Nice conversation you had right there in your head. I assume you also took a closer look at it to get a neutral opinion and didn’t just ride one of the two waves “blind AI hype” or “blind AI hate”?

I’ve taken a closer look at Codestral (which is locally hostable), threw stuff at it and got a sense for what it can and can’t do. The general gist is that its (Python) syntax is basically always correct, however it sometimes messes up the actual code logic or gets the user request wrong. That makes it a good tool for code questions aimed at specific features, how certain syntax in a language works or to look up potential alternative solutions for smaller code snippets. However it should absolutely not be used to create huge chunks of your code logic, that will always backfire.

And since some people will read this and think I’m some AI worshipper, fuck no. They’re amoral as fuck, the only models not screwed up through their creation process are those very few truly FOSS ones. But if you hate on something you have to actually know shit about it and understand its appeal and non-hyped usecases (they do have them, even LLMs). Otherwise you’ll end up in a social corner filled with bitterness and, depending on the topic, perhaps even increasingly extreme opinions (not saying we shouldn’t smash OpenAI and other corposcum into tiny pieces, we absolutely should).

There are technologies that are utter bullshit like NFTs. However (unfortunately?) that isn’t the case for AI. We just live in an economy that’s good in abusing everything and everyone.

It’s already doing that, some FOSS projects regularly get weird PRs that on first glance look good, but if you look closer are either total nonsense or riddled with bugs. Especially awful are security-related PRs; although those are never made in good faith, that’s usually grifting (throwing AI at the wall trying to cash in as many bounties as possible). The project lead of curl recently announced that anyone who posts a PR that’s obviously AI, or is made with AI, will get banned.

Like, it’s really good as a learning tool as long as you don’t blindly believe everything it says given you can ask stuff in natural language and it will resolve possible knowledge dependencies for you that you’d otherwise get stuck on in official docs, and since you can ask contextual questions receiving contextual answers (no logical abstraction). But code generation… please don’t.

Just wanting to point out the irony of making fun of artists’ life choices… below a comic.

Damn, shitjustworks allows fascists?

I have one of those Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher. They’re really useless.

Depends. Given this happened in North America there might very well be existing production lines for these tiny houses, and construction laws are also way simpler to fulfill with those basically anywhere (e.g. in Germany you’d just have had to make the whole place a camping site). They all look pretty standardized, including those solar panels.

Although I’d agree that a properly build big building would probably last longer. Not too sure about that though, I’m just happy to hear there are still people with money actually taking care of those who’re at rock bottom.

Aside from the serious topic, I find it really funny your recommendation to get a better picture is “go play some games on east eu servers and get yelled at in voice chat”. Gives me serious Counter-Strike flashbacks.

It’s being held up artificially right now through unsustainable means. The Russian economy is massively under pressure pushing it towards a downwards spiral and got problems sourcing material, which is what those sanctions intended.

It’s pretty clear that hasn’t been working

It’s pretty clear you never looked into it. The Russian economy is massively strained, they got huge problems due to those sanctions.

Those problems are being fixed with newer vehicle designs though. The charging speed (the 800V systems seem to reach sub 20 minutes consistently by now), range (450+ km appear to become normal, the more fancy ones even got over 650km) and economics (battery packs become repairable and way more affordable even for a full replacement, especially given the savings in other expenses compared to ICE) seem to check out. The main problems are infrastructure, lack of affordable second-hand options… and honestly that stupid idea that cars should be our primary mode of transportation. Damn, we even got viable alternatives to lithium-ion batteries by now, that technology didn’t properly evolve for half a century or sth.

The data on battery longevity is also promising, they stay at usable capacities way longer than expected. Those first generation EVs just age really poorly given they’re, well… first generation. The technology is developing at breakneck speeds for the last decade.

On a sidenote, don’t let anyone tell you european EVs are somehow worse than chinese (they are not). They’re just more expensive due to a fortunate lack of slavery, and generally higher standards of everything in the production chain compared to China.

and bullying (or how survive it).

My over a decade long therapeutic history, scars and damage to sensory organs say differently. You’re right about the shootings though. Since the bullying at my schools was so bad I can guarantee there would have been at least one shooting if it was in the US. Back then I would’ve probably celebrated the idea even, I was saddened when an actual shooting happened somewhere because it wasn’t at my school, but specifically not because it was a shooting (just to give you an idea how bad the bullying was).

Heard the US schools got a really weird sports team thingy going. Never fully got that; there’s no comparable culture over here. Of course schools love to work with Sports Clubs whenever possible, they’re not “the same” though (and it’s about the sport itself, very rarely the Clubs’ identity). There definitely aren’t state- or nationwide sport tournaments organized around school teams in the same fashion the US celebrates it.

Latin as first (second) language sounds so phenomenally weird to me. How late in school did you start learning? For me it was third grade in primary school, I can still remember that first sheet with pictures of “tree” and “umbrella” as it felt so alien to me for things to suddenly be called differently.

There was a choice for second (third) language in sixth class, I chose Latin there as well (there were only 2 choices, Latin and French). Unfortunately had to change school 2 years later and they only had French, so now I can’t speak either. 🥴

English however never was optional (your post make it sound like it was for you, pretty sure no state does it that way though…?). In fact for all I know it’s one of the primary classes everywhere in Germany, together with German and math.

DU

Do you imply that ancestors building concentration camps is somehow boosting education?

…so Trump’s decisions actually are long-term educational policy? Little genocide today, big brains tomorrow? 🧐

This meme couldn’t have been made by a German. Nobody in their right mind would say something so outlandish as Germany having a great education system. I literally got taught with a smashed blackboard, next to a cabinet that collapsed during class and with “books” that began identifying as a stack of papers (still had to wrap them though for protection! …somehow!).

On the upside, my school didn’t have mold… that we knew off. And we constantly had classes canceled since there weren’t enough teachers once a single one was missing.

The emissions part I’ll have to agree on, but safety? Germany is literally among the safest nations to drive in. There’s not much lower you can go.

Always room for improvement, especially if there’s such an unnecessary reason it’s “only” 16th place. Regarding EVs: You didn’t really acknowledged the economics arguments but simply assume that ICEs will be faced out. Which might still be true even in the worst of all economical situations, however my argument also entailed that people want to buy EVs. Giving ICEs and EVs equal footing in a “free” market is a good thing unless you want offset not doing so with a heavy hand with more regulations. One way or another we need this change asap, so a regulation that’s literally everywhere but here, has support from a majority of people and benefits every cause there is makes the most sense if you ask me.

“Top 10 in road safety” also has a nice ring to it.

and for people to always check their mirrors before switching lanes.

Oh, I wish. I don’t think your expectation of adapted behaviour is correct on a societal level, and given how many deaths could’ve prevented by a speed limit… people drastically overestimate their abilities and underestimate the speed and force of impact all the time. If the road is going slow right now or someone missed their exit people will still drive like maniacs. Not to mention that there’s also other good reasons for a speed limit, environmental and economical (with ICE cars you don’t immediately feel how much more you’re paying in money and convenience/time, but EVs will tell you that immediately = more CO², more costs individually and for society, less sane car purchases).

I don’t think strict TÜV, training etc. is connected to a lack of speed limit either. It’s more of a cultural thing in society, and of course to politics and how well people are off.

I get your opinion about preserving existing freedoms. It’s always a balance, however in this case I think this personal freedom to go fast is in no relation to other people’s right to save travel, and future generations’ right of well-being.

This. Of course it would be even better with limits on the Autobahn, and in fact a majority of people are in favour of such a change (especially if the limit is at 130-140). Our governments are in the pocket of the car industry though, politicians act as if our whole freedom is endangered talking about it (now where do we know that from? 🙃). Things can always be better, but A.I. definitely doesn’t improve an absolutely shitty mobility system like the US has (which is basically nothing but cars). If anything it will make shit even more… off the rails. 😏

I mean, the US really isn’t a good example for road safety. Even Germany got better drivers, and we like to drive 140-200 kmh. It’s a matter of good education, standards and regulations (as always).

In the end self-driving public transport is the way the future of mobility should primarily be imho. Self-driving cars… as long as there always is a steering wheel in case of unexpected circumstances or to move around backyards and stuff it’ll probably me fine. Just don’t throw technical solutions at cultural problems and expect them to be fixed.