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Why New York Times lawsuit seeks destruction of OpenAI and Microsoft LLMs
Charlotte Tobitt, Press Gazette, 2024/01/02

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So here's a question: suppose you read a New York Times article and, on the basis of that, had an inspiration that led to you creating a billion-dollar technology? How many copies of the article would you have had to pay for? One, surely. You don't need a 'license' to be inspired by content. Only to copy it - and even then, only in very specific circumstances. Suppose you read a large number of NY Times articles in order to get that idea. Still, one subscription would be enough, wouldn't it? Supposded you read every NY Times article before you got that idea. For this reason, I don't think the NY Times can win it's case against OpenAI (nor should it). All you need is one subscription, and I don't think the Times will be able to show that they were somehow hacked in order to save that $20/Cdn per per year by OpenAI.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty: Students’ Assessment of Credibility in Online Materials
Ralf St Clair, Maryam Shirdel Pour, James Nahachewsky, International Journal of E-Learning & Distance Education, 2024/01/02

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This is an interesting study (39 page PDF), with a fair number (1000+) of respondents, into perceptions of social media credibility. I would have insisted the authors work with a good editor before publication; poor writing frustrates the reader (for example, when saying  "people tend to discount less if the information appears to have implicit truth," which is so passive it obfuscates any meaning; or for example, the assertion that "credibility is seen as a form of believability, assessed by the consumer" defies understanding). The study is focused on "how information consumers make decisions and assign credibility in social media contexts." I dislike the phrase 'information consumer', as each of the two words is in an important way unrepresentative of what's happening. Occasionally, gems of clarity shine through. For example: "There are differences between factual and counter-factual posts, whether (or not) they are well or badly presented." And, "Presentation is a significant factor in assessment of credibility." Or, "Gender appears to have limited effect on credibility judgments." A broader sample would have been nice: maybe more than just one university, and maybe more than just students.

Web: [Direct Link] [This Post]

We publish six to eight or so short posts every weekday linking to the best, most interesting and most important pieces of content in the field. Read more about what we cover. We also list papers and articles by Stephen Downes and his presentations from around the world.

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