Relying on Generative AI is a bit like playing draughts, you will get huffed eventually!

Huffing: In draughts, when a player fails to make a mandatory capture if available, the opponent can remove the piece that should have made the capture from the board. 

Improving the Question
When we ask Generative AI for help, we know that we won't always get the answer we are looking for on the first attempt. So we have to draft and re-draft the question to get a more useful answer, and some of ways we can improve the question include the following:

• we should give as much detail and context as possible
• we could say what we are not looking for, as well as what we are looking for
• we could explain the need for the answer by specifying the type of person we are generating the answer for (e.g. "I am a lecturer teaching a first-year module on Accounting in a Business degree, and I want help with ...") 
• we could suply a sample answer (or answers) of the type we are looking for
• we could ask the Generative AI to explain why it is producing the answer it is giving, by asking it to present the step-by-step chain of reasoning it used to get the current answer.

The 3 Ps Process

To help structure the process of of adding any of the above 5 suggestions, I've created a three-stage methodology as follows:

• 1. PROMPT: This is the initial question, we will try to be as specific as possible

• 2. PROBE: We will review the answer, and try to verify externally if it is correct

• 3. POLISH: We refine the answer, by adding more detail, by saying what we are not looking for, by indicating roles, by providing sample answers, and by asking the AI to show its reasonsing. Now return to step 2, and try to verify your answer.

I believe this process is the same as drafting and re-drafting a document until you are happy with the result (or sick of doing it!).

You've been huffed!

Thinking about drafts (and re-drafts) inevitably leads me to think about draughts (aka "checkers"), and there is a rule in that game called "huffing" whereby if you can make a jump, you have to do the jump, otherwise your opponent can remove the piece that could have made the jump. In some versions of the game this rule can be applied even if the alternative move you made was also a jump, it doesn't matter, the piece can be removed. This is analogous to a problem with Generative AI, sometimes you make all the right moves and you still lose out.

I suppose what I am really speaking about is "AI Hallucinations" whereby a Generative AI system generates a false, misleading, or nonsensical answer (that appears plausible) that is not based on real data or facts. So the problem is that sometimes Generative AI systems "make things up", and we really don't know all of the reasons why it does it. We do know some reasons, for example,

• It lacks any data about the topic, so it makes something up
• It incorrectly matches the style of the question with another question that it knows the answer to, and supplies that answer ("incorrect pattern matching")
• It becomes overconfident if it hasn't been corrected recently
• It doesn't have as much detail in the question as it needs
• RANDOM: Sometimes it just randomly generates a wrong answer, even if it knows the right answer.

A Splash of Randomness

I believe the last of those ("RANDOM") is the worst in some ways, because it is totally unpredictable, and I think it is something to do with the way that Generative AI systems learn. 

A lot of these Generative AI systems learn by getting presented with a number of sample answers. So, for example, if I was training a system to learn to recognise images of cars, I might present the system with 25 images of cars, and ask it to take those images and generalise from those to a general understanding of what an image of a car could be. The danger is that we don't want the system just to memorize the contents of the 25 images and think that's all they need to know ("overfitting"), so one thing we do in these Generative AI systems is to randomly deactivate parts of the system when learning the images ("Dropout Rate"). 

This is a bit like the following scenario: imagine there are 10 students in a classroom, and you are teaching them 25 examples about a specific topic, during the class students are popping in and out of the class at random times for random durations, after the class is over the students all get together and discuss the class, and between them all they have seen the whole class. Now, if, for example, Student A missed the first five examples you gave, and Student B missed out on the last 5 examples, they might have generalised the lesson in slightly different ways, so how they reconcile these differences is very important to the generalisability of their overall learning. They might also have additional knowledge and interpretations that they had filling in for the gaps that the individual students missed, so this might be very useful also.

 

Overall, I think this is ones of the problems with these systems, the ways they generalise, inevitably leads to random confusion !!!

Technomage Videos

 

 

 

 

Ethics4EU Update

What a great year it has been for the Ethics4EU Project. The first two intellectual outputs are almost completed, with one published already, and another almost done:

http://ethics4eu.eu/outcomes/

Three conference papers

1. Gordon, D., O’Sullivan, D., Stavrakakis, Y., Curley, A.  “Homo Ludens Moralis: Designing and Developing a Board Game to Teach Ethics for ICT Education”, 18th International Conference on the Ethical and Social Impacts of ICT, 17th-19th June 2020, La Rioja, Spain.
2. O’Sullivan, D., Gordon, D. “Check Your Tech – Considering the Provenance of Data Used to Build Digital Products and Services: Case Studies and an Ethical CheckSheet”, IFIP WG 9.4 European Conference on the Social Implications of Computers in Developing Countries, 10th–11th June 2020, Salford, UK.
3. Gordon, D., Collins, M., Becevel, A., O’Mahony, W. “Incorporating Digital Ethics throughout the Software Development Process”, Proceedings of the 14th Annual International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED 2020), 2nd-4th March 2020, Valencia, Spain.

Book Publication

Myself and Brendan Tierney contributed chapters to “97 Things about Ethics Everyone in Data Science Should Know” from O’Reilly Media, released in August 2020. My two chapters were called:

• Anonymizing Data is Really, Really Hard
• Ethics is the Antidote to Data Breaches

Ethics in Computer Science Education

The School of Computer Science, in Technological University Dublin (where I work) applied for, and successfully obtained, funding for a research project that is very dear to my heart - which is how do we introduce more ethics teaching into the computer science curriculum, so that when our students get jobs and are asked to write programs, that they think about the potential implications of their actions. Since the project has started I've spoken a lot of people in the IT industry about it, and most of them have a story that goes something like: "I had to resign from one company I worked for because they asked me to ... and I thought it was wrong". I think it's really important we equip the students for these kinds of moments.

MORE TO COME ...

How to Manage with a Broken Leg

Having broken my right fibula a month ago, I decided to put together an article with some advice on how to deal with it, and some practical advice on how to manage the normal daily activities.

First things first...

Having a broken leg will change your life for a couple of months, then it will be over, and normal life will resume, so don't panic too much, you just need to be patient, and you'll get through this.

Learning and Relearning

You are going to have to learn how to use crutches, and that will require that you relearn to how do a whole lot of things; walking, opening doors, washing, eating, and sleeping. Like all learning processes, there will be mistakes, there will be trail-and-error, there will be frustrations, but treat it as if you've just moved to another country where you are not familiar with the language and the customs, and don't be too hard on yourself, and it'll be OK.

Build a Nest

For several weeks, you are going to be bedbound (or couchbound), so you have to be prepared for that. For the first few weeks it's important to keep your leg elevated to prevent swelling, and I tried a variety of different things for that, including pillows, cushions, foam, a rolled up blanket, and a dog bed(!), what I found is that different things worked better on different days, not sure why, but there you go. What I also found is that no matter what I was using to elevate my leg, sometimes I could keep it in the same position for an hour or so with no discomfort, whereas other times no matter how I positioned my leg it was consistently sore or aching, so be ready for that.

IMPORTANT: Keep your phone within arms reach, and if possible have a phone charger within arms reach as well, people will be phoning you to see how you are doing, and it can be a really good distraction to have a long chat with someone. 

I also kept a notebook and pen with me, to write down anything I needed to remember, and as it was a A4 notebook, I keep all the documentation about the leg break in the notebook, including doctor appointment cards, invoices and bills, leaflets about different medical aids that I picked up at all the hospital visits, basically anything to do with the break.

Keep your painkillers, snacks, drinks, etc. on a tray near you.

Make sure your crutches are always with you, and find someplace that you can consistently place them, I found having them standing up and leaning on something is easier than leaving them lying on the floor beside you. 

I also used a grabber, which I found incredibly useful, to pick things up, and extend my range of influence: 

Those First Steps

Learning to walk with crutches takes a bit of practice, the one thing I learned was to take it slowly, there's no rush, and watch where you are putting the crutches. Keep looking at the ground, because you don't want the crutches to slip, so a loose mat, a spill of water, or a piece of paper on the floor can cause you problems, so just take it slowly and watch where you place your crutches and feet.

It is very important that you get used of using the crutches, you need to do some exercise, and I know it  can be nerve-racking, but it's important to move around, for a lot of reasons, to build up your confidence, to aid your digestion, and to avoid developing blood clots.

Having a seat

Sitting down using crutches is a bit tricky, under no circumstances try to sit down with your arms still in the cuffs, apparently you can break your arms quite easily if you do that. Instead, balance on your good foot, take your two crutches and point the handles towards each other so that they form a H shape, as below:

Now put one hand on both handles (as below), and using that, and your good foot, ease yourself gently into the seat, try not to "flop" into the seat, it might hurt.

Opening and Closing Doors

Opening a door while holding two crutches is really complicated, but it definitely gets easier with practice. The real key to opening a door that swings towards is judging where you can stand that is near enough that you can reach the handle, but far enough away so that when the door opens you don't need to adjust your feet. So when you find that spot, steady yourself with your good foot and one of the crutches; using the other arm to lean in and open the door, swing it towards you, and move back onto two crutches. It just takes a bit of practice.

Food and Drink

Drink lots of water, fruit juices and other fluids, it's very important to be hydrated, so much moreso than usual. Eat healthy food if possible also.

I found that if I made a cup of tea in the kitchen, then the kitchen was where I drank it, simply because I couldn't carry the cup of tea anywhere on crutches. I did try putting the tea in a flask, and putting that in my pocket, and having the tea on the couch, but honestly it was a lot less hassle just to have it where I made it. And it was the same for most food I prepared, it's just easier to have it in the kitchen, I tried putting a tray on the floor, and putting the food in the tray and slowly pushing it to the couch, but it took about 10 minutes!

Supplements

I'm not a doctor, but two things I found helpful; taking fish oil tablets will reduce how itchy your leg becomes under the cast, and taking vitamins A-Z to help the bone heal.

Cleaning Up

Having a shower is very complicated with a broken leg, if possible it's easier to have a bath, with the cast hanging out of the bath. If you are going to take a shower, you really have to make sure that the cast doesn't get wet, so there are products you can wrap on the cast (see below), although what I did was the following; wrapped the top of the cast in cling film and taped that off with duct tape (aka duck tape), then got a trash bag and pulled it up my leg over the cast, and then taped that as well, particularly around the top of it to make sure there was a good seal, and then tape above and below the knee (to be sure, to be sure). Getting into the shower is tricky, so I would open the shower door, stand perpendicular to the entrance, put one crutch into the shower and leave one outside, the hop my good leg into the shower, and drag my bad leg in. Then I'd put the crutches outside the shower, balancing on one leg, and close the shower door.

Showering itself is very tricky, you are balancing on one leg, you are trying to use your arms to steady yourself, the environment is becoming progressively more slippy, so it's tricky. I found leaning myself up against the wall was the best thing to do, and not expecting to get a full shower for the first few weeks was sensible.

After a few weeks I got a lightweight metal stool for the shower to sit on, that was great, also consider using a plastic chair, if you have any garden furniture handy.

Getting out means opening the door, reaching over to get your crutches, putting one in the shower, one outside, and pushing yourself out, being very careful not be put the crutch in water. To dry myself, I lowered myself slowly onto the bathroom floor (sitting on a towel) and dried myself as much as possible sitting on the floor, then slowly eased myself up, and finished off drying (a non-trivial task to say the least).

Dress for Success

No big advice here, but try to wear loose-fitting clothing, that's easy to get on and off. I found tracksuit bottoms were comfortable and fairly easy to get into.

If you can get a jacket with a lot of pockets (see below) that can be really handy for carrying things while using crutches, otherwise a tote bag worn like a bib works just as well.

I found wearing braces (aka suspenders, aka galluses) made my life a whole lot easier, once I got my foot into my tracksuit bottoms, I was able to use the braces to help me pull them up, it saved a lot of pain!

Exercise

It's very important to get exercise with a broken leg, I know it's the last thing you feel like, but it's important for your recovery and health to do it. As I mentioned above it's important to walk around on the crutches to build up your confidence, to aid your digestion, and to avoid developing blood clots. Other exercises you do don't have to be anything too dramatic, just wiggling your toes will help make sure your whole leg is getting circulation, and will reduce swelling. Additionally, I used a set of dumbbells to help build up my arm strength, because carrying myself around on crutches is sore on the hands, arms and shoulders, and after a week using the dumbbells it was much easier.

Entertainment

In many ways the entertainment aspect of this journey was the most surprising, I am an avid reader, I am normally reading between three to five books simultaneously at any given time, and I imagined having over a month in bed was going to be a great opportunity to get some serious reading done. This did not turn out to be the case, I found I couldn't concentrate on reading for more than about 20 minutes, some of it was to do with the pain in my leg, some of it was the frustration of not being able to go outside, some of it was to do with my arms being sore from using crutches.

Television on the other hand was definitely easier to manage, and I did look at a lot of comedy TV to maintain a level of happiness. I thought I was going to look at lots of DVDs, but hopping over to change the discs proved to be too tiring, so I stuck with Netflix and looked at a lot of fun shows, some great dramas, and some fascinating documentaries.

Chatting with the Trolls: Exploring Some of the Reasons behind the Leslie Jones' Cyberbullying (Part II)

In Part One of this article I suggested a few specific reasons why people are trolling Leslie Jones, in this part, I'm going to suggest an overall theory as to their motives.

So, that list of specific reasons they are trolling Leslie again:

1. Some of them think they are participating in a meme
2. Some of them think that Leslie Jones has too much influence over Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter
3. Some of them think that Leslie (or twitter) are in ISIS
4. Some of them are just jerks
5. Some of them are a bit sadistic
6. Some of them feel they are justified because Leslie responds to trolls, and think she is trolling back
7. Some of them feel justified because they think her responses to her trolls make her a troll and therefore a hypocrite
8. Some of them know that they are haters
9. Some of them don't know why they are doing it

Groupthink

Overall I think what's happening is broadly an example of Groupthink, I think anyone with right-wing views who is friends with other right-wingers on Twitter feel they have to troll Leslie because everyone else they know is doing it (or think they are).

One reason that I think this is particularly true is a repeated pattern I found when interacting with the trolls, I'd chat to one of them and be having quite a reasonable discussion as to why they trolled her, and suddenly between 4-8 other trolls would join in and start attacking me often in a coordinated way. These, I think, are so-called "mind guards" in the Groupthink literature, the self-appointed "protectors" of the group who try to stop members being exposed to adverse views to maintain unity within the group.

Another reason is their belief in the inherent morality (another common feature in the Groupthink literature) of what they are doing, they feel they are trying to expose the liberal bias of Twitter, that either Leslie is controlling Jack, or Jack is way too liberal, and banning conservatives, and therefore any tactic is acceptable in exposing that hypocrisy and (as they see it) gross injustice of the banning of Milo and others will be exposed also. Some of them also think Twitter is somehow working with ISIS (some of them are just mad).

One final reason I think that Groupthink is in play is the illusion of unanimity (another common feature in the Groupthink literature) that the trolls seem to have, although in practice (as I have mentioned above) there are very diverse reasons as to why different twitter users are trolling Leslie, when they swarmed together to attack me it was clear that some members were making comments that others felt went too far, so for example, at one point a group of about six twitter users were bombarding me with tweets, one sent a group tweet that said "he is almost ready for his hijab", a few others said agreed, but one tweeted directly to me saying "I don't agree with this" and quickly deleted the tweet. In another case one of the group said "when Trump gets elected, you and yours are going to get it", all but one of the rest of the group quickly agreed "Right on", etc. (as if this was a stock phrase, with an expected call-and-response), but one of the group didn't, and I think that is because they didn't agree with the sentiment.

Looking at the list above I think Groupthink explains reasons 1,2,3,6,7,8,9. Reason 9, in particular, "Some of them don't know why they are doing it" sounds like a perfect description of Groupthink to me. The other two reasons (4 and 5), because some are jerks and some are sadists, stand by themselves, those people will join any group if it allows them to spread pain.

I think if we can treat this twitter attack on Leslie as a Groupthink problem, we might be able to stop it completely.

Chatting with the Trolls: Exploring Some of the Reasons behind the Leslie Jones' Cyberbullying (Part I)

*** WARNING: THIS CONTAINS OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE ***

Like most people I was utterly disgusted by the cyberbullying on Twitter directed at Leslie Jones, so much so that I felt I had to do something about it, so for several days I monitored all tweets to Leslie Jones, and reported all of the abusive ones.

After a few days I concluded that reporting the bullies wasn't enough, I wanted to find out what was going on in their minds when they sent their abusive tweets, so I decided to have a chat with them. Here's what I did, I created a new generic twitter account, and every time a new abusive tweet was send to Leslie Jones, I'd report it to twitter, and then ask them why they were doing it; the answers were varied and surprising. I chatted to at least 250 trolls and below are some of the most striking.

I selected a fairly neutral logo for my twitter account:

SOME OF THEM THINK THEY ARE PARTICIPATING IN A MEME
======================================================

SOME OF THEM THINK THAT LESLIE JONES HAS TOO MUCH INFLUENCE OVER JACK DORSEY, CEO OF TWITTER
======================================================

SOME OF THEM THINK THAT LESLIE (OR TWITTER) ARE IN ISIS
======================================================

SOME OF THEM ARE JUST JERKS
======================================================

SOME OF THEM ARE A BIT SADISTIC

======================================================

SOME OF THEM FEEL THEY ARE JUSTIFIED BECAUSE LESLIE RESPONDS TO TROLLS, AND THINK SHE IS TROLLING BACK

======================================================

SOME OF THEM FEEL JUSTIFIED BECAUSE THEY THINK HER RESPONSES TO HER TROLLS MAKE HER A TROLL AND THEREFORE A HYPOCRITE
======================================================

SOME OF THEM KNOW THAT THEY ARE HATERS

======================================================

SOME OF THEM THINK THAT BULLYING LESLIE IS A WAY OF EXPOSING TWITTER'S LEFT-WING AGENDA

======================================================

SOME OF THEM DON'T KNOW WHY THEY ARE DOING IT

======================================================

MORE IN PART 2