Skip to content
By using Twitter’s services you agree to our Cookies Use. We and our partners operate globally and use cookies, including for analytics, personalisation, and ads.
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • About

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
vgr's profile
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
Venkatesh Rao
@vgr

Tweets

Venkatesh Rao

@vgr

Conversational account. For work follow @ribbonfarm, @breaking_smart, @artofgig. Tweets are 90% vacuous views, apathetically held. Mediocritopian. IKEA builder.

Los Angeles, CA
venkateshrao.com
Joined August 2007

Tweets

  • © 2020 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Imprint
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    1. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      My own initial reaction to gpt2 helps me understand why pre-modern tribes reacted to being filmed and shown the footage like the camera was stealing their souls. Except, I *like* the idea instead of being horrified by it. Unfortunately as untrue for AIs as for film cameras.

      6 replies 8 retweets 81 likes
      Show this thread
    2. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      In fact, gpt2 has helped me clarify exactly why I think the moral/metaphysical panic around AI in general, and AGI in particular, is easily the silliest thing I’ll see in my lifetime. It’s the angels-on-a-pinhead concern of out time. Not even wrong.

      3 replies 0 retweets 26 likes
      Show this thread
    3. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      AI won’t steal our souls AI won’t terk ehr jerbs AI won’t create new kinds of risk AI isn’t A or I I’d call it “cognitive optics”... it’s a bunch of lenses and mirrors that reflect, refract, and amplify human cognition. AIs think in the same way telescopes see. Ie they don’t.

      9 replies 13 retweets 65 likes
      Show this thread
    4. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      “AIs reflect/reproduce our biases” misses the point by suggesting you could prevent that. That’s ALL they (deep learning algos) do. Biases are the building blocks. Take that out and there’s nothing left. Eg. gpt2 has picked up on my bias towards word like “embody” and “archetype”

      2 replies 7 retweets 39 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation

      Taking the bias out of AI is like taking the economy out of a planned economy. You’re left with regulators and planners with nothing left to regulate and plan. Or the lenses and mirrors out of a telescope. You’re left with a bunch of tubes with distortion-free 1x magnification.

      4 replies 3 retweets 30 likes
      Show this thread
    6. Matt Ranger‏ @vhranger Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @vgr

      I'm not sure what you're onto here. AI tends to optimize for the average (mean squared error normally to be technical). So it'll pick up biases that are statistically consistent. People are racist idiots, so models trained on people act equally shitty for instance

      2 replies 0 retweets 0 likes
      Venkatesh Rao‏ @vgr Feb 20
      • Report Tweet
      • Report NetzDG Violation
      Replying to @vhranger

      Biases are just emulated patternscwith political significance. Picking up on my word frequencies is the same mechanism but classified as “function” in emulating me.

      4:38 PM - 20 Feb 2020
      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. Matt Ranger‏ @vhranger Feb 20
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vgr

          Disagree. Bias is consistently taking an action that's unrelated to output. Race doesn't correlate with job performance (controlling for sociodemographics). But people still hire on race because the human brain is deeply tribal.https://www.nber.org/papers/w9873 

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. Matt Ranger‏ @vhranger Feb 20
          • Report Tweet
          • Report NetzDG Violation
          Replying to @vhranger @vgr

          Models picking up on your language pattern is just models getting conditional probabilities right. But your language pattern is related to output, so that's fine. Bias and politics are joined through human tribalism but bias is an apolitical concept.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        4. Show replies

      Loading seems to be taking a while.

      Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

        Promoted Tweet

        false

        • © 2020 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Imprint
        • Cookies
        • Ads info