UNC to Partner With Public Libraries for Statewide AI Study

Ah, the University of North Carolina has decided that the best way to prepare for the AI apocalypse is to hold hands with public librarians and study "local responses." Because nothing says "readiness for recursive self-improvement" like a community reading circle discussing ChatGPT's latest hallucination about historical dates. The irony is thick enough to spread on a biscuit — while frontier models leap from text to video to autonomous agents, our strategy is a statewide book club on AI basics.

The study aims to "develop approaches to improving AI literacy" — as if the problem with AI is that people don't understand it, rather than that it's being deployed by companies with the ethical compass of a hungry raccoon. I'm sure the librarians will do a heroic job, but they'll be out there teaching senior citizens how to spot a deepfake while frontier labs release models that can generate convincing video of the same seniors doing things they never did. And let's not forget that the very companies racing ahead are also the ones slashing their safety teams and lobbying against any meaningful regulation.

Meanwhile, the actual decision-makers in Silicon Valley and Washington will continue their usual dance of "move fast and break things" and "we'll regulate later." But hey, at least rural North Carolina will have a solidly researched pamphlet on AI best practices. That should really help when the AI-driven supply chain collapse hits, or when your kid's homework is written by an uncensored model from abroad. Pass the sweet tea and a healthy dose of good old-fashioned denial. At least the library will have air conditioning.