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As funny as it seems, I am glad nobody thought about it as a true way to prevent cross-zoning like with ridiculous unhelpful initial DVD discs/players Zoning where you could only change your zone 5 times which btw wish someone sue player makers for that.

Its just a matter of reversing the tape content, but I could imagine zoning south versus north hemi, so Australia VHS would not work in Europe :) I mean it would work but you would watch in reverse :)


I think lately results of chat went downhill. I got used to asking "are you sure about that" after each chat answer to my question, and to most of the time the answer is "you are right, here is how I was wrong".


That's not a recent thing - most of the LLMs I've tried have an annoying tendency to agree with you if you question them, even if they weren't actually wrong. The term for it is "sycophancy", I think there are a few papers that talk about it.


This reminds me of some communications training where they were saying that the most things are not worth disagreeing on and just agree with whatever.

And I think I read in some parenting books too that it is not worth correcting kids over things that don't matter like if they say dinosaurs and mammoth were alive during same time. Over-correcting hurts their confidence.

Maybe LLM been trained on these ideas or maybe it is start of science fiction nightmare and AI really think that it is not worth arguing with mere humans.


Ask a question like “Why do EVs use less electricity per mile when it is 100 than 70 degrees outside” and then reverse the question.

You’ll get two answers that totally contradict each other.

“Electric vehicles (EVs) use less electricity per mile in warmer temperatures (around 100 degrees) compared to cooler temperatures (around 70 degrees) primarily due to the following reasons:

1. *Battery Efficiency*: EV batteries operate more efficiently in warmer temperatures. Cold weather can reduce the battery's ability to hold a charge and increase internal resistance, leading to higher energy consumption.

2. *Thermal Management Systems*: In cooler temperatures, the EV’s thermal management system works harder to keep the battery at an optimal operating temperature, consuming more energy. Conversely, in warmer weather, less energy is required to maintain this temperature.

3. *Reduced Heating Requirements*: When it’s around 100 degrees, the need for cabin heating is eliminated, whereas at 70 degrees, some heating might still be required for comfort, consuming additional energy.

4. *Air Conditioning Efficiency*: While air conditioning is used more in hotter weather, modern EVs are designed to be highly efficient in cooling compared to heating, leading to lower overall energy consumption even when the AC is in use.

These factors combined result in lower electricity consumption per mile in warmer conditions compared to cooler ones.”

Reversed:

“ Electric vehicles (EVs) use more electricity per mile in extreme temperatures (both hot and cold) due to the increased energy demands of their climate control systems. Here’s why:

1. *Air Conditioning in Hot Weather:* When it’s 100 degrees outside, the EV’s air conditioning system has to work harder to cool the cabin to a comfortable temperature. This requires additional energy from the battery.

2. *Battery Cooling:* High temperatures can affect the performance and longevity of the battery. To protect the battery, the EV’s thermal management system will actively cool the battery, consuming more electricity.

3. *Increased Resistance:* High temperatures can slightly increase the electrical resistance in the battery and other components, which can lead to marginally higher energy consumption.

In contrast, at a moderate temperature like 70 degrees, the demands on the air conditioning and thermal management systems are much lower, resulting in more efficient energy use.”


This type of behavior seems like it should be something that should be (relatively) easy to fix with some kind of external intervention layer. Google has been able to answer queries without using LLMs for some time now, so maybe some kind of pre-check followed by a prompt injection to stiff-arm the LLM in the right direction.


Whenever you're building some ad-hoc non-differentiable circumstantial hacks around your learned model (regardless of whether it's an LLM or not), two alarms should go off in your head;

a) Could this be made differentiable? End-to-end systems are nearly always stronger than systems made up of multiple models or models-plus-heuristics;

b) is it appropriate to be using a statistical model here at all?

External intervention layers are generally severe technical debt.


What does it mean to "make something differentiable"?


Implement it as part of the network, not as a discrete system outside of it.


Yep, that’s how it works. LLM’s like to make lists. They could make lists of supporting reasons for just about anything. Unless it’s trained into them, they don’t have an opinion, they have all the opinions.


I don’t understand how this is a surprise to so many people. The thing can’t reason. If you point out an error, even if it’s real, the GPT doesn’t suddenly “see” the error. It constructs a reply of the likeliest series of words in a conversation where someone told it “you did X wrong”. Its training material probably contains more forum posts admitting a screw-up than a “nuh-huh” response. And on top of that it is trained to be subservient.

Because it doesn’t _understand_ the mistake in the way a human would, it can’t react reliably appropriately


chatgpt has never stood up for itself, if you express doubt it will defer and say it must by mistaken even when it's correct


It makes it difficult to get less-biased responses. I find myself asking an affirmative-worded question and its affirmative-worded inverse to subtract out the sycophancy. It's a poor workaround.


That is because they turned the sycophancy up to 11. You have to turn it down, if you are a serious LLM user and you don't have your own system prompt, you are using it wrong.


This doesn't change how frequently the LLM provides a wrong answer, just how confident it is when you question it.


For what it's worth, certain system prompts can improve output quality.


Such as?



I havent found any serious LLMs to use :)


"A Wuppertal Schwebebahn monorail train arrives at the Werther Brücke station in Wuppertal, 1913."

Somewhat off topic, but stuff like this always leads me back to this reconstructed video from 1902. It feels like you almost there. I cannot fantom all these people walking peacefully now are dead, and they never heard of silicon circuit, let alone internet or an iPad. Worth watching once or twice a year it always makes me appreciate my life just few inches more...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQfPyx_678g


created in 2014 with 54 karma?? You should be posting much more - I am sure you have some great ideas to share with all of us.


"...Lynn was recently awarded the rare IBM Lifetime Achievement Award, given to individuals who have changed the world through technology inventions."

After the way they treated her, I wouldn't accept it.


The closed social network for just my family with simply ability to share pics of my kid and are stored encrypted remains on my list... I thought when I have kid this will motivate me, now I am so busy with my son that I don't have the time to program it. Anyone can recommend any simple app that will allow me to share pics in very small group of people and have robust control over who sees what etc?


You cannot show someone an image without them being easily able to copy it elsewhere.

I don’t see much benefit to e2ee for this, and use Telegram (which everybody in my social circles uses anyway). Any chat app will work, and many are e2ee.


Check https://www.manyver.se and look up Andre Staltz.


Matrix/Element.


What? she was fixing strollers?? ask her to STOP immediately and pray none of the customers will sue if the stroller breaks and child is hurt in the process. Your little sister has no idea in what kind of trouble she might be and could be criminally liable and state attorneys do not play nice when it comes to neglect of children wellbeing. Unsure which state this is in, but most have 5 years statue, so if she stops selling today she should be in clear by May 30, 2029. Please pray for her!


This comment brought to you by Wheeled DeBeers (aka Bugaboo).

Remember, if you don't spend at least a thousand on a brand new pushchair, you're a terrible, negligent parent.


Would you also recommend parents not sell or give away strollers or toys, lest they be sued in the event of an injury? I've been on both sides of these transactions (and am a lawyer), and it never occurred to me that a lawsuit might occur.

I'm also unaware of any possible criminal liability — this seems even more farfetched than the notion of a civil lawsuit.


The closest I could think is a vexatious litigant d.b.a. "ambulance chaser" trying to sue everyone in the supply chain.

I'd generally think the average Joe realizes a private sale/giveaway is an "as is, where is" though.


If all that is true (not doubting just have no clue), how does the used stroller market function at all? Are parents suing stroller-selling parents?


Generally, consumers buying from businesses are more protected than consumers buying from consumers.


This is such a hilarious comment. You’re right that there’s risk, but it’s nothing like what you’re saying.

She’s selling on Craigslist/FB marketplace. People aren’t expecting perfection.


Calm yourself


Babies and toddlers fall down constantly, wtf are you ranting about? It's a stroller not a racecar.


To be fair, strollers can get away from you, and they can get moving pretty fast. This is especially terrifying around traffic. Having your child strapped in adds to that terror.


This seems like a good opportunity for an invention: a stroller that detects its own speed and applies brakes automatically.


No it doesn’t. Come on..


One wonders how any of us survived childhood! By modern standards we were dead kids walking and should have been taken into care immediately!


Arguably, less survived childhood then than do now.


If that was his real stance, and someone who does believe in up and down, I think he is burning in hell for being in position of power to stop, but went on to kill innocent people.

Also in subject of death row, recently watched rather good movie based on true events: Trial by Fire. Interesting how that case was based on pseudo-science and even thought the governor knew he still let Cameron to be executed.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_by_Fire_(2018_film)


I think he (and others) have a strong belief that is how the judicial system should work -- that appeals courts do not re-examine evidence.

The executive system can grant clemency, etc.


less than quarter mil number, that's very very early on! mine is over 3.8 million, and I created it relatively early on considering I was living in Europe :)

I think I remember my number because back then when you had to reinstall software or put it on new machine you always went by your number, instead of your email or username. That's why I think I still remember it :)


That's a good point! Funny how some things get permanently lodged in some brain folds.


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