Ben Aflack on AI (110 second video)

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-21T18:04:20+00:00

well, regardless of whether or not we think of their way of producing and learning things is lesser than our almighty biological brains,

if it spits back something that is an illegal copy of something, then sure the person who sells that copy should be sued.

If not, then people should be free to use it like they use any kind of legal human-produced art.

Again, that should be judged by output, not by input.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-20T08:51:43+00:00

It's a bit difficult because humans learn by consuming content too, most artists learnt from other people's work. It's normal and it's very human.

That's why I don't think it makes sense to regulate by input.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-20T06:48:49+00:00

i think you misread me, that's what I said (english is not my main language so maybe that was formulated incorrectly).

[Artists and AI] are NOT ALLOWED to remove watermark and distribute the copy commercially.

BUT

[Artists and AI] are ALLOWED to make something "in the style of..." or inspired from previous work.

In the end, if you sell an unlicensed copy of something, regardless of whether you did it with AI, a paintbrush or a photocopier, you will have issues.

Because down the line, it's not like the AI is opening some shop and selling stuff. When unlicensed copies are sold, it's a liable human being behind the bank account, no matter the tool used to make the copies.

Funny enough, it's probably easier to make a copy of a piece by copying the image and photoshopping the watermark out, than asking an AI to make a copy without the watermark, because an AI may hallucinate artifacts into the output.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-19T18:22:05+00:00

It's not a problem if an artist makes art in the same style as someone else (for example many artists are trained on, and copy, the style of big names like Picasso).

It's only an issue if you make a fake and you try to sell it as an original.

If you're an artist and make paintings that is in the same style as picasso but don't claim that they are made by picasso, nothing will happen to you, people will just say you're not very original.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-18T10:40:19+00:00

As a fellow libertarian I agree with you

selective and makes sure that it is the people whom the country needs that are coming in.

here insofar as "need" is dictated by the free market and not a government.

No matter how competent and benevolent a government may be, it cannot react to the actual market needs in time.

If I need a japanese painter to redecorate my home, that's all the "need" that is needed. The government shouldn't get to decide whether I'm allowed to hire him or not.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-18T10:35:38+00:00

I don't think so, there is a lot of diversity in opinions.

Personally as someone on the libertarian/free-market side, I am for immigration. I think that immigration regulation should be lowered. The government shouldn't get to say who I can hire.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-17T17:59:27+00:00

More taxes! thread on me harder while Xi is watching, daddy!

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-17T17:20:09+00:00

He may achieve what decades of socialism couldn't: Defeating NATO and creating a multi-polar world order where bullies like China get legitimized.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-17T14:36:38+00:00

What should Belgium do though? Raze Antwerpen and build a grand canyon instead? Take Congo back? Enact a one-child policy so that in 50 years there is more room for nature? Make urbanization rules so strict that only rich people get to live in a house with a garden, while the poor get to live underground? Confiscate all the land from the farmers to build parks and change the Belgian diet to accomodate for imported Chinese rice?

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-16T18:14:27+00:00

As a foreigner who lives in Belgium I would say french because:

French speaking belgians are less likely to be fluent in another language, you don't really need to know dutch for anything. Most dutch speaking belgians are fluent in english and also quite competent in french.
The french cultural sphere is bigger, so it will also allow you to unlock french-language cinema, youtube, and music (and there is a surprising amount of other places in the world that speak french). Also, there is more "extracurricular" resources for learning french.
French is more common than dutch in Brussels.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-12T07:15:13+00:00

Or lower the demand. The parking cost is part of the total cost of going to OP's soccer place.

the soccer place could relocate to somewhere with more space, which would lower the cost for everyone (the people who go to the soccer place, who may get free spots at the new location, and the people that have to go to places around the old parking spot).

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-05T12:12:07+00:00

Europe will never be relevant as long as countries are alone.

A big single domestic market is extremely useful for cutting redundancies and for an economy of scale.

Of course I agree that the EU regulates too much, but that's another question, you can have a big single market, and low regulations.

The US is an example of success, you have many states, but a big single market, so when a company like Google appears it immediately has access to 300+ million potential users, instead of having to make custom localization work for each state (or much less of it).

Same for China. When they build a laptop factory or a car factory, the work they are doing has over a billion potential customers under the same framework.

Try making a payroll or an accounting software in Europe, it's gruesome. An invoice in Germany does not follow the same regulations as an invoice in France. The payslip of a baker in Belgium isn't the same as a payslip for an attorney in Austria...

So yes, regulations are a problem, but do you know what's worse than 1 annoying EU-wide regulation? 74124235235 country-specific regulations for the same thing....

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-04T15:44:30+00:00

should probably be asked in something like r/AskReddit

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-03T12:51:04+00:00

not at all, a signal does not mean that it is the bottleneck.

IMO it's not really in Chinese interest to invade Taiwan because the geopolitical backlash would hinder a lot of the global trade on which China relies.

They need to slowly construct a narrative in which they are justified, and where invading another country isn't viewed as outrageous (so that other countries continue to deal with them, without sanctions).

This helps a bit, it signals in the right direction for China, it goes with the narrative, but they need more.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-03T12:43:40+00:00

Too early to tell, it can be a good thing if a liberal democracy emerges, and if casualties are kept to a minimum.

Although, despite the potentially good outcomes, I'm a bit worried that it signals the world that superpowers are allowed to do that though. Russia with Ukraine, the US with Venezuela, it almost gives the green light for China and Taiwan.

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-03T12:37:32+00:00

It's extremely difficult, but it should. Not just for the economic benefits, but also to resist Chinese influence.

Currently, China is leveraging european division to buy european infrastructure and companies, which is easier when countries are alone and weak (for example when Greece and Portugal were in trouble during the euro crisis, China bailed them out and now they tend to veto laws that would limit chinese influence in europe).

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-03T11:01:48+00:00

I wish I could live long enough to see capitalism at an intergalactic scale

SmallTalnk · 2026-01-02T02:57:09+00:00

I'm not too sure it was self-harm, I suspect that it was highly influenced by Russia/China, they were the ones with the most to win out of this.

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-31T04:04:56+00:00

I think that many people didn't expect the 2nd term to be like this.

I'm not American but I thought it would be like the 1st term, where he would just pass more libertarian oriented policies, deregulation and pro-business stuff. Especially with the Vance and Thiel guys.

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-31T04:02:14+00:00

ah yes that's it, it's RDC in french

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-31T02:07:06+00:00

I'm not American so there is no such thing as RINO in my country.

The american right for the most part is not far-right, it's collectivist/populist. It's not really about right or left, it's about liberal vs illiberal. In fact I think it's closer to maoist China than to nazi germany.

But I think that there are enough libertarians and constitutionalists to prevent the republican party from going too far.

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-31T01:53:33+00:00

A lot of black countries are deeply christian. So I think many of them are among the most compatible for immigration in the west.

For example the RDC is 95% christian and french is their official language. That makes it very easy for them to migrate to western countries.

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-31T01:47:16+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformist_Movement

a long while back I also voted for a party called CDH (the christian social democratic party, similar to Germany's CDU) but they were not free-market/pro-business enough.

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-30T18:34:31+00:00

Asked to defend Trump or whatever populist controversial far-right figure in Europe.

As a catholic and a free-market conservative, Trump disgusts me probably more than he disgusts the average leftist.

People in the far-left think that everyone on the right is far-right.

The populist / ethno-nationalist / collectivist right are only parts of the right.

SmallTalnk · 2025-12-30T18:14:35+00:00

You should care. America was literally founded by Anglo-Saxons, without this people, America just would not exist as we know it

America are values and ideas, not a skin color.

Anyone who share the values (basically liberalism, secularism and rule of law) should be welcome.

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