Model Collapse And Dezinformatsiya

The Word Collector — Part 42

This is the latest in a series about new words and phrases, specimens collected during expeditions into the deepest, darkest literary and media wilderness, and displayed for your entertainment, elucidation, and enlightenment. These are new to me, but of course, you may know some or all of them already, in which case you are welcome to marvel at my ignorance, an inexhaustible seam of material to be mined.

Model collapse — This phrase turned up in an opinion piece by Lynn Wahl about the danger when AI starts training itself on its own ouput –

“At some point, and it’s already starting to happen, as the models scrape the internet, they start ingesting their own outputs. Like a snake eating its tail, eventually, the whole thing will collapse into a disgusting puddle of incomprehensible garbage.”

dezinformatsiya — this Russian word for disinformation, is used in the article on the link below. Recently graffitied Stars Of David appeared around Paris, and the suspicion has fallen on Russian sympathisers, trying to stir unrest in the West, as if we don’t have enough problems -

Shilajit is a sticky substance found in the Himalayas that it is claimed may offer health benefits for various conditions, such as Alzheimer’s disease, low testosterone, chronic fatigue syndrome, iron deficiency anaemia, and more. I came across the word in a Facebook post from someone who said they put it in their coffee. I tend to think a healthy diet and exercise are the best options, but I like to keep open-minded about these things. More about it in this article.

“hyper evolution” — this phrase is used in “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman, to describe the accelerated process sparked by the combination of advances in biotechnology when combined with AI.

“omni-use technology” — this phrase is used in “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman to describe the many ways a technology can be used, for good or nefarious purposes.

“homo technologicus” — this phrase is used in “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman to describe a new iteration of our species, as we become increasingly entwined with the technology we are using.

bona vacantia — this Latin phrase is used (in the UK), to refer to goods without an apparent owner, such as treasure trove or the estate of a person dying intestate and without heirs, to which the Crown may have right. The phrase was used in “The Guardian” in an investigation into this ongoing practice which caused something of a scandal, resulting in the Crown putting the money into some ethical investments, though they have not donated the money to charity, which might have been more appropriate -

Simpson’s paradox is a phenomenon in probability and statistics in which a trend appears in several groups of data but disappears or reverses when the groups are combined. This result is often encountered in social science and medical science statistics and is particularly problematic when frequency data are unduly given causal interpretations. The paradox can be resolved when confounding variables and causal relations are appropriately addressed in the statistical modelling (e.g., through cluster analysis). The term appeared on the BBC “University Challenge” show.

leery — an informal adjective meaning cautious or wary due to realistic suspicions. The word was used in a BBC Radio 4 programme.

Amaterasu particle — named after the sun goddess in Japanese mythology, it is one of the highest-energy cosmic rays ever detected, and referred to in this article -

“The context window” — when used of an AI system, this phrase refers to the total amount of text or other inputs and outputs it can process at a given time. The phrase is used in this article on Medium:

AMA — an acronym for “ask me anything” used by Kristina God in a Substack newsletter.

I hope you enjoyed this collection, and do share any favourites of your own in the comments.

As always, thank you for reading.

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Previous articles from The Word Collector:

Part 41 — A Flapdoodle of rapid unscheduled disassembly

Part 40 — Mulesing, Merkins, Quislings, Tallywags And Refoulment

Part 39 — Blowing off the hinky cobwebs

Part 38 — A Dreich Case Of Psychoterratic Solastalgia

Part 37 — A Cockamamie Collection Of Highkey Zhuzh

Part 36 — Keggers, Kerning, Çay and Crickets

Part 35 — Murmuring judges and anhedonia

Part 34 — A-quomodocunquizing-borborygmus

Part 33 — Going Monk Mode In Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukaka­piki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­ki­tana­tahu

Part 32 — Turpitudinous Tourons

Part 31 — Hurkle durkle, medicanes and misophonia

Part 30 — Immortal earworms

Part 29 — Government on the RAAC

Part 28 –Saved by a deus ex machina

Part 27 — Pre-Lapsarian Yakers

Part 26 — Fegans, Jorts, Rababs And Scotch Bonnets

Part 25 — Fissiparous Hegemony

Part 24 — Lollygag And Booktok

Part 23 — Patronymics And Samovars

Part 22 — Medium Is No Chronofage If YRMIRY

Part 21 — Everything Is Eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious

Part 20 — Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia And The Matthew Effect

Part 19 — A Nappuccino And Some Typo-Squatting

Part 18 — Yeeting Detritovres

Part 17 — An Inverted Pyramid Of Piffle On The Bed Of Procrustes

Part 16 — Having The Jones And Partisan Acrimony

Part 15 — Spycops In The Boondocks

Part 14 — Harlots, Stochastic Parrots, And The Devil’s Cufflinks

Part 13 — The Things We Make Exceptional

Part 12 — “Semper Fidelis” And Semantic Symbiosis

Part 11 — Heliophobic Hikikomori

Part 10 — Lenticular Clouds And Peque Peques

Part 9 — Big Red Boots And Nepo Babies

Part 8 — A Patina Of Smilies

Part 7 — Atavistic frou frou

Part 6-Mouth Breathers And Pearl Clutchers

Part 5 — The Lexophile’s Latest List

Part 4 — Revenge of the word collector

Part 3- An Etymological Extravaganza

Part 2- Return Of The Word Collector

Part 1 — A Moment In The Sun