AI in Puna

[HiloJulie]

Now that AI has apparently solved the Navier-Stokes problem I suppose this will improve hurricane forecasting, although it seems fairly accurate already.

https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/09/openai-n...olved.html

Yeah, bringing this thread back to some version of sanity, I'm not going to hold my hopes up high that a mathematical problem that has escaped mankind for 90 years has been solved by the very same AI that has brought us wrongful death and mental health claims, made model containment breaches including hacking another company (Hugging Face), hallucinated various legal cases, given out dangerous health advice and even hallucinated certain businesses business features and give it any credence.

But that's the whole problem with AI. Is it real? Or Memorex?

[ironyak]

Punatang - Perhaps we need a "Get a life" board.
Says the person bringing up a post from ~3 weeks ago to retort "nuh-uh", despite all the documented Hawai'i and Puna discussion of the local Qanon GOPers and Proud Boys, DEW and WEF conspiracists, chemtrails and shadowy anti-truck cabals. Still no luck on locating that mirror? Could save yourself a lot of time typing by just pointing at the shiny surface instead.

Edge - Perhaps if a comment is misunderstood by multiple readers, the person posting, if their intention is to share an opinion on the subject matter, might do their best to make that opinion as clear as possible?
Nope, it's everyone else that has a comprehension issue, donchaknow? Hopefully their — thank goodness Hawai'i isn't embracing extremely left socialists who want free (school) lunch, but I totally support free school lunch — shtick at least makes sense to them, but I have my doubts.

Hey randomq - we may need an improved prompt for the AI to make headway here in Puna and with some on Punaweb (but it may prove to be more difficult and turbulent than possibly solving the Navier-Stokes problem ;)

[Punatang]

Our kids are Puna's future.  According to Elon Musk, (AKA Space Lord Voldemort), thanks to AI and humanoid robots, the younger school kids will never need to have a job so it makes sense to prepare most of them, in our fine institutions, for that reality.

The great news now is that, starting this school year, the income threshold for eligibility for lunch assistance increases to 300% of poverty level so 90+% ish - to almost universal qualification of kids in Puna is very likely.  We should feed them all IMHO.  I'm sure most of us would agree that it is absurdly petty and bureaucratic of us to force our children to go into a government institution, lock them inside a fence, and then leave just a few of the children out in the cold when it's time to kau kau.  It's like an AI Delores Umbridge came up with a plan to exclude just a few of the keiki.  Mean, eh?

[leilanidude]

The great news now is that, starting this school year, the income threshold for eligibility for lunch assistance increases to 300% of poverty level so 90+% ish - to almost universal qualification of kids in Puna is very likely.
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All of the Puna schools already qualified for ALL students to have free lunch, several years ago. There is a % that is used to calculate whether they all get it or not and if that % of students already on SNAP is high enough, the school qualifies.

edit to add:
Key Rules of the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP)
The Threshold: A school or school district must have a minimum percentage of "identified students"—children directly certified as eligible for free meals because they participate in programs like SNAP, TANF, or are foster, homeless, or runaway youth.
The Percentage: Under updated federal rules, a school district or school group must have an identified student percentage (ISP) of at least 25% to qualify to offer universal free breakfast and lunch.
Reimbursement Formula: The federal government reimburses the school using a formula based on multiplying the identified student percentage by a specific federal multiplier (currently 1.6). Schools with higher percentages receive full or near-full coverage for the cost of all meals served.

[ironyak]

So like many places, free universal public primary education has been a thing in Hawai'i since the mid-to-late 1800s. Schools started getting federal funding for school lunches in the 1930s, the National School Lunch Program dates to the 1940s, with expansions in the 1960s and free and reduced-price lunches went nationwide in the 1970s. Making school breakfasts and lunches free for all students has been around for 15+ years now and can be found in thousands of public schools in many states, including all (?) public schools in Puna.

Some will see this as progress towards making sure all kids are fed and educated, some will decry this as democratic socialism (that's ~150+ years old but somehow now a looming threat in the midterms), and some will opt out and let their kids play in traffic, because fences are obviously the real danger to their well-being.

When the AI can actually grow the food, and prepare the meals, and educate the keiki, instead of selling BS fantasies to prop up an overinflated stock price, then it may have a useful role in Puna. In the meantime, it's mostly just shoveling virtual slop that distracts from any of that timeless and essential work.

[HiloJulie]

As there is absolutely no doubt that some of our Puna Kūpuna and 'Ohana have their own Kūpuna and 'Ohana DIRECTLY or INDIRECTLY involved in US Military matters all over the world, thus, makes this post clearly Hawaii/Hilo/Puna related, but if anyone wants to understand the disaster AI has and will become in the future, read today's news. 

At least we have some competency left that stopped what could have been a major escalation. Imagine where we will be once the entirety of the gross incompetency currently in place takes total control.

As the saying goes, "God help us all" But as we also know, that's a useless thought.

[leilanidude]

When the AI can actually grow the food, and prepare the meals, and educate the keiki, instead of selling BS fantasies to prop up an overinflated stock price, then it may have a useful role in Puna.
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I will go with five years for small scale farming utilizing humanoid type robots and A.I. ran equipment. Twenty years to nearly all farming done that way. Hawaii needs cheaper electricity to make it easier to adopt.

[Durian Fiend]

I've been watching the short Peter Zeihan videos as of late, and one of his most recent is about Japan's big push to solve their labor shortage with AI robots. (Industrial, agricultural, and healthcare) The US faces the same demographic shift they do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQlL59f4OFY

[ironyak]

leilanidude - I will go with five years for small scale farming utilizing humanoid type robots and A.I. ran equipment. Twenty years to nearly all farming done that way.
Any day now...


75+ years of futuristic techno-optimism undermined by the fact that migrant labor is cheaper, and likely will continue to be (even a cheap $30k robot (before integration costs) still has a long way to go to compete with a $120 a month El Salvadoran coffee picker (which includes their "fuel costs" unlike the robots). Bougie bots just can't compete, regardless of Hawaii's energy costs.

Durian Fiend - short Peter Zeihan videos as of late, and one of his most recent is about Japan's big push to solve their labor shortage with AI robots
I had seen that one as well, and while Zeihan is all about demographic shifts, it seems he may be underestimating the fact that with less people globally comes less demand and so less of everything to automate. Same goes for the dark factories in China - who is going to buy the output of all this industrial capacity? Other bots, I guess, so we humans get to instead spend our days on Puna's Eloi beaches drinking Mai Tais? Any day now...

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

futuristic techno-optimism undermined by the fact that migrant labor is cheaper

Here’s the state of robotics farming in Hawaii. $24 a pound lettuce. Most of the articles on Sensei Farms are several years old. Does that mean there has been little progress and improvement in their operation, or another instance of controlling the narrative?

The promise of high-tech farming.

Ellison’s vision for Sensei Farms was built on his Silicon Valley approach to agriculture. In 2012, he purchased 98 percent of Lanai and quickly set plans to transform the island into a center for innovation. Partnering with David Agus, a physician and technology entrepreneur, he co-founded Sensei Ag, the parent company behind Sensei Farms and its lettuce and other products found throughout Hawaii stores.

The farm was designed to use AI, robotics, and hydroponic technology to create a sustainable food production model.

https://beatofhawaii.com/the-most-expens...xperiment/