Yup, it’s overblown. Just wanted to give an explanation, you never know what level of awareness other strangers have online. Wish you the best, and see you around!

It is not a problem in many contexts. For instance complementing people in social non-work gatherings. “Wow, you look great in that suit”, or “You are even prettier than I remember”. Or when talking about someones ability to attract attention.

However in the context of an important message from a person, it derails the conversation and kinda just objectifies a person. As if it is more important than what they are saying or contributing.

It basically boils down to this: Do you want to be remembered for being good looking or your contributions to this world? How does it feel to be unsure if you got the job, because of looks? Or if people are listening because of your looks?

I am glad you asked, and I already saw someone gave a great explanation, but wanted to pitch in as well 😊

Consider other works of art that more than one person contributes to. People do research together, people make software together, bands make music together etc. I guess Christopher Waltz isn’t creating amazing art when he portrayed Hans Landa in the opening sequence of Inglorious Bastards, or any other actor for that matter. They are just doing what the script tells them to.

When you sing you make something original. The lyrics might not be, the other instruments might not be, but there is only one exact voice that is yours.

I identify with Norwegian and western european liberal values. I believe in free speech, democratic values, science, press freedom, human rights, unity, being compassionate, a strong welfare state, equality, womens rights, lgbtqia+ rights. I also have a sense of feeling that all europeans are my peers and that we are a collective. When Russia attacked Ukraine, it felt as if they in some way also attacked a close neighbour, a friend and our way of life.

Just came across https://d-shoot.net/kagi.html . Seems like there are more good reasons to avoid it besides it also using Yandex as an index.

Yes, but not fully. They have their own index as well. They have also recently started a partnership with Ecosia to focus more on that effort.

I totally agree that it is a miniscule amount. I try to prioritize more effective actions for other causes I care about, but personally am uncomfortable with any compromises with Russia at the moment. Luckily it’s basically close to zero products and services that are Russian, so it’s easy to avoid. So everytime I come across something Russian, I just avoid it. Kagi is one of the really rare times.

There’s also non-economic reasons to avoid a Russian index considering their reputation with misinformation campaigns. Even a slight nudge in the direction of Russian positive propaganda is damaging. But this was not my initial argument.

There is also the information gathering aspect, knowing what people search for (even if anonymous) is valuable.

I see your point, but I think there is a meaningful difference.

Russia started a war with a peaceful nation. It is in no way, shape or form a provoked war.

There are a couple of ways you can react to hurt the agressor. With the goal of making them stop hurting the innocent. Military action is one, economic is another.

Most European countries have decided to hurt them economically. As a European I agree with this, and fully support it. I try my best not to support the Russian economy. If Russia as a country changes in the future, my view will probably change as well. This is a war that Putin started.

That said, I believe the support from the US to Israel was wrong. The US has been supporting genocide. One could argue that supporting the US economy supports these sorts of actions as well. However, the scale is important and how much involvement is important.

If you had mentioned an Israeli company, I would agree 100%. The difference is that the US have not been spending 1/4 to 1/3 of their entire fiscal budget fighting a peaceful democratic nation as the agressor.

Anyways, at this point I am kinda mad at the US for being a unreliable partner and going to trade war with Europe and bailing in their responsibilities when it comes to the war in Ukraine and creating uncertajnty within NATO, threatening nations etc, anyways. So not spending a lot of money on US goods and services at the moment either no.

I have been sick a lot lately, so have had a lot of time on my hands. I don’t have a search for Kagi or something. I wanted to use Kagi though, so I was disappointed when I realized that they want to continue this practice.

What are you implying with it being suspicious? In what way?

If Kagi pays a Russian company for a service, that company pays taxes to the Russian government.

Russia spends 32% of its budget on the Russian military. So for every dollar they get in taxes, one third is spent on the Russian military.

With a corporate tax rate of 20% that means 6.4% of Yandex profits go to the military. Since Kagi is mainly a paid service, I don’t want my money to go to the Russian military, and I guess a lot of other people don’t want this either.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-hikes-national-defence-spending-by-23-2025-2024-09-30/

The Russian people are not to blame, and I am sure a lot of great people work at Yandex and at different companies in Russia. That said, Russia chose to attack a peaceful democratic country, they are currently sanctioned by a lot of western countries in hopes that it will pressure their economy enough to force them to stop the war.

There isn’t much we can do to stop the conflict besides hurting them economically and supporting Ukraine. If we continue to use Russian products and services then that does not work. Unfortunately this affects everyone in Russia.

I have no idea, but they amongst other indexes use the index from the Russian company Yandex

Obligatory mention that Kagi also use the Russian search index Yandex. This aids the Russian economy and the Russian war effort.

Edit: I recommend reading my in depth explanation here https://lemmy.world/comment/15520236

Not an easy thing to change about oneself. Good job and thanks for sharing 👏

Don’t pay any attention to that kinda stupid comment. Anyone posting that kind of misinformation about AI is either trolling or incapable of understanding how generative AI works

Thank you 😊

Excuse me? I am very offended by your insinuations here. It honestly makes me not want to share my thought and opinions at all. I am not in any way interested in this kind of content.

I encourage you to read my other posts in the different threads here and see. I am not an apologist, and do not condone it either.

I do genuinely believe AI can generate content it is not trained on, that’s why I claimed it can generate illegal content without a victim. Because it can combine stuff from things it is trained on and end up with something original.

I am interested in learning and discussing the consequences of an emerging and novel technology on society. This is a part of that. Even if it is uncomfortable to discuss.

You made me wish I didn’t…

I really don’t know enough about the subject or how that therapy works. I doubt that it is conversion therapy, but Ii really don’t know. I would assume it’s handling childhood trauma, medications etc.

Both therapy and if satisfying urges through AI generated content, is both something that should be answered scientifically. If there is research then that should be the basis for what decisions is taken, if there is a lack of research then more research should be the next step.

I see the issue with how much of a crime is enough for it to be okay, and the gray area. I can’t make that call either, but I kinda disagree with the black and white conclusion. I don’t need something to be perfectly ethical, few things are. I do however want to act in a ethical manner, and strive to be better.

Where do you draw the line? It sounds like you mean no AI can be used in any cases, unless all the material has been carefully vetted?

I highly doubt there isn’t illegal content in most AI models of any size by big tech.

I am not sure where I draw the line, but I do want to use AI services, but not for porn though.

Good arguments. I think I am convinced that both cases should be illegal.

If the pictures are real they probably increase demand, which is harmful. If the person knew, then the action therefore should result in jail and forced therapy.

If the pictures are not, forced therapy is probably the best option.

So I guess it being illegal in most cases simply to force therapy is the way to go. Even if it in one case is “victimless”. If they don’t manage to plausibly seem rehabilitated by professionals, then jail time for them.

I would assume (but don’t really know) most pedophiles don’t truly want to act on it, and don’t want to have those urges. And would voluntarily go to therapy.

Which is why I am convinced prevention is the way to go. Not sacrificing privacy. In Norway we have anonymous ways for pedophiles to seek help. There have been posters and ads for it a lot of places a year back or something. I have not researched how it works in practice though.

Edit: I don’t think the therapy we have in Norway is conversion therapy. It’s about minimizing risk and helping deal with the underlying causes, medication, childhood trauma etc. I am not necessarily convinced that conversion therapy works.

It can generate combinations of things that it is not trained on, so not necessarily a victim. But of course there might be something in there, I won’t deny that.

However the act of generating something does not create a new victim unless there is someones likeness and it is shared? Or is there something ethical here, that I am missing?

(Yes, all current AI is basically collective piracy of everyones IP, but besides that)

First off, I am sex positive, pro porn, pro sex work, and don’t believe sex work should be shameful, and that there is nothing wrong about buying intimacy from a willing seller.

That said. The current state of the industry and the conditions for many professionals raises serious ethical issues. Coercion being the biggest issue.

I am torn about AI porn. On one hand it can produce porn without suffering, on the other hand it might be trained on other peoples work and take peoples jobs.

I think another major point to consider going forward is if it is problematic if people can generate all sorts of illegal stuff. If it is AI generated it is a victimless crime, so should it be illegal? I personally feel uncomfortable with the thought of several things being legal, but I can’t logically argue for it being illegal without a victim.

I am happy people are giving good feedback to you. Empathy is something that you can get more of over time, it’s not static.

Do you feel that the rich deserve all that money and power while you and everyone you know have to work hard for simple necessities? Or does that unfair situation make you a bit angry? It makes me.

You might not personally care about many of these issues emotionally, but you can think rationally.

What happens if the poorest countries in the world becomes uninhabitable due to climate change? Refugees, lots and lots of refugees. No other refugee situation can even closely compare to this.

What happens if you get disabled? A safety net is nice. You don’t have to care about them, but a guaranteed dignified life for them and yourself is to everones benefit.

You might not care about LGBT rights, but that’s exactly why they should get them. Why care, it doesn’t hurt you in any way?

You might not think what the republicans are doing will affect you, but it will. They are cutting the government to the bone at the moment, this will in turn mean the government will provide worse services to you.

They are also implementing tariffs. The new tariff on goods from Europe basically mean that a thing produced in Europe now will cost you 25% more to buy. The same tariffs will be implemented on Canada and Mexico soon. It could surprise you how much is imported from Europe, Canada and Mexico. The thought behind it is that American goods will be priced more competitively. But in the end, you still have to pay more…

This stuff affects you. You don’t have to do much, really. Just vote democrat if this makes sense to you. You don’t have to be politically active. Just go to the booths and vote once in a while.

Just don’t fight against peoples freedom. Feel free to think egotistically though, if you really think about it you probably stand to gain from voting for the left. Unless you are rich of course, then republican might be the way to go. There is a reason the rich love republicans. There are some concepts that might not make immediate sense, which is why you should want higher taxes, the government isnt that ineffective, and that immigration is probably not really that big of a deal. The higher taxes bit is basically that everyone pools their money together, the rich have to pour a lot more into the pool than the average, then the government spends the money on services for all. So you might put in 100$ and someone making twice as much as you 250$. You end up with services which is worth 175$.

When you feel the pull towards the right, consider if what you believe or hear is actually true or makes sense. A lot of the time it is not. The most common “enemy” for the right is immigrants, and now lgbt. Check statistics and do some research yourself when in doubt.

Anyways good luck on your soul searching, and sorry for the long rant/lecture 😉