Podcast Episodes

Shameless Guesses, Not Hallucinations

I hate the term "hallucinations" for when AIs say false things. It's perfectly calculated to mislead the reader - to make them think AIs are cr…

4 months, 1 week ago

Last Rights

Guest post by David Speiser  

The Problem

Everyone hates Congress. That poll showing that cockroaches are more popular than Congress is now thirtee…

4 months, 1 week ago

SEIU Delenda Est

California lets interest groups propose measures for the state ballot. Anyone who gathers enough signatures (currently 874,641) can put their hare-br…

4 months, 1 week ago

Mantic Monday: Groundhog Day

Having Your Own Government Try To Destroy You Is (At Least Temporarily) Good For Business

On Friday, the Pentagon declared AI company Anthropic a "s…

4 months, 3 weeks ago

"All Lawful Use": Much More Than You Wanted To Know

Last Friday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth declared AI company Anthropic a "supply chain risk", the first time this designation has ever been applied…

4 months, 3 weeks ago

Next-Token Predictor Is An AI's Job, Not Its Species

I.

In The Argument, Kelsey Piper gives a good description of the ways that AIs are more than just "next-token predictors" or "stochastic parrots" - …

4 months, 3 weeks ago

The Pentagon Threatens Anthropic

Here's my understanding of the situation:

Anthropic signed a contract with the Pentagon last summer. It originally said the Pentagon had to follo…

5 months, 2 weeks ago

Malicious Streetlight Effects Vs. "Directional Correctness" - A Semi-Non-Apology

Malicious streetlights are an evil trick from Dark Data Journalism. Some annoying enemy has a valid complaint. So you use FACTS and LOGIC to prove th…

5 months, 2 weeks ago

Book Review Contest Rules 2026

It's that time again. Even numbered years are book reviews, odd-numbered years are non-book reviews, so you're limited to books for now.

Write a revi…

5 months, 2 weeks ago

Crime As Proxy For Disorder

The problem: people hate crime and think it's going up. But actually, crime barely affects most people and is historically low. So what's going on?

5 months, 2 weeks ago