Stever Robbins

Stever Robbins

@steverrobbins.com

CEO coach, futurist, TEDx speaker. Former top-10 biz podcaster and humorist (the Get-it-Done Guy). Judge HBS & MIT biz plan competitions. Theater lover. Burner. | 🔥 )'( 🔥 | 🏳️‍🌈 | (he/him)

955 followers3.1K following464 posts

This has been pretty obvious since the beginning. When you build a model, you freeze all of the implicit assumptions underlying the language in that model. For example, if you built a model of physics before Einstein, everything it generated would implicitly assume a Newtonian model of physics.

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One big example of this is the biological, neurological, and psychological understanding of gender. The vast majority (probably 99.99%) of text that LLMs were trained on assume gender and biological sex are synonymous and binary. But science has found that they aren’t. So how would a model even get

updated? Heck, we don’t even have agreed upon language ourselves to address the distinctions (e.g. words like lesbian, gay, and bisexual all assume a binary … but binary what? Gender? Sex?) I believe that integrating AI into society will hold back our development. Hope I’m wrong.

This has been pretty obvious since the beginning. When you build a model, you freeze all of the implicit assumptions underlying the language in that model. For example, if you built a model of physics before Einstein, everything it generated would implicitly assume a Newtonian model of physics.

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Once content is crystallized in an LLM, it is pervasive. It’s one thing for specific scientific knowledge to get updated — there’s a process around science. But implicit cultural associations? Not at all. They get built in and aren’t questioned. Also it’s unclear how you would undo them.

Stever Robbins reposted

If I change my BlueSky handle to my domain, is there any downside? What should I put in my Twitter profile so migration tools will still help followers from Twitter find me here?

Stever Robbins reposted

#ProudBlue These clowns are more ignorant ignorant of even basic internet security than most of us if he thinks there is any security whatever in Gmail. Don't they at least give them some basic training in internet hygiene?

Allison Gill@muellershewrote.com

BREAKING: Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Waltz used GMAIL to discuss NATIONAL DEFENSE INFORMATION. That's LESS SECURE than Hillary's private email server. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

As he often does, Musk is playing financial shenanigans. His money-losing failure of X gets sold to xAI, saddling the investors in his new company with his black of money losing fail, while handing himself and others even more billions.

This is similar to his raiding Tesla for resources to prop X. In recent years my opinion of Musk has gone from Iron Man to grifter, liar, and incompetent. But I’ll give him this: he’s a master at manipulating markets in ways that should be highly illegal.

Why did nobody tell me that cottage cheese is the khaki of foods? It has no flavor or character on its own, but it a delightful base for almost any flavor and texture creation you could imagine! (Unlike khaki, however, I can imagine covering half my body in it.)

Is there any research on deskilling effects? I've been fascinated to watch my own cognition as I've relied more and more on AI tools in the last month or so. I have a much shallower understanding of the things I'm doing.

It's definitely not an assistant; it's noticeably hijacking my own mental functioning. I ultimately get the result I want, but I don't necessarily understand that result or its context or its boundaries.

At the same time, I was doing a bunch of reading on some things I wanted to understand fully, and the experience of having to understand and learn the material carefully produced MUCH deeper learning that I was able to start applying almost immediately (after the cost of about 10 hours of reading)

As always, @kentpitman.bsky.social nails it with a lot of great questions about AI and sentience. First and foremost, why are we trying for sentience as a goal in the first place?

Kent Pitman@kentpitman.bsky.social

I wrote an essay, Sentience Structure, asking questions about where #AI is headed. netsettlement.blogspot.com/2025/03/sent... @briandavidearp.bsky.social & other #philosophy folks may find the questions useful. Also, @steverrobbins.bsky.social and others who ask hard questions about #business.

A VERY important lesson about how the economy works (this post isn't about AI, even though it starts that way): I've been using Claude Sonnet, ChatGPT, and Perplexity quite heavily.

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Why is this significant? BECAUSE THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE INNOVATION THAT COMPETITION SPURS. When there's real competition, you actually get people competing TO MAKE SOMETHING USEFUL. Contrast that with Netflix, Hulu, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and so on.

A VERY important lesson about how the economy works (this post isn't about AI, even though it starts that way): I've been using Claude Sonnet, ChatGPT, and Perplexity quite heavily.

These are absolutely amazing, from a customer point of view (though if I ever ask them for fact-based info, I always double and triple-check the facts. I mainly use them for brainstorming and finding patterns).

Even more amazing is that every one of these platforms keep releasing new capabilities and new ways of using the capabilities. We've seen "projects" and specialized chatbots, and "Reasoning" come to the models. We've seen voice, and images, and data analysis.

Stever Robbins reposted

CBC science show Quirks and Quarks just had another great episode talking about the long term damage caused by each COVID infection. If you're starting to wonder why so many hard-core scientists are so contemptuous of our public health institutions, listen to this. www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...

cbc.caMar 15: The silent, long-term effects of COVID, and more... | CBC RadioOn this week's episode: polar bear dens, modern sleep woes, climate change is bad for satellites, and an ancient Australian crater

Stever Robbins reposted

OK, let's do something fun, something we did a few times on Ye Olde Textcentric Microblogging Social Media Platform, a little distraction called JOSH READS WAYYYY TOO DEEPLY INTO A KID'S BOOK WITH POTENTIALLY ALARMING RESULTS. Today, the absolute work of genius PRINCESS IN BLACK Let's go...

Stever Robbins reposted

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

thebetter.newsFinland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.meIn Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

Stever Robbins reposted

(1/3) It needs repeating: in 1994, Ukraine was persuaded to give up its nuclear weapons to Russia in return for the US, the UK, and Russia guaranteeing Ukraine’s sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.

Stever Robbins reposted

If we did a fraction of the research into our candidates for elected office as we did for our fantasy football teams, we would have the government we desperately need.

Stever Robbins reposted

🚨ATTENTION The deadline to register to vote in Florida’s special elections in CD-1 or CD-6 is THIS MONDAY, March 3rd. These two seats are crucial with a narrow majority in the House. Double check your status and register to vote at iwillvote.com.

Stever Robbins reposted

you don’t need the press corps anymore — just pull out your phone. AOC did a livestream that spurred THOUSANDS of calls to congress. the msm wants drama? give it to them. like right now dems should have a fucking PARADE of fired federal workers out there putting a face on all this.

Tim Dickinson@timdickinson.bsky.social

I'm no politician, but there's not a representative in this country who couldn't find a bright, young, patriotic federal employee from their district who got the buzz saw from Musk and Trump. Get them on camera. Make these job losses personal, ya know.

Stever Robbins reposted

this shit drives me nuts. if someone has only ever written op-eds and columns, they're not a journalist! Writer, essayist, columnist, yep. Journalist, no. It would be like calling someone who's never written a book an author.

Stever Robbins reposted

Over 1,000 people showed up in Framingham to make clear that we’re fired up and ready to fight back against every terrible policy Donald Trump and Elon Musk throw at us. 📸 John Walker

Musk using his individual influence to influence international affairs? Tech promised prosperity and gave us ketomine fueled dictator-ish incels.

Paris Marx@parismarx.com

Any countries building Starlink into their telecom systems should be thinking twice right now.

Stever Robbins reposted

For all the USPS's faults, Americans have to realize: It's one of the best postal services in the world, even after being kneecapped by DeJoy. Fight for our postal service, guys. I know I will. It is an essential public good.

Stever Robbins reposted

Carville: USAID spent $41 billion the federal budget is 6 trillion. Actually comes to something like .014%. So take that and put it against the 6 trillion and see what you have done when your president is responsible for more federal debt than any president in the history of the United States.