the cherry on top of a lifetime of Bostrom's work.

    0
    In which Scott (other Scott) can't imagine why committing a crime would lead him to be treated (gasp) like a criminal (scottaaronson.blog)
     

    Someone posted this on ssc with a warning about talking to cops, but really just marvel at what's going on here.

    Aaronson manages to turn a story where he is briefly arrested for a theft (which he did commit on video!) into paragraphs and paragraphs of indulging in his persecution fantasies.

    Zero empathy on display for the people he stole from, the people just doing their jobs, or reflection on the fact that it wasn't a simple little mistake anyone could make but rather... a fairly weird move? Do people usually put change in cups?

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