James H McLaren @JamesHMcLaren@qoto.org

An Air Canada "AI"-powered chatbot gave a customer bogus information. Then the airline said it wouldn't honor what it had told the customer, claiming the bot wasn't actually part of the airline (despite being run from its website).

A court said "give me a break" and ordered the airline to honor what the bot said.

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/air-canada-s-chatbot-gave-a-b-c-man-the-wrong-information-now-the-airline-has-to-pay-for-the-mistake-1.6769454

This needs to become the rule for all such things.

I always think it's funny when right-wing types get mad at Star Wars for becoming "woke." They didn't notice the obvious fascist imagery? They didn't realize that they were the villains in this whole cinematic universe? So unobservant! I would never make that mistake! I'd know if I was the villain in a whole cinematic universe!

Anyway, I can't wait to watch the second installment of Dune! What'll happen next in Arrakis(Iraq)? Will the spice(oil) flow? Will Paul's Jihad topple the empire(us)?

I couldn’t afford the Apple Vision Pro, so I got the Apple Vision Junior instead.

#SilentSunday
#michigan #nature #photography

Canadian political cartoonist, Michael deAdder has requested that his Washington Post cartoons be widely circulated after his recent dismissal.

@Travler Thank you!
DeAdder has requested that his WP cartoons be widely circulated. So here we go..

#SupremeCourt #justiceThomas

Here’s the cartoon that got Michael de Adder fired from Brunswick News

Not sure which one made WaPo drop him

https://www.dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2024/02/07/de-adder-and-wapo-part-ways/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/06/30/viral-trump-critic-canadian-cartoonist-loses-his-freelance-contract-with-publisher-brunswick-news/

I teach my writing class today. I'm supposed to talk about ChatGPT. Here's what I will say.
NEVER USE CHATGPT. YOU ARE HERE TO LEARN HOW TO WRITE ABOUT SCIENCE, YOU WILL NOT ACCOMPLISH THAT BY USING A GODDAMNED CRUTCH THAT WILL JUST MAKE SHIT UP TO FILL THE SPACE. WRITE. WRITE WITH YOUR BRAIN AND YOUR HANDS. DON'T ASK A DUMB CYBERMONKEY TO DO IT FOR YOU.
I have strong opinions on this matter.

I’ll bet most folks who act like him couldn’t either.

The Girl Scouts came at me today. Normally I’d buy 2 boxes of Thin Mints, but after their fabulous statements of late, I bought 6.

Apparently Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s legal first name is not Danielle. It’s Marlaina. Danielle is her legal middle name.

Which means that in everyday life, she uses, um, a preferred name.

@RustyBertrand Anthropologists, historians, and sociologists have offered explanations for the collapse of past civilizations involving factors such as environmental change, depletion of resources, unsustainable complexity, invasion, disease, decay of social cohesion, rising inequality, long-term decline of cognitive abilities, loss of creativity, and misfortune.
Which boxes do we check first?
Is there one box labeled “All of the above “?

That is precisely right and exactly what happened, and anyone that doesn’t know this just wasn’t paying attention. Some of us were waving red flags all over the place, and we were told to stop the “hysterics,” and that “America has always had such characters.”

Source: @JamesHMcLaren
https://mastodon.social/@JamesHMcLaren@qoto.org/111853330755758533

BREAKING:
Doug Ford announces “make your own license plate” ServiceOntario craft stations at the back of every Michaels store.

😅​🤣​ 😂​ @tdotresident

#NotTheBeaverton #DougFord #onpoli #toronto

Poll: According to you, will Apple Vision Pro be a successful or failed product?

“Listen, if you take an action you later regret you have to live with the consequences, there are no ‘take-backseys’” — the designer of elevator buttons.

Maybe not driving and not causing climate change is the solution.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240124-climate-change-is-causing-a-pothole-plague-are-robots-and-self-healing-pavement-the-solution