AI and the bland slurry problem

The internet is now mostly written by machines, study finds

The study may come as a surprise to a lot of people because quantity is not the same as visibility. The study also found that despite the volume of articles generated by AI flooding the web, most aren't good at SEO and don't show up often on Google or even in ChatGPT responses. Both tools still prioritize human-created content, so most AI-authored articles go unnoticed by everyday readers...

Apparently blind to the source of any successfully performing writing, many have turned to AI models capable of churning out articles in seconds, with churn being the appropriate description for the bland slurry that usually results. The often dull, repetitive, and dully repetitive writing isn't going to nab eyeballs organically, and Google has openly deprioritized AI content in its search algorithm.

Surely this reflects the amount of human-written material which is also bland slurry, especially the slurry churned out by mainstream media. Maybe AI systems learn their bland slurry from that.

Politics too - here in the UK most political speeches could be described as bland slurry. Some politicians seem to know it too. Note how Ed Davey uses ridiculous stunts to boost his bland slurry resilience before a Lib Dem conference. Wise move I reckon.

Or speeches by Ed "Slurry" Miliband, none of which anyone can remember. The bacon sandwich debacle was his most memorable performance and that wasn't a speaking part.

Or Calamity Keir, another bland slurry expert...

But that's enough slurry for now.

Hanson on John Bolton - 'he bet on the wrong horse'

 

Party Pooper Politics

 

Labour advises schools and nurseries to consider fruit platters instead of birthday cake

Labour has cracked down on toddlers eating birthday cake, advising schools and nurseries to serve 'fruit platters' instead to 'promote healthy eating habits'.

Guidance from the Department for Education (DfE) recommends parents are discouraged from bringing in sweet treats to mark their child's big day.

The early years nutrition advice, which came in this term, recommends pupils come in with fresh fruit - or even without any celebratory food at all.

Titles

Prince Andrew to give up all his titles and honours, including Duke of York

However, he will remain a prince, having been born the son of Elizabeth II.

His former wife, Sarah Ferguson, will also no longer use her title of The Duchess of York, it is understood.

In a statement, Prince Andrew said: "In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.


Hmm, we appear to be enveloped in a miasma of undignified humiliation at the moment, far wider than Andrew's self-inflicted troubles. 

It won't happen of course, but when it comes to undeserved titles, Keir Starmer's "knighthood" could be on the table too. It needn't stop there either, a spot of Augean stable clearing could focus on quite a list of undeserved titles and honours.


By the way, has it ever struck you what a subtle jest it is that a successful politician should acquire the title of the Right Honourable? When any consideration of honourable behaviour is the last thing to enter into their calculations?

Miles Burton - Death Takes the Living (1949)

Comeback

Hmm - so Seaside Ange may be considering a comeback. Could be entertaining, but what a humiliating situation - well done Labour voters.

Angela Rayner 'to make statement to MPs on resignation' after ministers urged her to make a comeback

Angela Rayner is expected to deliver a speech to MPs on her resignation after ministers urged her to make a comeback.

The former deputy PM has stayed largely under the radar since her dramatic exit for failing to pay the correct stamp duty on an £800,000 seaside flat.

She quit on September 5 when a sleaze probe found she had broken the ministerial code - although it also suggested she had acted with 'integrity'.

However, the Daily Mail understands Ms Reeves is now poised to make a personal statement in the House next week, something ministers can request but is not done as a matter of course.

The BBC - or the land of official insolence

BBC Director-General Tim Davie says he backs 'enforcement' for TV licence fee evaders

The head of the BBC has said it is right that licence fee dodgers are taken to court.

Director-General Tim Davie claimed that the public also back ‘enforcement’ for those who evade the annual charge to watch TV, which rose to £174.50 this year, despite growing calls for decriminalisation.

Asked if he approved of the current system, under which those who refuse to pay up can be prosecuted and slapped with a £1,000 fine, he told BBC Breakfast this morning: ‘I do approve of enforcement. And actually, when you talk to most people who are paying their licence fee, they would say if people are evading the licence fee, it should be enforced.’

Pressed on whether that meant he supported people being fined or going to jail, Mr Davie said: ‘Absolutely I support the current system.’


He makes you feel that you are once more in the land of official insolence, and that, whatever you are collectively, you are nothing personally.

William Dean Howells - Their Wedding Journey (1872)

Be Bold With The Wrecking Ball

 

Be bold with tax hikes or risk 'groundhog day', chancellor told as low growth recorded

Rachel Reeves faces the prospect of another "groundhog day" unless next month's budget goes further than plugging an estimated £22bn black hole in the public finances, according to a respected thinktank

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said there was a "strong case" for the chancellor to substantially increase the £10bn headroom she has previously given herself against her own debt rules, or risk further repeats of needing to restore the buffer in the years ahead.

Modern men and women who live in industrial cities are like mice that have come out of the fields to live in houses that do not belong to them.

Now and then a bold mouse stands upon his hind legs and addresses the others. He declares he will force his way through the walls and conquer the gods who have built the house. "I will kill them," he declares. "The mice shall rule. You shall live in the light and the warmth. There shall be food for all and no one shall go hungry."

Sherwood Anderson – Poor White (1920)