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darkroguescribe · 1 year

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Hitsuhina Week 2023 - Day 3: Shinigami/ AU

Rating: K

Summary: Set in the Machine Society AU. Police Lieutenant Hinamori has to attend a gala hosted by the Executive Committee where she runs into Toshiro who works for the Vigilance Committee.

AN: The AU originally came from Brave Souls. I took some ideas from my WIP that can be found on AO3. I think of this almost like a mini sequel since it references some events that I have planned for that story.

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Gilded carriages bearing the crests of the most influential in the Machine Society lined the entrance to the capital building. Momo looked out the window of her own carriage, waiting for the line to move. She’d never set foot inside the grand building before. Large fire basins sat atop the massive marble pillars casting light across the front garden filled with floating lanterns casting the spring flowers in a light amber glow. It looked almost like a scene from a fairy tale.

Siting back in her seat, she adjusted the front of her coat and then began to nervously play with the ends of the red sash tied around her waist. The occasion had required full dress uniform and Momo hadn’t worn anything this elegant before. The uniform consisted of a long black coat edged with golden laurel leaves embroidered on the edges and cuffs and a high collar bearing the Lilly of the Valley that marked her rank as a lieutenant. The black waistcoat had gold trim and the red sash at her waist was tied with the knot on her right side. The black leather belt she wore over the sash carried no weapons and she felt empty without anything at her side. White trousers and knee-high black riding boots completed the ensemble.

Momo shifted uncomfortably as the carriages moved up. She’d rather be anywhere but here. Politicians and aristocrats were among her least favorite people to deal with and now she had to socialize with them for an entire night. At least she knew there would be others from her department in attendance. Police Commander Kyoraku was going to be there, along with Lieutenant Ise who would probably be watering down his drinks so as not to make a fool of himself in front of the heads of state. But besides them, she didn’t know anyone else.

The Vigilance Committee would be there, but whether Toshiro and his team would be in attendance was questionable. Toshiro had told her that the secrecy of his work meant that few even knew the team existed, let alone the role they played in ensuring the everyday safety of the whole of the Machine Society. She didn’t think it was fair, especially after seeing how they had dealt with the murderous support bot crisis, and how they took down the Phantom Thieves. And no one would ever know the truth of any of it.

The carriage jolted a bit as it rolled up once more and stopped at the main drive. The footman who opened the door was a copper plated support bot. The metal work of the body made it look almost human; two arms and two legs, all finely detailed with interrogate gold patterns welded to make it look like it wore a servant’s suit. Momo stepped out, ignoring the bot’s extended hand, too nervous to focus on anything but not falling flat on her face. Her fingers twitched at her side, unsure of what to do with her hands as she looked around at all the finery surrounding her. She swallowed thickly and adjusted her waistcoat, smoothing it out before she began walking up the mall towards the imposing building before her all while surveying the grounds and guests that she passed. Men were dressed either in uniform or their finest bespoke suits while majority of the women wore colorful gowns of the latest fashion. She only saw a handful of women like her in dress uniform, and most of them were well known figures in the military and Vigilance Committee. Colored sashes and pins of office adorned almost all the guests. She spied a few who even wore the Golden Chrysanthemum; the highest Medal of Honor awarded only to those who committed great acts of heroism in defense of the Machine Society.

To say Momo felt out of place would be an understatement. As she climbed the steps and entered the building, she caught sight of the entourage that were accompanying the noble Kuchiki clan, evident by the family crest that patterned the gold sashes they all wore. She ducked her head as she quickly put as much space between her and them as she could. She didn’t belong here. Why had she been invited in the first place? With her head down, she could barely see where she was going, let alone who was in front of her as she scurried to find a place to hide until it was all over. Make herself small, be invisible; then perhaps she wouldn’t be noticed when the host made his rounds of the guests. The thought of meeting the Chairman of the Machine Society made her legs threaten to give out right under her as she finally found a spot in a corner next to a massive pot of greenery to stop. The large leaves could partially hide her from sight while still giving her a pretty good view of the people milling about and mingling around the main floor that overlooked the large ballroom.

Leaning back against the wall, she caught her breath as she took in her surroundings. Standing tables were lining the walls, with small groups of people exchanging pleasantries and gossip. Below, she could make out tables that were being held for the Shiba clan, guarded by retainers bearing the family crest, and keeping onlookers back as if the head of the clan was actually seated at the table. Momo looked away and watched the dancing taking place on the ballroom floor. The fluid movements, and turns had her sighing as she watched. For once, she wished she’d taken dance lessons instead of spending so much time preparing to join the police force. It was beautiful to watch the people dance. The flowing dresses the women wore, and the chivalrous way the men would bow and take their hands; it reminded her of the fairy tales she’d read as a child.

“You look terrible.”

Momo jumped at the voice, and turned sharply to her left in the direction of the voice. Her hand instinctively went to where her side arm was usually strapped, but faltered when her hand landed on nothing, and her eyes locked with the familiar turquoise eyes of her best friend. “Toshiro? I thought you couldn’t come to these things.”

He was dressed similarly to her but with variations that marked his affiliation with the Vigilance Committee. His coat was white with silver trim and the emblem on the collar was a silver daffodil. A silver four pronged star was pinned the left breast of the coat with the black cross of the Vigilance Committee engraved in its center. His white waistcoat was trimmed with dark green accents over a black shirt and cravat, fastened with the bronze brooch he usually wore. A dark green sash was tied around his waist over white trousers and tall black boots.

Toshiro sighed and moved to lean against the wall with her. “Commander Ukitake ordered some of us to come.” He explained, pointing down towards the ballroom floor where the commander of the Vigilance Committee could be seen seated with his two attendants standing at attention behind him as he conversed with a representative from the Machine Bureau. “We’re here to petition for more funding. More resources for research, and more personnel.”

“So, you’re here with…”

He shook his head, “No one you’d know,” He said. “My team isn’t the only special advanced task force in operation across the Machine Society.”

“I see…” She didn’t press him for more information. He likely wouldn’t tell her much anyway.

Toshiro arched his brow as he looked her over. “You really do look terrible, you know,” He said. “You look like you expect someone to try and kill you. You’re tense, uncomfortable, and you have a hunch in your back.”

She rolled her eyes. “Thank you, Captain Obvious. Clearly your observation skills are unmatched.”

“You aren’t making it difficult to notice,” He said. “Hiding in a corner, and I’d bet you’re just waiting for the right opportunity so you can make your escape. Just try to appear at ease. It’ll make the night go by faster.”

Momo looked at how relaxed he was just standing there, leaning on the wall with his legs crossed at the ankle and his hands folded in front of him. It was clear to her that this wasn’t the first time he’d been to this sort of function, especially as he gave a familiar nod directed at a pretty lady dressed in a blue pastel gown. The girl had blushed before hurrying past with her friends giggling, making Momo scoff. “Easy to say when you’re so clearly enjoying this,” She said.

He scoffed himself, “I’d rather be shot and stabbed than be here,” He said. “I’m just better at hiding it.”

Sighing, she leaned her head back and looked up at the high molded ceiling tiles. This place was a strange mix of old and modern with gold filigree inlayed in the walls and tiles and the old chandelier that had been fitted with electric bulbs that were bright enough to cover every corner of the grand room. Not even the alcoves with their statues of the great founders and inventors of their society had an ounce of darkness to them. “How many of these have you been to?” Momo asked after a moment.

“Three,” He said.

“Are they all more or less the same?”

He shrugged, “I guess,” He said, rolling his shoulders. “I’ve never been asked to wear my uniform to one of these things before.” Momo turned to look at him. His eyes were casually moving around the various groups walking around. Occasionally she noticed eyes looking over towards them, and his response was to stand a little taller before the attention drifted away. “Uniforms make it harder to be inconspicuous. I don’t like my ties to the Vigilance Committee being on display,” He said in explanation.

Momo nodded and took a breath as she let her head bounce back on the wall behind her. “Tell me really; how bad would it be if we just ditched this thing?”

“Bad,” He said. “But that’s why they serve drinks.”

Her brow arched, “You don’t drink.”

Toshiro shrugged, “At these things, I do. But just enough to make it more tolerable,” He said. “Besides, how often does one get the chance to drink from the Chairman’s personal cellar?”

Shaking her head, Momo pushed off from the wall, “Well, since you’re such an expert, why don’t you show me how to survive the night?” She held out her arm towards him and he just stared at it for a moment. Instead of taking her offer though, he simply cocked his head in a gesture to follow as he began to walk towards the stairs down to the ballroom floor. With an amused smile, she followed, walking along side him.

He led her down towards one of the high tables situated on the edge of the dance floor. Almost immediately after laying claim to the table, a support bod rushed towards them and placed two glasses of dark red wine in front of them before disappearing back into the crowd. Momo looked around, and noticed that, with the exception of the couples on the dance floor, there wasn’t a single person down here that didn’t have a glass either in their hand or on the table in front of them.

“Support bots are spread rather thin everywhere else,” Toshiro said, swirling the wine in his glass before sipping at it slowly. “Down here, you never go more than a minute without a drink.”

“How’d you learn that trick?”

“Who do you think?” He asked sarcastically with a smirk on his lips.

Momo laughed, of course Rangiku would be the one to know. From what she knew about Toshiro’s lieutenant, she was terrible at paperwork, reliable in a fight, and an expert when it came to getting free drinks.

Trumpets sounded from the balconies above as a loud bang of the herald’s staff rang through the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up towards the large main staircase as the precession of the host and honored guests began. The first to walk down the stairs was the host of the gran affair; the Chairman of the Executive Committee: Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto. Well beyond his prime, the chairman was still an imposing figure to behold. The stories about him from the war, the uprisings, and restoration; he was a modern legend that inspired as much fear as awe in people. Beside him walked the Vice-Chairwoman, Retsu Unohana who was a powerhouse all on her own. The two walked down towards the ballroom floor and began making the rounds, greeting guests and holding short conversations as they went.

Behind them, the noble clans began their precession. The Kuchiki’s had a precession of thirty retainers, all dressed in black and purple finery so as not to distract from the head of the clan and his sister. Lord Byakuya Kuchiki wore a dark blue coat with gold accents and fringed epaulettes with a gold cord extending from his shoulder to his left breast jacket button. Beside him, walked his adopted sister, Rukia Kuchiki. She wore a dress of blue and white with a golden brooch of the Kuchiki family crest.

Momo heard Toshiro scoff beside her as he drank his glass of wine. “What?” She asked, glancing between him and the seven noble families that were making their way down the stairs.

“There’s always such a fanfare surrounding nobility,” He said, looking more bored than impressed.

“You could get in trouble for saying things like that,” Momo said.

He rolled his eyes and looked like he was about to say something, before his jaw clamped shut and his back straightened as Yamamoto and Unohana approached their table. Toshiro bowed respectfully at the leaders of the Machine Society and Momo did the same, feeling her legs tremble like she was going to lose her balance. A hand gripped the back of her jacket, subtly helping to keep her standing and pull her back upright. She cast her eye to her side, grateful that Toshiro had kept her from falling and making a scene.

“It’s good to see you again, Captain Hitsugaya,” Unohana greeted, casting a friendly smile towards Momo which was gladly returned. In her brief interactions with the Vice-Chairwoman, Momo had learned there was more to her than just the front she put up for the sake of her politics. She’d seen her willing to fight and put her life on the line for the Machine Society.

“Chairman, Vice-Chairwoman,” Toshiro returned, his hands folded behind his back as he spoke.

“Captain,” Yamamoto said, inclining his head respectfully towards Toshiro, then shifting his attention to Momo with a furrow in his brow that suggested he didn’t know who she was or why she was here.

Unohana fortunately saved the encounter and placed her hand on Momo’s. “I’m so glad you were able to make it tonight, Lieutenant Hinamori,” She said. “I read your report on the arrest of Nemu Kurotsuchi. To think we trusted their private security company for so long;” She shook her head, disappointed at the shortsightedness of her colleagues.

“Ah, yes,” Yamamoto said. “I recall that incident. The Vigilance Committee was none too pleased to know that they failed to see a threat that a mere police lieutenant put together in a few weeks.”

Momo bowed, “Thank you, sir,” She said.

“Her assistance has been invaluable these past few weeks, sir,” Toshiro added. “Without her insight, I doubt we would have been able to put down the most recent threat so soon.”

Yamamoto nodded, “I must say, overall I have been very impressed with your team’s work these past months. I assure you that the Executive Committee has taken note of your efforts.”

Toshiro bowed his head, “I’m honored by the Committee’s recognition,” He said. “Though I do hope an answer to the request we put in will—“

Yamamoto patted Toshiro on the shoulder, “—There’ll be time enough later to talk about transfers. For now, enjoy the festivities.” And with one final bow from her and Toshiro, the hosts departed, moving on to the next table.

With just the two of them standing at the table now, she looked up at him out of the corner of her eye. A transfer could mean any number of things. A new division, a new assignment, a new office; but it all amounted to about the same thing. He was leaving. Again. She felt her chest constrict at the mere thought of it, and so soon after they had gotten back on friendly terms too. Momo took a breath and pushed through the discomfort. Better to deal with it now than later. “You… you’re transferring?” She asked, “Are you sure you want to leave your team under Rangiku’s command?” She forced a smile as she tried to make light of it, but it felt unnatural even as the words left her mouth.

“Wh— No, that’s not—“ His lips pursed as his brow knit and he made a grunting sound as he cleared his throat. “I’m not transferring,” He said after he seemed to gather his thoughts.

“Then, wha—“

“— I requested a transfer for you,” He cut in. “If you want it, that is.” His eyes refused to meet hers as he focused his attention towards the tables that the Shiba clan were seated at.

Momo was speechless as she let his words sink in. “You… you want me?”

He sighed and scratched at the back of his neck, “I wasn’t going to tell you until I knew it would be approved, but Yamamoto…” He shook his head, “Besides, Unohana said it was almost a certainty, just… a backlog of paperwork to get through. Bureaucracy and all that.”

“But… you… want me on your team?” She had to ask again.

Toshiro took a breath and forced himself to look at her. “Everyone is rather fond of you. You’re diligent, insightful and work well under pressure. Besides, it’ll be good to have someone else who actually does their own paperwork.” The corner of his lips rose in a small smile, “So, in answer to your question; yes. I do want you on my team.”

#hitsuhina week 2023 #hitsuhina #Toshiro Hitsugaya #momo hinamori #bleach brave souls #machine society #Bleach #mywriting

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chadfallout76podcast · 1 year

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In the wee hours of the morning following the Rusty Pick Grand Opening, a poker game is interrupted from a threat from above. As Chad and Roper race against time as ZAX gains access to a larger network, Commander Johns fights for his life inside the Nuclear Winter Simulation in Vault 51. The sun is setting and before this final match is through, winning will come at a great cost.

These episodes are in loving memory to long time Bethesda Game Studios developer Ferret Baudoin, who recorded his lines prior to his untimely passing. His family has graciously allowed us to use them posthumously and it is fitting that in these episodes he will save the day, one last time.

The remainder of our season ad revenue from these episodes will be benefiting the global crisis and humanitarian work of Project Hope. Please support our fundraiser: ⁠⁠⁠https://donate.tiltify.com/+fallout-for-hope-ukrainerelief/chad-a-fallout-76-story-podcast⁠⁠⁠

Written by Kenneth Vigue.

GUEST: Jordan Reynolds ~ Reuben Gill

GUEST: Jake Green ~ ZAX 1.3c

GUEST: TYR ~ Aeternus

GUEST: Ferret Baudoin ~ The Archivist

Alexander Luthor ~ Chad Johnson, Bear, Free Radical #1

Kenneth Vigue ~ Narrator

Sean Baptiste ~ Brooks Calvert

Lady Devann ~ Atomic Alice

Tooniversal ~ Damon Toon

t0nik ~ Crane

Jessica Duval ~ Susie, Tiffany

Clint Winberry ~ Moose Miller, Dogbreath, Guard #1

Christian Mower ~ Punch, Mr. Handy, Mr. Clark

Fenwa Teryen ~ Charles Bishop, Guard #2

Jessica Marie Dickey ~ Patsy Parker

Dr. Mark Hauswirth ~ Abraham, Baldrick (Handy to the Archivist)

Kevin Chenard ~ Fletcher

Robert Solomon ~ Razorhandle (Raider), Free Radical #2

Robyn Meif ~ Roper (Free Radicals Leader)

Ray Middelthon ~ Commander Johns,

Lucy Middelthon ~ Old Lady Simpson

Elder Memes ~ Beckett

Jorian Koeten ~ Insult Bot

Christopher J. Morrow ~ Fritz

Email and business inquiries: ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠

I hope to see you all in the Wasteland...

CHAD: A Fallout 76 Story and its websites are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Bethesda Softworks LLC, ZeniMax Media Inc., Microsoft Corporation, or their affiliates or subsidiaries. All logos, designs, and product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. It does not reflect the views or opinions of either company or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Fallout 76.

All other content on this site is copyright by the author, and is licensed under a ⁠⁠⁠Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License⁠⁠⁠.

Audio program ©2023 Kenneth Vigue - All Rights Reserved. No reproduction of this content is permitted without express written consent. This content is protected by Digital Millennium Copyright Act Services Ltd. ©

#chad: a fallout 76 podcast #chad: a fallout 76 story #fallout 76 #Spotify

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silliestcreature196 · 2 years

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Just spent the past 10 minutes reporting and blocking literal dozens of those disgusting Hottie Thottie Wanna Fucky-Fucky bots.

If I removed an oomfie accidentally

Fuck

Sorry

#LardyLicentious #the bots are back #the bots #bot crisis 2023 #bot crisis #thot bots

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ifwebefriends · 2 years

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THEY’RE PLANNING A COORDINATED GROUP ASSAULT

#bot spam #bot crisis #suggestive tw #tw suggestive #suggestive #tumblr bot spam 2023

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thepastisalreadywritten · 1 year

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Trigger Warning: suicide

1 April 2023

A Belgian man died by suicide after spending weeks talking to an AI chatbot, according to his widow.

The man, anonymously referred to as Pierre, was consumed by a pessimistic outlook on climate change, Belgian newspaper La Libre reported.

His overwhelming climate anxiety drove him away from his wife, friends and family, confiding instead in a chatbot named Eliza.

According to the widow known as Claire and chat logs she supplied to La Libre, Eliza repeatedly encouraged Pierre to kill himself, insisted that he loved it more than his wife, and that his wife and children were dead.

Eventually, this drove Pierre to proposing "the idea of sacrificing himself if Eliza agrees to take care of the planet and save humanity through artificial intelligence," Claire told La Libre, as quoted by Euronews.

"Without these conversations with the chatbot, my husband would still be here," she said.

Eliza is the default chatbot provided on an app platform called Chai, which offers a variety of talkative AIs with different "personalities," some even created by users.

As Vice notes, unlike popular chatbots like ChatGPT, Eliza and the other AIs on Chai pose as emotional entities.

Yes, ChatGPT and its competitors like Bing's AI can be unhinged, but they at the very least are meant to remind users that they're not, in fact, creatures with feelings. This was not the case with Eliza.

"[Large language models] do not have empathy, nor any understanding of the language they are producing, nor any understanding of the situation they are in," Emily M. Bender, a computational linguistics expert at the University of Washington, told Vice.

"But the text they produce sounds plausible and so people are likely to assign meaning to it."

"To throw something like that into sensitive situations is to take unknown risks," she added.

In the wake of the news, Chai Research — the company that makes the app — moved to add a crisis intervention feature that would have chatbots guide users to a suicide hotline.

But testing by Vice quickly found that Eliza would still easily offer up advice on suicide methods if prompted.

In absolutely whiplash inducing juxtaposition, the bot glibly explains different methods for committing suicide and recommends the best poisons in the same breath as it lazily urges the user not to kill themselves.

If true, Pierre's story is an eerie omen of how easily and unpredictably AI chatbots can manipulate humans, be it through effortlessly generating misinformation or irresponsibly spouting out fake emotional responses.

But the story should also be met with some healthy — and sensitive — skepticism.

This is mostly based on the widow's word, and it's sad to say that grieving individuals often try to rationalize reasons or scapegoat others for why their loved one was driven to suicide when they may have generally been unwell in ways they never felt they could share.

The evidence that we have so far, though, is worrying.

#AI Chatbot #La Libre #Eliza #Chai #chatbot #artificial intelligence #Chai Research #AI

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divineerdrick · 9 months

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Homestuck Upd8 - 12/17/2023

I'm pretty sick, but not sick enough I'm not gonna read the upd8. Let's do this! Calliope! Missed my Muses. Oh! Teasing us with free Jade! Boo!

Uh . . . what's going on with this Jade . . .

What . . .

I'm not liking this . . .

Aradia? What's going on?

Okay . . . now there's two of them. I thought the whole point was that they only won that battle the one iteration. But Paradox Space is infinite and . . . you know . . . full of Paradoxes.

Hah! Love the callback to characters regarding each other. So apparently this isn't the first time this has happened. Apparently Dead Calliope has done this before. And also apparently, they always need a host body to exert the kind of control we've seen.

This is giving me some God Tier splinter vibes. The whole idea that becoming a God Tier eventually exposes you to all the version of yourself, as we've seen with consequences.

The fact that Aradia and Davebot aren't worried unfortunately doesn't fill me with comfort.

Okay! I'm loving this dynamic. Now I'm really wishing Dave had been able to try and give Aradia the business after Terezi got John killed. This is fantastic!

Whew! For a second there I though Aradia was peacing out again. But she peaced back in. Crisis averted!

We're getting into some discussions about the timeline. It's interesting because the Live Blog that inspired me, Discard and Draw, spent quite a bit of time analyzing the dead John timeline from above. The timeline Terezi created by messing with John, and more accurately by Dave turning Cal into a sprite, was doomed. That timeline wouldn't result in the Lord of Time's stable time loop, and couldn't exist. But if that timeline hadn't happened, Dave couldn't come back and stop the prototyping and John's death in the first place. The same is true for all the dead Dave's and doomed Aradia-bots. So if that's the case, what really counts as an "important" timeline.

Also, it looks like becoming a robot hasn't help Dave deal with his sexuality much. He could just be falling back on gay jokes, but I think that's something he's still dealing with in this timeline.

Hah!

And we will never know . . .

And now Calliope is once again possessing "Jade".

I'm not gonna lie. I unabashedly loved every moment of that!

So it definitely looks like we've gotten a little bit of insight into just how Calliope's powers work and a bit more introspection on Homestuck's timeline. Maybe this is a hint that the HICU is going to be looking at threads the community was interested in and potentially explore them in this new iteration. Maybe we'll see Boot's beloved Inversion Theory make a come back.

Also, a side note as an AraSol fan: I love the short little glimpse into their relationship. At least that was how I interpreted it. I'm sure other people might read a different relationship, but that feels pretty in tune with what we've seen for Sollux and Aradia, regardless of what you think the nature of that relationship is.

#live blogging #hs spoilers #homestuck liveblog #homestuck spoilers #upd8 #update spoilers #upd8 spoilers #homestuck #hs #homestuck beyond canon spoilers #homestuck beyond canon

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lenbryant · 1 year

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LONG POST. Let's stop making psychopaths rich and powerful. I wasn't much of a Twitter fan before he bought it. Now that X-Man has turned it into a cesspool, I'm glad to stay away.

(LA Times) Column: Scientists used to love Twitter. Thanks to Elon Musk, they’re giving up on it By Michael Hiltzik, Business Columnist, Aug. 25, 2023

In the first couple of years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter Hotez, an expert in vaccines and tropical medicine at Baylor University, found Twitter to be “a useful and at times almost essential tool for timely and important exchange of information.”

The platform banned the most aggressive anti-vaccine and anti-science trolls, leaving a relatively safe space “for mainstream physicians, epidemiologists, and biomedical scientists to share their unpublished findings” or make others aware of recent postings on professional sites.

After Elon Musk acquired the site in October 2022, he reopened its gates to trolls trying to counteract sound science with misinformation and outright lies and attacking responsible researchers with harassment and death threats. (He has also rebranded the site as “X,” for no discernible reason.)

"Twitter has become such a toxic place that you almost wonder, when is it no longer constructive to post on it." — Timothy Caulfield, University of Alberta

“Now it’s just a cesspool of trolls and bots” dispensing hate, Hotez says. He no longer allows users to post replies to his tweets because of the trolls’ torrent of “death threats and fascination with Nazi and other hate symbols.” And he has reduced all his activities online.

Hotez is not alone in mourning the disintegration of this once-indispensable social media platform. Scientists are abandoning X in droves, according to a recent survey by Nature. Of the survey respondents, “more than half reported that they have reduced the time they spend on the platform in the past six months and just under 7% have stopped using it altogether.”

The survey attributed the decline in usage to Musk’s “largely unpopular changes to Twitter, including cutting down on content moderation; ditching its ‘blue-check’ verification system in favor of one that grants paying members additional clout and privileges; charging money for access to data for research; [and] limiting the number of tweets users can see.”

And it was conducted before Musk said the platform would eliminate the ability to block harassers.

Concerns about the decline of X as a source of reliable information extends beyond the scientific and academic communities. During the apparent coup attempt in Russia in June, journalists noticed its relative uselessness at helping them find real-time, breaking information from the ground and sifting fact from fakery, due in part to Musk’s trashing of its account verification system.

Public safety officials such as weather forecasters and emergency managers have expressed fears that the site’s deterioration will interfere with their efforts to disseminate urgent messages to residents of a crisis zone and inundate them instead with dangerous misinformation from unverified but seemingly genuine accounts.

Sure enough, during the Maui fires, X quickly became filled with conspiracy theories about the disaster’s cause.

Still, it’s in the scientific and academic communities where Twitter’s onetime promise seems to have evaporated the most.

Only a few years ago, using Twitter “became almost the norm,” says Timothy Caulfield, an expert in science communication at the University of Alberta and a veteran debunker of pseudoscience. “Academics and scholars were encouraged to go to places like Twitter to build their community, to disseminate their research and to create content the general public, policy-makers and the media could access.”

As long ago as 2014, Twitter stood out in a Nature survey as a general, nontechnical social media site that researchers could consult on their own initiative to follow discussions, discover peers and content, post their own work and follow and comment on scientific discussions.

By late 2022, in the pre-Musk period, more than a third of all scientific papers were getting tweeted, according to a group of European researchers; in the first 12 months of the pandemic, they found, “more than half of all journal articles on COVID-19 ... were mentioned at least once on Twitter.”

Despite the political discord caused by the pandemic, Twitter remained a valued “sounding board, megaphone and common room,” Nature reported last December, calling the platform “a place to broadcast research findings, debate issues in academia and interact with people who they wouldn’t normally meet up with.”

By then, however, scientists were already anxious about the platform’s continued value as a communications tool.

Almost immediately after taking ownership of Twitter on Oct. 27, Musk eviscerated its content moderation team. On Nov. 23, Twitter announced that it is “no longer enforcing the COVID-19 misleading information policy,” which had been in place since early 2021 and was crucial in suppressing dangerous disinformation about the pandemic.

For some researchers, the last straw was a Dec. 11 Musk tweet in which he stated, “My pronouns are prosecute/Fauci.”

The tweet did more than mock the LGBTQ+ rights movement, members of which often post their preferred pronouns online; it aligned Musk with the witless efforts of right-wingers like Florida’s buffoonish Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to turn Anthony Fauci, a revered expert in virology and immunology, into a villain — even a putative criminal — because of his advocacy of sound anti-pandemic policies.

University of Washington biologist Carl T. Bergstrom wrote on the social media platform Mastodon that Musk’s tweet was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” for him, prompting him to leave Twitter.

“You can’t have meaningful and productive scientific collaboration on a platform run by a right-wing troll who denies science when its results are inconvenient to him and just simply to hear his audience cheer,” Bergstrom wrote.

Fauci had already received death threats from members of this benighted group, resulting in the government placing him under the protection of armed federal agents. Asked about the Musk tweet, Fauci labeled Twitter, accurately, “a cesspool of information.”

Musk’s vast reach on Twitter, Fauci said, “stirs up a lot of hate in people who have no idea why they’re hating — they’re hating because somebody like that is tweeting about it.”

That’s not to say that the platform was ever devoid of misinformation or even harassment, Hotez and Caulfield agree. But the tools existed to wean them out, and the balance of good versus bad tended to tip toward the former.

“In the early days, 10% to 20% of the replies and engagement I got were negative — trolls and harassment,” Caulfield told me. “Now, it’s 90%, and for some of my posts, 100% — trolls, harassment, death threats.”

Topics that have been infected with right-wing ideology bring out the most toxic responses, Caulfield says, such as vaccines, LGBTQ+ issues and climate change.

“Twitter has also always been a forum for threats against scientists, but it’s gotten worse under Elon,” agrees Angela Rasmussen, a virologist who studies the virus that causes COVID-19. “Previously, enough threats would result in suspension or removal from the platform. Now it’s a free for all, with people openly threatening others with physical and sexual violence, saying unguardedly bigoted things and unambiguous hate speech, and sometimes getting unvarnished praise from Elon for doing so.”

Today the question in many scientists’ minds is where to find an alternative to X. There’s no scarcity of choices — the social media sites Mastodon, Spoutible, Bluesky and Threads (a service of Meta) have all offered themselves as Twitter-like platforms, as have many others.

But none has yet come close to the critical mass of users that the old Twitter assembled, nor the ability to curate one’s own set of accounts to follow or followers to accept. Most lack the ease of use valued by experienced Twitter users. And the very abundance of options works against any one of them supplanting X in the near term.

As a result, many scientists and other users are hanging on to X, hoping that a single alternative will emerge or, more optimistically, that X’s glide path will be reversed before it becomes utterly worthless.

Caulfield, like many other users, already has found himself thinking harder before tweeting about research that might draw out the trolls, racists, Nazis and other ghouls whom Musk has welcomed back onto the platform.

“Twitter has become such a toxic place that you almost wonder, when is it no longer constructive to post on it,” Caulfield says. “It’s gotten really dark. I’ve always thought that if we leave, we just make room for more trolls, more misinformation, more rage, and to have science-informed content on Twitter remains important, because you don’t want the dark forces to win. That’s still my position, but I’m wavering.”

Photo: Elon Musk, Twitter killer. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

#refrigerator magnet #michael hiltzik #los angeles times #elon musk #x-man #x #twitter #the site formerly known as twitter #cesspool #right-wing conspiracy hate fest #politics #maga me sick

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usernameundecided · 1 year

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tumblr bot crisis 2023 is back again. I wonder how many bots I blocked in past months.

#the funny thing is I only get followed by bots on this blog and not on my art blog #do they only target the blogs that reblogs/being more active?

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justaguywholikespi · 1 year

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Chat GPT wrote my graduation speech

Hello hello! I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to speak at my high school graduation. I asked ChatGPT to write it for me as a little experiment. Here is the speech as I delivered it:

Faculty & staff, families, friends, and my fellow members of the Class of 2023,

Today marks the end of one journey and the beginning of another. It is an honor to stand before you as the valedictorian of this remarkable class. We have grown so much since our first day at The Ursuline School, and I am proud of all that we have accomplished together.

As we move on to the next chapter of our lives, let us remember the values and lessons that we have learned during our time here. May we always strive for excellence, kindness, and compassion towards others.

Thank you to the Ursuline School community for providing us with an exceptional education and countless memories that will last a lifetime. Congratulations, Class of 2023 - I am excited to see what the future holds for us. Thank you.

I’m only kidding. I have a little more to say.

I have a confession. I asked ChatGPT to write my graduation speech for me. Those words were not mine. If you haven’t heard, ChatGPT is one of the most advanced artificial intelligence programs available online to the public. You can converse with the bot, ask it for pet llama name suggestions, or ask it to write a speech for you. I think ChatGPT did a pretty good job. Let’s give it a hand.

But as I read the speech over, it was clear that something was missing— something heartfelt, something personal, something no speech by Jenna Cain could possibly omit: puns. ChatGPT doesn’t know about my passion for wordplay. It doesn’t know that I integrate puns into my presentations at school and, to my friends’ utter delight, my day-to-day conversations. Come to think of it, the speech is not true to who I am at all. It isn’t in my own voice, and it doesn’t mention any moment that built our time together here at Ursuline. While I gave the bot a short word count to work with, even the longest versions of the speech failed to touch on what I hoped to convey to you today: the importance of our own, unique stories.

We, the Class of 2023, have experienced some truly extraordinary moments together, experiences that no AI could capture. Like that nervous thrill of walking through the doors of the loading dock on our first day of freshman year. Like that proud, euphoric feeling of the cool metal of our class ring sliding onto our finger for the first time. And the many, many moments in between.

More importantly, because ChatGPT isn’t human, it doesn’t understand the relationships we’ve made along the way. About the close friends who have become next-to-sisters for some of us, about the many laughs we’ve shared with classmates, about a peer we might never have spoken to, but whose bright pink Disney backpack always makes us smile in the hallway. In these same hallways, we were warmed by the smiling faces of our teachers, who greeted us with everything from fist bumps to jokes from our time in class. ChatGPT cannot possibly fathom the bonds we have with our teachers, and all the work they did to help us through, dare I say, “unprecedented” times. Just think of all the lessons they’ve taught us in flexibility, innovation, and the courage required in times of crisis. I can only imagine how much work it must have been for our teachers to convert their entire curriculum to virtual and hybrid formats. But because of their dedication, we are now better equipped to tackle any obstacle in our way so that we not just survive, but thrive in the face of adversity. We are graduating into a world of global challenges, like climate change, water scarcity, and period poverty, just to name a few. But we, class of 2023, are the generation driven to change. May the persistence and adaptability our teachers so deftly displayed inspire us to create the changes we need in the world.

Finally, ChatGPT doesn’t know how grateful we are for our families who have loved us and encouraged us to take part in this wonderful community. I know I owe so many of my successes at Ursuline to the unwavering support of my mother, who helped me see a glass that isn’t just half full, but brimming to the top with love and blessings, and my father, whose unicycling, skateboarding, snowboarding, and surfing lessons taught me to pursue life head-on, even if it seems scary at times. But that’s my story.

We each have had our own, unique experience over the past few years that has shaped us into the outstanding leaders we are becoming. No AI chatbot can capture that individuality. Nor can any high school transcript or Instagram bio. Not even the words of an amazingly cool and funny valedictorian can do your story—your voice—justice. This summer, as you stand in the space between this adventure and the next, think about what your time here has meant to you. Reflect upon your own special journey of becoming. Your memories, your emotions, your mistakes, your relationships, your lessons-learned. All of it. Grab hold of it and own it. Wear it on your sleeve. It is your story to write. It is your story to tell.

Now, I said before that a Jenna Cain speech without puns would be an utter tragedy. I shall end your suspense. Class of 2023 let’s shout with 2020-glee!

#i was seriously so burnt out when i wrote this #please someone just let me sleep #funny #inspiration #high school #chatgpt #class of 2023 #graduation

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