Starker on 30/4/2025 at 23:07
According to DJ Vance, the parents of the deceased student have yet to thank him even once:
[video=youtube;N1v1xtRrOI4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1v1xtRrOI4[/video]
Azaran on 30/4/2025 at 23:18
(
https://www.odditycentral.com/news/radio-station-secretely-uses-ai-host-for-six-months-without-anyone-noticing.html) Australian radio station secretly uses AI host for 6 months without anyone noticing
Quote:
An Australian radio station has come under fire for reportedly using an AI-generated female host for six months without mentioning it before listeners started questioning “her” identity.
Last year, Australian Radio Network’s CADA station, which broadcasts in Sydney, introduced a new host named Thy and even created a new show for her called Workdays with Thy. The young-sounding woman presented music for four hours a day from Monday to Friday, and things went smoothly until people started asking questions about the mysterious Thy. The fact that she had no last name and no biography anywhere was suspicious enough, but then some listeners noticed that certain phrases she used sounded identical every time she uttered them. Questions and theories about Thy’s true identity started spreading online, and CADA eventually revealed that she wasn’t a real person.
Quote:
“What is Thy’s last name? Who is she? Where did she come from? There is no biography or further information about the woman who is supposedly presenting this show,” Sydney-based writer Stephanie Coombes wrote on her blog.
An analysis of Thy’s voice also revealed that certain phrases, like “old school”, sounded identical when she uttered them across multiple shows, so Australian Radio Network project leader Fayed Tohme had no choice but to admit that the mysterious radio host was actually an AI-generated software developed by voice-cloning firm ElevenLabs.
“No mic, no studio, just code and vibes,” Tohme wrote in a since-deleted LinkedIn post. “An experiment by ARN and ElevenLabs that’s pushing the boundaries of what ‘live radio’ even means.”
...
Quote:
With AI television news anchors already a reality, it’s no surprise that human radio host jobs are also in peril. The fact that people took months o figure out Thy wasn’t real must give AI developers hope of replacing humans with their creations at some point.
Starker on 1/5/2025 at 12:42
This should not really come as news to anyone, but the performative cruelty towards minorities and vulnerable people that we have seen in ample display by the right is very much by design:
[video=youtube;dwdAEkJks8A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwdAEkJks8A[/video]
This fits right into the series of other video essays on this topic such as (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8UzmLsXGRU) How Societies Turn Cruel and (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSXKzPOcYDU) Why Is Conservative Comedy So... Not Very Good?
Nicker on 1/5/2025 at 18:42
Another aspect of the comedy bit is "left-wing medial bias".
I don't believe that the 5th estate is inherently Leftist, I believe that good, balanced, transparent journalism simply reflects progressive values, like listening to both sides, the importance of facts, honest argument and compassion.
It's like "woke" being a pejorative, as if being aware and conscious is a bad thing. I keep asking rightists to define "woke" on You Tube and other forums and I invariably get back some variation of - "You know what it is. Don't pretend you don't". If you can't define it, stop using it.
heywood on 2/5/2025 at 12:59
As the right moves further and further to the right, the people and policies they once saw as moderate and mainstream now look radically leftist to them. Republican stalwarts from 20 years ago are now considered liberals by current Republicans. They would consider Reagan a liberal too if they actually knew anything about his Presidency.
heywood on 2/5/2025 at 16:13
Regarding that last point, (
https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/archives/speech/remarks-presentation-ceremony-presidential-medal-freedom-5) here is the final speech Reagan gave before leaving office:
Quote Posted by "Ronald Reagan"
Now, tomorrow is a special day for me. I'm going to receive my gold watch. And since this is the last speech that I will give as President, I think it's fitting to leave one final thought, an observation about a country which I love. It was stated best in a letter I received not long ago. A man wrote me and said: ``You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''
Yes, the torch of Lady Liberty symbolizes our freedom and represents our heritage, the compact with our parents, our grandparents, and our ancestors. It is that lady who gives us our great and special place in the world. For it's the great life force of each generation of new Americans that guarantees that America's triumph shall continue unsurpassed into the next century and beyond. Other countries may seek to compete with us; but in one vital area, as a beacon of freedom and opportunity that draws the people of the world, no country on Earth comes close.
This, I believe, is one of the most important sources of America's greatness. We lead the world because, unique among nations, we draw our people -- our strength -- from every country and every corner of the world. And by doing so we continuously renew and enrich our nation. While other countries cling to the stale past, here in America we breathe life into dreams. We create the future, and the world follows us into tomorrow. Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we're a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.
demagogue on 2/5/2025 at 17:58
I remember watching that speech on tv.
There are increasing numbers of countries that let immigrants become nationals, and of course the admin is trying to overturn birthright citizenship, the thing that gave Blacks and (ultimately) Native Americans citizenship as entire categories of people. That's your point in posting that though, that that idea is not taken for granted like it used to be even in the near past by the most Republican of Republicans.
While we're on the topic, I can say from experience that it's still inconceivable that I might want to become Japanese, never mind ~13 years living there overall... =P
heywood on 5/5/2025 at 15:50
Yes, my point was to highlight the dramatic change in Republican thinking. But also to point out the hypocrisy of Republicans holding up Reagan as a political role model and national hero while supporting policies that would have Reagan rolling in his grave. I'll bet Republicans don't know that Donald Trump took out full page ads in major newspapers back in the 80s to criticize Reagan's foreign policy toward the Soviet Union. Most Republicans credit Reagan for ending the Cold War. Now Trump added a huge portrait of Reagan behind his Oval Office desk for photo ops. The bastard has no shame.
Pyrian on 5/5/2025 at 21:02
Quote Posted by heywood
I'll bet Republicans don't know that Donald Trump took out full page ads in major newspapers back in the 80s to criticize Reagan's foreign policy toward the Soviet Union.
I didn't know that. Has Trump been in Russia's pocket for 40-ish years? Putin wasn't even a major figure yet.
