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Saturday, March 09, 2024

News Weakly - 3/9/24

Values Clarification
Google stepped into the AI arena and tripped over their "woke" feet. The AI produced images of black vikings, an Asian woman in German WWII military uniform, and a female pope. The AI was unable to produce an image of a white person. This only goes to illustrate my concern over AI. What worldview will AI use in its interactions and activities? I can guarantee it won't be a Christian worldview. It will, naturally, be the worldview of the programmer(s). We've wrestled with the problem of "Whose values will we use in our society?" and AI takes that out of our hands.

That's Gotta Hurt
The Supreme Court ruled that Colorado (etc.) cannot remove Trump from the ballot because of the January 6 riot. It was a close vote -- no dissents. They said states don't get to make that ruling. That had to hurt all those Trump-haters out there.

No Surprise
No real surprise here. Nikki Haley dropped out of the race for Republican nominee for president. The writing was on the wall all along. More surprising that she stayed in so long. But, look, she said she was no longer bound to her promise to endorse Trump if he won (and she hasn't). If she can't be trusted to keep her promises, why would we expect better of her in the White House?

A Threat to Democracy
Katie Porter is a Democrat who was running in California's Senate primary. She lost. She's quite sure the race was "rigged" -- a looney conspiracy nut and a genuine threat to democracy ... if we believe the popular accusations these days. (Unless, of course, you're a Democrat and believe that their concerns about "rigged elections" are valid and it's just the GOP that is a problem.)

State of the Union
The president gave the annual State of the Union address. He opposed those who question his record, opposed Republicans who opposed his administration in favor of protecting babies, the border, etc. He pushed for more baby killing and defended his positions on Israel and Ukraine. And then said, "I see a country for all Americans" except, apparently, those who oppose him. I saw nothing new, but it does make me wonder how long we can continue to call this a "Union" given the ever-increasing divide between "sides."

Killing with Kindness
Some nations have been airdropping aid in Gaza to try to ease the humanitarian crisis. Friday, 5 people died of this kindness. A parachute failed to open and it fell on people in a refugee camp. Now, that's sad ... and embarrassing. They're already asking for a ceasefire ... from friends.

A Real Bee-ting
After Super Tuesday, Biden congratulated his opponent on a hard-fought primary race. You know that Nikki Haley got wealthy off Raytheon, so it is clear why Raytheon lowered their flag to half-staff after she dropped out. The State of the Union address was a "target-rich environment" for the Bee. There was a story of how dementia meds met their match, how Biden opened with a "hello" to Dianne Feinstein, and a story about how DC-area pharmacies were all out of stimulants, to name a few.

Must be true; I read it on the Internet.

3 comments:

Lorna said...

Stan, you wrote, “What worldview will AI use in its interactions and activities? I can guarantee it won't be a Christian worldview. It will, naturally, be the worldview of the programmer(s).” Can AI’s programmer(s) be Christians and therefore have a Christian worldview? You seem to rule that out. I am admittedly not very knowledgeable about AI (or any of its ramifications), but I have already seen references to Christian AI. I am assuming that this new technology will behave like everything else in our culture--encompassing a mixture of Christian and non-Christian worldviews, through which we must navigate. Time will tell, of course.

Stan said...

Could there be AI programmers that have a Christian worldview? Sure. Will they decide what kind of AI is used in our everyday experiences? Not a chance. I've seen where some pastors are experimenting with sermons generated by AI. That's a phenomenally bad idea, given that sermons are not "nice speeches," but messages from God for God's glory. So, sure, it's possible that some AI might be made with a Christian worldview, but given Jesus's "few there are who find it," I'd say the likelihood is small. Understand, of course, that News Weakly is not a comprehensive conversation and not intended to be taken as such.

David said...

It's odd in the reporting about the Supreme Court ruling that they keep making it sound like it was a close decision that split the court. Some how, even the liberal justices are being too "right wing" and are interfering with our democracy.