Thinking of Aaron Swartz today & I’m stuck on this photo - he & OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (both circled) each scraped 1000s of docs but one did it to make the knowledge free for all while the other did it to make $$$$ through probabilistic plagiarism. The US DOJ only came after one of them & the other is feted by tech bros and executives. Thank you Aaron for so much, for RSS, for Markdown, for Creative Commons and more. I’m sorry our society failed you. image

Replies (34)

Sucks that this post reaches nostr via a bridge instead of a direct npub, while nostr is full of low quality trash from people using Aaron Swartz to engagement farm
I'm not sure why one thief is a hero simply because another isn't.
Jeremia Kimelman's avatar Jeremia Kimelman
Thinking of Aaron Swartz today & I’m stuck on this photo - he & OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (both circled) each scraped 1000s of docs but one did it to make the knowledge free for all while the other did it to make $$$$ through probabilistic plagiarism. The US DOJ only came after one of them & the other is feted by tech bros and executives. Thank you Aaron for so much, for RSS, for Markdown, for Creative Commons and more. I’m sorry our society failed you. image
View quoted note →
OpnState's avatar
OpnState 1 year ago
Great first post.... Now follow 50-100 people and start building a feed. No AI algorithm here. Aaron was a hero.
gbs's avatar
gbs 1 year ago
Thank you for posting this; no wallet to zap you :/
Just saw Count of Monte Cristo last night. Hard to believe Sam didn’t have something to do with Aaron going down.
EchDel's avatar
EchDel 1 year ago
For the same reason the legend of Robin Hood and William Tell is celebrated.
IM's avatar
IM 1 year ago
Altman is a cunt.
First time I saw an interview with Sam Altman, I thought: Man this guy could be a Marvel villain. I’m getting more and more convinced that he really is.
The next 18 months will be an opportunity and call for deeper individual and collective spiritual expansion. On the shadow side of thinga and the lower octave of expression of some the energetica emerging there may be a stronger pull to disassociate with drugs and alcohol. Please, be mindful. Also, have your suicide watch on and take extra care for friends and family and strangers on the internet. Many may have a hard time dealing with the current and incoming pressures. If that's you, please DO ASK FOR HELP. 🫂 I and many others are here to hold and support you through it all. Ask!!! Tomorrow's Cancer full moon is emotionally charged with Mars in. Cancer retrograde dynamics and the warning is to restrain yourself from pushing someone else over the edge. There's something we are cutting cords and releasing for good. May that be false light old constructs around what true love, nourishment and support means, fully aligned and totally unencumbered, in divine and natural flow...... May we walk each other home in kindness, compassion and love.
Jeremia Kimelman's avatar Jeremia Kimelman
Thinking of Aaron Swartz today & I’m stuck on this photo - he & OpenAI CEO Sam Altman (both circled) each scraped 1000s of docs but one did it to make the knowledge free for all while the other did it to make $$$$ through probabilistic plagiarism. The US DOJ only came after one of them & the other is feted by tech bros and executives. Thank you Aaron for so much, for RSS, for Markdown, for Creative Commons and more. I’m sorry our society failed you. image
View quoted note →
Baz.'s avatar
Baz. 1 year ago
The data to build generative AI is stolen in many cases. Therefore the knowledge and output is stolen
luna 's avatar
luna 1 year ago
ah, wrenches my heart. i have been frequenting back at aaron’s blog these days, finding refuge there when i feel lack of community on topics and sensibilities peers around me do not relate to yet.
plagarism is a joke. there's no such thing. Aaron was wrongly persecuted but that doesn't make Altman a wrongdoer in this regard. Also Altman is a hypocrit.
Cronyism and a corrupt corporatocracy Unfortunately nothing has changed… we’re just moving into a technocracy Imagine a world without a state that persecutes brilliance and authentic altruism
Open source is the accelerator of informations thus making innovations faster . Aaron is a genius .
Baz.'s avatar
Baz. 1 year ago
Oh, I hadn't seen that story. I thought it was an open secret that the data used to train AI models was, in many cases, stolen - scientific papers, journals, engineering standards. The sort of stuff that would usually be behind a subscription or paywall.
Although probably deserved that’s a bit harsh on Altman. Beautiful parallel though. Aaron Swartz was such a tragedy.
campusalot's avatar
campusalot 6 months ago
makes you wonder what, Ian can you manage to struggle into a complete thought on this?