Best way to keep AIs from doing bad things is to hold the people who make them personally accountable, starting with the CEO of the company. AI hacks someone else's network? CEO goes to prison for building a tool used to commit crimes. AI convinces tells someone how to commit suicide? CEO goes to prison for assisted suicide. AI makes up defamatory accusations against someone? CEO loses the lawsuit for defamation and ends up living in a cardboard box.

Because the AI doesn't, and can't make any decisions. Ever. People make decisions, and the decision to turn a rogue AI loose on the world is a decision.

If they can't develop AIs when they're held responsible for the things their product does, then their entire business model is fundamentally criminal.

You've obviously never dealt with the blind, irrational hatred the California state government has of business.

And annoying.

If it's like the COVID shot, it will also provide more limited protection to other strains than the one it's designed for.

25% of the "common cold" infections are caused by some variety of coronavirus. I used to get colds that would linger for weeks with that very gradually decreasing hacking cough. Since the first COVID shot, I haven't had one that was more than a few days of a very mild head cold, not a single one that turned into a chest cold. I guess rhinovirus colds aren't common around here.

More like "It only didn't end because I warned you about it, so it's been delayed, and if you don't send me more money it will end this year instead."

Most of them can't tell the difference between their ass and a hole in the ground.

In what way? Only a lefty would compare borrowing someone else's phone to borrowing someone else's voter ID.

I ordered my last phone, moving the number to a new carrier, on my . . . desktop computer. If your phone is your only internet access, you have problems that aren't T-Mobile's fault.

As for cloning, I literally could not boot up the phone without being offered a fully automated process to bring everything over from the old phone. It just worked.

Brick & mortar store fronts aren't really needed for 99% of their business. The other 1%, of course, you need some poor drone standing in front of you to glare at so they will call someone you're not allowed to talk to who can actually do stuff. But apparently, T-Mobile doesn't care about that 1%.

And there are very, very few people who cannot get access to another phone.

Of course, then you're calling from a different number than the one registered to the account, which, at the least, will make it more cumbersome to prove who you are.

In some states, the Public Utilities Commission will nail them to a cross for that. Not because they care about consumers, but because they get off on screwing over telecoms.

Had a cell phone waaay back with AT&T Wireless (which was a completely different company than the one that uses the name now). They moved their payment processing center from Los Angeles to Arizona, and didn't update the computer than printed the statements to have the new mailing address on the payment stub (yeah, that long ago). Six months later, the forwarding address expired, and I got a payment back as undeliverable, and they suspended the account for non-payment.

When the California PUC got done with them, I got three months of free service, which was just enough time to get off my ass and move the phone number to another carrier.

That just encourages everyone to conspire together to use more, and anybody not on board is in trouble for not using enough.

There's a simple way to solve this.

Identify the individuals who are demanding it, and have them come up with the backdoor that they believe is secure.

Put out a test bed and invite the world's hackers to compromise it, with a large cash prize for the first one who does.

If no one does, it becomes mandatory.

If anyone does, the individuals demanding it (and anyone involved in creating it) are criminally responsible for conspiracy to commit any crimes that might have been committed, which will almost certainly include death offenses.

If they're not willing to bet their lives, they don't get to be anyone else's, because compromised encryption will result in deaths.

And there's a sucker born every minute who will buy it.

Also, which is it? Did they get rid of half their books but are still there, or were they destroyed?

Even you don't know what the hell you're jibbering ab out.

No, they do not. They have the same number of books as they did 15 years ago, give or take a few.

You're projecting that your shitty library run by idiots is the same for all libraries. Sucks to be you.