NEWS
Big Oil’s Lies Are Finally Getting the Public Scrutiny They Deserve on Social Media
The internet is hell, particularly social media. In this series, we discuss the ways it’s flawed and how it could be better.
After the Capitol was overrun by insurrectionists, Chevron sent out a tweet calling for a “peaceful transition of the U.S. government.” Brand tweets are always fraught, particularly as democracy stood on a knife’s edge. Doubly so if you’re a brand that, say, funded the members of Congress that incited an attempt to overthrow the government.
The backlash to Chevron was swift. Even as the oil company pinned its tweet, thousands of Twitter users piled onto it calling out its donations to seditionists, its role in debasing democracy abroad, and human rights violations it committed in the pursuit of profit. Other oil companies and industry groups have also seen a tidal wave of righteous anger wash over their tweets. “Greentrolling” has become an increasingly prevalent online version of folks picketing outside companies’ headquarters to call out malfeasance.
“Some people give affirmations, some people do other things to keep themselves sane,” Mary Heglar, a climate essayist and proponent of greentrolling, said. “I cyberbully fossil fuel companies.”
Oil companies’ goals are pretty straightforward: Dig up more oil and make as much money as possible doing it. They’ve done that in part by lying and mastering the art of public relations. Thanks in part to decades of ad campaigns, opinion pages, and even “both sides” news stories, they’ve been able to successfully delay climate action. But the 2010s and now 2020s have seen that success begin to erode.
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For one, investigative journalists exposed the fact that oil companies knew the risks of climate change and lied to stop the world from addressing it. The climate crisis has also intensified, making it impossible to ignore who—or in the case of corporations, what—is responsible for it.
While brands like Chevron and Exxon have shown themselves ready adopters of traditional media, their use to social media has proven to be a bit more perilous. The two-way nature of communication means lies or misleading claims that would go unchallenged in an ad in a newspaper or on a webpage instead can become a new front in the war to destroy them and protect the climate. No Big Oil tweet is safe from getting rolled up on by a gang of pissed off people.
One of Heglar’s first successful tweets going after an oil company came in 2019 when BP asked people to calculate their carbon footprint. Her succinct response: “Bitch what’s yours???” In three words, the question neatly undercuts so much of the greenwashing oil companies have pivoted to today as a form of kinder, gentler climate delay. The average American’s carbon footprint is 16 tons per year. Sure, folks taking some individuals actions would be all well and good. But a multinational oil company people calculate their carbon footprint and “share your pledge” for how to reduce it is farcical. BP is responsible for 34 billion tons of carbon pollution since 1965. An analysis by Oil Change International last year found every oil company’s climate plan—including BP’s—were essentially trash that would allow their footprints to balloon and fail to protect workers when the carbon bubble does burst.
A central aim of greentrolling is to clean up the polluted information space by exposing the utter hollowness of oil companies’ new rhetoric. Piling onto oil companies won’t necessarily convince them to change to course on their emissions, but it does have the power to reach multiple audiences with a stake in the battle.
“If you go yell at Chevron or Exxon in a conversation they started, the only people are going to see that are your followers and Chevron’s followers,” Darren Linvill, a communications expert at Clemson who has studied trolling, said.
That could help reinforce climate campaigners’ sense of solidarity. Heglar said it’s a better way to focus #climatetwitter’s energy rather than sniping at each other, a not-uncommon occurrence.
“We fight with each other over extremely stupid nuance’s and it gets really ugly. It’s such a waste of energy. I don’t think Kate Marvel,” she said, referring to a NASA climate scientist, “should have a harder time on Twitter than Chevron.”
Heglar also added that it’s fun, which really why else are we online anyways?
There’s also an outside chance debunking oil companies could pick off or a few of their followers, though as Linvill noted, Twitter isn’t exactly known as a place for rational conversations between opposing viewpoints. He also suggested “greentrolling” might not be the best moniker to win hearts and minds given the negative association with state-sponsored trolling and right-wing groups’ efforts to go after journalists.
Climate groups have staged tweet storms targeting companies and have social media accounts dedicated to checking misinformation. Greentrolling, though, is less centrally organized and reminiscent of political fandoms from Bernie Bros to the KHive to the Yang Gang. (Though its targets are not people but corporations.) Having personally been on the receiving end of a few of those groups’ ire at one point or another, I can tell you it is extremely disruptive to both your mental state and makes you start to second guess yourself. Though oil companies are soulless corporations, they could very well falter in the face of online heat.
“Brigading of corporate pages, if nothing else, works to deny that marketing channel to the energy companies,” Linvill said. “Social media is now central to every corporate PR And marketing plan, regardless of the size of the company. These tactics may force those companies to make different choices.”
Just as oil companies’ tweets are only one part of their public relations campaigns, so greentrolling is only one facet of attempts to constrain the industry. Among other things, advocates are pushing treaties to phase out fossil fuels, forcing banks to stop funding extraction, and even going after the advertising firms themselves that continue to work with Big Oil. All these efforts are channeling a growing anger at the industry rather than blaming individuals for the climate crisis.
“The more that they lose their social license to operate, the more that the lies that they’ve told about themselves get fractured in public, the more that their market share lessens,” Heglar said.
NEWS
OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models
OpenAI has today announced the release of fine-tuning capabilities for its flagship GPT-4 large language model, marking a significant milestone in the AI landscape. This new functionality empowers developers to create tailored versions of GPT-4 to suit specialized use cases, enhancing the model’s utility across various industries.
Fine-tuning has long been a desired feature for developers who require more control over AI behavior, and with this update, OpenAI delivers on that demand. The ability to fine-tune GPT-4 allows businesses and developers to refine the model’s responses to better align with specific requirements, whether for customer service, content generation, technical support, or other unique applications.
Why Fine-Tuning Matters
GPT-4 is a very flexible model that can handle many different tasks. However, some businesses and developers need more specialized AI that matches their specific language, style, and needs. Fine-tuning helps with this by letting them adjust GPT-4 using custom data. For example, companies can train a fine-tuned model to keep a consistent brand tone or focus on industry-specific language.
Fine-tuning also offers improvements in areas like response accuracy and context comprehension. For use cases where nuanced understanding or specialized knowledge is crucial, this can be a game-changer. Models can be taught to better grasp intricate details, improving their effectiveness in sectors such as legal analysis, medical advice, or technical writing.
Key Features of GPT-4 Fine-Tuning
The fine-tuning process leverages OpenAI’s established tools, but now it is optimized for GPT-4’s advanced architecture. Notable features include:
- Enhanced Customization: Developers can precisely influence the model’s behavior and knowledge base.
- Consistency in Output: Fine-tuned models can be made to maintain consistent formatting, tone, or responses, essential for professional applications.
- Higher Efficiency: Compared to training models from scratch, fine-tuning GPT-4 allows organizations to deploy sophisticated AI with reduced time and computational cost.
Additionally, OpenAI has emphasized ease of use with this feature. The fine-tuning workflow is designed to be accessible even to teams with limited AI experience, reducing barriers to customization. For more advanced users, OpenAI provides granular control options to achieve highly specialized outputs.
Implications for the Future
The launch of fine-tuning capabilities for GPT-4 signals a broader shift toward more user-centric AI development. As businesses increasingly adopt AI, the demand for models that can cater to specific business needs, without compromising on performance, will continue to grow. OpenAI’s move positions GPT-4 as a flexible and adaptable tool that can be refined to deliver optimal value in any given scenario.
By offering fine-tuning, OpenAI not only enhances GPT-4’s appeal but also reinforces the model’s role as a leading AI solution across diverse sectors. From startups seeking to automate niche tasks to large enterprises looking to scale intelligent systems, GPT-4’s fine-tuning capability provides a powerful resource for driving innovation.
OpenAI announced that fine-tuning GPT-4o will cost $25 for every million tokens used during training. After the model is set up, it will cost $3.75 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. To help developers get started, OpenAI is offering 1 million free training tokens per day for GPT-4o and 2 million free tokens per day for GPT-4o mini until September 23. This makes it easier for developers to try out the fine-tuning service.
As AI continues to evolve, OpenAI’s focus on customization and adaptability with GPT-4 represents a critical step in making advanced AI accessible, scalable, and more aligned with real-world applications. This new capability is expected to accelerate the adoption of AI across industries, creating a new wave of AI-driven solutions tailored to specific challenges and opportunities.
This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update
Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:
1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update
Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.
2. Changes to Google Search Interface
Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.
3. New Features and Tests
- Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
- Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
- Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.
4. Search Rankings and Quality
- Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
- Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.
5. Advice for Content Creators
- Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
- Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.
6. New Search Features in Google Chrome
Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.
7. New Tests and Features in Google Search
- Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
- Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.
8. Bing’s New Feature
Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.
9. Local Search Ranking Factors
Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.
10. Google Ads Updates
- Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
- Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
- tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
- WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.
These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.
Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again
Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.
Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.
Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.
When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.
Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.
During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.
