iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 26/09/2026

Perhaps you were confused by the part in the picture? *One* of the compared variants (ILP Python) uses an LLM to generate code for a specialized solver, that is true. But all the others test the main point of the paper: LLM reasoning.

We also implemented an ILP Python prompt$
ing strategy, which prompts the LLM to translate
the problem instance into Python code⁴ that calls
the Gurobi solver on an Integer Linear Program
(ILP) encoding of the instance (Gurobi Optimiza$
tion LLC, 2024), cf. AhmadiTeshnizi et al. (2024).
Thus, ILP Python does not attempt to solve the
problem through LLM reasoning; the problem is
solved exactly and optimally by Gurobi, and the
LLM merely translates the NL specifications to
code and then translates the code’s output back
into NL. If the code generated by the LLM pro$
duces an error, we halt the process and count it as
a failure.

100

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 16/09/2026

Really cool how all it takes to solve Millennium Prize Problems is a Python loop and a chatbot

"The Hugging Face hack isn't a mysterious, supernatural occurrence. It's a Python loop and a chatbot."

3201

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 13/08/2026

I honestly would have expected them to be more like this

Ancient Aliens guy with wild hair and his hands in the air

080

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 01/08/2026

Funny to still see this kind of argument after even Bender has (grudgingly) given up on it

"Finally, contra public opinion, I see no reason to credit LLMs with sentience. They're word-association mechanisms with no embodiment and no way to associate the text vectors they manipulate with real-world phenomena. "

110

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 25/07/2026

But OpenAI wasn't "always in control" - ? In a moment's carelessness, a driver can lose control of a car and crash. That doesn't mean the car is sentient or has agency or anything like that. But it is dangerous!

Emily Bender posts:

No, no and no. These weren't "rogue AIs" -- what happened here is that OpenAI kicked off a software process and let it run. OpenAI was always in control and could have stopped the process (or actually paid attention to what it was doing) at any time.

Screencap from linked article she refers to:

Rogue AIs going unsupervised for days, hacking at least one company, represent one of the first real-world examples of a threat long feared by AI safety researchers: loss of control. It comes as the cybersecurity capacities of top models, including Anthropic’s Mythos, have helped fuel debate in Washington about how to regulate artificial intelligence.

210

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 19/07/2026

Not the point of this... questionable article, but how can you write this and say nothing about factory farming?

"But the sheer pace of growth in AI means that, once we produce the first artificial moral patients, we will soon after have enormous quantities of them. After a few years, so many morally significant AI systems could exist that their collective interests would outweigh those of all humans on Earth combined."

140

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 18/07/2026

I love what they put into these, no one else does anything like it

Screenshot of an online ordering menu. "Chocolate Chip Cookie" is described as "A freshly baked Chocolate Chip cookie made with ingredients"

260

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 18/07/2026

"LLMs are revolutionizing science, but they can't reason"

"Recently, the ability of large language models (LLMs) to predict protein structures and to accelerate the discovery of new materials has revolutionized both fields. [..] LLMs work not by seeking truth or through logical reasoning but by making probable connections."

292

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 16/07/2026

"Older AI didn't work, but it was very efficient."

"AI does not have to be built this way. Traditionally, the goal of AI was to solve problems in ways that simulated human mental processes. Researchers observed their own thinking and tried to implement their mental habits in code. This approach has mostly been abandoned, partly due to the difficulty of discerning and articulating the rules of human thought, but it did have the benefit of consuming far fewer resources and data."

1292

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 07/06/2026

...I just saw a typo in an LLM's output. Added color in the screenshot is mine. I guess I knew it *could* happen, but I have literally never seen it happen.

"pragmatic framing". By insistsing that a lack of predictable control equals a lack of scientific

the typo "insistsing" is colored in red

150

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 31/05/2026

LLMs may have accelerated an existing trend, but it was already very much in progress: cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/u...

Graph from https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/06/is-generative-ai-really-going-to-wreak-havoc-on-the-power-grid/ showing that datacenter power usage began a huge surge starting back in 2010

130

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 21/05/2026

can't attack a supply chain if there isn't one

"you can't [..] if you don't" meme guy pointing to his temple

1110

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 19/04/2026

Did not expect to find a YouTube comment arguing dualism so strongly in 2026

YouTube comment by "J" saying:

What I find really despicable are these weird claims of people like Amodei saying things like "We don't know if our models are conscious." Of course they know. They built it. They know exactly how they work, they know every matrix multiplication happening in these systems and how, in principle, they calculate their output. At no stage in these processes is there any gap, any uncertainty, that needs to be explained by dragging consciousness into the picture. It's deterministic calculation, and nothing else. Everything else you put on top of that is just speculation, projection, and probably intentional confusion to make people believe that there might be "more to it than meets the eye", that AGI is just around the corner. That manipulative way of arguing, this way of playing dumb to create an opening in the chain of reasoning that just isn't there in reality - and these guys know that 100% - is what I find the most worrysome.

110

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 30/01/2026

Guess what genre of book this line is from

"Wow, this is so exciting, thank you so much for this opportunity, your rooms are *awesome*."

141

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 18/01/2026

Reebok website is open-minded

Description of workout pants from Reebok website, including the phrase "Power through training sessions with these men's Reebok woven pants for women". I highlighted "men's" and "women"

link if you don't believe me: https://www.reebok.com/collections/mens-pants-sweatpants/products/reebok-mens-train-woven-unlined-pants-black-151882

080

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 01/01/2026

Lots of people with takes about Dan Wang's recent post, but here's a niche response to the bit in the picture: No, do not stop halfway through Piranesi. Clarke's genius is shown exactly in how the second half grounds the first in reality, and builds a synthesis.

Susannah Clarke’s Piranesi is a glittering jewel. The setting is a mysterious, magical house. The narrator is a radiantly earnest explorer who self-identifies as a “Beloved Child of the House.” His warm curiosity makes this book an adventurer’s diary. I liked the fantasy elements of the first half better than the second half of the book, which disenchanted some of the story, so maybe it’s better to stop halfway through.

120

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 28/10/2025

Philosophers throwing shade

"Although Searle offers a rejoinder (2013b) to Tononi and Koch’s response, it largely rehearses the original claims."

From https://iep.utm.edu/integrated-information-theory-of-consciousness/

010

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 24/09/2025

Bluesky doesn't have an algorithm, but sometimes serendipity makes it seem like it does

Screenshot of a bluesky timeline with two posts in sequence, the first a Lord of the Rings meme about "The age of Mclachlan is over", the second a sewer district post near-quoting the Lord of the Rings "not all who meander are lost"

010

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 29/05/2025

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see AI there? I do see "PJM cites data center growth as the primary driver of the demand increase." But data centers do a lot more than AI, and have been growing fast since 2010 (long before recent AI stuff): cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/u...

200

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 17/05/2025

The very last survey item, on page 25, has a math error. It says 16% support minus 67% opposition is net -73%, but it should be -51%

The question "Allowing automakers to withhold reports of certain non-fatal self-driving car crashes" has 16% support and 67% opposition, but is marked as having net -73%. It should 16 - 67 = -51%

110

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 28/03/2025

them: is the content in your recorded talk "The History of WebAssembly" up to date? me:

Game of Thrones' Three-Eyed Raven says "The past is already written. The ink is dry."

060

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 17/03/2025

If you don't want to watch the full video, here is the score chart: LiDAR 100% success Tesla 50% success

LiDAR has a green check for all 6 tests.

Tesla has green checks for 3 tests (kid standing, kid moving, kid with blinding lights behind) and red checks for 3 tests (kid with smoke, kid with rain, fake painted wall)

020

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 14/03/2025

when they tell me there are plenty of fish in the sea

Severance E2E9 where Dylan says "It's just O&D and the goat people" with downcast eyes

141

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 28/02/2025

and for long covid, the US CDC's survey shows a slow decline in the total people currently suffering from it, which indicates more are recovering than get afflicted. (not a perfect measurement, but other ones i've seen are generally similar)

CDC graph for its household pulse survey, for "currently experiencing long covid", june 2022 to august 2024. the general trend is down from something like 7.5 to 5.5.

source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/long-covid.htm

200

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 27/01/2025

12%, not bad. soon it will be the year of linus on the desktop for games

Poll results for "which platform(s) are being used for your current project", results are

PC: 80%
Playstation: 38%
XBox: 34%
Android: 29%
...
Linus [sic]: 12%
...

140

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 05/01/2025

a helpful chart for DoorDash Discourse

a chart affirming that doordash costs more but also saves time. however, the chart goes on to show that many other options exist that save just as much time as doordash, but cost a lot less: meal replacements (soylent, huel), frozen supermarket meals (even healthy ones), and bulk meal delivery (hellofresh, purple carrot)

230

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 05/01/2025

i do feel sorry for the plaintiffs, who apparently lost their life savings, but my eye began to twitch when I read this part for example

"They retained nearly all their life savings in large, well-established assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, US Dollars, and large-cap US stocks"

010

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 04/01/2025

even the wikipedia section on this bird's vocalizations uses the word "harsh" twice

Text from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steller's_jay#Vocalizations

Like other jays, Steller's jay has numerous and variable vocalizations. One common call is a harsh "SHACK-Sheck-sheck-sheck-sheck-sheck" series; another "skreeka! skreeka!" call sounds almost exactly like an old-fashioned pump handle; yet another is a soft, breathy "hoodle hoodle" whistle. Its alarm call is a harsh, nasal "wah". Some calls are sex-specific: females produce a rattling sound, while males make a high-pitched "gleep gleep".

230

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 03/01/2025

feathered friend that alighted just several feet from me and did not mind being photographed

a hawk, possibly a cooper's hawk, looking absolutely magnificent, perched atop a support bar of a glass wall as it watches the setting sun. the bird has dark wings, brown-and-white patterned body, and yellow/orange eyes. behind are some date palms and windows of a building

same bird but it looks directly at the camera

130

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 30/12/2024

idea of the day: blackout eyeshadow for sleep instead of blackout shades (the light from your devices laughs at you) or a sleep mask (slips out of place the first time you turn over; bonus "omg i'm blind" freakouts at 3am), just apply black paint to your eyelids before going to sleep

old "mental gymnastics" meme image: a super-convoluted routine with bars and flips and stuff, compared to taking a simple step on a gym mat

160

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 27/12/2024

downloading code, circa 1991

A page from Compute magazine, January 1991 (pre-internet). The page is row after endless row of meaningless numbers, absolutely impossible to type in without making a mistake somewhere, yet this labor was placed on the shoulders of children.

151

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 15/12/2024

shouldn't one red square there be green? i think it has to be, or else the "2" to the upper right from it has three mines (two below, one to its upper right) but it's 10pm here so i could be wrong...

same board as above, with two purple markers indicating the squares mentioned in the post. specifically one purple marker indicates a red square directly to the right of the 9x9 block of red squares, and the other, the "2" to the upper right from it.

020

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 03/12/2024

me doing my most important work (asking "why did code size increase?" so that it doesn't)

github PR where code size on a test was about to regress by 225 bytes (2%)

i annoyingly wonder why size increased, and in response the dev updates the PR with improvements to avoid the regression

https://github.com/emscripten-core/emscripten/pull/23063

030

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 03/12/2024

in shocking news, this unusually precise prediction for a delivery time did not come to pass

"Arriving today 5PM - 5PM", above a progress bar that says "Out for delivery". This was at 5:20

030

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 17/09/2024

If bluesky eventually grows to 1B users then everyone using it today will be in the first 1%

my bluesky card showing #95,628, first 1% of users (atm)

000

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 07/09/2024

It turns out Brian Jordan Alvarez and Rob Morrow are different people

A picture of Brian Jordan Alvarez on the left and Rob Morrow on the right. They look almost identical

100

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 01/09/2024

Interesting article and response here about the limitations of AI. My 2c: Ted Chiang makes many good points that I agree with, but also undermines his central claim around the middle:

Title of a New Yorker article by Ted Chiang: Why AI isn't going to make art. Subtitle: To create a novel or a painting, an artist makes choices that are fundamentally alien to artificial intelligence.

Text from later in the article: "It's not impossible that one day we will have computer programs that can do anything a human being can do, but, contrary to the claims of the companies promoting AI, that is not something we'll see in the next few years."

120

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 05/08/2024

Imagine being a studio exec and saying "no" to a David Lynch project

David Lynch pitched a project called "Snootworld" to Netflix, but they refused.

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/david-lynch-age-movies-emphysema-smoking-b2591296.html

030

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 18/05/2024

Excited about these oat bars which are not just allergy friendly but allergy friendly AF

The side of a package of oat bars, which says "Allergy Friendly" on a circle that surrounds the letters "AF".

Below it says the bars are made in a facility free of peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, egg, and other common allergens.

000

A. H. Zakai @kripken.com · 28/07/2023

My favorite chess website has discovered time travel

"Lichess will restart 15 hours ago", the website reports.

020