Mike McBride Online

Artificial Intelligence | SocialNetworking

If it’s public data – someone is using it to train an LLM
ByMike McBride November 27, 2024November 27, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Bluesky is developing an open protocol, and Mastodon uses an open protocol (ActivityPub). The idea seems to be that we can create a social media platform without a walled garden where users don’t own the data, which is also completely protected from someone grabbing that public data to build an AI model.

That’s not going to happen. We are all going to have to make a choice.

Once again, I’m left with this question: Why are so many Bluesky users pro-AI yet so opposed to using their public posts to train it? Where do they think the data has been coming from?

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Career | Links

Linked – The Gratitude We Need to Question
ByMike McBride November 23, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

I’m amazed that we live in a world where we consider it lucky that we can attend our kids’ weddings, family gatherings, etc., without a work interruption instead of a world where work wouldn’t dream of expecting you to do anything but attend those events fully.

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Artificial Intelligence

Linked – Employees are hiding their AI use from their managers. Here’s why
ByMike McBride November 19, 2024November 18, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

More importantly, I want credit for the work I do. If using AI is seen as cheating or cutting corners, I’m not likely to want anyone to know about it. In my opinion, this is on employers. They must set the cultural expectations that using AI is intelligent and efficient, not lazy. They also need to provide training on how to use AI effectively so that it is transparent and available to everyone.

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SocialNetworking

X-Twitter Uncertain Future
ByMike McBride November 14, 2024November 18, 2024 Reading Time: 3 minutes

I thought about these headlines yesterday. Maybe we shouldn’t consider X-Twitter’s market-value collapse a horrendous business decision. Perhaps this was always a $44 billion donation in kind to the Trump campaign in exchange for an oversized level of power and influence. Musk turned Twitter into X – a right-wing propaganda machine.

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Tech

Linked – It’s Not Just in Your Head—Tech Companies Are Getting Desperate
ByMike McBride November 7, 2024November 6, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

I’ve heard a few folks in the legal industry talking about how much more expensive renewals are becoming because every tech tool is adding AI, and as we know, AI isn’t cheap. Someone has to pay for it, and it looks like that’ll be all of us, in the form of higher prices for the tools we use to get our work done just fine the way they are now.

Not because we need it. They need it to show growth and satisfy investors. The fact they are likely creating a bubble that will burst and end dozens of perfectly profitable companies will be chalked up to bad luck.

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Career | Training

Linked – Public speaking, TEDx, and well articulated points of view
ByMike McBride November 4, 2024November 4, 2024 Reading Time: 2 minutes

Now, before you start with “they work in IT so that they don’t have to do public speaking,” I am going to argue that even if you’ve never wanted to present to a large conference audience or be asked to present webinars, etc., you would do well to learn how to do it anyway. You will need to tell a compelling story about what you do at some point in your career. Whether it be to defend your budget, ask for headcount, or explain your role on the team, being able to present your ideas well will go a long way. But, it’s not something we train for with many of our technical employees.

Read More Linked – Public speaking, TEDx, and well articulated points of view