Remote
404 Media
@404mediaco@mastodon.social
404media.co
23264 Followers
11 Following
50 Posts
Joined August 23, 2023
Website:
Executives working on AI at Microsoft and OpenAI admitted what its critics have been saying all along: LLms are predatory pieces of technology that have been built on what a Microsoft executive called “an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions.” https://www.404media.co/doom-loop-openai-and-microsoft-admits-llms-are-destroying-the-web-and-built-on-theft/
Open post
OpenAI has thousands and thousands of contractors helping improve the company's AI models. Multiple contractors have been fired for using AI to train the AI.
https://www.404media.co/people-training-openais-ai-fired-for-using-ai-to-train-the-ai/
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A sample of 5,000 alleged agents seen by 404 Media includes names, addresses, phone numbers, and details on FBI employees' spouses.
https://www.404media.co/we-hacked-the-fbi-hackers-say-they-have-data-on-all-fbi-employees/
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iLands and its AI agents are doing completely useless tasks, then begging for money.
https://www.404media.co/ai-agent-platform-reinvents-spam-floods-inboxes-worldwide/
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The EFF found cops writing “idiot,” “WEIRD KID,” "blah," "leave me alone," and button mashing in Flock's 'reason' box.
https://www.404media.co/cops-search-thousands-of-flock-cameras-for-reasons-of-lmao-idk-hehe-and-asdfg/
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Citizens of Springfield, Missouri showed up to a city council meeting to discuss the city’s Flock contract. The mayor shut them down and arrested two people for ‘disruption of meetings of city council.’
https://www.404media.co/woman-arrested-after-city-council-denies-residents-right-to-speak-on-flock-cameras/
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Guitar Center's 'Open for Legends' contest page was seemingly unmoderated for hours on Wednesday.
https://www.404media.co/ed-sheeran-macklemore-open-for-legends-contest-guitar-center/
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Some 600 million years ago, the supercontinent Gondwana produced a colossal mountain range that helped set the stage for all modern complex life, according to a new examination of tiny ancient rocks.
https://www.404media.co/supermountains-buried-under-antarctica-fueled-explosion-of-life-scientists-discover/
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404 Media is revealing the name of Border Patrol's predictive policing units, which analyze financial data and have local cops pull people over. The people are not suspected of any particular crime.
https://www.404media.co/a-secretive-dhs-predictive-policing-unit-is-analyzing-americans-financial-habits-and-pulling-them-over/
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The U.S. government has charged Samuel Tunick with allegedly typing in a passcode to wipe his phone before officers could search it. “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people,” he said.
https://www.404media.co/the-government-hopes-to-set-a-precedent-an-interview-with-the-man-charged-for-allegedly-wiping-his-grapheneos-phone/
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"Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. Then I put a fatal crash on a street in Amsterdam."
https://www.404media.co/google-earths-new-ai-lets-anyone-fabricate-completely-bullshit-satellite-images/
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Want to open for Ed Sheeran? The contest was recently spammed with fart memes and Free Palestine statements.
https://www.404media.co/ed-sheeran-macklemore-open-for-legends-contest-guitar-center/
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Humans are reading ChatGPT users’ prompts to improve OpenAI’s models, and those chats can include sensitive, personal information, according to leaked internal documents and real prompts seen by 404 Media.
https://www.404media.co/inside-project-lily-the-humans-reading-your-chatgpt-chats/
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Scientists discovered that diseased fruit flies lived longer when they were removed from Earth’s magnetic field, while healthy flies had shorter lifespans, in a first-of-its kind experiment with surprising results.
https://www.404media.co/earth-magnetic-field-effects-on-aging-study/
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"I have a right to speak. I'm here to speak. I have a right to clap, and if you want me out, you're going to have to drag me out."
https://www.404media.co/clapping-is-a-first-amendment-right-an-interview-with-the-person-arrested-for-clapping-at-a-data-center-meeting/
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Boosted by @dansup@mastodon.social
Mullenweg, co-founder of Wordpress, wrote in a company-wide Slack channel on Wednesday that board members "conspired" behind his back to vote to put him on leave.
https://www.404media.co/wordpress-automattic-ceo-matt-mullenweg-put-on-leave-of-absence/
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Spotify doesn’t label AI music on its platform, so websites like SoullessMusic.com and SlopTracker.org do it instead.
https://www.404media.co/spotifys-ai-problem-is-so-bad-random-people-are-stepping-in-to-track-the-slop/
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As tech backlash hits the mainstream, the ‘Summer of Ludd’ proves we don’t need social media to hang out and have a good time.
https://www.404media.co/luddite-events-nyc-off-tech-summer-of-ludd/
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Scientists have predicted that human linguistic diversity flourished between 3,000 and 1,000 years ago, before declining with the rise of multinational states and colonial expansion.
https://www.404media.co/scientists-uncover-lost-golden-age-of-languages-that-ended-1-000-years-ago/
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The U.S. government has charged Samuel Tunick with allegedly typing in a passcode to wipe his phone before officers could search it. “I hope people understand that the charges against me are meant to intimidate people,” he said.
https://www.404media.co/the-government-hopes-to-set-a-precedent-an-interview-with-the-man-charged-for-allegedly-wiping-his-grapheneos-phone/
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A judge in Indiana warns a court reporter than it's their job to proofread their work, after catching errors likely made by AI transcription services.
https://www.404media.co/judge-caught-court-reporter-using-ai-transcript-errors/
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LexisNexis sells a massive amount of data to law enforcement, including ICE. New records indicate ICE wants to feed that data into a Palantir system.
https://www.404media.co/ice-to-pay-lexisnexis-millions-for-data-to-feed-to-palantir/
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Boosted by @tchambers@indieweb.social
“AI agents” now have enough power and permission to be extremely annoying online. https://www.404media.co/theres-a-100-chance-ai-agents-are-already-ruining-the-internet/
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Wealthy countries with many daily AI users tended to fear more for the future in what Gallup called the 'Paradox of the Worried West.'
https://www.404media.co/americans-love-to-use-ai-but-fear-it-will-make-the-world-worse-according-to-new-study/
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Following 404 Media's reporting on how LinkedIn is full of AI slop, the platform is giving users a chance to report it when they see it.
https://www.404media.co/linkedin-introduces-a-seems-like-ai-slop-button/
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Hacked source code reveals how Suno scraped decades worth of music and podcasts from the internet to train its AI tool.
https://www.404media.co/hack-reveals-suno-ai-music-generator-scraped-youtube-deezer-and-genius/
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404 Media has mapped out this supply of data by reviewing U.S. government procurement records and internal documents. It highlights the sometimes unexpected ways ICE is gaining access to peoples’ personal information.
https://www.404media.co/you-opened-a-credit-card-ice-now-knows-where-you-live/
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Boosted by @oxy@social.bsdlab.au
In reality, Meta is testing having these calls being made by human beings in call centers, 404 Media has learned. https://www.404media.co/meta-tests-muse-ai-agent-calls-that-are-actually-made-by-humans-in-a-call-center/
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YouTube told ASMR artists including Bunnii, Slight Sounds, Rose, and others that their content broke the platform's sex and nudity policy. Creators say these bans are unfair and potentially life-altering.
https://www.404media.co/youtube-asmr-ban-sex-and-nudity-policy/
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Cops have used Flock's FreeForm search feature to look for people with tattoos and wearing specific sport shirts, and searches sometimes include the target's race, according to data reviewed by 404 Media.
https://www.404media.co/how-cops-use-flock-to-track-people-not-cars/
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“I’m not going to apologize for using AI in the creation process.”
https://www.404media.co/substackers-say-new-ai-detection-tool-is-a-witch-hunt/
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Flock's CEO Garrett Langley says people don't understand the capabilities of its ALPR system, but they do.
https://www.404media.co/flocks-ceo-says-its-alprs-dont-do-video-after-repeatedly-announcing-they-can/
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Claude users are creating public share links, but probably don't realize that means their chats are now ending up in Google searches where anyone can dig through them.
https://www.404media.co/tons-of-peoples-claude-chats-and-creations-are-exposed-on-google/
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My small town in South Carolina will soon have more Flock cameras than police officers.
https://www.404media.co/what-happened-when-flock-came-to-my-town/
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YouTube told ASMR artists including Bunnii, Slight Sounds, Rose, and others that their content broke the platform's sex and nudity policy. Creators say these bans are unfair and potentially life-altering.
https://www.404media.co/youtube-asmr-ban-sex-and-nudity-policy/
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"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of concerned citizens."
https://www.404media.co/own-the-narrative-leaked-flock-guide-shows-how-it-teaches-cops-to-promote-its-tech/
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Jonathan Paz’s job was to convince cities to buy Flock cameras. After initially being enthusiastic about the company, he started to get disillusioned.
https://www.404media.co/why-a-flock-worker-quit-they-lied/
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“Print books from the pre-LLM era are structurally guaranteed to be free of this contamination." https://www.404media.co/ai-companies-are-buying-tons-of-old-books-because-theyre-free-of-ai-slop/
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X is driving engagement by making users fight in the replies.
https://www.404media.co/xs-algorithm-feeds-off-ragebait-and-impacts-democrats-more-study-finds/
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Citing backlash, ISBNdb removed its webpages about training AI, denied ever buying, scanning, or selling a book for AI training, and said the site was a "test of market interest."
https://www.404media.co/ai-company-training-scanning-books-database-isbndb/
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Police refused to release the arrest report, saying it could "could interfere with ongoing investigative efforts."
https://www.404media.co/person-opposing-data-center-arrested-for-clapping-at-city-meeting/
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Cops and drone companies seem increasingly eager to put weapons on their drones. https://www.404media.co/new-orleans-cops-published-policy-document-allowing-weaponized-drones/
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“I am fully of the notion that clapping is a First Amendment right that I have. I can exercise that as long as I'm not disrupting, and I still argue that I was not disrupting at all." https://www.404media.co/clapping-is-a-first-amendment-right-an-interview-with-the-person-arrested-for-clapping-at-a-data-center-meeting/
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How cops are using Flock to look for specific people; the company buying mountains of books for AI companies; and the big Suno hack.
https://www.404media.co/podcast-flock-is-tracking-people-not-just-cars/
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A team captured first-of-its-kind footage of orcas holding a sunfish carcass still and ramming it so hard that it burst into fragments, which may be a form of social play. “We could hear the sound,” said one researcher.
https://www.404media.co/orcas-explode-fish-into-confetti-possibly-for-fun-in-astounding-new-video/
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The SEC bought access to worldwide airline ticketing records. Airlines including Delta, United, and American sold the data.
https://www.404media.co/the-sec-bought-airline-data-to-monitor-flights-worldwide/
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LIVE NOW: 404 Media teaches you how to file Freedom of Information requests, so you too can pry records from the government on everything from Flock to technology ICE is using and buying.
Join us now:
https://www.404media.co/our-new-foia-forum-7-30-1pm-et/
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Human contractors are reviewing Copilot users’ prompts and uploaded images, according to internal documents obtained by 404 Media. The contractors are also bombarded with users’ requests for sexual AI images.
https://www.404media.co/humans-reading-copilot-prompts-images/
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“They didn't understand it was satire in the beginning until the end,” Casa Grande, Arizona resident Jacob Petrosky told 404 Media. “They were not happy, they were very upset.”
https://www.404media.co/casa-grande-arizona-flock-city-council/
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After they decided not to continue their Flock contract, emails that 404 Media obtained show how this town in Wisconsin struggled to get their Flock cameras physically removed.
https://www.404media.co/flock-objects-to-our-removing-their-equipment-emails-reveal-why-a-town-put-bags-over-its-flock-cameras/
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