Tagged: Akkoma
En påminnelse om att vara försiktig med att skanna QR-koder.
https://axbom.se/qr-kod-risker/
@wolf480pl No worries, it just means we thought of the same thing :)
@wolf480pl Yes, that's the line in the footer of the poster. 😊
⚠️ Abusive content in "AI" tools
One of the reasons I avoid generative AI is because I understand how much of the content used to train the models is abusive, violent and vitriolic. This is what tends to happens in the context of massive, unsupervised training on undisclosed information sources.
I'm appalled by the very idea of images being generated with faces containing the likeness of people who in original photos were engaged in extreme violence, sexual or otherwise. Or children subjected to it.
And this goes equally for text. Text can contain wording that is subtly abusive, racist and discriminating in a way that people don’t pick up on. Unless it’s very overt. As an example: The software known as Mistral is very good at generating scripts for convincing minors to meet in person for sexual activities.
There are actually many reasons I try to avoid these tools, but the circumstances of being trained on abusive content doesn't get a lot of media coverage. Or attention from politicians.
It’s entirely likely that a lot of the content used to make LLMs and image generators is considered illegal in many countries. So not disclosing training material is of high priority to the companies.
And the fact that this type of content is often overtly generated is also a reason why so many content moderators in the Majority World work are hired to minimise it, under traumatising conditions. Which doesnt’ make it any more okay.
It’s also related to the phenomenon that it’s now very easy to generate fake naked photos (and video) of pretty much anyone.
Anyway. That’s one reason.
Some sources:
AI image training dataset (LAION-5B) found to include child sexual abuse imagery (The Verge in December 2023). An updated release of this dataset was made available in August of 2024.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/20/24009418/generative-ai-image-laion-csam-google-stability-stanford
Releasing Re-Laion 5B: transparent iteration on Laion-5B with additional safety fixes
https://laion.ai/blog/relaion-5b/
Sidenote: The dataset is made available for research, not commercial products, but that is a moot point in the way that big tech just doesn’t care anymore and there are no consequences.
Mistral AI models '60 times more prone' to generate child sexual exploitation content than OpenAI
https://www.euronews.com/next/2025/05/08/mistral-ai-models-60-times-more-prone-to-generate-child-sexual-exploitation-content-than-o
‘It’s destroyed me completely’: Kenyan moderators decry toll of training of AI models. Employees describe the psychological trauma of reading and viewing graphic content, low pay and abrupt dismissals.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/aug/02/ai-chatbot-training-human-toll-content-moderator-meta-openai
These are the types of insights the tech companies are working very hard to keep from getting out.
On July 3rd I'm speaking in Manchester at #CampDigital, at the Royal Northern College of Music.
I won't talk about tech, UX or AI. In my closing keynote I will be addressing the spectacular lies of maps.
Here's the full schedule:
https://www.nexerdigital.com/campdigital/2025/schedule/
@Fluyar Looks like a great book, thanks!
@cgruenloh Exactly… this focus on being ”optimistic”, as if it’s a religion. I compare it to being asked to talk about guns, with the instruction ”Just be optimistic and don’t talk about all the bad they can be used for. We already have laws against killing people so there’s no need to spend time on that. Talk about the great, transformative things they can be used for. Stay positive! It’s not like we can stop the future. Nobody likes a pessimist.”
And in my head I’m always ”I’m not a pessimist. I’m an optimist who believes we can do much better. Pessimism to me is resigning to an imagined inevitability.”
@Emiliagnathus I get to teach a 3-week ethics in design course at a trade school every autumn and it's one of the most rewarding things I do. This will be year 8(!) The AI hype certainly put a spin on things. Lots of good debate.
I turned down doing a workshop today. They wanted one on AI and ethics. After I submitted my tender (and they essentially accepted it) they asked me to spend half the time on teaching employee tips on using AI to save time.
So I explained I personally avoid using LLMs and image generators and wouldn't be good fit for the job.
It was quite a weird turn of events though and I'm still not sure how our initial talk gave them the impression I would be up for that.
Also, it was a 90-minute workshop and there is no way for me to cut the ethics content with exercises to anything less than that.
To be clear, a big point of the ethics workshop is to encourage giving people the autonomy to think for themselves on how, when and why they would want to use an "AI" tool, or object to it.
And I haven't heard back from this other speaking gig after I mentioned diversity matters to me and I reserve the right to withdraw if the lineup is too homogenous, as in large majority privileged men like myself.
I do still recommend living true to your values, though. 😅
The first element I write about in The Elements of AI Ethics is ‘Accountability Projection’. I explain it like this:
« The term accountability projection refers to how organisations have a tendency not only to evade moral responsibility but also to project the very real accountability that must accompany the making of products and services. Projection is borrowed from psychology and refers to how manufacturers, and those who implement AI, wish to be free from guilt and project their own weakness onto something else – in this case the tool itself.
The framing of AI appears to give manufacturers and product owners a “get-out-of-jail free card” by projecting blame onto the entity they have produced, as if they have no control over what they are making. Imagine buying a washing machine that shrinks all your clothes, and the manufacturer being able to evade any accountability by claiming that the washing machine has a “mind of its own”.
Machines aren’t unethical, but the makers of machines can act unethically. »
Character.ai, a Google company, is being sued by the mother of a boy who committed suicide after engaging with a character.ai chatbot.
In their defense Google asked the case to be dismissed on grounds that the chatbot output was constitutionally protected free speech. How the probabilistic text output of an LLM could even be considered speech was not explained. The request, one of many, was rejected.
It’s a very clear demonstration of accountability projection, and it’s happening constantly.
@waspfactory @magnusjonasson Haha. Smurf.
@waspfactory @magnusjonasson Ja, lite mer sansat på SR.
https://www.sverigesradio.se/artikel/uppmaning-da-ska-du-vaccinera-dig-mot-difteri
@waspfactory @magnusjonasson Lustigt nog vaccinerade jag mig mot difteri förra veckan. Egentligen mot stelkramp, men det är samma spruta i Sverige; DTP = difteri, tetanus (stelkramp), pertussis (kikhosta)
@kolombiken Hahaha!! 'Normater' är guld.
@kolombiken Tack! Bra feedback. Håller verkligen med, samtidigt som det kan bli lite mycket i ett kort avtal. Önskar jag hade ett samlingsbegrepp för vita, medelålders neurotypiska cis-män utan funktionsnedsättningar, och ett motsatsord. 😅
Så här ser det ut just nu:
"Jag är mån om mångfald och inkludering. Om ett arrangemang har en stor övervikt av talare som representerar ett snävt urval av erfarenheter eller identiteter (ofta neurotypiska män som jag själv) så avstår jag hellre min plats, och förbehåller mig rätten att dra mig ur."
@stephenpa @andrewhinton Really, really good framework and great reflections Stephen!! I appreciate this: "Honestly, there are so many ethical issues, this box should be triple the size!"
Can ”AI” be *used* ethically when every step of the way to the capability of being used, or even just a few of those steps, has been in service of unethical practice?
Thoughts that cross my mind almost every day.
Skriver på offert för ett föreläsningsuppdrag på ett större event och har nu med detta avsnitt om mångfald. Vad tror ni? Blir det tydligt? Något mer jag borde få med eller som jag kan uttrycka på ett annat sätt? Om det blir bra tänkte jag att jag kan föreslå att fler lägger in avsnittet i sina egna offerter.
"Notera. Jag är mån om mångfald och inkludering, och om det till exempel blir en slagsida där det är få kvinnor och i princip bara cis-män som står på scen så avstår jag hellre min plats, och förbehåller mig rätten att dra mig ur. Jag ser gärna att det finns ett tydligt mångfaldsarbete som kan kommuniceras och som också ger resultat. Meddela mig gärna om ni tror att det finns en risk för skev representation som framför allt gynnar redan privilegierade människor (som jag själv). Jag deltar inte heller i paneler med endast manliga deltagare."
Jag har också på min sajt detta, som kanske borde med i själva offerten också:
Jag är alltid nyfiken på dessa frågor och kan ni berätta mer (där det är relevant) så gör det mig alltid mer intresserad av att delta.
* Är alla lokaler anpassade för enkel framkomlighet för människor med fysiska funktionsnedsättningar?
* Finns stöd för att ta till sig innehållet (högtalarsystem, ljudslinga, teckentolkning, live-transkribering)?
* Har ni tagit hänsyn till sensorisk påverkan för att minska audiovisuella intryck och/eller erbjuder en yta för att återhämta sig i stillhet? Finns samtidigt tydlig skyltning så att man enkelt hittar rätt utan att behöva hitta någon att fråga?
* Finns det en tydligt utpekad person och/eller tillgänglig kanal för att rapportera upplevda obehag om de skulle uppstå (trakasserier, fördomar, med mera)?
* Finns det en tydligt utpekad person och/eller tillgänglig kanal för att informera om att man inte vill vara med på bild- och ljudupptagning, eller att kontaktuppgifter delas? Finns samtidigt en rutin för hur man säkerställer att önskemål tillgodoses?
* Har ni säkerställt hänsyn till matallergier och doftöverkänslighet?
* Finns en strategi för att minimera klimatpåverkan?
* Har ni tagit emot rådgivning om inkludering och hållbarhet från ämnesexperter?
@the_lemonaut Love these!! Do you have them on a web page I can share around?
I want to publish a long-form report as an accessible html page instead of a PDF. I thought there would be lots of templates for this but it turns out it’s quite hard to find. The best one I’ve found so far is this, but it hasn’t been updated in 11 years(!): https://github.com/edmullen/HTML-Report-Template
What I like about it is the responsiveness, the anchor links for each section, a return to top link and a neat way of handling references and footer sections. The sharing options and always available table of contents are also a nice touch.
If you’re aware of a more modern template or library made for this purpose I’d be really thankful for any help. It doesn’t have to be free. Thanks.