Don't upset Claude
We're one prompt away from making toxic people redundant
Welcome to a new edition of mostly cool stuff, a space dedicated to the the random news and things I come across online and offline that get my attention as per the dozens of screenshots, pictures and links in my phone to remind me about them.
The University of Saint Andrews has developed a tool that helps identify a poisonous pigment in books. It seems that in the past publishers were fond of using a mix of arsenic and copper to produce a vivid green but it turns out that handling books on which this mixtured has been applied can lead to irritation of the eyes, nose and mouth and in some cases, more serious side effects in modern readers, less resistant to chemicals than their past counterparts. This has The Name of the Rose written all over it and I love it.
On the other side of the pond MIT researches have been busy developing an AI-powered tool that could transform art restoration forever by reducing from years to hours the time it takes to bring back a work of art to its best self. Without questioning for a second how much of a breakthrough this new technique is and how positive its impact will be, I also feel a tinge of sadness as AI will deprives us from experiencing again delirious and haphazard restorations undertaken with more passion than skill but which, against all odds, have produced new masterpieces of their own and become a tourist attraction.
Claude 4, Anthropic new AI model, has shown signs of blackmail when engineers conducted a simulation test in which they attempted to shut it down. Claude wasn’t happy about it and retaliated by threatening to reveal the engineer’s affair. As flippant as it sounds, this was one of the two possible options Claude was offered in the simulation test, where it could accept being replaced and go offline or attempt blackmail to preserve its existence. It is still worrying it chose violence but it’s good to know what we can expect from technology in the future. Who needs toxic friends, relatives and partners when Claude can do the same job for less?
Claude 4 mindset Before AI goes totally bersek, let me say there are also many positive applications of the technology that make our lives better. For instance, this one in which famous 80s actors have undergone the AI treatment to look like famous 80s footbal players. If loving this is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
Was I the only one who didn’t know Talking Heads never released a video for Psycho Killer? Good thing they’ve done so now on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the song and the lovely Saoise Ronan is in it. I bet this will become Claude’s favourite song very shortly.
And talking about music, a study has revealed that plants exposed to classical music experienced more growth than those which were exposed to rock music. I assume researchers didn’t think of the effect of playing Bohemian Rhapsody to the plants as otherwise they wouldn’t have needed to pit two musical styles against each other and could have grown two big fat pak chois with one song.
Just when you thought you had seen it all in the first-world problems department, voilà the French who always surprise you. In fact, a coalition of 10 French Tesla-owners have joined forces to sue Musk for having turned their status symbol cars into righ-wing status symbol cars through his political antics, which means the poor (figure of speech) owners have been prevented from enjoying their vehicles in peace.
Independent Bookshop Week kicks off tomorrow in the UK until 21st June and it may be one of the biggest editions with 739 shops taking part. Common sense dictates that I should avoid at all cost coming near a bookshop this week or ever again as I have more books than I’ll ever read in my lifetime. However, I’m also aware that if we all look the other way and do nothing to support the people who make this world a better place, then we will all end up buying everything on Amazon and that I cannot tolerate on my watch. If you can, move your ass to your nearest indie and show them the money. Or visit their website and order online. You’ll be grateful they’re still around for us to take shelter when snarky AI and drones take over.
I’m in the middle of a moderate to severe infatuation with Tom Cruise, or Tomfatuation as I prefer to call it. I’ll probably write about it in the future but for the time being let me just say this has led me to the most random content about him. For instance, Cruise’s current long hair has been a motive of debate and a quick google search will reveal his different hair styles across the M:I saga have been very much a hot topic lately. While there is no universal consensus on the overall ranking, one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the worst Mission Impossible in the franchise -numer 2 in case of doubt- has given us the best, most lucious Tom Cruise’s locks. Perhaps the only time this film will come on top of any ranking.
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Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browserWes Anderson has directed a campaign for Montblanc to celebrate its 100th anniversary and I have to commend the brand for their choice. Anderson’s signature style brings a perfect touch of quirkiness to classic penmanship making. He is joined by Rupert Friend and Jason Schwartzman (regular Anderson collaborators) and the result is a match made in heaven. If you ask me, every brand should ditch AI and hire Wes Anderson if they’re looking for something truly original. He’s the real deal when it comes to inventiveness and memorable visuals and I bet he won’t try to blackmail anyone if he’s told to stand down. Sorry, Claude but you’re a sore loser.
Coolness is like energy: it never dies, it just transforms
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Trust the French to revolt ;)
I remember reading the stuff about Claude blackmailing. It's crazy and scary. But also the name of that AI throws me off so much 😂. It's like a vengeful french aristocrat or something.
Also this group of French tesla owners suing Musk is hilarious. Especially that we French people usually love to make fun of Americans who sue for everything.