They use spare hydro power during the off season so the net impact on the environment is negligible.
It's shameful that we can't think of something better to do with all that electricity. Data centers, supercomputers even LLMs would create something of social value.
Some are some aren't. This crackdown kicked off after a Chinese celebrity was kidnapped by one of these gangs after being lured to Bangkok with an offer of an acting gig. The fact that multiple compounds were raided but not a single gangster was arrested stinks. The fact that it's assumed all the workers are victims with hearts as pure as snow is bullshit. The AP isn't even covering half the story in this article.
The Thais are making a big show of shutting down a couple of compounds in the hopes that the Chinese tourists will come back and forgive them for turning a blind eye for so long but they can't even be bothered to identify or investigate the people who run them.
Many of them knowingly and willingly signed up to work as scammers and deserve to be sent to prison before they are sent home. I have little sympathy for them.
The headline is misleading, many of these people knew full well that they were going to work in scam centers they were just naive or ignorant about the horrendous working conditions that awaited them. They should be sent to court and then prison before they are sent home.
The fact that 300,000 people work in this industry makes it impossible for them all to be victims of subterfuge by traffickers.
The crash at Charles de Galle contributed along with 9/11, the sonic boom limiting flights and the inability to fly across the Pacific. Also the plane is super narrow making seating uncomfortable.
My favourite example is Concorde, which remained profitable throughout its service life but was cancelled because bigger profits can be made with slower planes.
Patents expire after 10 years so technology being locked away isn't the biggest concern. The bigger problem is the dismantling of supply chains and loss of skills and experience when the workforce moves on.
Some of us live overseas and need to make official calls to government agencies and companies from time to time.
I like how the article presents this as some super secret conspiracy when Mitt Romney and others made public statements openly admitting to this.
There are cases progressing through the courts. If the courts rule that copyright has been violated by the AIs under current laws then we won't need to create a new offense or expand IP laws currently on the books.
wtf are people actually buying
A unique work of art I guess since it's unlikely anyone would be able to replicate the prompt in order to get the same results.
When someone makes use of a service and doesn't pay afterwards that is considered to be theft even if the provider hasn't been deprived on anything. For example, if I snuck into an art gallery without paying I won't remove anything tangible since the gallery's overheads and running costs were fixed long before I arrived.
A better word would be copyright infringement if the AI is making use of other works without a license or other permission. Based on my reading of the article it appears those involved only fed the AI works in the public domain or works that they had created themselves. The letter of complaint appears to be signed by artists who are unaware of these circumstances.
These AI models require huge amounts of electricity. If governments wanted to they could destroy their ability to operate, like when China banned bitcoin mining.