Hacker News

points by derac 3 days ago | 0 comments

Videos 1 and 4 on vision and computer use are wild. They depict the model finding a 2m feature from a large satellite image, then determining where a photo was taken. Is it just me or do the Chinese model releases have less concern about looking like a military weapon? I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily, it seems honest. Also the music they choose for it is hilarious.

[–] AuthAuth 3 days ago

China hit maximum tech dystopia a long time ago. Now they can enjoy tech because they know its already maximally invasive and there is nothing they can do.

[–] InsideOutSanta 3 days ago

Last time I went to China, a friend left her phone in a taxi (I guess a "didi") near a train station. She ran to the train station's police station, pestered them into looking at the recordings, got them to tell her the license plate of the car, and figure out how to call the driver. Her phone was back 20 minutes later.

If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you.

[–] traceroute66 3 days ago

> If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you.

I don't get it.

There was CCTV at the station, your friend arrived in a taxi. And we're supposed to be amazed you can call up the taxi company and quote a numberplate off CCTV ?

Can be done anywhere in the world.

Would have been far more impressive story if she had arrived in a private car, dropped off by a work colleague or something.

[–] InsideOutSanta 3 days ago

> And we're supposed to be amazed you can call up the taxi company and quote a numberplate off CCTV

No. It was just a thing that happened to me that I thought was funny and interesting, because running to the train police station and asking them to track the didi was not something I'd ever have thought to do.

I'm sorry my little anecdote didn't satisfy you.

[–] traceroute66 3 days ago

> I'm sorry my little anecdote didn't satisfy you.

It wasn't that. Its that you made a reference to the Chinese surveillance state in the same post. Your example didn't fit the evil-bogeyman narrative you were aiming for.

Sorry if I was unclear there.

[–] InsideOutSanta 3 days ago

> Your example didn't fit the evil-bogeyman narrative you were aiming for

What in the world are you talking about. If anything, I wasn't sure if recollecting that anecdote was minimizing the harm of being surveilled constantly. The last thing I expected was being accused of an "evil-bogeyman narrative."

> Sorry if I was unclear there.

Yes, thanks for clarifying. Now I understand that this has nothing to do with me or what I wrote and is 100% projection on your part.

[–] traceroute66 3 days ago

> What in the world are you talking about.

You used the words "If you're going to be surveilled 24/7, at least you gotta make it work for you."

The implication being quite clear you were inferring it was only possible in China's surveillance state, when it was not.

How about we cordially agree to disagree and move on ?

[–] Asooka 3 days ago

Last time I did that, I called my phone from my friend's phone, asked the driver to come back, and paid him for the trip.

[–] InsideOutSanta 3 days ago

Her phone doesn't ring.

[–] aitchnyu 3 days ago

> figure out how to call the driver

Which country are you in where you cant take "call the driver" for granted?

[–] smw 3 days ago

Going from license plate to phone number would be one hell of an endeavor in most US states.

[–] axus 3 days ago

I expect the US police to have this capability; < 1% expectation that they would share it with a random citizen who walked in.

[–] taneq 3 days ago

“Powerless to help you, not powerless to harm you.”

[–] InsideOutSanta 3 days ago

I don't quite understand the question. If she had had her phone, she could have called the driver using the information from the didi app, but she had no phone, so she didn't know who to call.

[–] taneq 3 days ago

Herself, I’d have thought.

[–] InsideOutSanta 3 days ago

Her phone doesn't ring.

[–] yogthos 3 days ago

They can enjoy tech because people see tech improving every aspect of their lives. Nowhere in the the world have people ever seen the rate of technological progress that people in China have. Imagine going from having practically no electronics, to everyone having a cellphone, self driving cars, high speed rail across the whole country, drone delivery, and so on. Naturally, people who've seen technology dramatically improve every aspect of their lives would be optimistic that further technological progress will bring even better life.

Meanwhile, in the west, the standard of living has been eroding for the majority of the population. Technological progress is associated with layoffs, loss of agency at the workplace, and diminishing life prospects. So, it's no surprise that there is growing opposition to AI.

[–] AuthAuth 2 days ago

I can imagine it because the same thing has happened in my life time. The difference for me is that the tech isnt used to suffocate any of my human rights.

[–] yogthos 2 days ago

Tech in China isn't used to suffocate anybody's human rights either. In fact, more people in China see their country as being democratic than in America according to the latest Democracy Perception Index from the Alliance of Democracies Foundation.

https://allianceofdemocracies.org/democracy-perception-index

What makes this report interesting is that the organization publishing it was started by an ex-NATO chief and claims to unite democracies, meaning Western liberal style democracies. So it can’t be accused of having some sort of anti-Western bias. Their methodology is also straightforward, where they simply ask people if they feel their government works in their interest and whether they can hold it accountable. That’s the whole ballgame, because if people don’t believe the system is democratic then it inherently lacks legitimacy no matter what the constitution says. While people will surely attack this methodology, the sheer fact that a NATO-connected group published such a report gives its claims a certain credence given how dire these results are for the Western model of democracy. France now ranks alongside Kazakhstan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe in its own citizens’ eyes while the U.S. is split down the middle with about half of Americans saying they don’t think they live in a democracy anymore. China, on the other hand, sits up there with the Scandinavians and Switzerland, and Chinese people overwhelmingly say the system works for them. Notably, we can also see that perceptions of transparency, rule of law, and free speech are on the rise across the board in China.

And before you start trying to claim that people in China are simply afraid to speak their mind, the same report shows Russia at -21 points and Belarus at -9, so that whole excuse falls apart. Turns out that people living in states the West labels as being authoritarian do, in fact, complain when they’re unhappy.

Various other western publications have reported the same thing for many years.

https://www.tbsnews.net/world/china-more-democratic-america-...

https://www.newsweek.com/most-china-call-their-nation-democr...

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2021/0218/Vilif...

Turns out the US is the place where human rights are actually being suffocated.

[–] ngl999 2 days ago

> Tech in China isn't used to suffocate anybody's human rights either

Explain the mass uploading of secret screen recordings in more than ten phone brands sold in China in a component called SystemHelper, disclosed in the past few days, including but not limited to Xiaomi, Samsung, OPPO.

[–] yogthos 2 days ago

Ah yes, because American companies absolutely do not vacuum up all your data. Also, big news to me that Samsung is Chinese.

[–] ngl999 2 days ago

Whataboutism, so predictable.

Also, read again what I said, 'sold in China'.

Does it hurt so much when your fantasy turns out to be fake?

Oh, and you haven't explained the uploading. Maybe your last visit to onlyfans is now in a server, you know.

[–] ngl999 3 days ago

This is why Baidu's CEO can shamelessly claim Chinese people are willing to trade privacy for convenience years ago.

EDIT: typo

[–] derac 3 days ago

That makes a lot of sense.