William M. Briggs

The Week In Doom — We Are All Seattle Now Edition

Item KOMO News Special Seattle is Dying KOMO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b53uiRFq4Ds If you were at all sanguine about the future, I beg you will watch this video. Item Inside the online community…

Philosophy Statistics

A Failed Argument Against Free Will: Predicting Actions

It is always hilarious when people rail against free will, who are especially flummoxed that Common Man believes in free will, and say "If only people realized their choices weren't…

Statistics

Death Blow To Statistical Significance! — Bonus: Here’s The Replacement

Don't miss the Nature article below! (I stole the graphic from it.) Am Stat Here are the opening lines from a press release (unfortunately sounding like every other press release…

Statistics

There Are No Such Thing As Gays (Or Transexuals)

Yours Truly is a statistician; indeed, the Statistician to the Stars! I call myself that because I perform probability analyses for money (and only for the best people). Yet I…

Philosophy

The Power To Kill Without Detection

Suppose you discover a device which allows you to kill those whom you would. The device's "batteries" never run out; it will always work and never disappoint. The device is…

Philosophy Statistics

On True And False Theories

What makes a theory true? Bad question, that. Conflates too easily why a theory is true with our knowledge whether a theory is true. Both are subjects of great interest,…

Philosophy SAMT

Summary Against Modern Thought: God And Natural Effects

Previous post. This week we learn God doesn't have to do all the work, as it were. HOW THE SAME EFFECT IS FROM GOD AND FROM A NATURAL AGENT 1…

Culture

The Week In Doom — 16-Year-Olds Vote Edition

Item At least 49 people are killed and 48 injured in multiple Christchurch mosque massacres involving an Australian terrorist, 28, who live-streamed himself opening fire on worshippers - as a…

Brian (bulaoren) on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
Logic, empiricism, wisdom... These solvents are without impact for people who have, so often, survived them. I believe this is…
spetzer86 on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
It's interesting that the commenters using AI prove the point that the use of a model yielding apparently random results…
JH on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
When brilliant minds join forces with advanced computers that execute tasks with precision and speed by following instructions, they achieve…
fergus on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
Post script. Looks like you are hiding well, for now, from the AI in the sky. I asked it if…
fergus on All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A ModelMarch 27, 2026
Did not read the article, just copy/pasted the number list to ChatGPT and it got right back with: Yes —…

William M. Briggs

All Models Only Say What They Are Told To Say, And AI Is A Model

It’s The End Of The World Again

Belgian Judge Wants To Arrest Little Nate Cofnast Because Cofnast Says Smart People Are Smarter Than Dumb People

Class 83: Why Were Paul Ehrlich’s Predictions So Good (and so Bad)?

The Great Effeminization of the Academy

The Only Metric That Matters: Or, Pinker’s Folly

Lancet Discovers Public Health Is Politics

Class 82: Be More Uncertain (About Models)

On Not Reading

The Great Smoothing: Another Reason Not To Fear (or trust) AI

A Synchronicity Or Coincidence? What Is Behind Curious Events?

Class 81: The Second Biggest Error In Time Series

The Paper Test Shows Why AGI Is Not Possible: And Why The Brain Is Different In Kind

Researcher Imagines Weather With No Human Influence: Concludes Climate Change Hurts Incomes

Faith Deposited: Why Godless Science Fails

Class 80: Granger Causality; Per Se & Accidental Time Series; Stationarity

Scientists Seeking To Escape Criticism Run To The Warmth & Comfort Of Bluesky

The Loss of Ephemera — Guest Post by The Blonde Bombshell

Class 79: Time Series Example

The Importance Of Not Making Decisions

Don’t Take The ‘Long-Covid’ Alzheimer’s Study Seriously