Archives for 2024

I think one of the funniest political tv shows ever was, of course, Veep, and I love the line when she says “with our corn tweet we were hoist by our own retard.” It’s so fucking wrong and inappropriate yet you know EXACTLY what she means. At any rate, I am loving this shit:

As Republicans rush to understand what the procedure entails and the ripple effects from the Alabama ruling, conservative leaders warn that a failure to quickly reach a consensus will open up candidates to more attacks from Democrats, who are eager to recycle playbooks from recent electoral successes and paint Republicans as extreme and out of touch with most Americans.

“My best advice for Republicans, if they don’t want to deal with Democrats doing unfair attacks, is to come up with a reasonable policy,” said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, a right-leaning think tank. “They should come up with what they actually believe and support and stand for, and it should be popular and in line with where the American people want to go.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee on Friday released talking points instructing Republicans to voice support for the procedure, a process millions of people who might oppose abortion support and that some, like former Vice President Mike Pence, have used. But they’ve eschewed the thornier details amid private disagreements among those in the anti-abortion movement about whether viable but unimplanted embryos count as life — and, by extension, whether destroying them is tantamount to abortion.

Don’t get me wrong, this is an awful decision and terrible for everyone. But this shitshow will at least be entertaining to watch until the media bail them out. But right now, the entire Republican party right now is “In Vitro? In Vitro who? Never heard of her. Are you talking to me on a cellular phone?”

Gotta love it.

In other news, the Air Canada Chatbot lawsuit thing is quite a hoot. For those who have not heard or read about it, apparently a guy’s mother died, so he was trying to buy tickets from Air Canada to go home. He didn’t have time to wait for an approval from them, so he went to their website, used the chatbox, and asked if in their bereavement policy it was allowed to buy the tickets ahead of time and request a refund later. Unbeknownst to the man, he was not actually talking to an employee at Air Canada, but an AI chatbot. And that AI chatbot had just created that policy out of the ether. Which just goes to show you that artificial intelligence has more common sense and empathy than the MA’s and corporate lawyers at a major corporation.

At any rate, the obvious happened. The guy said “Ok that seems reasonable” and went and purchased his tickets. Later on, he tried to get reimbursed, and living Air Canada employees told him to go get fucked that that was not their policy. So he sued, and the Air Canada lawyers actually argued in court that technically the AI chatbot on their website is not an Air Canada employee so technically we are not liable and don’t owe him a refund.

At which point, everyone on the tribunal said “get the fuck out of here with that bullshit” and found them liable:

The British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal rejected that argument, ruling that Air Canada had to pay Moffatt $812.02 (£642.64) in damages and tribunal fees. “It should be obvious to Air Canada that it is responsible for all the information on its website,” read tribunal member Christopher Rivers’ written response. “It makes no difference whether the information comes from a static page or a chatbot.” The BBC reached out to Air Canada for additional comment and will update this article if and when we receive a response.

Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights consumer advocacy group based in Nova Scotia, told BBC Travel that the case is being considered a landmark one that potentially sets a precedent for airline and travel companies that are increasingly relying on AI and chatbots for customer interactions: Yes, companies are liable for what their tech says and does.

That last line ought to scare the fuck out of Elon Musk.

I feel like a broken record, but it was another beautiful day here. Broke up the workday with some nice long walks, just sucking in all the sun I can. No big plans, prolly gonna watch some tv and get ready for catfest.

OH! Mom is not taking the tie-dye overalls well. I posted a picture of me in them in the family text chat and her initial response was “I don’t understand.” Later on she asked “Are you really wearing them?” I think she may disown me or just pretend I don’t exist like Gary’s mom in Weird Science.

Wait till she sees the tattoo.

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