31–39 of 39 posts
But when the ML algorithm mistakenly identifies a black person as a gorilla, it's a disaster.
https://fusion.net/story/159736/google-photos-identified-bla...
Mickens has some great material. He gave a talk at Monitorama a few years ago that's one of my favourites: https://vimeo.com/95066828 The article paints the plight of systems programmers in a hilarious way. I think programmer humour is rarely this well written, although a recent piece comes to mind by aphyr: https://aphyr.com/posts/340-acing-the-technical-interview
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(define (dispatch m)
(cond ((= m 0) x)
((= m 1) y)
(else
(error "Argument not 0 or 1:
CONS" m))))
dispatch)
(define (car z) (z 0))
(define (cdr z) (z 1))There will always be someone at a lower level than you. As a systems programmer he pokes fun at UX people. It is indeed hilarious. But technology and science is all about collaboration and building on other people's work. Remember that a generation ago nobody could be expected to use a program successfully without reading documentation first, and this even included most games. The proliferation of computers into the…
There will always be someone at a lower level than you. As a systems programmer he pokes fun at UX people. It is indeed hilarious. But technology and science is all about collaboration and building on other people's work. Remember that a generation ago nobody could be expected to use a program successfully without reading documentation first, and this even included most games. The proliferation of computers into the…
Agreed. I did not appreciate the "better than you" tone of this argument at all. I suppose this is suppose to preach only to the egos of the system programmers? Hard to see what this achieves.
There will always be someone at a lower level than you. As a systems programmer he pokes fun at UX people. It is indeed hilarious. But technology and science is all about collaboration and building on other people's work. Remember that a generation ago nobody could be expected to use a program successfully without reading documentation first, and this even included most games. The proliferation of computers into the…
> I mean, when a machine learning algorithm mistakenly identifies a cat as an elephant, this is actually hilarious. But when the ML algorithm mistakenly identifies a black person as a gorilla, it's a disaster. https://fusion.net/story/159736/google-photos-identified-bla...
I wish there was a way to make things like that go faster, but it seems like most people have a hard time changing at that level. On the upside, my parents are less racist than my grandparents. I like to think i'm less racist than my parents. The only effective method for that kind of change seems to be the people holding old values just dying off.
There will always be someone at a lower level than you. As a systems programmer he pokes fun at UX people. It is indeed hilarious. But technology and science is all about collaboration and building on other people's work. Remember that a generation ago nobody could be expected to use a program successfully without reading documentation first, and this even included most games. The proliferation of computers into the…
Its intended as humour, not a rant. Maybe read some of his other stuff, for context.
> I mean, when a machine learning algorithm mistakenly identifies a cat as an elephant, this is actually hilarious. But when the ML algorithm mistakenly identifies a black person as a gorilla, it's a disaster. https://fusion.net/story/159736/google-photos-identified-bla...
Someday, people will live in a world where both errors are funny for the same reason. Right now we've got a lot of cultural baggage we unintentionally picked up over the years. I'm glad most people are aware enough to see it as a disaster, and maybe they're able make some adjustments to their values, slowly influencing our collective cultural values. I doubt i'll ever see it, but hopefully 10 generations down the roa…
"Unintentionally"? That's an optimistic take on history (recent and non-recent), considering the institutionalized/codified nature of the said "baggage".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Someday, people will live in a world where both errors are funny for the same reason. Right now we've got a lot of cultural baggage we unintentionally picked up over the years. I'm glad most people are aware enough to see it as a disaster, and maybe they're able make some adjustments to their values, slowly influencing our collective cultural values. I doubt i'll ever see it, but hopefully 10 generations down the roa…
> Right now we've got a lot of cultural baggage we unintentionally picked up over the years. "Unintentionally"? That's an optimistic take on history (recent and non-recent), considering the institutionalized/codified nature of the said "baggage".
History is history. It's how we got here and what built the culture we deal with today. For example, 250 years ago those institutions came to the conclusion the 3/5ths compromise was a good idea. 150 years ago they reversed their opinion. We're still dealing with a zillion consequences of those decisions.
No one alive today had any influence over any of that. We're told this is how the world was, this is how the world is. Some people recognize, no, the world doesn't have to be this way and make changes. But i think that's rare. Most people just sort of accept what they're told and go on with their lives.