I do wish this was an easier sequence of steps to follow. I know I should, but it’s so very much work.

Imagine. Oracle not being relevant. The dream

(page 53) The next line of that interview quote:

Eight of us managed to do it. The next time we attacked, we could jump.

And the footnote:

Interview with ISWAP Commander-7, 2025. While this may seem extreme, the episode reflects a pattern evident across other interviews, in which the group absorbed heavy casualties during dangerous experimentation and training.

It sure is wild; but humans aren’t the expensive thing for Boko Haram I guess?

specialists worked side-by-side with the tools, consulting the chatbot in direct support of technical work, as in the recounted case of a bombmaker who iteratively refined new device designs with AI, returning to the laptop for troubleshooting when something was not working or needed clarification.

Regarding the first usage, both factions seize a significant part of their weaponry, military equipment, and ammunition from the Nigerian military. Struggling to operate some of the loot, ISWAP’s leader al-Barnawi stated in a letter to the Islamic State back in 2017: “I am reminded of a funny story when about a year ago, we seized Dragunov rifles as war spoils and we had to make them work so we could use them. We checked many handbooks and specialized videos on this technical issue, but we eventually dropped it in despair after all our attempts failed.”88 This account contrasts with how these situations are handled and resolved today, where “we take all of the equipment back to the camp and the AI unit tells us how to use and shoot with it.”

Perhaps not surprising that it performs well on these sorts of tasks, despite what they say the military is a big buyer…

It makes a lot of sense that attribution is easiest for things like heat waves. Something I wouldn’t have predicted ~20 years ago is just how relevant the heat waves have become. So many places unprepared for spikes in temperature.

Back in my day, we memorized logarithm tables and we liked it!