mindgam3

> No, but the text you quoted doesn't say that [deep learning achieves human-level performance

Uh, it says DNNs are indispensable for achieving human level performance. That clearly implies that this level of performance is achievable, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Lost me at the first sentence.

> Deep neural network (DNN) is an indispensable machine learning tool for achieving human-level performance on many learning tasks.

Not to be pedantic, but words matter. Is anyone actually claiming that deep learning achieves true “human-level performance” on any real world open-ended learning task?

Even the most state of the art computer vision/object classification algorithms still don’t generalize to weird input, like familiar objects presented at odd angles.

I get that the author is trying to write something motivating and inspirational, but it feels like claiming “near” or “quasi”-human performance, with disclaimers, would be a more intellectually honest way to introduce the subject.

Transcript here: https://slate.com/transcripts/cE5Ia2t1d3k2d3hhNlV3dG1xWlMzNX...

Let me get this straight. A company deeply embedded in the Democratic establishment (0) that has worked directly with Buttigieg — the candidate with close ties to Facebook aka the company undermining democracy since 2016 — managed to totally screw up, potentially undermining the campaign of Sanders, the anti-establishment candidate.

Yeah, democracy is fucked.

0. https://theintercept.com/2020/02/04/iowa-caucus-app-shadow-a...

“In countries like the United States, it's being built by corporations in order to influence our buying behavior, and is incidentally used by the government.”

No, he’s not right about it being “incidental”. The use of facial recognition by police is widespread and widely reported (0). Unlike other forms of digital surveillance, this one has serious and potentially deadly consequences when misused. Banning it at least temporarily is a major win for civil liberties and I would wager that anyone thinking this is a step backward is privileged enough to never have experienced police brutality.

0. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-priv...

If by “some” you mean the government of France, then yeah.

Another little known fact: Landmark was based on the IP from Werner Erhard’s Est seminars in the 70s, which in turn incorporated specific techniques from Scientology [1]. Some of these fun Scientology influences still exist in today’s forum trainings.

1. http://www.skepdic.com/est.html

PSA, Landmark Forum was banned as a cult in France after the release of an investigative documentary [0] which they tried vigorously to suppress.

The group is a magnet for vulnerable people who respond to authoritarian style leadership and coercive psychological techniques including public shaming and gaslighting. They strongly discourage participants from taking notes. Anyone with a history of trauma, abuse or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) should know that attending this kind of group can cause severe psychological harm.

There is a way to do deep personal transformation safely, but this group isn’t it.

0. https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Suppressed_French_documentary_on_...

The entire idea of an “AI arms race” that we are losing to China is fear-mongering by those with a vested interest in defense spending, ie military industrial complex.

This is a human rights issue more than an arms race. The fact that SF is banning facial recognition tech while the Chinese state is going all in (as another commenter notes) is a win.

> The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission “found reasonable cause to believe that Uber permitted a culture of sexual harassment and retaliation against individuals who complained about such harassment.”

> Uber agreed to a settlement by establishing a $4.4 million fund to pay current and former employees who were sexually harassed at work.

Wow, a $4M fine for a $50B company with a corrosively toxic culture. That'll teach 'em a lesson! /s