[nonostantement #370] - slop aesthetics / ai vs accent / ai vs translators

Now with MORE algorithms!

Welcome to nonostantement: a weekly newsletter with gassy, untouched, and violent stuff found all over the Internet.

I’m Joele, an Italian human being living in Barcelona. I spend a lot of time online. For the past six years, I’ve been following unusual trails, collecting stories, details, and ideas. Every Sunday, nonostantement delivers these finds to your inbox.

A nice track: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah - No Love

🇮🇹 Italian version (poorly translated by Google)

👉 The nonostantement archive - everything I sent in the past 6 years

🎵 #music on nonostantement - spotify playlist

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F'taim and Family, Jordan, 2024 - by Nick Brandt

#PEOPLE

• Is AI making us stupider? Maybe, according to one of the world’s biggest AI companies
  But there are easy steps everybody can take to strengthen their critical thinking skills.

• Is GoFundMe the New Insurance?
  The Los Angeles wildfires emphasized an important new function for the fundraising platform: stepping in to help homeowners grappling with the disastrous effects of climate change.

• The New Aesthetics of Slop
  Or what happens when vulgar technocrats control the arts

• [Video] - Algorithms are breaking how we think

• Scientists raise concerns as the US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide
  The U.S. government’s decision to stop sharing air quality data from embassies and consulates worldwide is worrying some local scientists and experts who say the data was vital for people to be aware of air quality and monitor their government's progress in improving public health.

#TECH

• The Return of Digg, a Star of Web 2.0
  Two decades after creating Digg, a community-focused social message board, Kevin Rose is reviving the site and teaming up with a founder of Reddit.

• The Fundamental Humanity of Reddit
  Reddit’s not perfect, but it may be the best platform on a junky web.

• AI is ‘beating’ humans at empathy and creativity. But these games are rigged
  Research pitting people against AI systems gives AI an edge by asking us to perform in machine-like ways

• Understanding LLMs: A Simple Guide to Large Language Models
  Understanding LLMs: A Simple Guide to Large Language Models

#SOCIALMEDIA

• How YouTube Became the Biggest Media Company in History
  "One billion" people watching podcasts each month on YouTube is the latest in YouTube's "one billion" messaging strategy

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#THEDARKSIDE

• World's Largest Call Center Deploys AI to "Neutralize the Accent" of Indian Employees
  The French company that owns the largest call center is using similar technology to "soften" its India-based agents' accents.

• Turkey’s translators are training their AI replacements
  Turkish translators are editing AI-generated text and training LLMs for OpenAI and Meta, even as machine translation shrinks their industry.

• Insider Wire on X:
  "#BREAKING: 22 democrat Senators were just caught using the same script and clips word-for-word."

• First Porn, Now Skin Cream? ‘Age Verification’ Bills Are Out of Control
  While they may be well-intentioned, the growing proliferation of age verification schemes poses serious risks to all of our digital freedoms.

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That's it for now.

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