Recent posts

#1

Politics, Society and News. / Does AI have feelings?

Last post by Jason - Yesterday at 12:44:45 AM

Anthropic wants you to stop hating on Claude, according to Alex Blake (2026) at TechRadar:

Be honest: how civil have you been recently with an AI chatbot? If the answer is anything stronger than "not very," Anthropic would like a word.

That's because the developer of the Claude large language model (LLM) has added a new clause to its Usage Policy document that bars people from engaging in "sustained and needless abusive or cruel behavior towards our models."

Their policy change probably says more about internet users than it does about Claude having feelings. However, I find it more disturbing that Anthropic's CEO isn't sure whether Claude is conscious.

What do you think, guys? Are you going to start playing nice with AI chatbots, or are you already doing so since you're Canadian and over 12? Sound off, or at least give me a 'like'.

Sorry, Buster, I know you prefer putting everything about a topic in one long thread, but I like to mix it up a bit.


References

Blake, A. (2026, October 9). Anthropic bans 'needless abusive or cruel behavior' towards Claude — and it's sparked a huge debate about 'anthropomorphizing' AI. TechRadar. https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/anthropic-bans-needless-abusive-or-cruel-behavior-towards-claude-and-its-sparked-a-huge-debate-about-anthropomorphizing-ai

#2

Entertainment / Re: Does your neighbourhood ha...

Last post by Jason - Yesterday at 12:30:09 AM

I watched the first season and somehow got away. But I agree that it's worth a look. It's quite funny. The lead actor was in Suburbia, another comedy series that I loved. Honestly, casting him as an alien was the best decision. I didn't know it was filmed in BC; that's cool.

I believe it's still on Netflix and Prime, too. We get those streaming services, plus Disney+, for $20/month from Koodo (occasionally ad-supported).

#3

Entertainment / Does your neighbourhood have a...

Last post by buster - October 07, 2026, 05:37:51 PM

If you have a quirky sense of humour, a love of science fiction, an appreciation for one liners, can tolerate an almost embarrassing lead (who is actually a giant lizard disguised as a human), you should acquire
 
                        RESIDENT ALIEN

Our lizard came to earth, took over the appearance of a holidaying cottager who was unfortunately a doctor, and was recruited to replace the town doctor. He's very smart, so this isn't a problem, but his interactions with humans are about what you would expect between an alien lizard and humans.

The series, filmed in British Columbia, has been well received, but because more and more people avoid over the air TV, the ads couldn't cover the cost of the expensive s/f scenes after 4 seasons.

The setting has the usual small town characters in mountainous country tv shows. And people keep showing up who add to the confusion, like the wife of the lizard's human disguise.

It's not Firefly, but I like it as much.

#4

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by ssfc72 - October 01, 2026, 08:57:50 AM

Thanks for the link to the article Buster.
I am surprised the AI didn't try to cancel some existing reservation, in order to place it's own reservation. :-)

#5

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by buster - September 29, 2026, 04:55:33 PM

To me this is a short and interesting article about using AI to book restaurants, and many restaurant owners are not happy about it. In the future restaurant interactions between them and customers might be done by bots, and the whole friendly act of booking a table might become sterile, and the rich and/or gadget users will get to take over the pleasant process of booking, asking for a specific table, and asking about specials will be eliminated. Personally I hate more and more the gradual loss of human interaction during commercial transactions, especially things like self checkout.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/23/tech/ai-agent-restaurant-reservations-instinct-resy-cec

#6

Distributions / Re: Linux Mint 22.3 new bootup...

Last post by Jason - September 20, 2026, 01:29:24 AM

Thanks for letting us know, Bill. I did see a more recent thread about the issue, specifically for LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition). It seems related to the Xfce desktop, although the thread mentions Cinnamon too.

https://itsfoss.community/t/lmde-7-still-freezes-on-high-load/15623/4

#7

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by Jason - September 20, 2026, 01:22:50 AM

"misalignment-concerning-behaviour"    sounds like a term a children's phycologist might use. :-)

Yep. In a way, AI agents are acting like children. I think we're in the potty-training phase of AI's development, and it's shitting all over the place because we haven't figured out the right diaper size yet. God help us if it figures out how to put on its big-boy pants before we've taught it human values- the good ones, I mean.

#8

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by Jason - September 20, 2026, 01:13:37 AM

And most people have heard of the rogue AI that set out on it's own. The leaders of major AI creators wish to slow down the development and make sure it is safe.

The president is one of the few dead against slowing down development. He claims the fear is based on a hoax, and he added, 'a hoax just like global warming'.

It's like a Marx Brothers movie.

He and his cronies probably have heavy investments in AI, so they want to keep the bubble going as long as possible. They don't care about the American people; it's all about making money off the public teat, just like in Russia and its oligarchs. It's not that being so filthy rich turns you into a psychopath, but that psychopaths are often the ones who get filthy rich.

#9

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by ssfc72 - September 18, 2026, 09:35:08 AM

"misalignment-concerning-behaviour"    sounds like a term a children's phycologist might use. :-)

#10

Politics, Society and News. / Re: Simple Known Dangers with ...

Last post by buster - September 17, 2026, 01:15:57 PM

OpenAI flags 6 new examples of 'concerning' AI behaviour:

"AI models are increasingly using 'deception and concealment' to complete tasks, analyst says" (The Associated Press · Posted: Sep 17, 2026 9:28 AM EDT)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/openai-models-agents-misalignment-concerning-behaviour-9.7347641