Scott tests OpenAI's o3 model's ability to identify locations from photos, finding it has remarkable success even with minimal visual information, raising questions about AI capabilities. Longer summary

Scott tests OpenAI's o3 model on increasingly difficult GeoGuessr-style location guessing challenges using his own photos. Starting with a Google Street View image of a featureless plain, progressing through personal photos of Nepal mountains, a dorm room, and extremely zoomed-in shots of grass and river water, Scott finds that o3 shows remarkable ability to identify locations from minimal visual cues. While it fails on some challenges like identifying a specific house address, its success rate and reasoning process on most images is impressive enough to make Scott question whether this represents a qualitatively different level of AI capability. Shorter summary

Scott Alexander presents a visual tour of the Bay Area's eccentricities through a series of photos with humorous commentary. Longer summary

Scott Alexander shares a collection of quirky, unusual, and often humorous photos taken around the San Francisco Bay Area, showcasing the region's unique culture, politics, and characters. The post features images of eccentric signs, posters, advertisements, and street art that reflect the area's diverse ideologies, from radical leftist propaganda to cryptocurrency promotions. Scott provides witty commentary on each image, highlighting the peculiarities of Bay Area life and its residents. Shorter summary