Fragments Dec 11

Why does AI write like… that (NYT, gift link). Sam Kriss delves into the quiet hum of AI writing. AI’s work is not compelling prose: it’s phantom text, ghostly scribblings, a spectre woven into our communal tapestry.

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Emily Bache has written a set of Test Desiderata, building on some earlier writing from Kent Beck. She lists the characteristics of good tests, and how they support her four “macro desiderata” - the properties of a sound test suite

• Predict success in production
• Fast to get feedback
• Support ongoing code design change
• Low total cost of ownership

She also has a great list of other writers’ lists of good test characteristics.

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Daphe Keller explains that the EUs fines on X aren’t about free speech.

There are three charges against X, which all stem from a multi-year investigation that was launched in 2023. One is about verification — X’s blue checkmarks on user accounts — and two are about transparency. These charges have nothing to do with what content is on X, or what user speech the platform should or should not allow.

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Cory Doctorow The Reverse-Centaur’s Guide to Criticizing AI

Start with what a reverse centaur is. In automation theory, a “centaur” is a person who is assisted by a machine. … And obviously, a reverse centaur is machine head on a human body, a person who is serving as a squishy meat appendage for an uncaring machine.

Like an Amazon delivery driver… the van can’t drive itself and can’t get a parcel from the curb to your porch. The driver is a peripheral for a van, and the van drives the driver, at superhuman speed, demanding superhuman endurance.