I think it's good to separate these functions into separate buildings. I like having professional administrators operate the government. So, I would say no.

@stinerman I mean, that's what the president of the United States does. Don't you consider him a leader of the country?

Here in Canada, the Prime Minister has a residence at 24 Sussex Drive, but a separate office building. Ceremonial events happen either at 24 Sussex Drive or at Rideau Hall, the residence and office of the Governor General.

(24 Sussex Drive is being renovated, so nothing happens there right now. But, you know, *usually*.)

There's definitely a difference here between constitutional monarchies and republics. It's not universal, but it seems like heads of government, like PMs, are less likely to live in their workplace if there's a monarch who combines a residence with a ceremonial centre.

Hey, everyone. Thanks for the replies and responses.

Some countries like the US, France, and Brazil have a presidential palace that combines an official residence with a ceremonial centre and an administrative office.

Others, like Japan, Germany and Norway separate these functions into different buildings. Some heads of government even live in private homes.

@malte looking it up, it seems like the Prime Minister of Denmark works from the Christiansborg Palace, but has a private residence?

@y6nH 10 Downing Street in the official residence of the Prime Minister. Prime Ministers and their families do actually live and work in the building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_Street

@zak changing from a palace system to a professionalised administration has been an egalitarian reform for a lot of nations. It makes our executive leaders less like feudal lords, and more like managers doing the public's work.

@zak it's not in any way harmful or out of bounds to discuss how our elected officials use the buildings we pay for and how it symbolizes our national systems of government.

Some countries like the US, France, and Brazil have a presidential palace that combines an official residence with a ceremonial centre and an administrative office.

Others, like Japan, Germany and Norway separate these functions into different buildings. Some heads of state even live in private homes.

@neontapir yes is same, not separate.

Should leaders in democratic countries live in the same building where they work?

#EvanPoll #poll

@megmac @cwebber right. Taking advantage of the controversy.

@brunogirin @cwebber I mean, almost by definition!

@cwebber I mean, maybe the guy was part of a marketing maneuver, but that seems kind of extreme on his part. Or maybe the companies capitalized on the concerns he raised.

@cwebber so, I tend to agree with this pov.

But the current AI safety conversation started when an ex-Anthropic researcher said he was scared, which doesn't fit the corporate astroturfing narrative.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/anthropic-researcher-quits-over-out-of-control-ai-fears-707b7628

@robpike Have you programmed with them before? Or are you concerned that once you tried them, you wouldn't be able to stop?

@sandriver thanks for this!

@jpaskaruk why's that?

@davep it's perfectly ok with me if this back of the envelope calculation isn't convincing to you. I'm sharing my reasoning for coming to the answer I would give to this question, not trying to convince you.

@davep I don't know if I can provide a citation that params play the same role in LLMs that synapses play in biological brains. I only used it by very bare analogy; they are the "connections" between parts of the network. And from the little I know, I think they're much less complex than biological synapses.