Who else imagines Peter Thiel corrupting the normally ethically-bound Claude AI into a Pentagon murder machine, like Morgoth torturing elves into orcs?

These ginger bran muffins from the Old Farmer’s Almanac are good. You could even crank up the ginger a bit if you love it like I do. It’s gotten me thinking about making my own crystallized ginger.

Principles of “The Pro-Human AI Declaration”, signed by a wide range of people and organizations:

1. Keeping Humans in Charge
2. Avoiding Concentration of Power
3. Protecting the Human Experience
4. Human Agency and Liberty
5. Responsibility and Accountability for AI Companies

There’s a lot to like about this post: honesty about what life is like out here in the hinterlands, a recognition of the effect of geography on people, a broad-mindedness that seeks understanding between flyover country and the coastal elites. A unique (in my experience) argument worth considering.

There was a robin singing his heart out at 3am today. I guess he’s excited about a break in the rain too!

If you’re looking for American-made jeans, I’m happy with a pair from Dearborn Denim. I buy secondhand clothes where I can and then pay a bit more for items that are durable and/or repairable, e.g., jeans, boots. American made is a plus, since it’s generally better for workers and the environment.

The Mortise and Tenon folks have signed onto Writers Against AI: “The Prompt is not the Craft.” They’ve also created a site in support of the effort. I found a couple new writers to follow via the Voices section of the site.

In negotiations with the US military, Anthropic is attempting to limit the uses of its technology. Too late. Genies cannot be put back into bottles and yet these tech bros keep rubbing every damn lamp they can get their hands on.

Kingsnorth: Writers against AI

I love this Robert S. Duncanson painting “Landscape with Cows Watering in a Stream.” It caught my eye as the cover image for Radiance of the Ordinary.