self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
I'm a transhumanist doctor. In a better world, I wouldn't need to add that as a qualifier to plain old "doctor". It would be taken as granted for someone in the profession of saving lives.
At any rate, I intend to live forever or die trying. See you at Heat Death!
Friends:
I tried stuffing my friends into this textbox and it really didn't work out.
User ID: 454
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
10hr ago
I've occasionally edited my own responses, but never the LLMs. I wonder if that would be helpful for jailbreaks. At some points, when the context window wasn't enough, I'd delete unnecessary responses to clear up space, but with a 1M window now? Never necessary.
The ability to fork chats is clutch, I can tell you. I miss it on every other platform.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
1d ago
I have vanishingly low usage for the voice modes. Maybe if I intentionally trained myself to use it, I might have better mileage, but at this point text seems more natural to me as a means of conversing with our alien brethren, and gives me time to collect my thoughts and frame things.
Out of sheer boredom, I decided to cough up £20 for a ChatGPT Plus subscription. I'd heard good (or at least interesting) things about o3 as a model, and wanted to check it out.
It certainly is a trip. o3 is the most busy LLM I've ever interacted with. You can think of it as a highly neurotic coworker, who will, without any prompting, submit a Monte Carlo simulation of weather patterns when you ask it if it's going to rain tomorrow. This can occasionally be handy, and just as frequently, hilarious.
While the Chain of Thought isn't entirely intact (or divulged to you, the user), it's entertaining to watch it scurry about searching things, writing small snippets of code and using its tools. It loves tools.
Google has been so unkind as to remove the version of Gemini (2.0 Flash Experimental) that produced images on AI Studio, in the UK, EU and a few other authoritarian shit holes (that is not an exclusive or). While OAI graciously does out an image or too a day to free users, getting far more mileage out of it doesn't hurt, but is still a curiosity.
I've tried out GPT 4.5, which is a rare mutant of a model, a relic of different times/research artifact more than a daily driver. So far, I've been whelmed, as it didn't do anything particularly impressive even at the task of writing fiction, which it's supposedly great at.
The elephant in the room is, of course, Google. You can use the best model on the planet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, entirely free on AI Studio, or via API. So it goes for the older models, unless removed due to regulatory concerns. If I wasn't curious, there's very little actual reason for me to subscribe to ChatGPT, and that's probably true even for you, the casual user. Even those too normie to have heard about AI Studio have access to the Gemini app, which is finally taking off, and even there, Google hits OAI where it hurts, in the wallet, by making their best models cheap/free.
It's a good time to be an AI aficionado. Don't pay for ChatGPT unless you really want to out of curiosity, there's no other good reason at present.
PS: Anthropic. A meme at this point. Claude does nothing better than the competition, and is practically unusable due to stringent rate limits on the free tier, and suffers from the same even for paying users (going off anecdotal evidence).
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
2d ago
I think the anxiety induced by near-misses is bad enough. I certainly don't want to contemplate the effects of an airspace lockdown at this point of time.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
2d ago
God dammit. I was planning to head back home for a few weeks and now I'm genuinely worried about flights being canceled. Guess I'll just have to take the risk.
First the terrorist attack in Kashmir that my family missed by a few hours, now this. Can't catch a break.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
3d ago
Way back in the GPT 3.5 days, I used ChatGPT to translate my plain text of a character's dialogue to Jamaican patois.
I was a bit embarrassed when, about a year later, an actual Jamaican reader read my novel and left a comment exclaiming how surprised he was regarding the authenticity of the Jamaican slang used. Far too rare on the internet, and almost never so well, he told me, and asked if I asked a Jamaican speaker. I told him that I'd done my "research", which was half-true. Well, I guess it worked as intended.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
3d ago
I primarily use Gemini, but in my experience it's endemic to all LLMs (except maybe Claude, but I hardly use that these days). It's not as glaring as em-dashes, but I still notice.
Praying Altman releases that fine-tuned model designed for creative writing someday. The demand is clearly there.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
3d ago
They offered us a small bag of spice and salt to dip the pomelo segments into, and eating it like that made it far more of a savoury affair. It's interesting! I'm actually not sure why this method of eating fruit hasn't caught on more outside of Southeast Asia
Well, South Asia isn't that far away, but I can tell you that dipping unripe mangoes in rock salt and spices is a sublime experience.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
3d ago
I needed something to read, and this might be it. Only a few pages in, and he's thrashing phonics, so he's on to something.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
3d ago
I would be surprised if that's how it actually worked in the US.
At least in the UK, admitting suicidal ideation isn't a route to involuntary commitment by itself. I'd know, I've told my GP and psychiatrist about mine. All the cases I've seen admitted sought admission themselves, and it's only involuntary in situations such as someone found during/after a suicide attempt, and even then we can't hold them for very long. Patient autonomy counts for a lot here.
If you tell a shrink that you're having thoughts about offing yourself, they'll likely attempt to treat depression. If you tell them you've got the knife and a note ready, then that's a whole different kettle of fish.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
3d ago
It screams AI to me. I've used most models enough on writing, both fictional and not, to know some of their hallmarks. The bit you've highlighted makes me groan a little every time I catch it in the wild.
It's not that there aren't real humans who write that way, but these days, my money is on an LLM.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
7d ago
I have nothing but good things to say about my dad and grandpa. Well, not literally so, but any failings are rather minor in the grand scheme of things.
I was a somewhat sheltered child, so it took me until med school to realize that many people can't take the kind of functional, happy family life I had for granted.
I've done relatively well for myself, choosing between reference classes: Indian/Doctor. That being said, I don't think I could have done what my dad did, which was to hustle from being a refugee without a penny (or Indian paisa) to his name, to being modestly famous, and having set his kids up for success. Seriously, all I managed was to more or less not stagnate or back slide when it comes to socio-economic condition, whereas he took us from nothing to a very comfortable existence. He's hard working, to the point where it's taking its toll on his health, and tightened belts when not strictly needed so there'd be enough to go around on a rainy day.
My grandpa? The kindest man I know, and the best doctor to boot. He's at the age where he's finally becoming less than outright famous, but only because even his junior peers are dying of old age or going senile. There was a time when just mentioning that I was his grandson would open doors, he's 95 and there are still patients calling the smartphone he can barely use for medical advice or requesting surgery. Thankfully he's able to sign post them to his SIL, my dad. It breaks my heart to see senility, long averted, finally take him. He lived a ridiculously healthy, outright ascetic lifestyle, and as a consequence, lived well past 90 in good health and only recently took a turn for the worse.
It could be worse. He gets to live with my family, both because it's multi-generational, and because they couldn't bear to part with him. No care home for him, just the comfort of a house he built himself, with his daughters, son-in-laws and most of his grandkids doting on him.
My dad might be a better surgeon, but he'll never be as universally adored. Too stingy, by far. Back when I was in med school and sat in with my grandpa during his clinics, he'd waive fees more often than not when anything about his patient gave him the impression that they were anything but well off.
In contrast to them? I'm not nearly as hard working. On the flip side, I never had to be, having been spared, through the dint of their hard work, from every worrying where my next meal would come from. I've still done okay, but in a way, I side stepped direct comparisons of clinical competence by not taking up a gynecological or surgical field. Didn't like them, but I certainly felt easier knowing we won't be measured by the same benchmark.
Yet humans are (still) all too mortal and frail. The giants I looked up to now look up at me, and at times, I wonder if their pride in me is overly tinged by ties of blood. I tell myself I've done enough to be proud of, and sometimes, I believe it. I'd certainly be prouder than my heart could bear if my future kids looked at me the same way I look to them.
Since you pivoted into a comparative study of different cultures and places, I guess I can share my impressions of the UK/Scotland:
Slow decay.
Britain is a stagnant, often involuting place. Half the times I visit any but the largest cities in Scotland, I'm struck by the urban decay. I've never seen places with so many boarded up shops, hopeful cafes and hipster restaurants with only decaying shop decals to evidence that they ever existed. India might be dirtier, smellier and louder, but it always gives the impression of growth. There's just too much demand for entire buildings or prime real estate to sit empty and unlet. At the bare minimum, some entrepreneurial type would set up a food outlet or stall there.
Most of what appeals about the UK is old. Ancestral manors, cities and cobbled streets older than street cars. Even the NHS, considered a national treasure, is in slow motion collapse. Quick, free and high quality. Pick any two. By Indian standards, they picked the latter, but any good Indian private hospital will get you far more timely and attentive care than what the NHS can offer.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
8d ago
Congratulations! I hope the salary at that new place is superior to your previous one, and my understanding is that logistics is a field with plenty of demand, so it'll probably open up career options down the line to boot.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
14d ago
However, the Supreme Court will not confront this head-on; they will do almost anything to allow B) to remain the case while pretending that it isn't and 4) does not attain.
Is that simply because they don't want to rock the boat? Even the current conservative-leaning SC? What if Sotomayor is replaced?
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
14d ago
I was thinking about a post extolling the wonders of artificial sweeteners, courtesy of popping into the local Taco Bell and making good use of their unlimited drink refills.
All the Pepsi Max and Diet Coke a man could dream of, without the normal consequences on the waistline? Whoever made the nectar of the gods zero calorie deserves a Nobel, maybe two. And they're safe, last time I reviewed the claims about potential downsides I was thoroughly unconvinced.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
15d ago
I haven't been out of India for even a year now, and I can promise you I've never heard anyone call anyone else a Pajeet in real life, nor online. OP has a rather unusual online circle.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
15d ago
My parents are on vacation in Kashmir, and were about 3 hours away from going to the same spot when the shooting happened and roads locked down.
Yeah. That was a fun thing to wake up to in Scotland.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
17d ago
It's been a while, but I recall enjoying the exploration of the ship itself, the tense standoffs with the aliens, and the drama around the potential of being the last humans alive on the ship. That last bit prompted some funky incest babies before Rama picked up more humans and made that approach obsolete. I don't remember if it was R2 or the sequel that had colony hijinks as the humans tried to settle/conquer the ship, but it was great nonetheless.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
17d ago
I never read the original RWR, but I did read the sequels and greatly enjoyed them, even if I don't think Clarke was particularly involved in the writing therein.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
17d ago
It's a shame that Papal candidates are renamed when entering office. I'd pay money for a Pope Pizzaballa just for the meme value alone.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
21d ago
I haven't used any spatial elements, just text, with abstractions of the game board. Think Choose Your Own Adventure, but with more structure according to the specific RPG framework.
You could probably cobble up some kind of program to create and update a game board, and then input it back as an image. A bit more advanced than I've seen the need for. You could also have (Gemini 2.0 Flash Experimental) output images in response, but you'd be sacrificing the intelligence of 2.5.
There is function calling as a specific toggle, but I'm not sure how it plays into MCP.
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
21d ago
New pastime:
I've always been a fan of simulating TTRPG sessions using AI. I thought Claude was great at it, but I was always hamstrung by low message/chat length counts on the free tier. Alternatives like ChatGPT 4o just weren't as good, and ran into rate limit issues just as they got interesting.
With Gemini 2.5 Pro Thinking, not an issue any more. It's a great writer, especially with some guidance, and for the purposes of fairness, I enabled code execution for the simple purpose of rolling random die. Works great, I'm enjoying my current Delta Green campaign set in 2027 where it turns out that advanced AGI research has rather interesting consequences when it comes to getting the attention of Lovecraftian entities. Mask on a Shoggoth, anyone?
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
21d ago
Music recommend thread:
I find new songs in a rather haphazard way. Maybe a video on Reddit or YT has a bopper, which I then use some kind of audio recognition to identify and add to my playlist. Spotify manages to get me to add a song to my favorites at a rate of about 1 every 2 weeks. This time, it did share a banger, one I've got on repeat.
YouTube link: So Cold by Balu Brigada
The bassline has probably gotten people pregnant, I can't help but nod my head along.
(My taste in music borders on schizophrenic, not that I don't listen to mainstream music)
self_made_human
Kai su, teknon?
23d ago
Wouldn't the "objective effects" of an Anki deck just be the benefits of spaced repetition? That's well established empirically AFAIK.
Let's say I have a difficult task that needs a lot of comms with Gemini to get it on the same page. Then forks allow for easily throwing that into the context for a variant of that task. Or simply A/B testing.
The first time I made use of forks, it was when I was generating images with Flash, and got it dialed in. I then forked it so as to try alternative prompts and the effects of different details, with the easy ability to jump back and forth.
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