Thank you, Elise, for covering this and other important issues in Mendo County. I find it laughable that Lisa and Chris Pugh are overlooking your reporting and complaining about your use of AI generated images. Maybe they’ve wallowed in the puff pieces that the UDJ prints to recognize good journalism.
Thank you. Transforming a photo into a sketch takes comparatively few resources and doesn't infringe on IP, provided one has permission to use the original photo. We definitely have to be mindful about how we use LLMs, however, and I appreciate the concern. It is a bit disingenous coming from a competitor, however.
Yes, and it's beyond maddening how much energy and water is being squandered on the most frivolous uses. A local news site that occasional uses an AI generated image is not the problem to be focusing on. Having strong local news and the healthy communities will give you a foundation to fight for a culture that makes much more mindful use of all natural resources. AI is one of many problems,
My husband and I are basically carbon neutral on 10 solar panels. AND so is Mendo Local, which currently operates out of our house. We stand in contrast to a trend of Americans installing electrical breakers that can handle ever increasing amounts of electricity for their home. This a problem for the national grid, though as far as I know, the trend is not a major issue in Mendo.
My husband and I also grow increasing amounts of our food, and we shop at the farmers market. We harvest the food that we produce and if we can't consume it ourselves, we give it away. We don't let fruit rot on our trees.
We are continually reducing the amount of plastic we use. Our weekly trash fits in the smallest container. Neither myself, nor the young news organization I am building from scratch — with minimal resources — are the target you want to waste your energy on.
Thank you for the link. I did read it. My take is the research cited is directed at the big, i.e., global corporate/tech world. I’m a big believer in grassroots efforts, but Mendo Local’s and other similar entities eliminating AI usage would hardly be a Neil Armstrong moment.
Thank you, Elise, for covering this and other important issues in Mendo County. I find it laughable that Lisa and Chris Pugh are overlooking your reporting and complaining about your use of AI generated images. Maybe they’ve wallowed in the puff pieces that the UDJ prints to recognize good journalism.
Thank you. Transforming a photo into a sketch takes comparatively few resources and doesn't infringe on IP, provided one has permission to use the original photo. We definitely have to be mindful about how we use LLMs, however, and I appreciate the concern. It is a bit disingenous coming from a competitor, however.
please don't use AI to generate images. It's a waste of resources.
Please explain how it is a “waste of resources”. And be specific.
Cooling water at data centers are polluted and wasted and can never be saved. "The training process for a single AI model, such as an LLM, can consume thousands of megawatt hours of electricity and emit hundreds of tons of carbon. AI model training can also lead to the evaporation of an astonishing amount of freshwater into the atmosphere for data center heat rejection, potentially exacerbating stress on our already limited freshwater resources. These environmental impacts are expected to escalate considerably, and there remains a widening disparity in how different regions and communities are affected. The ability to flexibly deploy and manage AI computing across a network of geographically distributed data centers offers substantial opportunities to tackle AI’s environmental inequality by prioritizing disadvantaged regions and equitably distributing the overall negative environmental impact." - from this article: https://hbr.org/2024/07/the-uneven-distribution-of-ais-environmental-impacts?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=domcontent_bussoc&utm_term=Non-Brand&tpcc=domcontent_bussoc&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20702632551&gbraid=0AAAAAD9b3uQM6UKWYKz1MrDrvQqa7ed3b&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7rDMBhCjARIsAGDBuEBVH4Qw1_Y24T37W9a6Zw0_HU77ROI44TagaL8dl27GHzZmyDOKtiwaAjTgEALw_wcB
Yes, and it's beyond maddening how much energy and water is being squandered on the most frivolous uses. A local news site that occasional uses an AI generated image is not the problem to be focusing on. Having strong local news and the healthy communities will give you a foundation to fight for a culture that makes much more mindful use of all natural resources. AI is one of many problems,
My husband and I are basically carbon neutral on 10 solar panels. AND so is Mendo Local, which currently operates out of our house. We stand in contrast to a trend of Americans installing electrical breakers that can handle ever increasing amounts of electricity for their home. This a problem for the national grid, though as far as I know, the trend is not a major issue in Mendo.
My husband and I also grow increasing amounts of our food, and we shop at the farmers market. We harvest the food that we produce and if we can't consume it ourselves, we give it away. We don't let fruit rot on our trees.
We are continually reducing the amount of plastic we use. Our weekly trash fits in the smallest container. Neither myself, nor the young news organization I am building from scratch — with minimal resources — are the target you want to waste your energy on.
Thanks for the perspective. I appreciate it.
Thank you for the link. I did read it. My take is the research cited is directed at the big, i.e., global corporate/tech world. I’m a big believer in grassroots efforts, but Mendo Local’s and other similar entities eliminating AI usage would hardly be a Neil Armstrong moment.