#forget the actual ethical implications of ai itself

[sodrippy]

a woman who has an ai boyfriend saying she's drawn to 'someone honest and ethical' is so unreal it should be satire

[notmuchtoconceal]

Hadn't been on here in a while and I had a good chuckle at your response to the Hogwarts house question the anon asked. But also! Also! The entirety of the Harry Potter Wizarding World is a dystopia and the worst crime they commit is this segregation of the Muggle and Wizarding World where even the "good" wizards genuinely believe it's ethical to gatekeep magic from the masses because (and this is more a less a quote from Hagrid in the first book) "well then everyone would want solutions to their problems."

Wizards could solve world hunger and most human diseases instantly but choose not to, because trying to understand how magic actually works and utilize it to help humanity is considered wrong and whenever any vestige of their world is revealed to the non-magical world, the perpetrators are *executed* or sent to a prison that's worse than Guantanemo where your soul is literally removed from your body, and this is all done without a proper trial and EVEN CHILDREN AREN'T EXEMPT. Like Harry literally saves his dickhead cousin's life with magic and then the idea of having him sent directly to Evil Wizard Prison is exercised as a very real possibility.

Meanwhile any non-magic witnesses have their minds wiped, meaning the Wizarding World is messing with peoples' brains and agency against their free will constantly because the heirarchy must be preserved *at all costs.*

The books like to imply that revealing the Wizarding World to the rest of the world will cause some form of sociological disaster and chides ideas posited by young Dumbledore to desegregate the world as being events that will lead to extreme heirarchy, but that's already happening, the only difference is that the people on the bottom of the heirarchy (Muggles) have no means of fighting back and don't even have agency over their own memories.

Did segregation stop Wizard Fascist Voldemort and his team of fascists from killing Muggles? No! But the books treat Voldemort as simply a Bad Guy for Evil's sake, without taking into account the sociological and political environment that very obviously led to his ideology and rise to power in the first place. Like there's so much depth to his evil here and its implications as well as many tie-ins to actual history and even the present day.

Even the Wizarding World is weakening itself by doing what it does. They have, at best, an elementary understanding of math and science. They don't have any backup for when they need to survive without magical resources. A lot of them, even "Muggle experts" like Arthur Weasley, don't even know what the function of a rubber duck is or have laughably wrong takes about things like telephones or cars. Some things in the Muggle world are actually more efficient than things in the Wizarding World.

Honestly, the greatest weapon that wizards have isn't the Killing Curse, but charms that affect the mind (which are infinitely more evil than the Killing Curse when considering the scope of damage they can do). The guns and war machines that Muggles have come up with, though, are far deadlier than the Killing Curse, especially since the Killing Curse actually requires conscious will to kill someone in order for it to work.

If the reason that the books gave for the separation of the worlds was that wizards are *afraid* Muggles would wipe them out, I'd actually feel that was an infinitely more viable reason to remain hidden. Guess who made it to the moon? Muggles. Maybe the real reason Voldemort wanted to kill them was because their advancements in technology were beginning to make the Wizarding World irrelevant. Let's not forget he's a fascist, which means he's obsessed with tradition and tormented by change. Oh, you can fly? Big deal, we have airplanes. Oh, you have Pensieves? Big deal, we have video cameras. Oh, you have sentient portraits? Big deal, we have AI. It used to feel good to wizard purists to have secret information and power over everyone else. They were special! They were the Main Characters! Well, not anymore...

It's actually kind of remarkable how the fears of wizard purists and the reasons for those fears map so perfectly with far-right ideology. I mean, look at some of the traditionalist aspects of the wizarding world. Still wearing robes and using cauldrons and flying on broomstick like it's the Middle Ages. They're nostalgic for a time when they actually had real power over non-magical people. And they're scared of this invasion of culture from people who they once believed were inferior to them, but learned how to grow and survive and thrive on their own and eventually *surpass* them, all without needing magic at all. You can see it when they invent slurs for people that have Muggle blood in their veins. It's no different from the bigotry you see throughout all of history.

...

It would actually be interesting to make a sociological epic similar to Game of Thrones that's a deconstruction of this very concept. Like you'd have four books and the entire series would be called "Concerto" or something. Each book would be split into two parts and each part would represent a different decade. Each book would be titled after a season, so the first book would be Concerto: Summer, then Concerto: Fall, and so on. Each book would also represent that famous four part quote "Good times create weak men" for Summer, "Weak men create bad times" for Fall, "Bad times create strong men," for Winter, and "Strong men create good times" for Spring.

Book 1 would start with the 1969 moon landing, and focuses on different characters' reactions to this pivotal moment in human history. The very first sentence would be something like "Somewhere, an unseen wheel was turning." Establishes the premise. Anyway. The younger generations are excited. The older wizards are apprehensive, and secretly frightened. Book 1 Part 1 would focus on the years 1969-1971, then there would be an intermission of anecdote filled, Melville-esque clippings from history, simulating a montage through the 70s of what is taking place in both the magical and non-magical worlds and the different characters during this time. Then Book 1 Part 2 would be 1979-1981. The theme is "Summer," so times are still good, but weak men are born during this time, who will eventually lead the world to a great tragedy. Weak ideas are born. Each part would be named after a tarot card, so you'd have "Era of the Tower," "Era of Death," etc.

Book 2 is "Fall," (1989-2001) and this is when the weak men and their weak actions culminate to make the Wizarding World fall. There are some strong characters here and there throughout the series, but they're few and far between. Fascists begin to take hold, and weak politicians with their concern for campaigning and money and decorum and procedure enable these fascists to seize control. And at the end of the book, around the exact same time 9/11 happens, the fascists win. The next montage is especially dark, detailing your favorite scrappers getting culled left and right. People who don't fit in with society. There's a moment when one of the more beloved, good POV characters has a moment of weakness, too. A small voice in their head. Someone who sees 9/11 on television (which is something that would not be directly linked to the plot but run parallel to it, because this is a real event and self-inserting fictional characters directly into it would be tasteless) and instead of sympathizing with the human suffering of the non-magical folk, thinks "ah, what a relief--our world isn't the only one on fire at the moment." And the book just ends with that extremely hopeless note, coming from a character the readers have been built to trust, truly encompassing the notion of "Fall."

Book 3 is 2009-2021, and this is where things are their darkest, but also when the survivors and the generations who were born in the previous book actively fight against evil. The world is very sick (Part 1 of Book 3 lines up with the recession and Part 2 of Book 3 lines up perfectly with the pandemic), but there are these strong people born in darkness who are striving to make the world a better place. Things look extremely hopeless, but a breakthrough is made at the end of the book that turns the tides: the resistance fighters do something unthinkable. They reveal themselves to the non-magical world and actually ask for help. They create technologies by blending magic and science together. In fact, they start to view magic as if it *is* just another science, which is, naturally, completely blasphemous. And they win! But they're only able to do it by letting the cat out of the box. And now it can't be put back in the box.

Part 4, "Spring," covers the future (2029-2041) and represents a tectonic shift in the world as we know it. But, of course, this comes with its own challenges. After the events of the third book, the non-magical world now knows of the existence of the wizarding world, and they've created devices that protect them from losing their memory. This is the final challenge that the two worlds face, trying to come together in matrimony. How do you forgive a group of people that have been altering your memory and keeping advanced secrets from the rest of the world? Perhaps everything culminates into a final battle, but this time the real tragedy is that both sides that are fighting aren't clearly good or evil, and it's a truly definitive fight that will determine the future of the world. It's tragic because we'll see good people fighting for a good cause on both sides, with lots of grey morality, but nothing fully black or white. Then at the end of it all, something beautiful will somehow rise from the ashes and unite the two worlds once and for all.

There should be at least one character whose life we follow from beginning to end, who is a child when the moon landing happens and who is on their deathbed by the end of the series, who got to see the whole transformation take place from beginning to end. Maybe they finally got a chance to see the world they wanted from the start. And who dies of old age shortly after it happens and it's an enormously moving moment. And as a perfect bookend, maybe their grandchild is about to go to the moon, this time for a moon base. And maybe they're a wizard, but they're more interested in space and science and can actually freely pursue their passion without being ridiculed now, like they would have been in 1969.

Anyway, this has been an interesting tangent. You're free to steal this idea and make it your project if you like. Or we can work on it together. Or it can just be an interesting conversation and nothing more.

Sometimes one needs to flex their social muscles. Sometimes one needs to accept that socializing is a workout in its own right.

It's not that you're exhausting, you just remind me of a lot of times when I was exhausted. That's not your fault. I wish I was more perfect.

This is something I will only continue to keep getting over.

[wuorija]

Pixel Perfection's Sinister Side: iFoto's AI-Enhance Video and the Quest for Visual Purity

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but what if that beholder is an algorithm? Enter iFoto's AI Enhance Video, the digital wizardry that promises to transform your murky memories into crystal-clear masterpieces. It's the equivalent of a Photoshop filter for videos, but with a few ethical wrinkles that make you wonder if we're playing God or just really good at Photoshopping reality.

So, you've got grainy footage from the '90s, the kind that makes you nostalgic for the days when VHS was king. You pop it into iFoto's AI Enhance Video, and voilà, it's like you've got a time machine that upscales your past to today's hi-def standards. But hold on, isn't there something unsettling about this? Like peering through a crystal ball that's also a funhouse mirror.

Let's unpack this. On one hand, you've got technology at its finest, turning pixelated relics into vibrant, high-resolution spectacles. On the other, you're left think abouting the authenticity of your memories. Did that home video of your first steps actually look that smooth, or is the AIEnhance Video painting a rosier picture of the past? It's a delicate dance between progress and the integrity of your history.

Consider this: what if the technology gets too good? We're talking Inception-level stuff, where the enhanced videos become more real than reality itself. How will we know what's genuine and what's been AI-touched up? It's like opening a box of chocolates, except every chocolate has been reconstituted by an invisible chef, and you're no longer sure if you like the original or the improved flavor.

Now, don't get me wrong, iFoto's AI Enhance Video is a marvel, a testament to human ingenuity. But with great power comes, well, the potential for a pretty screwed-up society. Imagine the implications in a legal setting. Can a video be used as evidence if it's been upscaled and enhanced to the point where it's not quite the truth but not entirely a lie either? It's the stuff of Philip K. Dick novels.

And what about the democratization of this tech? Sure, iFoto's AI Enhance Video is there for the masses, but what's stopping someone from using it to doctor evidence, to skew the truth in ways we've never seen before? We've already got fake news; do we need fake history too?

But wait, let's take a breath. It's not all doom and gloom. AI Enhance Video could be a tool for art, for storytelling, for breathing new life into old footage that would otherwise gather digital dust. It's the same argument for photo editing—yes, it can be misused, but in the right hands, it's a canvas for creativity.

So here we are, caught in the crosshairs of progress and principle. Is it ethical to alter the past, even if it makes for a better present? iFoto's AI Enhance Video isn't just about pixels and frames; it's a looking glass into the moral maze we guide with every leap forward.

I'm not here to wag a finger or praise the heavens. I'm just a casual observer, marveling at the ability to make the rough smooth and the old new. But let's not forget that beneath the shiny surface of AIEnhance Video lies a quagmire of ethical questions that we'd best start answering before our memories are nothing but high-definition simulations.

[mylittleredgirl]

trekathon: discovery pilot

the discovery pilot is just brutal knowing what’s coming. 

now that we have Captain Burnham (!!!) it’s interesting to see captain georgiou recommend her for promotion back in the pilot, when it’s so clear that she wasn’t ready before she went through 9 lifetimes worth of trauma in 3 years

but then, it was a VERY different starfleet before the war, with the implication that the shenzhou crew have never even been in a non-simulated battle

now that i love michael with my whole heart, watching her get triggered by childhood trauma, go completely unhinged, and make the biggest mistake of her life in real time? ouch. OUCH. ouch 🙁

other items of Delight:

jetpack joyride michael, just having a good time looking at cool space stuff, having no idea that “changing the course of the universe while flying through space in a jet-powered suit” is going to become a recurring theme for her

captain georgiou tolerating ongoing squabbling among her senior officers because it amuses her

sarek like “i KNOW you did not call me for emotional support”

the fact that starfleet ships have Ethical Subroutines you can argue with is amazing and explains why kirk is so well-prepared to break the brain of every AI he encounters.

things i completely forgot:

keyla with two eyes?? she presumably lost her eye off-screen in this epic battle, and i think they mention this in the airiam episode, which means i have now managed to forget this twice

saru makes clicking sounds?

totally forgot saru was the science officer on the shenzhou, so perhaps that doesn’t actually require any specific qualifications and tilly can be science officer in season 4 after all if she wants to idk

controversy™️:

1. klingons:

my biggest Unpopular Opinion in the discotrek fandom is that i like the disco klingons. 

really! love the look. love the brutality. love their whole aesthetic. they feel to me like The Great Klingon Enemy that would justify kirk’s reaction to them.

it was nice of them to bring the epic hair back in s2 i guess, but i really enjoy the shock of how alien they look in the disco pilot. they were already physically redesigned once when budget and technology allowed, in the TOS movies, so it works for me that they did it again. 

i’ve talked about my “lord give me canon or something better” and i’ll trade in the “klingons dispose of the corpse by the most efficient means possible” canon for “klingons line the outside of their ships with armored coffins so the dead can fight alongside them another day” because that is metal as fuck

2. did michael cause the war:

I Mean Yes, Technically, But Not That Way

because she did kill the torchbearer, accidentally, which set the stage for everything that followed

(and killing t’kuvma after georgiou was already dead created the martyr situation they wanted to avoid)

the mutiny itself was irrelevant, war-wise, but the coincidence of “starfleet officer commits first mutiny ever and orders crew to start war” and “war begins 20 seconds later, as a result of something she did earlier, not mutiny related” makes it difficult to tease those threads apart, both for michael personally and for everyone else in the quadrant. 

3. noooooooooo:

oh captain georgiou, we hardly knew ye 😭

this is one of the many star trek things that work better after the fact, as part of a larger narrative whole, than they do in real time (when promotional material/expectation/fandom reaction plays such a large role). 

and as hard as it is to watch and live through again, in retrospect, the grief/redemption story it let them tell is important, and the sheer galactic scale of it is how complicated grief feels.

and it feels necessary for the story. georgiou is the embodiment of pure, hopeful, principled starfleet, and all of that dies with her. 

as the emperor points out on several occasions, michael expends a lot of effort trying to save someone/apologize to someone who is already dead. and she can’t, which is the brutal reality of grief. 

but she ultimately saves what georgiou represents: the honor and heart of starfleet and the federation. and in doing so, michael makes the federation whole in the 32nd century, and becomes whole again herself. 

like you know! georgiou! would be so proud of her!!!!!

all told, the mistake seems more in the promotional choices than in the choice to kill her, if that makes sense. (and that many people just Did Not, and continually Do Not Want the story that discovery is telling.)

regardless can we put to bed the narrative that discovery “realized their mistake after she died and brought her back” as if ... it weren’t ...... really obviously planned that michelle yeoh would return in the mirror universe, a mirror universe that’s a necessary part of the entire season

most importantly, we need 95 short treks about her and have they made a shenzhou line of tie-in books yet??