@nik @adafruit @kholerik

I both get it and agree.

But Adafruit was unfairly dragged recently by a mistaken association with another vendor and got dogpiled on; the original poster deleted their post, but the mob is still riled.

If you dislike AI and the effects it has on our society - I mostly agree. But the problem is less the users, and more the AI companies who are doing all sorts of illegal and unethical shit. They are the correct targets of our collective ire, not the end users. I have a feeling most AI end-users will get burned quickly enough without people yelling at them online TBH - the viable use-cases are far more narrow than the evangelists would have us believe.

@nik @adafruit

They are talking to everyone. This is Mastodon - if you don't like a poster, don't follow, or block and move on.

Background for the confused: some folks at Adafruit have found utility in using AI for circuit board layouts. This isn't unreasonable - verifiable technical tasks evade some of the flaws in current AI output. Some other folks are offended by this. They should shop elsewhere if it's that important to them. What they shouldn't do is try to drag *anyone* for it, especially on Mastodon. On mastodon, you only see content of people you follow or that people you follow boosted. If you don't like that content - block or unfollow, please. Evangelists of any stripe will have a hard time here by design. We block early and often.

Yes, AI has some ugly baggage. But like almost everything in this world, it is not wholly evil or pure - it's just tech, and the moral value comes from how it's created and used, it isn't inherent. My personal take is that the technology is far less an issue than the reality of how it was trained and how the businesses selling it are affecting the economy, but doing that justice is a rant that also probably doesn't belong here.

If this upsets anyone, block me. Please.

@ApostateEnglishman @jackwilliambell @cstross

Brain implants are and were dumb on their face.

It turns out we have several excellent brain interfaces available and honed over millions of years of evolution - our eyes, ears, hands, voice, and a bunch of more subtle ones like touch and balance. They are intuitive, built-in, and free. And none of them are permanently invasive, which saves all sorts of biology issues.

The only real use-case for any sort of implant is where you have no alternative - the pacemaker comes to mind. The rest are someone trying to sell you something you don't need or want.

@cstross @schrotthaufen

It's not.

It's just that some people have become so jaded they feel it's ok to show atrocities to others without warning. It's actually really good here, some other sites I won't bother listing are far worse.

All you can do is block them and hope they are shown as much compassion by others as they are showing.

@chesheer @darkuncle @cybeej

There's a real insanity in insisting that non-hardware IT folks be physically present in some place or another, as opposed to where they are right now. I was recently forced by circumstance to work in an office, and it was wildly counterproductive. Let IT folks work where they are and where their stuff is, and they can focus on work and not driving and getting distracted by people trying to do anything but work.