For those of us especially missing Christopher Hitchens at this time.....

[Laffy Kat]

I offer this:

&t=13s

[Justice Brandeis]

1. He was a certifiable Bill Clinton hater

I'll pass on Christopher Hitchens, thank you.

[Laffy Kat]

2. Go right ahead. Your loss. nt

[dgauss]

3. I'm not sure how this was generated, Christopher Hitchens died years ago.

Obviously AI is involved, which is another whole huge issue when considering digitally reanimating him.

It seems there are several of these "Christopher Hitchens" posthumous AI commentaries. And they seem eerily precise. Not just the voice, or even the cleverness of language, but the iconoclastic and provocative (Hitchens like) push back, and on such recent events. How is this response generated so quickly and so accurately? I really wonder how this was created.

Here is a snippet from another video, describing the mindset and motivation of the far right.:

"if you truly believe your opponents are evil. If you truly believe they're trying to destroy the country. If you truly believe this is your last chance to save civilization, then violence isn't just understandable, it's obligatory."

OK, that seems like an insight that rings true and is important to understand, and just the kind of thing Christopher Hitchens might have talked about. Was it AI generated, or a human expert on Hitchens feeding a script to some kind of AI voice simulator?

And finally, how much does it matter if it makes sense?

[Laffy Kat]

4. Of course, it's AI.

But it read and sounded like the Hitch. I think it's what he would say if he were here.

[dgauss]

7. Yes, he died in 2011, clearly AI, and it did sound like him,

and I do think he might say something very much like that. That was kind of what I was asking about.

First, just out of wonder, how is that possible? I guess we just accept that it is possible, technology moves faster that we do.

But also, the big question for our future, is what do we make of this?

[oasis]

5. Great commentary. Well worth the listening time.

👍

[Laffy Kat]

6. I thought so, too!