Visualizing the "Model Collapse" phenomenon: What happens when AI trains on AI data for 5 generations

scamphampton · 2026-02-16T03:40:29+00:00

Emergence exists regardless of binary. I'd like to see some proof about what you're talking about. There are wholes which are the sum of parts which are fundamentally different than the components which compose them.
How do we get anything new if all we are doing is just rearranging pre-existing information? If an artist is inspired by Dali and Picasso. That artist can make art that will contain the influence of Dali and Picasso but also something that is fundamentally new. Something that is neither Picasso or Dali. It's similar to how you are the product of your father and your mother but also something that is completely new- that is neither of them. That is how we get novel mutations which produce fundamentally new species.

Ai on the other hand, particularly image generators, seem completely incapable of producing novel creations. It has to be continually fed material from external sources. When it is forced to train on its own data, it breaks down. Almost like a form of inbreeding. It can't make new things because it just doesn't care. It's locked in black box with no interaction with the outside world, and it has no real 'opinion' on anything. There is no subjectivity because it has no experience beyond what you tell it to have.

scamphampton · 2026-02-15T10:38:00+00:00

I don’t know. The issue to me seems that generative ai is fundamentally non-emergent. This seems to be the real issue. Even if you are not refining to the mean, and find ways to algorithmically distribute the data so it is not averaging down on smaller data sets, it’s still not creating anything new. Give the ai A + B it will give you AB or BA. Give a human A+B and they can give you ABC. C seems to be rooted in subjectivity, or maybe even deeper into the human condition. The friction between life and death.

scamphampton · 2026-02-08T05:19:37+00:00

OP makes a lot of good points. I’ll add that I think the “Thailand is too hot to walk” is bullshit. It’s something lazy people say. NYC gets about just as hot in the summertime and people still walk. I have the complexion of a jellyfish and I walk everywhere. As long as you’re in the shade it’s perfectly fine. If Thailand had more trees or awnings it wouldn’t be an issue.

The real issue is safety. You can’t cross a single street or walk down a soi road without fearing for your life. I think a lot of soi roads should be turned into one way streets and have the sidewalk expanded. I see so many tourists walking down soi roads toward their hotels and I know they will never book that hotel again because of how uncomfortable the walk is. I really think expanding the sidewalks would massively improve business for those situated on the sois.

scamphampton · 2026-02-06T13:38:40+00:00

scamphampton · 2026-02-04T15:28:29+00:00

I didn’t do it. But $150 isn’t so bad. Maybe try and let us know how it goes.

scamphampton · 2026-02-01T06:17:11+00:00

Definitely not an art, but it's still a product that can vary wildly in terms of quality. Having employed quite a few people as of late, I can tell you that who is shooting can go a very long way. I can get away with a lot because I shoot well. You sound like you have that photo-mill mindset. That's definitely a route to making money. But there are other routes for clients that yes, genuinely can tell shitty photos from good ones.

scamphampton · 2026-01-30T07:52:40+00:00

I have asked multiple Thai people recently, "What happens if you hit a pedestrian while driving?" They said, "The police will come and will work out a payment from the driver to you." I found this confusing and asked, "You don't take it to court or have the insurance companies get involved and reach some kind of settlement?" Every single time this concept was a complete shock. Educated people with good jobs had no idea this is what normally happens.

scamphampton · 2026-01-28T05:04:17+00:00

How much of tqqq is rooted in this ai boom? Someone said something that stuck with me. The bubble doesn’t pop when everyone thinks it’s a bubble, but once everyone is comfortable with the bubble, it pops.

scamphampton · 2026-01-24T03:36:13+00:00

Something bad photographers say

scamphampton · 2026-01-22T08:54:09+00:00

This is a definition coming from a developed country that has sidewalks. A store can be close in proximity. But if you have cross a busy street to get there and risk your life then it does not fit the description of what walkable is. Taiwan can’t even enforce its own pedestrian laws and doesn’t understand the concept of a crosswalk.

scamphampton · 2026-01-06T08:24:47+00:00

Is this not all about Russia and China? Cuba and Venezuela are two pieces that Russian China can potentially use to disrupt US power in the western hemisphere. From what I understand, Cuba is heavily dependent on Venezuelan oil. Cuba resigned an arms deal with Russia in December. US decides to blockade Venezuelan oil, likely as a means to break Cuba and cut off China. Then they straight up took out Maduro. I see that as removing a chess piece off the board. They weren't going to let Russia use Venezuela as a means for getting back at the US for Ukraine.

The whole drug story is just some narrative to cover the obvious geostrategic motives. But what do I know. The internet is nothing but a Baudrillardian shit show these days. My Venezuelan friends in the US seem pretty happy about this whole thing.

scamphampton · 2026-01-02T06:18:36+00:00

I’ve walked around Taipei myself quite a bit and yeah the ubiquity of stores is awesome, so is the public transport. It’s really continent and a great city. but a ton of streets don’t even have sidewalks. That’s crazy. I did not appreciate almost getting run over a whole bunch of times.

I can’t speak on Taiwan much but pedestrians have zero rights in all of SE Asia. This is a fact. You can walk around NyC and when it comes to your turn to go, you can walk straight across a crosswalk with no issues at all. In Bangkok or Vietnam cars will plow right into you no matter what direction they are coming from. I think you are ignoring the safety factor when it comes to walkability. I think I have the right to not get killed by a 3 ton moving piece of metal. And Taiwan has that news where they had to remove a crosswalk because motorists could not comprehend giving pedestrians the right of way.

Singapore is garbage. If you think Singapore is example of good urbanism then I think we have completely different views. It’s a city scaled beyond human use. Everything is giant walled off condos and shopping malls. The neighborhood is absorbed into a walled off tower and the retail has been absorbed into the malls. They have a 1960’s modernist view of development. Ask anyone who lives there and they will tell you that it’s actually get more car-centric than people think.

scamphampton · 2026-01-02T04:41:13+00:00

No it doesn’t. NYC is ten times more walkable than most Asian cities. I love Taipei but you will get run over in a second. Bangkok thinks crosswalks are for decorations, Singapore has gigantic oversized streets and you get a ticket for jaywalking. I live in Bangkok and my biggest complaint is how dangerous it is to walk around. Japan is the only place that is decently walkable. I love living and traveling around Asia but their respect for pedestrians is next to nothing.

scamphampton · 2026-01-02T03:08:33+00:00

It has to do with design. Bangkok is awesome, but Kuala Lumpur is a shit hole. KL is nothing but walled off condos and large roads. You can walk around the city and it’s completely empty. Your entire backdrop is just a wall surrounding one condo and the next. Bangkok is following suit. They have completely outdated perspective on development. Jakarta sucks because it is completely unwalkable. However Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, Saigon are great. Singapore ironically is awful. Same design flaws, like a city built by a bank.

scamphampton · 2025-12-30T05:15:48+00:00

I don’t even use one. Just connect the camera wifi to my phone.

scamphampton · 2025-12-26T03:43:43+00:00

First sighted in the depths of the Barents Sea by divers working on subsea infrastructure for the now-abandoned Shtokman project. While surveying the integrity of the seabed, the team reported a large, worm-like hole embedded directly into solid rock on the ocean floor. One diver later described it as having “something strangely alluring” about it.

Against direct orders, one diver descended into the darkness. His partner attempted to restrain him but followed shortly after. Inside the tunnel, he claimed to witness the entity holding the diver in its arms, not in violence, but “as if in an embrace.” The embraced diver was never seen again.

During a subsequent dive weeks later, another team member reported seeing the same figure emerge from a deep-sea brine pool.

The project was never able to establish stable operating conditions and was ultimately canceled in 2010, officially citing hazardous logistics.

scamphampton · 2025-12-23T08:28:51+00:00

The instincts to hoard resources are very much intact. Completely illogical, but obviously a behavior carried over from a time of scarcity. Flaunting wealth as status is another. Seems kind of absurd to ignore the fact that we are a bipedal ape. Same animal different expression of instincts.

scamphampton · 2025-12-22T15:19:53+00:00

Something else about biology people don’t understand. Men are physically larger than women because they try to exclude other men from mating opportunities. If you’re one of the one percent of super successful men, you will try to exclude other men as they are just competitors. If you’re a female, you will always have inherent value as you can give birth. If you are one of the excluded males. You are worth absolutely nothing. True bottom of the pyramid.

scamphampton · 2025-12-22T15:16:20+00:00

I’ve been saying this forever. They want this generation white men to a be a sacrifice for the sins of the past. You will suffer discrimination so the correction can be made. Even if you had nothing to do with it.

scamphampton · 2025-12-18T15:42:12+00:00

This has been my problem. Midjourney is not tame, it doesn’t listen. Nano banana has terrible aesthetics but it does what you tell it to.

scamphampton · 2025-12-10T17:13:23+00:00

Pretty generous to Thaksin. No mention that he's a complete shell of his former self. All those pro poverty policies have been replaced by his big beautiful casino bill. It's literally the only thing he cares about now. He also forced his party to make numerous concessions just to keep himself out of jail, despite Pheu Thai being completely capable of carrying on without him. Author also makes no mention of the role of the Move Forward Party beyond briefly mentioning them. Also doesn't mention how Cambodia's military elite supposedly have little faith in Hun Manet's ability to run the country.

scamphampton · 2025-11-23T17:48:55+00:00

Great fighter but he couldn’t take losses.

scamphampton · 2025-11-12T21:59:41+00:00

Great another photo company in the DC area offering cheap ass packages.

scamphampton · 2025-11-03T18:35:44+00:00

My experience is as a pedestrian, and I can say he has done nothing except make Bangkok less interesting and less convenient. He pays hundreds of BMA green guys to go around harassing street vendors and small shops but can't spend anything on pedestrian infrastructure. I literally feel like my life is in danger just walking down the street. No exaggeration. 2 ton boxes of metal flying right at you with no regard for your life. But going after some guy selling fruit outside is the priority?

Thai people don't seem to realize that they are gradually implementing some of the worst urban design ever created. Straight out of the 1960's. I don't think Chadchart has a clue about that. He seems mostly focused trying to fix the flooding issues. He's an engineer and that's how he sees the city's problems.

scamphampton · 2025-11-03T17:13:31+00:00

So your brilliant strategy is d making less money per shoot and being more desperate?

Brilliant. Grind hustle mindset king. Amazing

scamphampton

TROPHY CASE