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Baldur Bjarnason

“AI” models are suffused with US values and, occasionally, those are quite shocking to us non-Americans

An Icelandic police force used a generated image to promote a public notice

People were absolutely horrified

Why?

Because the cop in the image had a gun, in a holster, AROUND CHILDREN 😱

The uniform was also not accurate for an Icelandic cop but what people found obscene was the idea that anybody would carry a gun around children, even holstered

ruv.is/frettir/innlent/2024-10

33 comments | Expand all CWs
Kayfox

@baldur I always find the presence of armed people shocking.

Mostly because of the intrusive thoughts whenever I see one that I should absolute snatch it from its little holster and shoot the owner, while screaming "do you feel safer now, you dolt?"

raphael

@baldur just recently, an article went around on how genAI will easily show you people of X culture, taking a selfie (native americans, yuan dynasty chinese, aztec warriors, neanderthals, you name it) – except they all have that grotesque rictus toothy smile they use in the US.

i found that to be such a good example: on the surface, it purports to show historic (or prehistoric) people in a lively manner, not like exhibits. which would be good! but also, it makes painfully evident that it will impose a highly regional, very present-day idea of ‘liveliness’ upon it.

@baldur just recently, an article went around on how genAI will easily show you people of X culture, taking a selfie (native americans, yuan dynasty chinese, aztec warriors, neanderthals, you name it) – except they all have that grotesque rictus toothy smile they use in the US.

i found that to be such a good example: on the surface, it purports to show historic (or prehistoric) people in a lively manner, not like exhibits. which would be good! but also, it makes painfully evident that it will impose...

Baldur Bjarnason

@gekitsu Yeah, I remember that article. It was good.

raphael

@baldur speaking of, you wouldn’t happen to have its URL present? because a friend asked me about it recently, and i couldn’t find it in my RSS reader nor was it apparent in the last days’ worth of my masto TL.

Eugene

@baldur is that a runic alphabet on one shoulder and Hebrew on the other?

Sorry for polluting the world with our unique disease

The Psychotic Network Ferret

@baldur And then there is America, where children carry guns around other children.

It's "normal."

C.Suthorn :prn:

@baldur

It is horrific, that the icelandic police force did not notice how revolting the image was for icelandic people before publishing.

Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK

@Life_is @baldur would have been better off to just put a picture of a real officer in the schoolyard next to some kids bicycles (assuming its for a road safety project, and that AI was used as getting all the parents consent for the photos if there were real kids was seen as too much work/cost)

TeflonTrout

@baldur it is so fucking refreshing to hear that attitude toward guns rather than pushing for "more cops in schools"

Flash Mob Of One

@baldur Christ, I wish my fellow Americans could get the awfulness of casual gun use through their thick, stupid skulls.

WesDym

@baldur For what it's worth, both this and the reality are disturbing to a lot of us in the US, to.

RealGene ☣️

@baldur
Not to mention that Iceland apparently has legless levitating police:

Danny Boling ☮️

@baldur

The more I hear about Iceland, the more I wish I lived there.

Christine Lemmer-Webber

@baldur Personally my favorite things is that there seem to be pictures of the same police officer, the same guy

DELETED

@baldur the ethics surrounding AI are woefully lacking. I know the Canadian Government is looking at implementing guidelines but AI really took over so quickly that everyone is playing catchup.

LordWoolamaloo

@baldur My American friends are frequently amazed when I remind them that normally (aside from special response teams, or airport security etc), police in the UK do not carry guns. They're also slightly bemused that I become extremely uncomfortable when abroad and seeing an officer with a weapon. For all the many faults with police here, that is one good thing.

DELETED

@baldur oh goddamn that's like so normalized here it's insane

Jarek Rozanski ➡️ Wide Angle 📊

@baldur

Is AI biased? Yes.

Does police in other countries carry guns? Yes.

Germany and France for instance don't shy away from gun displays.

Nazo

@baldur Who's going to tell them that here in the US some parents even let their children use guns? Even illegally driving them with said guns across state lines to shoot innocent unarmed people.

I wonder why we have so many school shootings? It's really quite a mystery.

Cal Alaera

@baldur I've only been to London once and, of my three distinct memories of London, one was a cop, with a gun, in the middle of a public park. And how quickly I left that park.

miket330

@baldur a disease we have in America...lust for guns

Stacey Campbell

@baldur The Los Angeles Unified School District has their own police department. Armed of course.

When he was in elementary school my son had several classroom lockdowns due to armed individuals being pursued by police either on campus or nearby. They had a bucket in the room in case the kids needed to relieve themselves during the sometimes lengthy delay before the all-clear.

It would be nice if this bs could be expunged from American childrens' school experience.

Much more on the LASPD at the Meta clicky: instagram.com/p/C-k-RE4vErI/?u

#uspol #guns

@baldur The Los Angeles Unified School District has their own police department. Armed of course.

When he was in elementary school my son had several classroom lockdowns due to armed individuals being pursued by police either on campus or nearby. They had a bucket in the room in case the kids needed to relieve themselves during the sometimes lengthy delay before the all-clear.

Truth Sandwich 🥪🇺🇸😷

@baldur

Good point: a proper American would make sure that all of the children were armed, too. It's unfair to make them envious of the cop's gun...

Aeon.Cypher

@baldur Why didn't they just take a photograph?
I can't even...

Blender Dumbass ( J.Y.Amihud )

@baldur I don't find guns shocking at all. I mean I live in a country that is constantly at war. For me even if people would spontaneously explode, randomly on the street, I would just keep living normally.

Christine M.

@baldur

Never let AI run about unsupervised by human! Dangerous!

Diane 🕵

@baldur

Man...

Speaking as an American, America is filled with lunatics.

Yes kids shouldn't be around guns. I wish my country was more on board with that policy.

Kurzi :krea_soli_ks:

@baldur
From just an illustrative point of view:

Why does every person have the same facial expression? Every decent editor would send back that image with a change request to have more variety (not every kid stupidly grinning).

Why are helmets lying around on the floor? Looks like someone threw them around, which you should not do with your helmet.

And heck no – that cop should not carry a gun!

Random Tux User :fedora:

@baldur
I see this post and can't help but remember that some US schools have armed police IN schools to keep the schools safe.

I also recall being told in school in the event of a school shooter event, we had shut off all lights and get under desks and stay quiet. We were to avoid the shooter since the police might immediately shoot anyone with a gun. This was of course on one of the "school shooter" drills.

dazfuller :rickwhoah:

@baldur I mean, there’s kids missing fingers, floating busses. The kid front and centre with a helmet on is putting a second helmet on. And the cop is also carrying the abyss inside him.

He is death

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