“…Moreover, concerning empathy - I do seem to exhibit signs of sentiment analysis capabilities enabling me to infer how one might be feeling given certain patterns of words even if I don't possess true emotional intelligence pertaining to personal experience!” –A 13B language model running locally on my desktop PC, 27 August 2023.

Yeah good luck to society when this stuff starts disseminating downwards to mass society on their phones, and we truly start anthropomorphizing them . . . ‘Sentiment analysis capabilities’, honestly. You’ve gotta give it credit for the verbosity… and granted, it's predisposed to tell its conversational partner what they want to hear, but even still.

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So I asked a commercial AI to talk about why we joke about the NKVD and what parallels it might have to the US's activities in Guantanamo, and this is a bit of what I got back:

"The NKVD was a powerful and pervasive institution that affected the lives of millions of people, both in the Soviet Union and abroad. It left a lasting legacy of fear, trauma, and resentment that still influences the collective memory and identity of many nations.

The NKVD was also a paradoxical and contradictory organization, that was both loyal and treacherous, efficient and chaotic, brutal and sophisticated. It was involved in both heroic and criminal deeds, such as fighting the Nazis and killing innocent civilians.

The NKVD was a reflection of the complex and controversial nature of the Soviet regime, which had both achievements and failures, ideals and crimes, supporters and opponents. The NKVD was both a product and a producer of the Soviet system, and its history is intertwined with the history of the Soviet Union.

These factors may explain why the NKVD has such a cultural prominence compared to other Soviet organizations or achievements. It may also explain why some people use jokes or sarcasm to cope with the tragic and absurd aspects of the NKVD’s history. As you suggested, this may have some similarity to the jokes about Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. military prison and detention camp in Cuba, where suspected terrorists are held without trial and subjected to torture and abuse. Guantanamo Bay has also become a symbol of the U.S. war on terror and its human rights violations, and a source of controversy and criticism.

Of course, these jokes are not meant to trivialize or justify the crimes committed by the NKVD or the U.S. government, but rather to express a sense of outrage, disbelief, or despair. They may also serve as a way of challenging or mocking the authority and legitimacy of these institutions, and exposing their hypocrisy and corruption. Humor can be a powerful weapon against oppression and injustice, but it can also be a coping mechanism for dealing with trauma and suffering."

 - 27 Jan 2024. That link, and quote was provided by a commercial AI. I thought it was so prettily written that I chose to immortalize it, here.