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4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

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Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#111

Post by cyanydeez »

tgv wrote: post #40
eqvinox wrote: post #3

The only data that cannot be stolen or leaked is data that doesn't exist. Hard lesson for both users and companies. Germans (because of course) have a word for this: "Datensparsamkeit". Being frugal with your data.

> Germans (because of course) I don't know if it's the reason you imply. In the 70s, there were big debates in Germany about privacy and data storage. They spoke of one's data shadow (Datenschatten). I suspect this word comes from that tradition. The reason the word exists would then be the reflection (Verwaltigung) on WW2.

Yeah, so Germany had a ton of secret police files and of course learned very well what happens when a bunch of people start collecting dossiers.

So yeah, of course they've developed that type of distrust. Americans should have also after the 50-60s paranoia of red scare, black people etc. Instead they just spend a few decades building a anti-social state.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#112

Post by cholmdomsky »

lynndotpy wrote: post #104
oefrha wrote: post #44

> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…

I think "CYA" is maybe a misleading or overflowery term. In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals. I think "CYA" is an overly-flowery term for the reality that they're blocking every avenue for legal recourse, while a va…

I'm taking some college courses, and one of them explicitly suggests to keep maybe-not-okay communications off of email so that "you don't expose your company to risks of litigation."

Ah, I see. So, when discussing ways to ensure cuatomers cannot utilize our warranty process, I'll make sure to do so in ways that are not traceable and won't show up in discovery.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#113

Post by sophacles »

lynndotpy wrote: post #104
oefrha wrote: post #44

> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…

I think "CYA" is maybe a misleading or overflowery term. In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals. I think "CYA" is an overly-flowery term for the reality that they're blocking every avenue for legal recourse, while a va…

> In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals.

This is an overly flowery way of saying: violence.

The worst of the consequences are the same. People end up dead, destitute, and/or with long-term health consequences and are unable to enjoy the fruits labor in the worst cases. In the milder cases i think i'd prefer a bruise for a week to a huge financial loss.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#114

Post by 0x457 »

ffsm8 wrote: post #39
varispeed wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until thumb drives became large enough to fit most datasets it stopped becoming Big Data. Just normal data.

We have thumb drives that can store petabytes of data? Or did you mean the "big data" crowd which thought 500GB was noteworthy? I don't think anyone took those serious, neither in 2010s nor now. That was always "small" data

My rule of thumb was "can it fit in RAM on a server?" If it can, then it's not big data.

500GB is in the "fits" category.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#115

Post by MattGaiser »

ethagnawl wrote: post #72
MattGaiser wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the problems is that "forever passwords" is a term used positively when I worked in banking, as it was a password that the customer could not forget and would not need support using. So I could easily see a lot of people viewing this as a positive.

That's a really good point. It lays bare some of my biases when it comes to thinking about and communicating with "normal people" about this sort of thing.

People having a bad memory is it enormous cost to institutions, which is why biometrics is so appealing in the first place.

Them being forever passwords is the value prop. The risk scene has changed, but that was essentially always the pitch.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#116

Post by skybrian »

cholmdomsky wrote: post #112
lynndotpy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "CYA" is maybe a misleading or overflowery term. In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals. I think "CYA" is an overly-flowery term for the reality that they're blocking every avenue for legal recourse, while a va…

I'm taking some college courses, and one of them explicitly suggests to keep maybe-not-okay communications off of email so that "you don't expose your company to risks of litigation." Ah, I see. So, when discussing ways to ensure cuatomers cannot utilize our warranty process, I'll make sure to do so in ways that are not traceable and won't show up in discovery.

The underlying reason is that employees don't always know what they're talking about, but their nonsense could be useful to the other side in a court case.

The bigger the company, the more speculation there is about stuff people don't actually understand.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#117

Post by eqvinox »

dragontamer wrote: post #58
xenocratus wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I took the "because of course" to be about having a word for everything - a stereotypical idea about the German language.

There's also the other implication that the (East) Germans were Soviet just 35 years ago. But yes. We Americans know Germans more for their silly big words. But statements like that can be misinterpreted as the German perspective of themselves doesn't quite match the American stereotypes.

I was implying all 3 of the above:

- we learned the hard way that data will be used to kill people, during the Nazi regime

- we learned it again in the GDR with the Stasi being a little less obvious but still ruining people's livelihoods

- and German comes up with compound words for such things

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#118

Post by traverseda »

sophacles wrote: post #113
lynndotpy wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think "CYA" is maybe a misleading or overflowery term. In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals. I think "CYA" is an overly-flowery term for the reality that they're blocking every avenue for legal recourse, while a va…

> In the idealized world, the legal system is meant to provide an accessible alternative to violence for reconciling disputes, but it's increasingly wielded as an impossibly kafkaesque system meant to maintain corporate power over individuals. This is an overly flowery way of saying: violence. The worst of the consequences are the same. People end up dead, destitute, and/or with long-term health consequences and are…

There are plenty of nonviolent extralegal options. Ranging fron sit-ins and protests, to destruction of property, to many examples in the CIA's subtle sabotage field guide like running meetings poorly.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#119

Post by TrackerFF »

sharadov wrote: post #76

Mercor is the most scummy company out there, run by a bunch of sleazeball 20 somethings who are getting a lot of press as the youngest billionaires in the making. Can't wait for them to crash and burn.

Youngest totally self-made billionaires.

Re: 4TB of voice samples just stolen from 40k AI contractors at Mercor

#120

Post by aitchnyu »

oefrha wrote: post #44

> If you were a Mercor contractor and you believe your voice may already be in circulation, ORAVYS will analyze the first three suspect samples free of charge. Awesome, if you're a victim of an AI company having your voice, you can help yourself by sending another AI company your voice! > Audio is never used to train commercial models without explicit consent I'm sure Mercor has explicit consent as well, legal teams…

I remember an AI dataset tool asking candidates to record a 1 minute self intro video for interview purposes in 2022. I was wondering if they were manually watching all of them.
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