The hottest Intelligence Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Technology Topics

Gentleness and the artificial Other

Joe Carlsmith's Substack • 255 implied HN points • 02 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Sentience Creatures Intelligence
  1. Artificial intelligence poses a significant risk as a potential second advanced species on Earth.
  2. Approaching AI with care and reverence, like interacting with other intelligent species, is crucial.
  3. Understanding the complexity and potential sentience of AI is key, as they may not be mere powerful machines but complex, fascinating entities.

The World According to Trump (w/ Col. Lawrence Wilkerson) | The Chris Hedges Report

The Chris Hedges Report • 150 implied HN points • 08 Nov 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Elections Foreign Policy Military Intelligence National Security
  1. Trump might go back to being president and that could change how the U.S. deals with global issues. His actions could affect the situation in places like Gaza, Ukraine, and Iran.
  2. Wilkerson believes Trump doesn't really want to start wars but has a strong loyalty to Israel. This makes it tricky because any support for Israel could lead to conflicts, especially with Iran.
  3. Both Trump and Biden might lead the U.S. to support harsh policies in the Middle East, which could worsen the lives of people there, particularly in places like Gaza.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

Leaked Pentagon Document Claims Russian Hacktivists Breached Canadian Gas Pipeline Company

Zero Day • 1283 implied HN points • 09 Apr 23
🌍 World Politics Intelligence Military Defense Conflict
  1. A leaked Pentagon document suggests Russian hacktivists breached a Canadian gas pipeline company, with the ability to cause an explosion and instructions from the FSB.
  2. The hackers claimed to have caused damage to the Canadian facility, including increasing valve pressure and disabling alarms, aiming to impact income, not cause loss of life.
  3. US authorities are investigating the authenticity of the leak, which included several documents about Russia's war plans and intelligence on various countries.

Fort Meade's new contract monitoring Twitter

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 854 implied HN points • 22 Sep 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Surveillance Social media Government Intelligence
  1. Defense Information Systems Agency has a new $2.5 million social media surveillance contract with Dataminr.
  2. Dataminr, associated with Twitter, has been careful to avoid the 'surveillance' label and instead presents itself as an 'alerting' platform.
  3. Despite past commitments, Dataminr continues to provide access to social media data for surveillance purposes.

RTF lecture invitation with Gordon McCormick - 1979: A Polarized Persia (Jan. 28 at 2pm ET)

Matt Ehret's Insights • 157 implied HN points • 27 Jan 24
🌍 World Politics History Middle East Intelligence Revolution
  1. Live lecture on January 28 at 2pm Eastern Time with Gordon McCormick about Anglo-American intelligence in the Middle East and the 1979 Iranian revolution
  2. Presentation will focus on the historical influence of Anglo-American intelligence in Iran
  3. Event organized by the Rising Tide Foundation and requires paid subscription to access

US Military Contractors Used Counterterrorism Tactics Against The American People, New Documents Show

Public • 435 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Military Intelligence Disinformation Censorship
  1. US military contractors used counterterrorism tactics against the American people
  2. Tactics included psychological operations, debanking, and changing social media platforms' Terms of Service
  3. The Censorship Industrial Complex waged influence operations using offensive methods like disinformation campaigns and debanking

Leaked details of new collaboration between U.S. and Australian intelligence, by way of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 630 implied HN points • 04 Dec 23
🌍 World Politics Intelligence Collaboration Technology Policy Security
  1. Leaked details reveal collaboration between U.S. and Australian intelligence officials and tech industry executives.
  2. The workshop focused on 'human-machine teaming' for AI policy in defense and intelligence sectors.
  3. The event involved key figures from major tech companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Scale AI, and Palantir.

3 Name Problem

David’s Substack • 59 implied HN points • 25 Apr 24
💾 History Intelligence Identity Names
  1. To understand a group's history, it's often complicated by their changing names and identities, especially in secretive environments like wartime propaganda.
  2. Different organizations used various cover names, making it hard to track who was working for whom and what they were actually doing.
  3. The identities of individuals, especially those in wartime roles, often shifted significantly, complicating research and understanding their true contributions.

The GPT-4 Generation: Why Are the Best AI Models Equally Intelligent?

The Algorithmic Bridge • 233 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Models Intelligence Behavior Training
  1. Top AI models like GPT-4, Gemini Ultra, and Claude 3 Opus are at a similar level of intelligence, despite differences in personality and behavior.
  2. Different AI models can display unique behaviors due to factors like prompts, prompting techniques, and system prompts set by AI companies.
  3. Deeper layers of AI models, such as variations in training, architecture, and data, contribute to the differences in behavior and performance among models.

Nonhuman Intelligence

Cremieux Recueil • 199 implied HN points • 07 Mar 24
🔬 Science Cognition Intelligence Comparative Analysis Machine Learning Psychometrics
  1. It's challenging to compare intelligence between humans and nonhuman species like apes due to the lack of suitable cognitive tests.
  2. Machine intelligence testing is complex, and comparing it to human intelligence is not straightforward.
  3. Comparing intelligence across different groups may be hindered by factors like age and methodological barriers.

A History of Intelligence

Holodoxa • 199 implied HN points • 19 Sep 23
🔬 Science Evolution Neuroscience Intelligence Artificial Intelligence Cognitive abilities
  1. Animals like primates and octopus exhibit intelligent behavior through learning powerful "world models" which is missing in AI systems today.
  2. The book 'A Brief History of Intelligence' outlines five key evolutionary breakthroughs that led to human intelligence: steering, reinforcement, simulating, mentalizing, and language.
  3. Human intelligence has evolved through the ability to navigate environments, learn through trial-and-error, simulate future events, understand others' minds, and develop spoken/written language.

Against Full Scale IQ Fetishism

sebjenseb • 176 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🔬 Science IQ Intelligence Quality
  1. Intelligence and FSIQ are not the same, but often closely correlate.
  2. Success is influenced by intelligence, but also impacted by luck, personality, and specific cognitive abilities.
  3. Quality as an intellectual is not solely dependent on intelligence, but also on traits like drive, prioritizing truth, tackling controversial issues, and connections to communities.

EQ > IQ

Vectors of Mind • 176 implied HN points • 04 Aug 23
🔬 Science Intelligence Evolution Psychometrics Language Genetics
  1. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is argued to be more fundamental to human evolution and the 'Good Life' than Intelligence Quotient (IQ), despite being harder to measure.
  2. Traits exist both as idealized forms and measurable approximations through psychological instruments like surveys, but the accuracy of these measurements is limited.
  3. The General Factor of Personality (GFP) is emphasized as a more fundamental concept than the general factor of intelligence (g), with language reflecting its importance and complexity.

A novel take on group differences in test scores. Part I

America in Crisis • 119 implied HN points • 31 Aug 23
🔬 Science Intelligence Evolution Genetics Culture Societies
  1. Culture plays a crucial role in group differences in test scores and IQ measurements, alongside genetics and environment.
  2. IQ scores are influenced by both genetic and cultural components, with culturally-loaded tests showing higher heritability.
  3. Over time, group differences in IQ can be attributed more to the cultural component rather than the genetic one, with national IQ averages possibly rising with economic growth.

Did German domestic intelligence services collaborate with Correctiv journalists to smear Alternative für Deutschland and incite the current wave of protests "against the right"?

eugyppius: a plague chronicle • 137 implied HN points • 27 Jan 24
🌍 World Politics Intelligence Media Protests Government Activism
  1. There are suspicions of collaboration between German domestic intelligence and Correctiv journalists to incite protests against the right.
  2. Correctiv, a non-profit funded by left-leaning entities, published a questionable exposé that sparked controversy.
  3. The events raise concerns about political manipulation and staged protests orchestrated by major parties.

Sunday Brunch for March 17

Xavi Benjamin • 39 implied HN points • 17 Mar 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Legislation Elections Government Intelligence Healthcare
  1. The TikTok ban poses serious concerns about government overreach and its impact on freedom of speech and internet control.
  2. There is a need for transparency and discussion about fast-tracked bills that could affect the American people, especially in areas like universal healthcare.
  3. Being informed about potential government actions and their implications is crucial for advocating for policies that align with individual beliefs and values.

America's empire of jocks versus the old-style empire of nerds

Matthew's Notebook • 98 implied HN points • 19 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Government Military Foreign Relations Intelligence History
  1. American adventurers have shifted from learning dead languages to extreme sports and custom guns.
  2. Modern-day U.S. special forces represent a shift from covert to overt military rule in the American empire.
  3. The old British imperial administration produced intellectually curious and ruthless figures, contrasting with the contemporary American style.

What Noam Chomsky gets wrong about AI

ML Powered • 98 implied HN points • 10 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Language Models Intelligence Machine Learning
  1. Machine learning models like ChatGPT can be as efficient or even more efficient than the human brain in certain tasks.
  2. Measuring intelligence of machine learning models based solely on the ability to apply the scientific method is unrealistic.
  3. Modern language models like ChatGPT can understand and parse phrases with ease, contradicting claims of their failure in understanding language.

Spain's spy agency backed 2017 'ISIS' attacks to 'scare' Catalonia before independence referendum

Geopolitical Economy Report • 378 implied HN points • 17 Jan 22
🌍 World Politics Espionage Terrorism Independence Intelligence Government
  1. Spain's spy agency allegedly supported 2017 'ISIS' attacks in Catalonia to intimidate the region before an independence referendum
  2. The terror attacks caused 16 deaths and over 150 injuries, with the leader of the terror cell being a longtime informant for Spain's National Intelligence Center (CNI)
  3. There is ongoing debate on whether the CNI directly orchestrated the attacks, but evidence suggests the agency facilitated them to create a sense of threat for Catalonia

AI Safety: A Technical & Ethnographic Overview

jonstokes.com • 391 implied HN points • 30 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Research Models Intelligence
  1. The AI safety debate involves technical details about AI systems like GPT-4 and cultural dynamics around the issue.
  2. The discussion includes concerns about regulating and measuring AI capabilities, as well as the divisions and allegiances within different groups.
  3. Some groups, like the Intelligence Deniers, have strong beliefs about AI being a scam and hold firm against AI progress, leading to potential divisions among AI safety proponents.

THE SEALS AND THE DHOW

Seymour Hersh • 94 implied HN points • 15 Feb 24
🌍 World Politics Military Intelligence Middle East Conflict Secrecy
  1. A Navy SEAL mission in the Gulf of Aden went wrong, resulting in two deaths and one critical injury due to a risky boarding attempt on a dhow suspected of carrying weaponry.
  2. The decision to proceed with the mission in rough seas, despite safety concerns, led to tragedy and prompted questions about the reasoning behind it.
  3. The outcome of the mission revealed outdated cargo not matching the initial intelligence, sparking criticism and calls for accountability within the SEAL community.

Explaining Anomalous GCSE Results

Cremieux Recueil • 90 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
🚌 Education Testing Intelligence Bias
  1. Some Black African students in the UK perform better on GCSE exams than on IQ tests, leading to a puzzle that is not easily explained by sampling differences.
  2. The discrepancy between GCSE performance and general intelligence indicates that GCSEs may be biased indicators of intelligence, favoring certain groups over others.
  3. Psychometric bias might explain why Black Africans in the UK excel in GCSEs despite IQ tests suggesting otherwise, highlighting the presence of biases in assessment methods.

Khomeini's right-hand man was a "Jeffersonian Democrat" womanizer — and other FBI stories

Matthew's Notebook • 78 implied HN points • 11 Jun 23
🌍 World Politics Intelligence Revolution Iran Diaspora Activism
  1. Newly-declassified documents shed light on Iranian revolutionary Sadeq Qotbzadeh's run-ins with the FBI.
  2. Qotbzadeh was labeled a 'Jeffersonian Democrat' despite his ties to Ayatollah Khomeini.
  3. The FBI had extensive intel on the Iranian-American diaspora through informants and surveillance.