Artificial Liberation - R30 Issue #17
What a funny week it has been. On Monday, Trump announced that Liberation Day was imminent. April 2nd would mark a new era for the American economy. Turns out he was right. It’s the end of the week and everything is still in the red.
The slew of tariffs presented in the White House Rose Garden might have been influenced by ChatGPT. Or Grok. Or Clyde? Asking the current crop of LLMs about a tariff scenario seems to always lead to the same bullshit solution.
Good thing that Trump himself pissed off to Mar-a-Lago, to host the Saudi-backed LIV golf tournament. Yeah, those dead soldiers that are coming back? Eh, whatever.
Speaking of AI, turns out that Hollywood has been quietly profiting off those fake movie trailers that have been popping up all over Youtube. Many of the channel owners seem to operate out of India and, judging by the article, have made a fortune showcasing AI-generated content. Good for them? I mean, personally, all that slop undermines people’s faith in the authenticity of digital communication. You’re kinda pissing on the social fabric here. But Chaudhari (one of the perpetrators/providers) sees no harm in advertising films that don’t exist, since everyone knows they’re fake anyway. Yeah, about that. Last week I saw a Dutch Facebook-post about a new Snow White film featuring an African actress as the titular heroine. The AI-generated movie poster caused people to rage and blame the Wokes for all the world’s ills. Maybe a problem with the Facebook audience, and not AI per se? In a perfect world, a moderator would label that post as bullshit and nip the problem in the bud.
It’s also funny they have to create fake ragebait when the actual new movie seems to generate outrage without the help of computers.
But, computers. I took a trip down memory lane over the weekend, finally playing Loom, the Lucasfilm adventure game from 1990. The art was great, the voice acting was great, the control scheme was novel and fun… but… But it was way too short! You’ve got two zones (basically), and then the game is over. Felt more like a tech demo than anything else. And, honestly, the story isn’t that great.
It’s a shame Moriarty never found a way to expand on the concept, since using music for problem-solving could lead to some crazy puzzle-design. You could use variations on a tune for a different outcome, or maybe have an NPC sidekick with a different instrument. Create an ensemble for complex, multi-layered puzzles! Probably too far out, but I bet they thought of such things during the design process. Enough yapping, just try it out for yourself.
And don’t forget to take a look at Mark Ferrari’s other pixel art, most notably a mood sampler using color cycling.
Cars. Hyundai presented a refresh for their popular Ioniq 6 EV. Not sure if I like it, but they’re going to present the souped up N version in the summer, so that’ll be the one to look out for. There’s also the Hyundai Insterio, but I’m not sure if that’s April Fool’s or actually real. It looks like from a Playstation commercial.
K-Pop. Wendy and Yeri have not renewed their contracts with SM. OMG! What does it mean? Will Red Velvet continue as a three-member group? The article suggests they will still participate in group activity, whatever that means. Just the occasional tour, but no new material? We will see.
Leftovers: Vulnerable and Extinct European Languages, Strudel Repl (make beats in your browser with code), Gangs using drones to steal tractor-GPS-devices
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/apr/04/us-business-stock-markets-nyse-blog-trump-tariffs-asian-markets
https://www.theverge.com/news/642620/trump-tariffs-formula-ai-chatgpt-gemini-claude-grok
https://www.politico.eu/article/donald-trump-us-trade-tariff-math-is-crazy-wisdom-of-crowds-author/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-picks-golf-dinner-over-dignified-transfer-of-troops/
https://theweek.com/politics/things-donald-trump-has-said-about-the-military
https://deadline.com/2025/03/inside-youtube-fake-movie-trailers-1236352406/
https://old.reddit.com/r/tokkiefeesboek/comments/1jio18m/zwarte_sneeuwwitje_sponsort_oorlog/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/snow-white-disney-rachel-zegler-controversy-1236159512/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom_(video_game)?useskin=vector
https://lucasfilm.fandom.com/wiki/Loom#Gameplay
https://store.steampowered.com/app/32340/LOOM/?l=german
https://www.markferrari.com/image-archives
http://www.effectgames.com/demos/canvascycle/
http://www.effectgames.com/effect/article-Q_A_with_Mark_J_Ferrari.html
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64367222/2026-hyundai-ioniq-6-revealed/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg_Q8WeMIQE&pp=ygUJaW9uaXEgNiBu
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64290299/hyundai-insteroid-concept-specs-details/
https://www.koreaboo.com/news/red-velvet-wendy-yeri-officially-leave-sm-entertainment/
https://mapsontheweb.zoom-maps.com/posts/languages/vulnerable-and-extinct-european-languages
https://strudel.cc/#c2FtcGxlcygnaHR0cHM6Ly9yYXcuZ2l0aHVidXNlcmNvbnRlbnQuY29tL3RpZGFsY3ljbGVzL0RpcnQtU2FtcGxlcy9tYXN0ZXIvc3RydWRlbC5qc29uJykKc3RhY2sobigiMSAyIDMgNCA1IFs2IDddLCAxNCAxNSAxNiAxNyIuc19leHBhbmQoIjUgMyAyIDEgMSAyIDMgNSIpKS5zb3VuZCgidGFibGEyIiksCnNvdW5kKCJiYWxhZm9uIGJhbGFmb246NCAtIGNsYXAgLSBjbGFwIC0iLmZhc3QoNikpCikuc2xvdyg2KQ%3D%3D
https://www.fwi.co.uk/news/crime/gangs-using-drones-as-spring-sees-surge-in-tractor-gps-theft
Front Gate of the White House by Mathieu Landretti
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