Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

TagData poisoning

uroboros-snake-coiled-in-a-ring-biting-its-tail-engraving-sketch-scratch-board-imitation-sepia-stockpack-adobe-stock
Uroboros, snake coiled in a ring, biting its tail. Engraving sketch scratch board imitation sepia.

Model Collapse: AI Chatbots Are Eating Their Own Tails

The problem is fundamental to how they operate. Without new human input, their output starts to decay

Once upon a time in the near future, a student could feed ChatGPT an idea for an essay, go off to listen to some music, eat pizza,and chat with friends — and rest assured that a B+ essay would be waiting at home. Long before that near future had any chance of occurring, teachers were earnestly debating the merits of such a system. In elite media like the New York Times, it was endorsed as a teaching aid. And in Scientific American, we learned that ChatGPT (and serviceable knock-offs, presumably) can improve education. There is only one problem. ChatGPT is an ouroboros — the mythical serpent that eats its own tail. Or so we are beginning to learn from the Read More ›

finger-touching-phone-with-social-media-concept-and-dark-background-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Finger touching phone with social media concept and dark background

Why Do Some People Try To Poison Big Tech’s Data Well?

Some social media users confuse Big Tech about their interests so as to preserve privacy and rein in relentless marketing campaigns

Here’s an article on a theme you probably didn’t expect to read about in a top tier tech magazine: How to poison the data Big Tech collects about you. It’s certainly evidence of the growing discontent with Monopoly Power and Big Surveillance: Now researchers at Northwestern University are suggesting new ways to redress this power imbalance by treating our collective data as a bargaining chip. Tech giants may have fancy algorithms at their disposal, but they are meaningless without enough of the right data to train on. Karen Hao, “How to poison the data that Big Tech uses to surveil you” at Technology Review (March 5, 2021) Researchers Nicholas Vincent and Hanlin Li presented a paper at the recent Association Read More ›