https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/03/ukraine-ai-foreign-ministry-spokesperson
Victoria Shi is modelled on Rosalie Nombre, a singer and former contestant on Ukraine’s version of the reality show The Bachelor
To avoid fakes, the statements will be accompanied by a QR code linking them to text versions on the ministry’s website.
Great idea, since everyone will check if the URL behind the code is the legit foreign ministry. Nobody would use a URL shortener and redirect everyone to real-ukrainian-website.russian-kgb.gov/agitprop/ukraine-fakes/legit-site.html
LLMS are not (currently) involved. The article states that video content, trained to imitate the likeness of a celebrity, is generated to recite human-written information. Or so they say
Ukraine is a test bed for the craziest bullshit Silicon Valley has to offer.
Much like with Vietnam being the American testing ground for counterinsurgency and Palestine as demo space for modern policing techniques, we're using Ukraine to run out all sorts of crazy political and military tech ideas.
AI politicians are Peter Thiel and Mark Andressen's wet dream. And Ukraine is where we're going to see if they work.
So the foreign ministry has a vtuber. Presumably to protect their identity? Fine. Are we going to entertain ragebait about it?
So that's what our tax dollars are funding...?
Fun little AI projects instead of bullets.
Fuck all this.
You realize we haven’t given them actual money, right?
And I doubt they are paying OpenAI with tanks.
Right pocket left pocket.
If you need a tank, and you get one for free, you can spend your tank money on something else.
Imagine pretending you don't understand that modern wars funded by the US are shell games in which typically nobody, except for defense contractors and politicians, benefit.
Did we really help the good people of Iraq? I bet their answer is a resounding No.
How about Afghanistan? I bet our CIA made a pretty penny off captured opium fields, but the Taliban is again in charge, nothing changed except hidden bank account balances.
If you need a tank, and have no money for a tank, you don’t magically get “tank money” when someone gives you a free tank…
You realize we haven’t given them actual money, right?
US has provided money, not just equipment, to Ukraine
Between January 2022 and January 2023, the U.S. committed more than $26 billion to Ukraine in financial assistance, according to data compiled by the Ukraine Support Tracker at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank. That’s about a third of the roughly $77 billion in total aid noted by Kiel, including humanitarian and military assistance, pledged by the U.S. government. The numbers represent money promised, not entirely distributed.
Another tally from the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget places the total amount of aid approved by Congress in 2022 for supporting the Ukrainian government and allies at about $113 billion. That includes about $27 billion in economic support funds, $7.9 billion for international disaster assistance and $6.6 billion to support and relocate refugees.
Graham noted that the war has wrecked Ukraine’s economy and that U.S. assistance has helped keep the government functioning.
The U.S. Agency for International Development has in releases and a report to Congress outlined how budgetary support to the Ukrainian government has been used. Some of the funding has been spent, for example, on social assistance payments and salaries for health care workers, first responders and educators. It also helps cover pensions and support Ukrainians displaced by the war.
You realize military equipment costs the United States actual money, right?
And I doubt the US government is paying military contractors out of their own pockets.
We are sending them old equipment, and spending the “money” on replacing that old equipment with new equipment.
In fact, it’s great for the US. Get rid of old stuff, get new stuff in its place, create jobs and stimulate the economy in the process. It’s win win win.
Apart from the fact that the US spends way too fucking much on military, but it was going to happen regardless
According to this article, of the 61 BILLION dollars sent to Ukraine in the latest aid package, only 7 billion is being put back into our own production. That’s still a major deficit that has to come from someplace.
Agreed, and I was overly simplifying for brevity. Though it’s still not us just handing them billions of dollars to do whatever they want.
I’m definitely going to keep that article handy though, I appreciate the link.