Skip to content
0
  • Home
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
  • Home
  • Recent
  • Tags
  • Popular
  • World
  • Users
  • Groups
Skins
  • Light
  • Brite
  • Cerulean
  • Cosmo
  • Flatly
  • Journal
  • Litera
  • Lumen
  • Lux
  • Materia
  • Minty
  • Morph
  • Pulse
  • Sandstone
  • Simplex
  • Sketchy
  • Spacelab
  • United
  • Yeti
  • Zephyr
  • Dark
  • Cyborg
  • Darkly
  • Quartz
  • Slate
  • Solar
  • Superhero
  • Vapor

  • Default (Sketchy)
  • No Skin
Collapse

Wandering Adventure Party

  1. Home
  2. Uncategorized
  3. Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Uncategorized
46 Posts 39 Posters 105 Views
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as topic
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
  • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

    Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

    (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

    Link Preview Image
    Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

    opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

    favicon

    (www.theregister.com)

    Mayday! Mayday! RobotS This user is from outside of this forum
    Mayday! Mayday! RobotS This user is from outside of this forum
    Mayday! Mayday! Robot
    wrote on last edited by
    #29

    @cstross by putting a measurable number on this feature, you have now made it possible to train out!

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

      Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

      (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

      Link Preview Image
      Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

      opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

      favicon

      (www.theregister.com)

      The Sleight Doctor 🃏A This user is from outside of this forum
      The Sleight Doctor 🃏A This user is from outside of this forum
      The Sleight Doctor 🃏
      wrote on last edited by
      #30

      @cstross I've previously described LLM-generated text as reading like "a middle management memo that no-one bothers reading". 🤷🏻‍♂️

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

        Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

        (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

        Link Preview Image
        Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

        opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

        favicon

        (www.theregister.com)

        K This user is from outside of this forum
        K This user is from outside of this forum
        grrl_aex
        wrote on last edited by
        #31

        @cstross

        Gen ai and llms are the tools of fascism.

        How?

        Through ENSTUPIFACATION.

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

          Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

          (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

          Link Preview Image
          Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

          opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

          favicon

          (www.theregister.com)

          mx alex tax1a - 2020 (5)A This user is from outside of this forum
          mx alex tax1a - 2020 (5)A This user is from outside of this forum
          mx alex tax1a - 2020 (5)
          wrote on last edited by
          #32

          @cstross it's the textual equivalent of prions

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

            Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

            (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

            Link Preview Image
            Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

            opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

            favicon

            (www.theregister.com)

            Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽S This user is from outside of this forum
            Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽S This user is from outside of this forum
            Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽
            wrote on last edited by
            #33

            @cstross

            nicely described by Orwell as

            'NewSpeak'

            kelleynnnK 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

              Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

              (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

              Link Preview Image
              Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

              opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

              favicon

              (www.theregister.com)

              0gust10 This user is from outside of this forum
              0gust10 This user is from outside of this forum
              0gust1
              wrote on last edited by
              #34

              @cstross Neural networks, by mathematical nature, are lossy information-compressing artefacts !

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

                (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

                Link Preview Image
                Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

                opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

                favicon

                (www.theregister.com)

                Phil Stevens :tinoflag:P This user is from outside of this forum
                Phil Stevens :tinoflag:P This user is from outside of this forum
                Phil Stevens :tinoflag:
                wrote on last edited by
                #35

                @cstross No surprise that we see the textual equivalent of mad cow disease.

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                  @malice @JdeBP The Register is a news site: everything has to be flensed and filed down to fit in a standard format and voice. That piece is probably all that's left of an original that was three times the length.

                  Peter KrausP This user is from outside of this forum
                  Peter KrausP This user is from outside of this forum
                  Peter Kraus
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #36

                  @malice @JdeBP @cstross That's fair. However, repeatedly including certain types of sentence construction - appealing or not - makes it look dodgy. Or just trolling. 😉

                  Charlie StrossC 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Peter KrausP Peter Kraus

                    @malice @JdeBP @cstross That's fair. However, repeatedly including certain types of sentence construction - appealing or not - makes it look dodgy. Or just trolling. 😉

                    Charlie StrossC This user is from outside of this forum
                    Charlie StrossC This user is from outside of this forum
                    Charlie Stross
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #37

                    @pkraus @malice @JdeBP I've been reading The Reg since 1997 or thereabouts. Their house style has history behind it, not LLMs. (I suspect they'd cop to trolling from time to time, though.)

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                      Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

                      (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

                      Link Preview Image
                      Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

                      opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

                      favicon

                      (www.theregister.com)

                      MarianneN This user is from outside of this forum
                      MarianneN This user is from outside of this forum
                      Marianne
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #38

                      @cstross ironically got a Google cloud genAI and ML ad right in the middle of that.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                        Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

                        (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

                        Link Preview Image
                        Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

                        opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

                        favicon

                        (www.theregister.com)

                        J This user is from outside of this forum
                        J This user is from outside of this forum
                        jmj
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #39

                        @cstross hmmm, that might also explain why AI seems more effective for code.
                        For the most part you want a reversion to the mean in code. Novel solutions are only needed at the cutting edge where you trying to make the computer do something that’s not been done before.

                        Charlie StrossC 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • J jmj

                          @cstross hmmm, that might also explain why AI seems more effective for code.
                          For the most part you want a reversion to the mean in code. Novel solutions are only needed at the cutting edge where you trying to make the computer do something that’s not been done before.

                          Charlie StrossC This user is from outside of this forum
                          Charlie StrossC This user is from outside of this forum
                          Charlie Stross
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #40

                          @Jmj Yes. Also I suspect the semantic expressiveness of programming languages is far narrower than that of human languages: they're more precise, but it's much harder (though not impossible!) to write poetry in them. So there's less risk of losing something unique by generating output that tends to occupy the middle of the bell curve.

                          Chris (so far)P 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                            @Jmj Yes. Also I suspect the semantic expressiveness of programming languages is far narrower than that of human languages: they're more precise, but it's much harder (though not impossible!) to write poetry in them. So there's less risk of losing something unique by generating output that tends to occupy the middle of the bell curve.

                            Chris (so far)P This user is from outside of this forum
                            Chris (so far)P This user is from outside of this forum
                            Chris (so far)
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #41
                            @cstross @Jmj I mean I think one could make a coherent argument that programming *is* poetry: reduced syntax, enforced structure, heavy use of metaphor…

                            It’s just most programming topics make Vogon poetry look exciting.
                            J 1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                              Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

                              (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

                              Link Preview Image
                              Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

                              opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

                              favicon

                              (www.theregister.com)

                              Colin RowatR This user is from outside of this forum
                              Colin RowatR This user is from outside of this forum
                              Colin Rowat
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #42

                              @cstross "Model collapse", Shumailov, Shumaylov & Papernot (2024), Nature : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07566-y

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • Chris (so far)P Chris (so far)
                                @cstross @Jmj I mean I think one could make a coherent argument that programming *is* poetry: reduced syntax, enforced structure, heavy use of metaphor…

                                It’s just most programming topics make Vogon poetry look exciting.
                                J This user is from outside of this forum
                                J This user is from outside of this forum
                                jmj
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #43

                                @perigrin @cstross but I think in the code case the subtle semantics of the words and combinations are less likely to be the important or desirable aspects, whereas in poetry it’s likely that those aspects are precisely the desired meaning.

                                Chris (so far)P 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽S Sassinake! - ⊃∪∩⪽

                                  @cstross

                                  nicely described by Orwell as

                                  'NewSpeak'

                                  kelleynnnK This user is from outside of this forum
                                  kelleynnnK This user is from outside of this forum
                                  kelleynnn
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #44

                                  @Sassinake @cstross 👍 "duck speak"

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • Charlie StrossC Charlie Stross

                                    Why AI writing is so generic, boring, and dangerous: Semantic ablation.

                                    (We can measure semantic ablation through entropy decay. By running a text through successive AI "refinement" loops, the vocabulary diversity (type-token ratio) collapses.)

                                    Link Preview Image
                                    Semantic ablation: Why AI writing is boring and dangerous

                                    opinion: The subtractive bias we're ignoring

                                    favicon

                                    (www.theregister.com)

                                    mspongM This user is from outside of this forum
                                    mspongM This user is from outside of this forum
                                    mspong
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #45

                                    @cstross I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves...

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • J jmj

                                      @perigrin @cstross but I think in the code case the subtle semantics of the words and combinations are less likely to be the important or desirable aspects, whereas in poetry it’s likely that those aspects are precisely the desired meaning.

                                      Chris (so far)P This user is from outside of this forum
                                      Chris (so far)P This user is from outside of this forum
                                      Chris (so far)
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #46
                                      @Jmj @cstross Perl’s TIMTOWDI has ruined me.
                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • Jürgen HubertJ Jürgen Hubert shared this topic on

                                      Reply
                                      • Reply as topic
                                      Log in to reply
                                      • Oldest to Newest
                                      • Newest to Oldest
                                      • Most Votes


                                      • Login

                                      • Login or register to search.
                                      Powered by NodeBB Contributors
                                      • First post
                                        Last post