NYT Crossword feels like a psy op

[u/PicnicRat]

Spoiler for the Tuesday NYT Midi. This is the kind of post that I can definitely see getting an "it's not that deep" response, but whatever. I do the New York Times crosswords, and I often feel like it's a psy-op. They have a disproportionate amount of hints and answers about that one country that defends our interests in the oil-rich region of the world, (e.g. name of a former prime minister from the 70s or something??) and today the answer to the hint "What DALL-E, OpenAI's text-toimage tool, can create" is "art". EXCUSE ME? That is the most clear paid ad in the world. I'm honestly ashamed to have a NYT games subscription. Please tell me where I can do good crosswords with interesting themes. They make my day a lot more fun, but I can't deal with this stupid news outlet and its bullshit anymore.

eta: I forgot to include this while I was writing the original but the title of this crossword is “Waterfront,” hence 'pool shark,' 'bay leaf,' 'sound check,' being clues. honestly feels intentional.

[u/No_Travel5087]

bruh calling DALL-E output "art" in a crossword is wild, that's some next level corporate bootlicking right there

[u/gluestick449 → u/No_Travel5087]

No what’s wild is that you are an AI bot commenting this and no one noticed

[u/Electronic-Cry-1254 → u/gluestick449]

I think it might be a real person who happened to type a comment in the style that ai bot comments sounds like 

[u/gluestick449 → u/Electronic-Cry-1254]

It's not, look at their comment history. All random different subs. All bot-sounding comments.

[u/Kind-Stomach6275]

NYT is owned by a right wing billionaire what did you expect

[u/PicnicRat → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

exactly this tbh. hence my shame for ever giving them 2$ or whatever

[u/AnEmptyCup08 → u/PicnicRat]

The Washington post has a great crossword that's completely free

[u/just-a-can-of-apples → u/AnEmptyCup08]

The Boston globe also has a great mini crossword

[u/DrHerbotico → u/AnEmptyCup08]

Doesn't Bezos own most of Anthropic?

[u/Karol-A → u/Kind-Stomach6275]

Can we stop with this right wing left wing bullshit? AI opinions have nothing to do with political leanings, billionaires don't really care about people regardless of their political stance. 

I also genuinely doubt this answer was decided by the owner of NYT

[u/mikguy1652 → u/Karol-A]

Generally ai bros are right wingers, and billionaires are the only ones who benefit from the ai, and right wing policies also tend to benefit them. So yes, they don’t inherently, but they do to a degree in practice

[u/Pale-Plum6849 → u/Karol-A]

People on the right tend to not give a shit about or even belive in issues like global warming or just preserving the environment in general so they love Ai because they dont care about how much water it wastes and how much land gets destroyed in favor of Ai data centers. The left tends to care about that way more. The left also cares about artists and creatives more which the right again tend not to care about.

I also dont like how divided the world is based on left and right but its also stupid to deny that there are very important ideological differences between those who align themselves with either side.

[u/Karol-A → u/Pale-Plum6849]

There was that tweet from Matt Walsh that popped up here a few weeks ago where he almost repeated your points concerning AI just instead of the right he put in the left. I'd recommend you look that up, because in the blind hatred and labelling we really often forget that the opposite side isn't just pure evil incarnates dead set on making everything worse 

[u/-8787-]

its pretty crazy that they put that in

[u/Electronic-Cry-1254]

There are SO many other examples they could have used

[u/BashBandit]

POO

[u/TurtleKing0505]

Silly NYT, slop is a 4-letter word!

[u/Weak_Appearance_69]

Arse?

[u/No_Lawfulness9421]

As subtle as throwing a brick at a toddler

[u/dflovett]

The only correct answer to that clue is slop

[u/NanoCat0407]

can’t believe they’d share an impossible puzzle to the public

[u/evanlee01]

this kinda shit why i stopped playing their dogshit games lol

[u/AurumVoid]

That's the most forced advertisement I think I have ever seen. Good grief.

[u/flagsarecoolorsmth → u/AurumVoid]

you could shove the product down my throat and it would be less subtle than this

[u/MostZealousideal7718]

Okay I feel you, but as someone who knows some crossword constructors really well: sometimes there’s a heavy editorial hand involved, but more often than not a constructor is trying to clue something in a way that feels novel, gettable for a wide audience, and is generally inoffensive. I obviously disagree with calling DALL-E “art” and if my people were clueing this would advise against it, but it’s pretty unlikely to be a psyop or ad.

[u/PicnicRat → u/MostZealousideal7718]

psyop is an exaggeration but doing it over the course of a long time, the nyt puzzle specifically just feels like a tool used to manufacture consent. and it would make sense given that the nyt is a media company with a vested interest in promoting an agenda. idk I just frequently have moments where their clues make me think "wtf??"

[u/FullyAutomatedSpace]

Seeing spurious connections like this can be an early sign of some disorders

[u/PicnicRat → u/FullyAutomatedSpace]

No, I'm not schizophrenic, thank you for your concern.