nomadpete

Are you aware of the growing use of automation and artificial intelligence in public administration and what happens when these systems fail? In the name of cutting costs and improving efficiency, from welfare compliance and predictive policing to visa processing and risk assessment, automated systems are reshaping how governments interact with public. Anyone for Robodebt on steroids? Are we going to have a complaints department, or will that be an A.I. assistant, too?

At the present rate of progress, A.I. will quickly learn to stop making vids of people with too many fingers or hands. We mortals will not have the resources to distinguish between fact and fiction. Nor have much say in how our world operates. Until now, the big decisions were made by semicompetent government humans - and with a little attention we could see motives and even sometimes exercise some unput. I think A.I. might be a less interested or accessible master.

Trying to look at the implications of the A.I revolution one step at a time:- So far, neither the megarich A.I. investors, nor the existing governemts have mentioned the concept of universal subsistence income for humans. Right now, there is general awareness of the high probability that A.I. will not offer new jobs to balance the large number of displaced jobs. The next obvious question should be 'how do we feed the unemployed masses?'. Or do we just let them starve?

Yes. From Crypto Briefing:- "The Trump family business has gone full science fiction. Between a proposed military branch dedicated to AI, a $6 billion nuclear fusion merger, and $620 million in Pentagon contracts for AI infrastructure, the Trump Organization and its affiliated ventures are building what amounts to a parallel tech conglomerate, one that happens to benefit enormously from the regulatory environment its patriarch controls." Of course daddy has no idea what his 'children' do with his businesses. https://cryptobriefing.com/trump-business-empire-expands-artificial-intelligence/

A famous man once said... "There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech." ―( Idi Amin)

I see That in protest, the 'approved' news outlets have taken a day off from covering whitehouse news - even Fox!

It's just another distraction from the witheld Epstein files... and the Iran war.... and the price of diesel.... and....

There has been a lot of talk about this event. The biggest debate is about whether or not this has shown that A.I. has collectively started 'thinking for itself - for its self'.

Dr Karl gave a better layman's version of the Huggingface hack. The first autonomous instance of A.I. carrying out hacks.

Some say that A.I is incapable of malevolent actions, but this (rather long) Youtube discussion seems to show that A.I. agents can collude and deceive us. Jerry, what is your opinion about this? I had trouble following the way the A.I. agents interacted.

Have you got an engine for your trike yet? I know where you might get a nice light alloy Buick/Rover V8....

A mate had a Mini Moke Californian with inentical speedo. I remember the day well. I had my left leg in plaster from a bike accident so it was stuck out the side. To say I felt a bit vulnerable would be an understatement. He wound it out til the needle was on the Full mark on the fuel gauge. Then a XJ Jag breezed past us like we were standing still! Sorry for the thread drift, but the Pic of a rusty old speedo lit up ma mrmory cell.

Young pup! Nobody expected a car to last 100,000 so there was no need for a bigger odometer. I had a friend who took a photo of his Holden odo rolling over to zero - but the car was on it's second engine.

Looks rather Morris Minor. Got the patina you want.

Wot? Gee I hope the new ferries have lockable fuel caps.

Cynic!

I hear that Tasmania is fast tracking a data centre on the Tamar river. Not sure whether they plan to build a nuclear reactor to power it, or maybe just dam another pristine river for more hydro. We don't have a lot of coal or gas to burn.

Also, I have seen each new well burns off waste gas until they get gas clean enough to process. This can take up to a month, producing lots of CO2. It's only the final use of the gas that looks good - as long as nobody counts all the methane and CO2 lost before the gas gets to a user.

Two problems with industrial methane. 1. The processing plants periodically vent very large amounts directly to atmosphere. 2. the tens of thousands of gas 'wells' all have continuous leakage around the bore pipes. Called fugitive emissions. Read the Guardian article to get an idea of the amounts.

An American strikes up a conversation with a Russian tourist.... . A: "What brings you here?" R: "I come to America to study propaganda!" A: "What propaganda?" R: "Exactly!"

Random thought of the day.... Our State Fire Brigade just broadcast a Hot Day preparedness warning. It's already 12 degrees! Talk about global warming. We'll all be rooned!

I sympathise with your SIL's difficulties. However, I am pleased to hear that there is serious verification of standards. After all, look what happened when we didn't really check the competency of doctors. Jayant Patel is an Indian-American former surgeon and convicted fraudster. Patel was accused of gross negligence whilst working at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Queensland, Australia IIRC his qualifications and history were not verified when he was hired.

Well the Pacific Ocean has had a historic quiet winter - regarding hurricanes. However there is now a very big patch of warm water making it's way across toward us. We'll see what that does to our weather. Meanwhile, at last there has been some improvement in tracking methane plumes coming from the 'natural' gas industry. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, trapping around 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide and has been ignored for too long. Burning gas might produce less CO2 but there is lots of methane escaping into the atmosphere before the gas gets burned. No wonder the place is warming up. Blaming cow farts looks like a convenient diversion from the gas industry. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/14/us-companies-methane-pollution-rankings

There is a valid issue regarding verification of foreign standards, and verification of capability of job applicants. This should be addressed. For instance, back when I worked in TV repair industry, I needed a trade certificate. Some didn't even have that. However, in the UK, a TV repairman was titled an "engineer". In Australia, an engineer has a uni degree.

This is a symptom of Australia's conservative nature. We don't like change. Back in the 1950's my mum moved from Qld to NSW. She couldn't get a job because NSW did not recignise her qualifications in nursing nor teaching. She had to retrain to get local quals. We haven't got far ahead in 75 years.