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mostlysignssomeportents · 11 months

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The surprising truth about data-driven dictatorships

Here’s the “dictator’s dilemma”: they want to block their country’s frustrated elites from mobilizing against them, so they censor public communications; but they also want to know what their people truly believe, so they can head off simmering resentments before they boil over into regime-toppling revolutions.

These two strategies are in tension: the more you censor, the less you know about the true feelings of your citizens and the easier it will be to miss serious problems until they spill over into the streets (think: the fall of the Berlin Wall or Tunisia before the Arab Spring). Dictators try to square this circle with things like private opinion polling or petition systems, but these capture a small slice of the potentially destabiziling moods circulating in the body politic.

Enter AI: back in 2018, Yuval Harari proposed that AI would supercharge dictatorships by mining and summarizing the public mood — as captured on social media — allowing dictators to tack into serious discontent and diffuse it before it erupted into unequenchable wildfire:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/10/yuval-noah-harari-technology-tyranny/568330/

Harari wrote that “the desire to concentrate all information and power in one place may become [dictators] decisive advantage in the 21st century.” But other political scientists sharply disagreed. Last year, Henry Farrell, Jeremy Wallace and Abraham Newman published a thoroughgoing rebuttal to Harari in Foreign Affairs:

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/world/spirals-delusion-artificial-intelligence-decision-making

They argued that — like everyone who gets excited about AI, only to have their hopes dashed — dictators seeking to use AI to understand the public mood would run into serious training data bias problems. After all, people living under dictatorships know that spouting off about their discontent and desire for change is a risky business, so they will self-censor on social media. That’s true even if a person isn’t afraid of retaliation: if you know that using certain words or phrases in a post will get it autoblocked by a censorbot, what’s the point of trying to use those words?

The phrase “Garbage In, Garbage Out” dates back to 1957. That’s how long we’ve known that a computer that operates on bad data will barf up bad conclusions. But this is a very inconvenient truth for AI weirdos: having given up on manually assembling training data based on careful human judgment with multiple review steps, the AI industry “pivoted” to mass ingestion of scraped data from the whole internet.

But adding more unreliable data to an unreliable dataset doesn’t improve its reliability. GIGO is the iron law of computing, and you can’t repeal it by shoveling more garbage into the top of the training funnel:

https://memex.craphound.com/2018/05/29/garbage-in-garbage-out-machine-learning-has-not-repealed-the-iron-law-of-computer-science/

When it comes to “AI” that’s used for decision support — that is, when an algorithm tells humans what to do and they do it — then you get something worse than Garbage In, Garbage Out — you get Garbage In, Garbage Out, Garbage Back In Again. That’s when the AI spits out something wrong, and then another AI sucks up that wrong conclusion and uses it to generate more conclusions.

To see this in action, consider the deeply flawed predictive policing systems that cities around the world rely on. These systems suck up crime data from the cops, then predict where crime is going to be, and send cops to those “hotspots” to do things like throw Black kids up against a wall and make them turn out their pockets, or pull over drivers and search their cars after pretending to have smelled cannabis.

The problem here is that “crime the police detected” isn’t the same as “crime.” You only find crime where you look for it. For example, there are far more incidents of domestic abuse reported in apartment buildings than in fully detached homes. That’s not because apartment dwellers are more likely to be wife-beaters: it’s because domestic abuse is most often reported by a neighbor who hears it through the walls.

So if your cops practice racially biased policing (I know, this is hard to imagine, but stay with me /s), then the crime they detect will already be a function of bias. If you only ever throw Black kids up against a wall and turn out their pockets, then every knife and dime-bag you find in someone’s pockets will come from some Black kid the cops decided to harass.

That’s life without AI. But now let’s throw in predictive policing: feed your “knives found in pockets” data to an algorithm and ask it to predict where there are more knives in pockets, and it will send you back to that Black neighborhood and tell you do throw even more Black kids up against a wall and search their pockets. The more you do this, the more knives you’ll find, and the more you’ll go back and do it again.

This is what Patrick Ball from the Human Rights Data Analysis Group calls “empiricism washing”: take a biased procedure and feed it to an algorithm, and then you get to go and do more biased procedures, and whenever anyone accuses you of bias, you can insist that you’re just following an empirical conclusion of a neutral algorithm, because “math can’t be racist.”

HRDAG has done excellent work on this, finding a natural experiment that makes the problem of GIGOGBI crystal clear. The National Survey On Drug Use and Health produces the gold standard snapshot of drug use in America. Kristian Lum and William Isaac took Oakland’s drug arrest data from 2010 and asked Predpol, a leading predictive policing product, to predict where Oakland’s 2011 drug use would take place.

[Image ID: (a) Number of drug arrests made by Oakland police department, 2010. (1) West Oakland, (2) International Boulevard. (b) Estimated number of drug users, based on 2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health]

Then, they compared those predictions to the outcomes of the 2011 survey, which shows where actual drug use took place. The two maps couldn’t be more different:

https://rss.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1740-9713.2016.00960.x

Predpol told cops to go and look for drug use in a predominantly Black, working class neighborhood. Meanwhile the NSDUH survey showed the actual drug use took place all over Oakland, with a higher concentration in the Berkeley-neighboring student neighborhood.

What’s even more vivid is what happens when you simulate running Predpol on the new arrest data that would be generated by cops following its recommendations. If the cops went to that Black neighborhood and found more drugs there and told Predpol about it, the recommendation gets stronger and more confident.

In other words, GIGOGBI is a system for concentrating bias. Even trace amounts of bias in the original training data get refined and magnified when they are output though a decision support system that directs humans to go an act on that output. Algorithms are to bias what centrifuges are to radioactive ore: a way to turn minute amounts of bias into pluripotent, indestructible toxic waste.

There’s a great name for an AI that’s trained on an AI’s output, courtesy of Jathan Sadowski: “Habsburg AI.”

And that brings me back to the Dictator’s Dilemma. If your citizens are self-censoring in order to avoid retaliation or algorithmic shadowbanning, then the AI you train on their posts in order to find out what they’re really thinking will steer you in the opposite direction, so you make bad policies that make people angrier and destabilize things more.

Or at least, that was Farrell(et al)’s theory. And for many years, that’s where the debate over AI and dictatorship has stalled: theory vs theory. But now, there’s some empirical data on this, thanks to the “The Digital Dictator’s Dilemma,” a new paper from UCSD PhD candidate Eddie Yang:

https://www.eddieyang.net/research/DDD.pdf

Yang figured out a way to test these dueling hypotheses. He got 10 million Chinese social media posts from the start of the pandemic, before companies like Weibo were required to censor certain pandemic-related posts as politically sensitive. Yang treats these posts as a robust snapshot of public opinion: because there was no censorship of pandemic-related chatter, Chinese users were free to post anything they wanted without having to self-censor for fear of retaliation or deletion.

Next, Yang acquired the censorship model used by a real Chinese social media company to decide which posts should be blocked. Using this, he was able to determine which of the posts in the original set would be censored today in China.

That means that Yang knows that the “real” sentiment in the Chinese social media snapshot is, and what Chinese authorities would believe it to be if Chinese users were self-censoring all the posts that would be flagged by censorware today.

From here, Yang was able to play with the knobs, and determine how “preference-falsification” (when users lie about their feelings) and self-censorship would give a dictatorship a misleading view of public sentiment. What he finds is that the more repressive a regime is — the more people are incentivized to falsify or censor their views — the worse the system gets at uncovering the true public mood.

What’s more, adding additional (bad) data to the system doesn’t fix this “missing data” problem. GIGO remains an iron law of computing in this context, too.

But it gets better (or worse, I guess): Yang models a “crisis” scenario in which users stop self-censoring and start articulating their true views (because they’ve run out of fucks to give). This is the most dangerous moment for a dictator, and depending on the dictatorship handles it, they either get another decade or rule, or they wake up with guillotines on their lawns.

But “crisis” is where AI performs the worst. Trained on the “status quo” data where users are continuously self-censoring and preference-falsifying, AI has no clue how to handle the unvarnished truth. Both its recommendations about what to censor and its summaries of public sentiment are the least accurate when crisis erupts.

But here’s an interesting wrinkle: Yang scraped a bunch of Chinese users’ posts from Twitter — which the Chinese government doesn’t get to censor (yet) or spy on (yet) — and fed them to the model. He hypothesized that when Chinese users post to American social media, they don’t self-censor or preference-falsify, so this data should help the model improve its accuracy.

He was right — the model got significantly better once it ingested data from Twitter than when it was working solely from Weibo posts. And Yang notes that dictatorships all over the world are widely understood to be scraping western/northern social media.

But even though Twitter data improved the model’s accuracy, it was still wildly inaccurate, compared to the same model trained on a full set of un-self-censored, un-falsified data. GIGO is not an option, it’s the law (of computing).

Writing about the study on Crooked Timber, Farrell notes that as the world fills up with “garbage and noise” (he invokes Philip K Dick’s delighted coinage “gubbish”), “approximately correct knowledge becomes the scarce and valuable resource.”

https://crookedtimber.org/2023/07/25/51610/

This “probably approximately correct knowledge” comes from humans, not LLMs or AI, and so “the social applications of machine learning in non-authoritarian societies are just as parasitic on these forms of human knowledge production as authoritarian governments.”

The Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop summer fundraiser is almost over! I am an alum, instructor and volunteer board member for this nonprofit workshop whose alums include Octavia Butler, Kim Stanley Robinson, Bruce Sterling, Nalo Hopkinson, Kameron Hurley, Nnedi Okorafor, Lucius Shepard, and Ted Chiang! Your donations will help us subsidize tuition for students, making Clarion — and sf/f — more accessible for all kinds of writers.

Libro.fm is the indie-bookstore-friendly, DRM-free audiobook alternative to Audible, the Amazon-owned monopolist that locks every book you buy to Amazon forever. When you buy a book on Libro, they share some of the purchase price with a local indie bookstore of your choosing (Libro is the best partner I have in selling my own DRM-free audiobooks!). As of today, Libro is even better, because it’s available in five new territories and currencies: Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia and New Zealand!

[Image ID: An altered image of the Nuremberg rally, with ranked lines of soldiers facing a towering figure in a many-ribboned soldier's coat. He wears a high-peaked cap with a microchip in place of insignia. His head has been replaced with the menacing red eye of HAL9000 from Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' The sky behind him is filled with a 'code waterfall' from 'The Matrix.']

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

—

Raimond Spekking (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Acer_Extensa_5220_-_Columbia_MB_06236-1N_-_Intel_Celeron_M_530_-_SLA2G_-_in_Socket_479-5029.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

—

Russian Airborne Troops (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vladislav_Achalov_at_the_Airborne_Troops_Day_in_Moscow_%E2%80%93_August_2,_2008.jpg

“Soldiers of Russia” Cultural Center (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Col._Leonid_Khabarov_in_an_everyday_service_uniform.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

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haesunflower · 1 year

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zb1 finds out they were not your top pick

genre: reaction, comedy, sad for some

pairing: reader (mostly gn) x all members of zerobaseone

about/tags: reaction when they find out you didn't one-pick vote them or they weren't your main pick

established relationship unless stated otherwise, yujin's context is friendship only, bullet point reactions, lowercase intentional, junhyeon and jeonghyeon make an appearance!

⠀⠀ kim jiwoong ⠀⠀

"babe i have a confession to make"

you sounded so serious and you looked so nervous, so he put down his phone to put all his attention into what you were going to say

then you confessed that you were so busy during one-pick voting you didn't get to vote for him consistently and it was eating you alive

he released a sigh of relief then laughed

is kinda endeared with the fact that you blurted that out to him and that it warranted a "confession"

honestly was kinda unbothered

he made it in the debut group and that's all that matters to him

stands up to place a kiss on your head

"that's it? don't worry about it babe "

⠀⠀ zhang hao ⠀⠀

he founds out because he finds your voting certificates screenshots

he kinda deadpans and goes "ricky? you voted for ricky??"

and you have to explain that you were sure he was gonna land AT LEAST 2ND no matter what, so you had to vote for other people you wanted in the lineup

he agrees with your stance

and commends your argumentative reasoning

you end up talking about the strategies you applied in the different rounds of voting, and he shares about his strategies when choosing concepts for each mission

you're both very smart people that understand how survival shows work

⠀⠀ sung hanbin ⠀⠀

when you tell him that you alternated voting him and zhanghao during the one pick round he jokes that maybe that's why he ended up in 2nd place

but he's genuinely joking, he says that whole sentence with a huge smile on his face

you don't take it a joke and you start crying

full on tears

"i'M soRRY it's my fault as to why you don't get your own song"

you look like this (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`) at this point

he giggles and kisses your tears away

"love...i was joking, please stop crying"

"i cAN'T"

⠀⠀ seok matthew ⠀⠀

actually....this one might cause a fight

he actually has to leave the room for a while to think it over

i can see him being so sad over it like :(( "i thought you only supported me"

keeps bugging you to ask who you ended up voting for

when you answer jiwoong he sorta just goes..

"....ok fair"

but he's still going to be sad about it

is very open with you that he feels disappointed

your relationship is very new though so he's trying to be understanding

you work 10 x harder to reassure him that you're his #1 priority nowadays

⠀⠀ kim taerae ⠀⠀

he's lying on your lap when he asks "you voted for me everyday right?"

"well....."

immediately sits right up

"you see, there's just so many talented people, i couldn't really choose....and well..."

you're trying to make up words as you go, rambling at this point

the truth is you voted for him every damn day you just wanted to see his reaction

he's so patient with you and holds your hands as you're trying to explain

makes direct eye contact with you, eyebrows knit awaiting the point you're getting at

you realize you took it too far

so you just bring out your phone and pull out your album of voting certificates

"i'm joking. sorry, i just wanted to get your reaction"

literally smiles so big and takes the phone from your hand as he scrolls through the album

album name: for taerae's dream

⠀⠀ ricky ⠀⠀

this one is an actual fight, well, a petty one

you're getting ready to go to dinner with friends when ricky facetime calls you

"i heard from taerae that you like jeonghyeon"

and you're like ??? "yeah i think he's talented, why?"

"he's your one-pick?"

"if you're asking if I voted for him, then yes i did"

then he just hangs up

he ignores the calls and texts you send after that, and literally doesn't reach out to you again until the next day

he caves when he opens your 50+ unread messages & sees the pictures of a long handwritten apology in 3 diff languages (yes, idol-like apology)

he smiles, then realizes he's supposed to be annoyed, then smiles again

he didn't mean to be this petty so he calls you back to apologize as well

⠀⠀ kim gyuvin ⠀⠀

when you're playing truth or dare and he asks you who your one pick was

he instantly regrets it

"don't feel bad okay, but it was gunwook"

he pretends it doesn't bother him but it does

mainly because he previously compared himself to gunwook a lot and he's starting to think that even in dating you, there's competition

and it doesn't help that you guys are so fresh into the relationship

he forces out a little laugh but I guess you can tell it's fake

bc you distract him from his thoughts by kissing his nose

"stop overthinking silly, i said it WAS...was like past tense"

takes your word for it, and holds your hand tightly, intertwining your fingers

⠀⠀ park gunwook ⠀⠀

never let him find out .

i'm serious never .

mainly because you know how gunwook gets

he likes it when your attention is on him 100% of the time

but that failed when one of your alarms went off and it said "vote for junhyeon"

he just looked at you like ᯣ_ᯣ what do you mean vote for junhyeon

you had to explain that you had another device where you were voting for junhyeon every day too so that he could debut with his best friend

while you expected him to be kinda pouty he totally wasn't

he just looked at you softly before tugging you into a warm embrace and said

"thank you for always thinking of me"

⠀⠀ han yujin ⠀⠀

(not romantic) (if you want to know why read my important announcement)

after the finale, the class groupchat blew up full of congratulatory messages for yujin

in midst of the chaos, of your classmates exposed you for being a gyuvin stan

classmate a: yah y/n, why are you typing you didn't even vote for yujin

classmate b: all you did was talk about gyuvin everyday

yujin sends a photo of gyuvin's autograph he promised to get you

yujin: guess this is going in the trash, y/n

you: waIT NO plEASE yujin i voted for you up until we could only pick one

yujin just seenzones you

everyone laugh reacts at the message exchange

A/N: this was funny thanks for requesting!

૮ ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶ ა

✎ mobile masterlist

✉︎ request

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afloweroutofstone · 11 months

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My new article takes a look at how one of the most prestigious think tanks in the world is partnering with for-profit military contractors to try convincing the military that it should shower them with even more money. Will be up on my website soon.

...a recent report from the Atlantic Council — one of Washington’s most influential think tanks... advocates for the contracting process to be even more industry-friendly than it is now, which raises questions not just about the report’s corporate sponsors, but also their outsized influence on policy in Washington at the expense of public interest... The [Council's] Defense Innovation Adoption Commission’s members describe themselves as having “decades of service between us in government, the private sector, and capital markets.” Digging deeper into the commissioners’ records in the private sector quickly unveils potential conflicts of interest. The Commission includes a list of nine “industry commissioners,” all of whom represent companies that contributed funding to the Atlantic Council last year; their collective contribution was somewhere between $810,000 and $1,625,000. Eight of these nine companies are also listed as official “Sponsors” of the Commission, including the “Foundational Sponsor” Booz Allen Hamilton, a top U.S. government contractor. In addition, four of the “industry commissioners” represent companies that also signed the letter promoting the report’s findings. Several of the contractors linked to the Commission have played a particularly active role in the project: donating to the think tank, sponsoring the Commission, selecting a representative to serve on it, and signing the letter promoting the Commission’s interim report. Prominent among them is Applied Intuition. Next is Palantir, a billion dollar company whose business strategy and privacy violations have been highly controversial. The other two are Primer, a company focused on military applications for artificial intelligence, and SnowPoint Ventures, a venture capital firm invested in technology and robotics. Primer has also promoted the report on its website. Both have highlighted the Commission’s work on their websites. In addition, despite the report’s emphasis on leveling the playing field for smaller contractors, there are two corporate giants with their fingerprints all over it: Raytheon and SAIC. The Commission’s co-chairs are Mark T. Esper —a former Raytheon lobbyist and defense secretary during the Trump administration — and Deborah Lee James — President Obama’s Air Force secretary and a former SAIC executive. Other commissioners include at least three figures with ties to Raytheon (two former board members and one current board member), two former officials from SAIC, and an advisory board member of a trade group that represents both companies. Raytheon and SAIC are both donors to the Atlantic Council... Though the report itself contains a wide assortment of detailed policy changes, the promotional letter from business leaders focuses on just four of the 10 sections, each of which promote policies they would stand to benefit from.

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mcufan72 · 2 months

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Sugar and Cinnamon

Loki x female reader (AU)/ 18+

Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Warnings: contains fluff, smut, angst, unprotected sex, alcohol and cigarette consumption, soft!dom/sub vibes, toxic relationship, morally grey stuff, blackmailing, abusive and insulting behaviour

Note: I hadn't much time to write lately and I don't know when it's going to change... my job is killing me these days. This chapter took 10 days to get written and it became a very long chapter (~11k words), so get some snacks and something to drink. I hope you enjoy.

You looked at him, swallowed, took a deep breath and then you began to tell him how it all started…

…nearly six months ago:

“Can we talk?” You asked Ralph after entering his office.

“Don't you see that I don't have any time to talk to you right now,” he answered harshly and stressed while reading the contract documents concerning the new advertising contract his marketing agency was ready to sign. The big deal that would catapult him and his company to the top of the marketing agencies in North America. He ran his fingers nervously through his dark brown hair, keeping his brown eyes fixed on the documents. “ We can talk later!”

“No, we need to talk now,” you told him strictly.

It had been a long day at work today like every day lately and you two had barely time to talk. And you two not talking properly to each other had been for months now. You and Ralph and the team around you were stuck deeply in negotiations with a production company for luxury wristwatches and thanks to your superb knowledge of marketing strategies and your excellent conversation tactics you finally got the deal for the new marketing campaign and the assignment from the wristwatch manufacturer. No, Ralph got the deal, the agency was his company, not yours. You were just his account manager in a leading position and his girlfriend for five years.

What you had to tell him was urgent and you had to tell him now. You didn't want to postpone this important conversation for the umpteenth time just because he always pretended to not have time for you. But you were his girlfriend and fiancée-to-be on hold and he had to have time for you, for heaven's sake. He didn't even raise his head to look at you when you approached his curved glass desk.

“I leave!”

“Yeah, good. Go home and get some rest. I don't know when I'll be back home. Might be late. Take a bath, shave and get pretty for me. I don't want to see you in a worn-out t-shirt and that ugly butterfly-patterned pyjama bottoms when I come home. Wear something nice … wear the red negligee, you know I like it. We can ‘celebrate’ my deal then.” He still didn't look at you and you grinned annoyed, shaking your head lightly.

“That's not what I meant, Ralph.”

“Then explain.”

“I leave. I leave the company… and you!” You thought it would be harder to tell him that but I wasn't. It felt more of a relief. Your relationship with him was in a crisis for months at this point and when you got aware of it you recognised that you didn't love him anymore. The love you once had felt for him had already faded away some time ago. So you decided to leave him, with all the consequences. You didn't want to hold on to a relationship that didn't make sense anymore even if that meant you had to find a new job. But you didn't worry about that. You were good at what you were doing and finding a new job in the marketing business wouldn't be a problem for you. Also, you wanted to pick up your studies again so you would be perfectly qualified to run your own business one day.

“Yeah, okay… wait, you what?” Ralph finally looked at you, frowning and astonished.

“I leave the agency and you. Look, I'll stay until the contract is signed. It takes approximately four weeks for our lawyers to verify the conditions before the signing so I'll stay until then. That's enough time for you to look for a new assistant and account manager. And if you're being honest our relationship is at a dead end and I know you can feel it too. I'm sorry if my announcement takes you a bit off guard but we hardly spend time with each other for months now. You're barely at home. I have a feeling that you keep avoiding me. And when you are at home you never really want to talk to me, we just have quick sex and maybe we have dinner together and…Ralph, I don't want to beat around the bush but… I don't love you anymore. The feeling isn't there anymore. It's gone, possibly on both sides. You became so loveless with time. But okay, it happens, that's life and there's nothing wrong with that. We both have changed and we both should move on. A relationship without love… it simply doesn't make sense and I like things to make sense. Let us look at this fantastic deal as our final big success on the long haul and then we both can start new things. Everyone for themselves. I think that's just fair,” you explained in a strict but friendly tone.

Ralph was a good-looking man, tall with broad shoulders, short dark hair, and hazelnut brown eyes, charming and good with words. That was why you fell for him five years ago. Now you knew that wasn't enough, there was so much more a healthy relationship needed and he couldn't give it to you or he didn't want to give it to you. And now after five years, you knew him well enough to be sure that he wasn't the right man for you so you decided to end it without causing further complications.

“What a silly girl you are, darling,” and he stood up from his leather executive chair, grinning at you dismissively. “Who do you think you are, hm?”

“I'm a strong woman who knows what she wants and what she doesn't want. And I don't want to be together with you anymore because you don't see me. You don't even have much time for me anymore just when you want to have sex and need to get some steam off. And that's not enough, Ralph. I want more and I deserve more. Please, accept my decision and that I don't have any feelings for you anymore and that there's nothing left that would be enough for a relationship or a marriage. I'm also sure it's more than difficult to continue working together after ending our relationship. Please, don't make it more awkward than necessary.” A scornful laugh escaped his throat.

“You're so ridiculous and such a stupid girl. I'll tell you what you want… this!” and he made a presenting gesture with his arms to underline his statement. “You want this job, you want me, the money and the luxury life it allows us. The penthouse, the luxury cars, designer clothes, the exclusive holidays in the world's best hotels. Do you really want to give all that up, darling? Do you really want to tell me you never appreciated all that?” You didn't like the contemptuous tone in his voice as if he were looking down on you.

“I never said that. I do appreciate our privileged life and all the amenities we have and I always worked hard for it so that we can have this kind of lifestyle. But it has nothing to do with love, it's just material and I want more than that and there's no love anymore between us, and you know it as well as I do.”

“We, darling, we worked hard for it. It's my agency, and in the end, it's my money but in my generosity, I always shared with you,” he insisted.

You swallowed down the words you wanted to throw at him because you knew who in this agency was doing the real work. It was you and Ralph's other highly qualified employees. He only harvested the fruits of your hard work and celebrated successes as his merits. He never cared about the fact that success is rather a team result than an individual achievement. A fact that bothered you more and more and added to the fact that you were losing the love you once had felt for him.

“And I know you want me. You can't live without me, can you? I'm the only one who knows what you need and what's good for you, hm? Because I can feel it whenever we have sex,” he tried to convince you, rounding his desk and walking towards you.

There must be something wrong with his feelings because it seemed he never had recognised how often you had faked your orgasms. He always did it his way. Hard, fast, and always dominant and he hated soft lovemaking. At some point, you began faking your climax to get finished soon with the bedroom activities which became more and more unsatisfying for you because Ralph just satisfied his own needs. And when you did it you better do it without questioning his masculinity. After some time you became very good at it. You better because otherwise he would've been in a foul mood for days and everyone around him including you would've felt the consequences. He stood close to you and with his sweaty palm, he cupped your cheek and ran his thumb firmly over your lips as if he wanted to wipe away the things you just said from your mouth like spilt food. Once his touches made you feel good but these days were truly gone and you didn't want him to touch you ever again.

“We had such a wonderful time together and always had good sex, didn't we?” He asked you smugly. He already needed to get his ego pampered again. A shiver ran down your spine and it wasn't because of lust.

“You always had good sex, not me,” you stated dryly.

“Ts ts ts…Darling, it's not my fault, it's you who's a little frigid sometimes but when you're in the right mood you can be such a horny slut and you know how much I like that,” he snickered. He wasn't completely wrong, you indeed liked some kinky stuff.

“I'm not frigid, you never listened to me when I asked you for some… sexy stuff to try or what I wanted to do in bed. Don't blame it on me alone, okay!” You said angrily.

“Darling, did your mother teach you to lie, hm?” His hand still cupped your cheek and you tried to escape from his touch.

“Don't put my mother into this,” you spat and pushed his hand away. “Our sex was never that good, not for me at least. You often left me high and dry and you didn't even care about that or ask or listen to me when I wanted to talk with you about it and what I needed to be satisfied too. You never cared. You never truly cared about me, did you? Gosh, I was so blind. Did you even love me, Ralph?” The thought struck you like a blow. How could you haven't seen this much earlier? How money could change someone so much and how much could someone be so blinded by love?

“Love, love… who needs love or romance? Money and success, that's what counts. Love is overrated, love is for kids and dogs,” he lamented, bored by what you were talking about.

“So you never loved me,” you stated disappointedly.

“Oh, I do, darling. At the beginning of our relationship, I definitely did. You were hot and eye candy and arm candy as well. You were pretty much of a head-turner, and you still are and I enjoy others looking at my beautiful girlfriend, especially our customers and business partners. It led to many successful deals that you're that pretty and smart. C’mon, doll, we both know that feelings can change and become different in a relationship and yes, maybe you're not my dream girl and I'm not your dream boy anymore, but that's why we don't have to split up right now, darling. We're such a successful team. C’mon it's just a phase, you're overworked and stressed out. Take a few days off. Drive to our house in the Hamptons and then everything will be fine again, okay? We'll fix our disagreements later when you're back,” he tried to appease you. “Don't be a drama queen! You don't want to leave me, I know it.” Ralph told you arrogantly and went back to his executive chair to sit down and pay attention to the contract documents again.

“You really don't get it, do you? It's not a phase, Ralph. It's a fact and I will leave,” you replied firmly. Ralph stayed silent, obviously getting pissed off more with every second your conversation continued. A look of scorn filled his eyes before he spoke again, his eyes fixed on yours.

“I think you're forgetting one tiny little detail,” He told you sneakily.

“What little detail? What do you mean?” you asked puzzled and frowning.

“Well, don't you remember our…little secret?” He winked at you and smirked. You suddenly remembered what he meant. You felt nauseous and a lump building in your throat made it heavy for you to breathe.

“What are you implying?” A further wave of nausea washed over you. He would never do that, would he?

“What about publishing it, darling?” He grinned devilishly. “For everyone to see.”

“No! No Ralph you can't do that! Ralph, please! No!” You begged him quietly and desperately. You panicked and swallowed thickly.

“It's all up to you, darling!” He stood up from his chair again and walked over to where you still stood, shoving his hands into the pockets of his dress trousers. He leaned toward you, rage and injured vanity in his eyes. And there was something else in his eyes. Fear?

“No one, absolutely no one leaves Ralph Belmont. So how dare you? No one screws things up with me! Not even you! Do you understand me, darling?” His voice sounded threatening and his face was so dangerously close to yours that you could feel his breath fanning over your face, his nose nudging almost against yours.

“I give you two options,” and he turned away from you and walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Option one: You stay with me and in my agency, everything we just talked about will be forgotten and our little secret stays our secret. Option two…,” he turned around to face you “...you can leave the agency and me but you'll pay for it. A redemption sum so to say. In exchange, I won't publish our secret. Your decision, darling.” He smiled arrogantly.

“I can't and I won't stay with you, Ralph. Sooner or later you'll have to accept that,” you answered. Did he just try to blackmail you?

“It's option two then. Okay, if that's what you want, no problem. 250000 dollars and you're free. You have six months to transfer the money to my bank account with the note ‘Loan Repayment’. I think that's enough time for you to get the money together. Your working contract is dissolved with immediate effect, also you no longer have access to our bank account. Any questions, darling? I just want to make sure that things make sense for you.” The self-satisfied smile that curved his mouth disgusted you.

“What kind of cruel game are you playing here, Ralph? Are you doing this just because it hurts your pride when I leave you? You don't love me, you never really did. You just confirmed it. Let me go. You've got enough competent employees in the agency and there are more than enough women in this city who are waiting for a man like you and who'll throw themselves on you as soon as you're free. Do you think I never noticed that? So many women want a good-looking, filthy-rich man like you to fulfil their every wet and material dream. Now they can have you, I'm not interested anymore. You're not that man anymore I fell in love with. The more money we made the more you changed, and not for the best. You're not the same anymore, I guess the money did go to your head and you still crave for more.”

“What are you implying, hm? That I cheated on you, darling? Why should I, I have you to warm my bed. You should appreciate that,” he said, self-satisfied. “What about you?" He knew that you weren't that kind of girl. You'd never do that.

“Wow, where do I send flowers? Screw you, Ralph. You're such an asshole,” you answered sarcastically and repulsed.

“Ts, ts, ts, this is getting annoying. Be very careful, darling you're skating on thin ice. We both know that you're a little slut, hm?” He said sweetly, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “250000 bucks in six months! Save the date!” He said harshly and quite emphatically.

“Where shall I take the money from? I don't have that much and you know that!” your desperation grew. Why did he treat you like that?

“Not my problem. You decided to leave me. Now you know the consequences it has.” He sat down again, leaned back against the leather chair's backrest and crossed his arms behind his head, his eyes fixed on your shocked face.

“What's this game you're playing? Are you really blackmailing me? And what do you mean by ‘redemption sum’? For what? I always worked for my money. I worked my ass off for it and only for your profit! You never paid your employees properly or gave them any praise for their good work and I agreed to get paid better pocket money, especially in the beginning when we were building up our existence here. I did it for the company, for you and us. I even dropped my studies in London for you so that we could both move here, to New York and start a life because you didn't want to go without me and didn't want to wait a few months more until I finished my degree too. I did it for us because I always thought there was an ‘us’. We were in a relationship, I thought you loved me and I thought it would be forever.”

“Aww, look at you, so desperate now. Darling, not my problem. It was your decision to leave me and don't complain now, you'll have enough time now to study again and finish your exams,” he stated with utter sarcasm. “I invested a lot of money in you, haven't I? You had enough pocket money to spend on expensive, meaningless things and you also spent the money from our bank account. It seems you don't appreciate it enough and the things I did for you. I could've bought so many other nice things with all that money if I hadn't have spent it on you and your fancy clothes, cars, and other stuff. You want to leave me? Then you have to pay for it. Everything in life has its price, darling. And never forget about the dirty little secrets in my safe. One wrong step, one wrong action and I'll publish them all over the city and beyond. I'll ruin you, darling, if I have to. You'll never be able to work in our industry again when I'm done with you and you don't even have to try to hire for a job with our competitors. I'll find out and let them know what kind of woman you are. No one will employ you, I'll make sure of that. Never forget that, darling,” he grinned at you, smugly and viciously.

“You're such a disappointment in every hindsight. I'm glad to get rid of you. Pick up your stuff from your office and the penthouse. I expect you to be gone when I get back home. And don't forget to turn off the lights when you go and leave the keys with the receptionist. And now get out of my office. I've work to do,” and he busied himself with the contract documents again.

"You're such a devilish prick, Ralph Belmont. I can't believe how much I loved you once and that I did everything for you. You were never worth it. Unfortunately, it took me too long to see it. You're less than the dirt under my stilettos which I only ever wore for you because I wanted to look pretty for the man I loved. And it was you who wanted all those meaningless and material things, you dolled me up with all these clothes and shoes… you don't even know what my favourite colour is,” you answered, your voice trembling with disgust and disappointment. Disappointment about him and even more about yourself for not looking through him much earlier.

“Watch your mouth, darling. If I were a slut like you I'd be very careful about provoking me. You don't have any chance against me. Don't forget, you have six months! And now get out of my eyes!”

“Screw you, you bastard,” you spat with quivering lips, turned around and left his office.

***

Loki didn't know what to say after you had finished telling him what had happened to you the day you decided to leave your boyfriend. Tears welled up in his eyes when he saw how deeply hurt you were and how desperate. He kept holding your hands and tried to comfort you as best as he could.

“After that, I cleared my office, drove to our penthouse, packed my bags and left. I slept for some days in my best friend’s house until I found this apartment to rent. An apartment I can't afford much longer.” Tears began to run down your cheeks.

“So you became an escort lady to earn money for a living because you can't work in your business anymore,” Loki said and wiped your tears away.

“Yes, I contemplated a lot about what job I could do outside the marketing business and shortly after I stumbled over Rhea's escort agency. I found out that working as an escort was the fastest way to earn a lot of money in a short time… and it's still not fast enough or enough money at all. I changed my looks for the evenings when I was escorting gentlemen to functions and named myself Candy. Ralph's former arm candy, perfect in wearing high heels and fancy clothes and already a slut according to Ralph's opinion about me, had found her new job as an escort lady. Unfortunately, I was rapidly forced into getting a call girl because not only has my rent increased, the rent I pay for my mother's nursery home has increased as well.”

“Your mother lives in a nursery home? What happened to her, sweets?” Loki wanted to know, seemingly full of concern and compassion. “It's the woman in the pictures, right?”

“Yes, it's her, my beloved mum. She had a stroke some time ago and has been in a wheelchair since then. She needs professional help and care and so I looked for the best nursery home for her. My father died years ago and I'm an only child, I'm all she has. Ralph always thought I'd spent my money for whatever unnecessary things but I didn't. I paid for my mother's health care and I also spared a part of my money and now this saved money saves my life. But it's getting less and it has never been that much to buy my freedom from Ralph.

It wasn't easy for me to tell Rhea that circumstances are forcing me to work as a callgirl now too. The sheer thought of sleeping with strangers for money scared me. I don't know if you believe me but there was only ever you who I could imagine having sex with. I could never have done it with anyone else. And I still regret faking my orgasm when we fucked for the first time. It wasn't because I wanted to fool you, it was because I didn't want to feel that good. You felt so good, Loki and you were so tender and caring and I wasn't used to being treated like that and being treated so lovingly, especially not from a stranger. I was afraid of catching feelings for you and I couldn't allow it. It would've broken my rules to never develop feelings for a client or to ever fall in love again. But I failed, I began to feel more for you than I should and I broke my rules but I don't regret it,” you smiled at him but you couldn't stop your tears from falling. Loki looked lovingly at you and squeezed your hands to reassure you that he believed you and that he was there for you no matter what.

“What did he mean by the ‘dirty little secret’ in his safe? With what is he blackmailing you, sweets?” Loki asked his voice calm and soothingly. You hesitated to tell him. You were so ashamed of what you had agreed to do with and for Ralph and you were afraid that Loki wouldn't want you anymore when he finally got to know the truth. He felt your insecurity and anxiety to tell him everything and it broke his heart how much your hands were trembling in his. He just wished you would finally open up to him completely so he could finally help you in the way you needed him to help you. You just feared he would never talk to you again or find you disgusting.

“He's blackmailing me with…,” you felt like you had to puke and you took a deep breath before you continued. “He's blackmailing me with nude pics and… a sex tape.” Your tear-filled eyes looked into Loki's, trying to find out what he was thinking about you, now that he knew what whorish things you had done. But Loki said nothing so you continued telling him the details while tears kept running down your cheeks.

“He took the pictures of me and filmed us during sex some time ago when we were madly in love… or that was what I thought we were. On my part, I definitely was in love with him. I was so naive… but I trusted him and so I agreed to it. I was so dumb, I should never have allowed him to take these pictures or make this private porn.”

“You're not dumb, sweets. You were in love and what is love when you can't trust your partner? Unfortunately, he didn't love you enough but you couldn't know that,” he tried to comfort you despite knowing there was no real consolation right now. “So he filmed you. What about him in this tape?”

“Yes, he did, you can see how I get fucked by him in several ways but… his face is never visible and I'm not sure anymore if he did it on purpose back then for whatever reason or really just for himself or ourselves. He got me on the dangle and I'm at his mercy.” A desperate sob escaped your throat and your gaze wandered through your small apartment. “I don't know what to do, Loki. I don't have that money and time is slipping through my hands. In a few days, it's payday and if I don't pay he'll publish it.”

The panic in your gut grew immediately. Loki felt bad for you. He had no problems with any form of sex or kinks but he couldn't handle that this asshole took advantage of you, your abilities and your body in every way possible all over those years and now turned your trust and the love you once had for Ralph against you. You loosened your hands from Loki's, shifted on the sofa and sat back against the sofa's backrest. You pulled your knees close to your chest, wrapped your arms around them and stared into the void. You didn't want to be afraid, you wanted to be happy and free again. You wanted to live without so much fear.

Loki felt the rage in his gut rising and getting stronger. The sight of you curled up on the couch and your knees drawn to your chest, your face pale and your eyes teary, didn't help to get rid of this feeling. You, his precious girl, didn't deserve to be treated like this.

“Maybe I should sell one of my kidneys or rob a bank to be able to pay him,” you said, laughing and irony scurrying over your face.

There was it again, your never dying, beautiful laughter, your untamed will to feel alive and be happy no matter how big the pain is. Loki adored you for this and he couldn't help but join you in your laughter and sarcasm for a moment.

“I got everything you told me so far, sweets but what did he mean with ‘redemption sum’? I still don't get this part,” Loki questioned curiously and frowned.

“He wants to make me pay back for everything he ever invested in me, I guess. Everything belongs to him, Loki. The money, the cars, the penthouse, the house in the Hamptons, he bought my designer clothes and evening gowns and dolled me up to his liking to parade me around. He paid for everything we did together like luxury holidays for example. He always said it's our common wealth and we both should enjoy it. I helped him to get this rich and I also helped him to reach all the goals he wanted to reach. But everything happened in his name for his company. I think, at some point, I wasn't my own person anymore. I did most of the work together with his other employees, and the more money he earned the less I mattered to him… and my love for him slowly faded away. He didn't even recognise that. Tells a lot about his character, I guess. That he now behaves how he behaves is most likely because I crushed his pride by leaving him and that he's blackmailing me is possibly the only way for him to hold power over me and to keep me in his company. I'm sure he knows very well how much he owes me. It's a cruel game he's playing with me and it doesn't make any sense to me. Most of all I despise my own stupidity in not refusing that damn photoshoot…and allowing him to film us having sex was the biggest mistake I've ever made. I don't understand why I agreed to make a private porn video. I'm so disgusted by myself.”

The embarrassment made your eyes welling up with tears again and you angrily wiped them away with your palms. You couldn't turn back the time or the decisions you made and there was just one way now: grin and bear it and get everything sorted out. Self-pitying wasn't helpful at this point.

“I never wanted all this mass of luxury, you know. Of course, I like nice things and going shopping for fancy stuff. But I don't crave it, I don't need all those fancy clothes and shoes or jewellery, holidays in expensive hotels and their overpriced presidential suites, or fancy six-course menus. He wanted all of this and put me in those clothes and pretty places. A small cosy cottage at a beach, a glass of wine on the porch, casual food at a beach bar, swimming in the ocean and my bare feet in the sand, dancing in the moonlight and having sex on the beach… that was what I wanted to do but he never listened to me or fulfilled these little dreams of mine. He always wanted it his way and I agreed because I loved him and was afraid to lose him. All I ever wanted was to live and to love someone and I wanna be loved by a man whose feelings for me are sincere and genuine. I wanna feel safe…and I want to give all of those feelings to someone who deserves all of this as much as I do. A normal, healthy life and a normal, healthy relationship. To always say yes to everything and to sacrifice myself and my wishes for someone else's success wasn't healthy, always playing the supportive role instead of the main role…that was far away from having an equal and healthy relationship. When there's one thing I've learned then it's that I have to love myself too and that I have a right to get my dreams fulfilled as well and that was the reason why I finally broke up with Ralph and the break-up brought me in this fucked up situation. I still don't know what is hurting me more. The fact that Ralph is blackmailing me or that he never truly loved me. I was just a means to an end. Maybe I should laugh about him. He's a weakling, a douchebag, unable to put something on his own, humanly a total loser and in general a loser in life too. He never cared about me or was overly interested in my life or cared about my mum. He only ever cared about money. I thought I'd spend the rest of my life with him, Loki, I thought it would be forever until I found out how he really is, how evil and devilish. He's a failure, a failure in a pinstripe suit. And now he wants to punish me for leaving him and spending ‘his’ money. He wants to ruin me and make me believe that I was the one who took advantage of him and lived at his expense.”

“But you worked for it, sweets. You worked harder for it than him. He has no right to demand and reclaim anything from you.”

“Yeah, you're right but there's nothing I can do about that. And it still feels like there's more about it, that I only know half of the truth about him. I'm sure there's more about it that he demands so much money from me.”

“Why didn't you report him, sweets?”

“He has connections everywhere, Loki. From the Police department to the best lawyers, he knows a lot of people with a lot of influence and he has all the money to pay them all well and buy himself free from criminal offenses. I wouldn't have a hint of a chance.”

“Why did you stay with him that long?”

“I don't know. Maybe because I didn't want to give up on my hopes that we could still have a future together. Maybe because we were too used to each other and clinging too much to old habits. Maybe it was the refusal to accept that our love had died at some point in time. Maybe I was afraid of being alone. I don't know. The only thing I know is that I didn't stay with him because of the money and the privileged lifestyle. The things I wanted weren't material. What I always missed over the years was the love and the adoration for each other. The richer he got the more heartless he became. The lack of love and care was the worst. And it took me too long to see it.” You began quietly sobbing and crying, every dam inside of you broke.

“Now you know my truth and I hope you understand now why I wanted to keep you out of this and left you that night. I told you that the real me has nothing to do with the pretty, carefree and sexy Sugar, my alter ego, the fake personality you fell in love with. I never intended to hurt you, Loki. I know I did and I'm so sorry for that. I totally understand if you want to go now because you deserve a better woman than me whose life is fucked up and whose sex life might be published all over the country in a few days.”

“You should know that I won't leave you alone, no matter what happens. Do you still not believe me that I'm in love with you? I don't care about what you did and why, you had no other choice and who am I to judge you? You still wanted me to stay despite what I did in the past. And you definitely didn't do anything wrong. I'll stay, I won't go.” Loki could deal with a lot of things. Hate, rejection, wrath, rudeness but not with you, his precious girl, sitting on your sofa blaming everything that had happened on you and crying a river because of that damn prick Ralph.

“Come here, sweets,” and he pulled you into his lap cradling you tight. He rubbed your back gently and you leaned against him, your head resting in the crook of his neck.

“I always knew that there's a wonderful, lovable and sweet person behind the mask named Sugar. I saw so many hints of it whenever we met and I'm glad that I have found this amazing woman. Have you any idea how strong you are? I promise you we'll figure out how to bring him down and we'll figure it out together.”

“Can you please hold me for a while? I need to be held by you, Loki,” and you began to cry again.

“Of course, as long as you want me to, sweets,” Loki kissed you softly on the forehead, rocked you slowly back and forth and just held you tightly until you felt better and had no more tears inside of you to shed.

“Please, sweets take my money and pay him and then…” he began to talk again.

“No, Loki, I won't do that,” you interrupted him quietly.

“Y/n please don't let us have this discussion again…” He begged you nicely.

“No, please don't get me wrong, Loki. It's not that I wouldn't take your money to pay him, which is extremely nice and generous of you. No, it's because I think he won't stop blackmailing me if I give him the money he demands from me. I'm pretty sure he won't stop blackmailing me because if he gets the money from me he might think I'm capable of paying more and that I can do it again and again. Believe me, he is that type of guy. He never gets enough, he's insatiable. I need to find another way. I'm afraid I need to talk to him again. Maybe… maybe I should… offer him to… to sleep with me one more time, maybe then he lets me go.” The thought made you shiver in disgust.

“This will never happen! He will never ever touch you again, y/n!” Loki said firmly and sternly. He carefully grabbed you by your shoulders and looked deeply into your teary eyes. “You're under my protection and I will never allow or accept this! Please, don't do this to me,” he told you desperately.

“I'm sorry, Loki, I'm so sorry, I won't do it, I promise but I really don't know what else to do…,” and you hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around your middle and pulled you closer to him.

“I'll find a way to stop him. I promise with all of my heart and soul, I'll stop him,” he cooed and buried his face in your hair. You were his, only his and he would protect you at all costs, always.

Out of nowhere your stomach growled and it made you both chuckle.

“It seems my queen is hungry and needs to get fed,” Loki answered and smiled at you.

“Your queen?” you asked him surprised and you were definitely hungry. No matter how big your problems were, you would never refuse to eat.

“Oh, right I forgot where you come from, I'm sorry Loki,” you continued genuinely and kissed his mouth tenderly.

“Yes, you're my queen, sweet thing and I can't have you starving. I have a suggestion. I'm doing groceries for some food and I cook something for us and you can clean up your apartment a bit. Then we eat and after lunch, you can finish your today's work and we spend the rest of the evening together… and the night if you want. What do you think, sweets? Would you like that?” Loki grinned from ear to ear, very proud of his irresistible proposal.

“You can cook?” you asked astonished. This man was just full of surprises and really cared about your well-being. And of course, you wanted him to stay.

“Yes, I can. I had a lot of time here to learn it,” Loki confirmed.

“Wow, you're really talented. You're amazing and I'm truly blessed with a man like you. Yeah, that's a really good plan. Thank you, Loki,” and you kissed him again. You could do this all day long and stay wrapped around him 24/7.

A knock at your entrance door interrupted your making out and you let go of each other's lips.

“Do you expect someone?" Loki asked and looked quizzically at you.

“No, I don't expect anyone,” and you got off of his lap. You took a sweatpants on and headed for the door to open it.

“Hello y/n, I'm very sorry for disturbing you but…”

“Walker!” and you hugged that rock of a man with genuine thankfulness. Your stormy embrace took him off guard and he shyly reciprocated your hug.

“You're not mad at me?” He asked you insecurely. You let go of him and looked at him.

“How could I be mad at you? You helped my man to find me and brought him back to me. And I'm so grateful for it, Walker. Thank you, thank you for your help, you risked a lot for us,” you told him and gave him an amicable kiss on his cheek. Walker was taken aback by it, he never expected this adorable behaviour of yours and he slightly blushed but he always knew what a wonderful person you were so he wasn't really surprised. You were lovely and that's why he always cared that much about you.

“Will you tell Rhea?” He wanted to know.

“No, Walker, I won't tell her. If she should find it out by herself I won't lie to her, she always has been good to me and so have you. I would explain to her why you did it and I would fight for you. You won't lose your job, I promise,” you reassured him. Loki appeared behind you and wrapped one arm around your waist, placed his hand on your stomach, kissed your cheek and looked at Walker, smiling.

“Thank you, y/n, I appreciate it. You have a heart of gold. Is everything okay so far?” Walker looked smilingly at both of you and Loki pulled you closer to his body, his chin leaning at your temple.

“Yes!” You both answered simultaneously and smiled brightly at Walker and he told you he was glad to hear that. He could see how happy you two were despite knowing that you were still in some kind of danger he didn't know anything about.

“Could you do me a favour, Walker?” Loki asked him.

“Of course, Sir.”

“Could you please drive me to a grocery store, I'd like to buy some foodstuff, this beautiful lady here in my arms is starving and I can't have that. I just get fully dressed and then we can drive off.”

“No problem, Sir, I wait by the car for you,”

“Thanks, Walker. Give me five minutes,” Loki said. Walker nodded once and smiled at you, turned on his heels and left. He could go with a good conscience and to see you so lucky in all your misery and together with the man you visibly loved was worth it to risk his job.

Loki got dressed and kissed you goodbye.

“You come back to me, right?”

“Of course, I will come back to you, sweets.” He held your head in his big hands, his thumb pads gently rubbing over the soft skin of your cheeks, and kissed the tip of your nose.

“Will you open the door for me when I'm back from doing the groceries, my precious girl?” He asked you softly. You took his hands gently from your face and walked over to your dresser to take something out of a small wooden bowl.

“You can let yourself in, handsome. Can't wait to have you back,” you said quietly, kissed him shortly but passionately and gave him your keychain with the key to your apartment. Loki smiled at you, astonished that you gave him your keys without hesitating.

“I'll be back soon, sweets,” he answered, gave you a further quick, loving kiss and left.

When Loki came back you had put things in order in your apartment, your table wasn't a complete disaster anymore and it would be much easier for you to get back to work later. He immediately began to prepare the ingredients he needed for cooking a tasty meal for you. You two decided to eat at the kitchen counter and you prepared two places with cutlery and napkins. Loki forbid you to do more than this. He wanted you to take some rest and he also wanted to spoil you with his cooking skills and his care. You couldn't do anything about it, so you obeyed and just watched him stirring in a pot and frying fish in a pan. It smelled delicious and Loki cooking in your small kitchen was a sight to behold. A literal demi-god, devastatingly beautiful and sexy in his tightfitting t-shirt, was cooking in your kitchen, and he did it for you.

You were on the edge of crying again. His ways to show you his love and affection were adorable and you were still convinced that you didn't deserve it. You rounded the kitchen counter and hugged him from behind, shoving your hands under his t-shirt and letting your fingertips trail over his defined abs in lazy circles up to his pecs to caress his chest hair. You couldn't resist touching him. You needed to reassure yourself that he was real and that you weren't daydreaming.

“Don't you dare distract me, sweet thing,” he groaned jokingly.

“I'm hungry,” you whined and pressed a firm kiss between his clothed shoulder blades.

“I know, sweets and it seems you want the dessert before the main course,” he teased you and turned around to face and hug you. Your hands were still under his shirt and caressed now the firm muscles of his back.

“The best comes last,” you teased him back and bit lightly into your lower lip. You felt the muscles of his thighs and his crotch tightly pressed against your lower parts and you let your hands trailing down to his butt, squeezing it and pressing him even closer to you.

“I think you have to be patient, sweet thing. Before you'll get your special dessert I have a sweet little surprise for you,” he said to increase your anticipation. It was just now that he realized that you had touched his bare skin again without his permission. Why did it feel that good, dangerously good? Your warm hands on his body lit a fire in him again and he wanted it to burn forever. Your hands on him were dangerous but one of the best feelings he ever felt.

“Can't wait for it,” you mumbled, tilted your head, and latched your lips onto his. You would never get enough of this man's soft lips and his delicious taste. If only you knew what it was that made his kisses that tasty.

“We can eat now, sweets. Take a seat, I will serve you the food,” and he let go of your mouth and body and prepared two dishes with the freshly cooked food.

“Et voilà, freshly fried salmon on a bed of spicy spinach leaves and some rice as a side dish with a light herbal sauce. Enjoy your meal, my love,” and Loki placed your dish with an elegant movement in front of you. Did he just call you ‘my love’? Never before had a man called you like this and you never felt so loved by a man. And it felt so normal like you two were in a serious relationship but maybe it went way too fast and way too easy.

“Thank you so much, Loki. It looks gorgeous,” and you dipped your fork into the fish and the spinach and shoved it into your mouth. The wonderful taste of it on your tongue made you moan almost indecently and your reaction made Loki smile. He loved how sensually you enjoyed food.

“It's delicious, I love it. It's the best dish I've eaten in two weeks.”

“I'm happy you like it, sweets,” Loki responded and he also started eating. You didn't talk much during your lunch, you just enjoyed each other's company. Loki's little surprise for you was a chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries and he couldn't resist feeding you this sweet treat, well knowing that you would never deny a good dessert.

In the afternoon you continued writing your thesis and Loki sat on your sofa, reading one of the books he had taken from your bookshelf. He didn't disturb you, he was just there and his sheer presence filled you with calmness and security. It was balm to your soul in all the stress and anxiety you were suffering these days. In the evening you watched a movie together but you didn't follow the plot because you soon ended up heavily making out and Loki carried you to your bedroom, his lips never leaving yours. You two hurriedly took your clothes off and continued kissing and touching each other's bare skin. You did it slowly and gently and you weren't in a hurry anymore as soon as you were cuddling under the sheets. All the touches made Loki's cock twitch and you felt the wetness between your thighs becoming more with every passionate kiss he gave you.

“Mark me, Loki. I want everyone to know that I belong to someone, that I belong to you,” you whispered to his ear and continued kissing him and playing with his curls.

“Are you sure, sweets? I don't want to bruise your perfect skin. You're too precious to me,” he answered softly and brushed your hair tenderly out of your face.

“Yes, I want it, I want you to mark me as yours,” you asked him.

He gave you a soft, passionate kiss first before his lips travelled further down to your throat and the most sensitive spot under your ear. He placed a tender kiss right to your pulse point before he sucked and nibbled that erotic zone of yours until he saw a violet mark appearing on your skin. He licked gently over the bruise and blew some air over it to soothe the sweet pain he had caused. All the moans you made and the way you were writhing underneath him while he was kissing you had already made him harden and you felt him rolling his hips against your thigh. Then he was on top of you, pressing his engorged cock against your thigh and moistening it with pre-cum. Your hard nipples rubbed against his chest with his every movement and it made him moan and tremble because it felt so good on his skin. Your hands were roaming all over his body and caressing him. He never wanted to miss this feeling ever again. He felt you shifting beneath him and opening your legs for him. He rolled his hips against yours and with his shaft he rubbed over your inner labia and your clit. Your soft moans and your tight grip on his back and his nape caused goosebumps on his heated skin. The tip of his cock teased your entrance and when he was about to slide in you tenderly stopped him.

“Don't you want to blindfold me? If you want you can tie up my wrists too,” you trusted him enough to allow him to do it and to surrender to him.

“No, I want you to touch me. Touch me here,” and he gently took your hand and placed it to his sternum where his heart was beating hurriedly. “Make me feel I'm breathing, I'm living, make me feel worthy of your touch, worthy of your love. I want you to look at me and I want to look into your eyes when you cum, sweets.” In his eyes, you saw he was serious and he truly wanted it.

“So whenever you blindfolded me, you did it not just for the kink. You wanted to hide from me. I didn't imagine the blue shimmer under your skin, right? It has something to do with you being a Jotun,” you concluded, tenderly running a thumb over his cheek.

“You didn't imagine it, I'm sorry that I told you otherwise. I was scared and I didn't want to scare you off. When I have strong feelings for the woman I mate with, I may lose control and can't keep up the appearance you're used to. And being touched by your hands just adds to the sensation. And also my skin feels different then. These are the reasons why I didn't want you to touch me.” Loki was afraid you would demand him to stop and get off of you immediately but you didn't.

“You don't scare me off, you never could,” you whispered and pulled him down to kiss him ardently. “Go on, Loki, I need you,” you pleaded him sweetly.

“Sure?”

“Absolutely sure,” and he slid himself inside you until he was completely seated inside of you.

His strokes were deep and slow and he made the sweetest love to you. He was so tender and careful, with utter gentleness he caressed and kissed every part of your body he was able to reach in this position.

“I love you so much, I don't want to live without you anymore. Please, never run away again, sweets,” he asked you between his lingering kisses.

“You're my everything, Loki. I missed you so bad, I'm so glad to have you back, that you haven't given up on me. I will never run away from you again,” you murmured and you scratched lightly with your fingernails over the soft skin of his muscled back. You gave featherlight kisses to his cheeks and his forehead. His skin was glistening with a thin layer of sweat and your touches made him shiver. His strokes got sloppier and his moans more intense. You felt how close he was but he still held back. He could tell you wouldn't cum yet, together with him. He looked at you with asking eyes, unsure if he should go on or take care of your pleasure first. You sensed his hesitation but you gave him a reassuring glance to continue.

“I'm okay, don't worry. It feels good, don't stop. Come for me, Loki. Come undone for me, my precious boy, I have you,” you whispered against his lips and his speed increased. He groaned silently, his hips drawing back and pushed forward again, his throbbing cock thrusting deep into your pulsating cunt. You weren't on the brink of climaxing yet but it didn't matter. You enjoyed the intimacy and how close he was to you, how soft his skin felt under your fingertips, and how passionately he gave himself to you. There wasn't any pressure for you to orgasm and whoever told you to make love in missionary pose is boring was a liar. Nothing felt better or more intimate and intense. You definitely enjoyed it.

“Let go, my love, fill me with your cum, make me happy, let me feel you” and you trailed your fingers gently up from his lower back to his shoulders and his biceps. When you felt his whole body tighten and his moans getting more desperate, you spread your legs wider and grabbed his ass cheeks and squeezed them firmly. You knew he was about to cum. “That's it, you're allowed to cum Loki, give it all to me. Don't hide, you can show me who you are,” you murmured, kissing and caressing his throat and his face with your lips and tightening your grip on his butt.

“Oh fuck…,” and with your name on his lips he came, violently and delightfully moaning, feeling your cunt clenching around his sensitive tip and when you felt him releasing his warm seed into you you came too, silently, calmly, intensely, bathing in the sweet feeling of being loved and craved. You kissed each other passionately, intensifying the orgasmic bliss. You locked your legs around his waist because you knew how much he liked that and also you were not yet willing to let him go. You loved this feeling of his still throbbing cock inside of you. His kiss burned torturously sweet on your lips and you could barely stand the feeling of the weight of his body on top of yours and you really had underestimated how much you needed this, how much you needed him.

Loki broke the kiss and rested his forehead against yours, trying to catch his breath. You both didn't say anything, you just looked at each other and enjoyed this feeling of satisfied lust and love. You caressed Loki's scalp and scratched his nape tenderly, watching the hint of the blue colour under his skin and the red shimmer in his eyes slowly fading away. Loki gently caressed your cheeks and kissed the tip of your nose tenderly.

“Are you alright, sweet thing?” he murmured, softly pressing a further tender kiss to the tip of your nose. Instead of an answer he felt your legs clenching more firmly around his hips and your deep purr of contentment made him feel safe and wanted.

“I really didn't scare you? I…I couldn't show it to you completely yet, I'm still too used to hiding it. I think I need some time to understand that you would accept me nonetheless,” Loki mumbled shyly.

“Take all the time you need. You decide when it feels right for you and then you can show me your ethereal beauty,” Loki kissed you tenderly and thankfully and couldn't believe that you were so understanding in every respect.

“I wished we had met under different circumstances,” you whispered while you gave him several pecks on his lips, some sadness in your voice.

“Honestly, I'm pretty sure we did,” Loki said, convinced and moved his body from yours to lay on his side. You rolled to your side too so you could face him and propped up on one elbow, your head resting on your palm.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember the day when we first met at Vivian's Velvet? Rain was pouring down that day. I had just called Rhea, made an appointment with an escort lady, which was you, and was on my way home when a hooded woman bumped into me.”

“This is nothing unusual in Manhattan.”

“It's not, you're right. I couldn't see her face but I remember the shoes she was wearing…dark-green trainers like yours. It's my favourite colour and that's why the trainers caught my eye,” Loki continued and you frowned and looked quizzically at him.

“You mean, we could've had a meet-cute, flirting, dating and all that lovely kitschy stuff others have when meeting accidentally somewhere? Because… I remember I was in a hurry to Rhea's agency and I bumped into someone with an umbrella… it was…”

“... me, the man with the umbrella. And I'm sure I saw you a second time, in the hallway of the hotel after our first night, when I lost my scarf. I went back to the hotel suite to look for it and a woman walked past me. I greeted her but she didn't answer. She was busy looking for something in her bag and I couldn't see her face, it was hidden behind her hair. And she was wearing dark-green trainers, the same again as yours.” You swallowed thickly, you clearly remembered that night.

“Yeah, I remember. I was looking for my biscuits in my bag because I was a bit hungry and… I didn't answer because I had my earplugs in and was listening to music, I didn't even recognise walking past someone.

“And there was a third time. In Central Park, one sunny afternoon I was sitting on a bench and reading a book. When I randomly looked up, two women passed by, I just saw them from behind, one of them talking nonstop to the other woman… and this woman…”

“...wore the same dark-green trainers like mine?” You completed his sentence. “I'm sure it was me and my friend Gabby, we met one afternoon in Central Park and on our way home she talked a lot,” you laughed and you couldn't believe how many chances there had been to meet Loki in the streets and he couldn't believe it either.

“Besides I don't know what I would have done, it's amazing how many times we ran into each other, how close we had been to each other without knowing it,” you realized.

“But it wasn't meant to be for us. Our way is a different one, more complicated but we'll go this way together. I'm sure everything should exactly happen the way it happened. At least it doesn't matter. We're together now and that's the only thing important to me. Come here, sweets,” and Loki pulled you into his arms and hugged you tightly.

“You're right, and I'm just happy to have you here. Thank you for being here and holding me.” You enjoyed his proximity for a moment before you continued to speak.

“Loki, I'm not sure if I'm ready for a new relationship yet. It terrifies me. I might need some time to get over my bad experience and I hope you understand that it's not easy for me to love someone again.”

“Your scars need time to heal, sweets and I'll give you all the time you need. I also know it's not easy to love me. I'm an otherworldly creature with a dubious past and how could I expect an angel like you to love a sinner like me that easily.”

“You stop saying that right away, okay? That's not the reason. You're wonderful! A loveable, attentive and sensual man, you're everything a woman can dream of… everything I'm dreaming of. It's me, Loki. My life is so fucked up, and you deserve better, a better woman than me…I really wish we would've met under different circumstances… the girl in the rain…”

“...bumping into the man with the umbrella…Now you stop saying that right away, sweets. You're gorgeous, and you are the one for me and I say it again, I'll give you all the time you need,” and he tightened his grip on you, kissing you softly.

“Loki, I would've slept with you without taking money from you because I never really wanted you to pay for me. I just want to be yours and yours only,” you whispered tiredly and snuggled up closer to him.

“And I would've paid any price for you just to be with you and to make sure that no other man touches and hurts what is mine,” he answered quietly with his wonderful velvety voice.

To the sound of his heartbeat, you fell asleep on his chest, protected by his strong arms which were still firmly wrapped around you as if he were afraid you could be gone when he woke up in the morning.

“I'll do this one thing for you and make sure that this son of a bitch will never hurt you again,” Loki whispered into the darkness of your bedroom and placed a tender kiss on your forehead. But you didn't hear him because you were already sleeping and with you closely snuggled up to him he closed his eyes and fell asleep too.

The next morning when you woke up the place in your bed next to you was cold and empty. For a moment you thought he was gone and you suddenly understand how he must've felt when he woke up that morning without you. It was a horrible feeling. But then you heard some noises from the main room of your apartment. You got off the bed and walked over to where the sounds came from. There was Loki, nearly fully dressed already and about to leave.

“What are you doing?” you asked him surprised.

“Hey, good morning, my sweet thing. You're awake. I didn't want to wake you up. I just need to do something before we have breakfast. I'll be back soon, my love. Take your time and enjoy a hot shower until I'm back. I won't take long, I promise,” he explained to you. Something seemed a bit off but you couldn't explain what it was.

“See you later, my sweet girl and I'll prepare a wonderful breakfast for you when I'm back,” and he kissed you passionately goodbye. There was something very erotic about him being fully dressed and you still being naked. You found it irresistibly indecent and arousing.

“Sounds very promising, handsome. I'll be waiting for you to come back soon,” you told him softly.

You smiled brightly after he had closed the door and you took a mug from the cupboard to make you a coffee. You couldn't wait to have him back soon though he had just left but you already missed him. You thought about yesterday and last night, about how Loki had been there for you and listened to you and about your adoration and blooming love for Loki when it suddenly hit you like a rock.

‘You're a fallen angel, someone has broken your wings and if I ever find this cruel prick who hurt you so much, I'll kill him’

‘Don't make any promises you'll never keep, Luke’

‘I'll find a way to stop him. I promise with all of my heart and soul, I'll stop him ‘

“Oh my god Loki, no… no nono no… Don't do this…no…” you panicked and nearly dropped your coffee mug. You suddenly knew what it was he needed to do before breakfast. He surely was on his way to pay a visit to Ralph. He was willing to risk his freedom for you, willing to help you, no matter what it might mean to him or the consequences it could have for him. Never before have you got showered and dressed that quickly. Hopefully, it wasn't too late to keep him from falling into calamity.

Last night before he fell asleep with you nestled in his arms, sleeping peacefully, he knew what he had to do. He remembered who he was and what he was capable of. He was a prince, a king, a fighter and still the god of mischief and trickery.

He was willing to write a new story for you and hopefully, he would be a part of it too in one way or another. He was on his way to fight for your honour and freeing you from Ralph and nothing could stop him from doing it.

🌹🥂🥃🌃🌹🥂🥃🌃❤️🌹🥂🥃🌃🌹🥂🥃🌃

@faesimps @gruftiela @lokisprettygirl @anukulee @fandxmslxt69 @foxherder @depressedpolishgirl @buttercupcookies-blog @chantsdemarins @fictive-sl0th @justjoanne242 @km-ffluv @stupidthoughtsinwriting @lovingchoices @wheredafandomat @lokixryss @huntress-artemiss @smolvenger

#loki #loki x female reader #loki x reader #loki x you #loki x reader fluff #loki laufeyson #loki x reader fic #loki x reader angst #loki x reader smut #loki x fem!reader smut #jotun loki x female reader #loki x female reader smut #loki x female reader angst #loki x female reader fluff #loki x fem!reader #loki x female reader au #Spotify

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brucesterling · 1 year

Text

US National Priorities for Artificial Intelligence, please help

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/OSTP-Request-for-Information-National-Priorities-for-Artificial-Intelligence.pdf

Request for Information National Priorities for Artificial Intelligence

AGENCY: Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). ACTION: Notice of Request for Information.

[3270-F1]

SUMMARY: The Biden-Harris Administration is developing a National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy that will chart a path for the United States to harness the benefits and mitigate the risks of AI. This strategy will build on the actions that the Federal Government has already taken to responsibly advance the development and use of AI. To inform this strategy, OSTP requests public comments to help update U.S. national priorities and future actions on AI.

DATES: Interested individuals and organizations are invited to submit comments by 5:00 p.m. ET on July 7, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov. However, if you require an accommodation or cannot otherwise submit your comments via regulations.gov, please contact the program contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. OSTP will not accept comments by fax or by email, or comments submitted after the comment period closes. To ensure that OSTP does not receive duplicate copies, please submit your comments only once. Additionally, please include the Docket ID at the top of your comments.

Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to www.regulations.gov to submit your comments electronically. Information on how to use www.regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing agency documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket, is available on the site under “FAQ” (https://www.regulations.gov/faq).

Privacy Note: OSTP’s policy is to make all comments received from members of the public available for public viewing in their entirety on the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov. Therefore, commenters should be careful to include in their comments only information that they wish to make publicly available. OSTP requests that no proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information be submitted in response to this Request for Information (RFI).

Instructions: Response to this RFI is voluntary. Each responding entity (individual or organization) is requested to submit only one response.

Responses may address one or more topics, as desired, from the enumerated list provided in this RFI. Responders should note the corresponding topic number(s) in their response. Submissions must not exceed 10 pages (exclusive of cover page and references) in 11-point or larger font. Responses should include the name of the person(s) or organization(s) filing the comment, as well as the respondent type (e.g., academic institution, advocacy group, professional society, community-based organization, industry, member of the public, government, other). Comments referencing materials that are not widely published should include copies or electronic links of the referenced materials. No business proprietary information, copyrighted information, or personally identifiable information (aside from that requested above) should be submitted in response to this RFI. Comments submitted in response to this RFI may be posted online or otherwise released publicly.

In accordance with Federal Acquisitions Regulations Systems 15.202(3), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Federal Government to form a binding contract. Additionally, those submitting responses are solely responsible for all expenses associated with response preparation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information, please direct questions to Nik Marda at [email protected] or 202-456-6121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background: AI has been part of American life for years, and it is one of the most powerful technologies of our generation. The pace of AI innovation is accelerating rapidly, which is creating new applications for AI across society. This presents extraordinary opportunities to improve the lives of the American people and solve some of the toughest global challenges. However, it also poses serious risks to democracy, the economy, national security, civil rights, and society at large. To fully harness the benefits of AI, the United States must mitigate AI’s risks.

The Biden-Harris Administration has already taken significant steps to advance responsible innovation, protect the American people’s rights and safety, and ensure all Americans benefit from AI. The Federal Government funds significant amounts of responsible research in AI, has issued an updated National AI R&D Strategic Plan, and developed a plan to build a National AI Research Resource to ensure that more researchers have access to tools to leverage AI. The Biden-Harris Administration has protected national security and maintained global competitiveness, including by banning exports to the People’s Republic of China of high-end computer chips used to build AI and by developing a strategy for responsible AI in defense. It has laid out a Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights, an AI Risk Management Framework, provisions across multiple executive orders, and many actions across the Federal Government to promote responsible AI innovation, manage the risks associated with AI, and ensure AI systems are trustworthy and equitable. The Administration has also worked with like-minded partners around the world to assess AI’s implications for the workforce, to advance collaborative AI research and development, and to ensure technology works for democracy.

The Biden-Harris Administration is undertaking a process to ensure a cohesive and comprehensive approach to AI-related risks and opportunities. By developing a National AI Strategy, the Federal Government will provide a whole-of-society approach to AI. The strategy will pay particular attention to recent and projected advances in AI, to make sure that the United States is responsive to the latest opportunities and challenges posed by AI, as well as the global changes that will arrive in the coming years. Through this RFI, OSTP and its National AI Initiative Office seeks information about AI and associated actions related to AI that could inform the development of a National AI Strategy.

OSTP will also draw on public input from ongoing and recent RFIs, including:

OSTP’s RFI to the Update of the National Artificial Intelligence Research and

Development Strategic Plan;

The National Telecommunication and Information Administration’s Request for Comment on AI Accountability Policy;

OSTP’s and the National Science Foundation’s RFI on Implementing Initial Findings and Recommendations of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force;

OSTP’s RFI on Automated Worker Surveillance and Management; and

OSTP’s RFI on Public and Private Sector Uses of Biometric Technologies. If you have already responded to one or more of these RFIs, your prior input will be considered

in the context of developing the National AI Strategy.

Scope: OSTP invites input from any interested stakeholders. OSTP will consider each comment, whether it contains a personal narrative, experiences with AI systems, or technical legal, research, policy, or scientific materials, or other content that meets the instructions for submissions to this RFI.

Information Requested: Respondents may provide information for one or more of the questions listed below, as desired. Note that the list below does not cover some AI topics as completely, such as AI research and development, given ongoing or recent RFIs on those topics.

Protecting rights, safety, and national security:

What specific measures – such as standards, regulations, investments, and improved trust and safety practices – are needed to ensure that AI systems are designed, developed, and deployed in a manner that protects people’s rights and safety? Which specific entities should develop and implement these measures?

How can the principles and practices for identifying and mitigating risks from AI, as outlined in the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights and the AI Risk Management Framework, be leveraged most effectively to tackle harms posed by the development and use of specific types of AI systems, such as large language models?

Are there forms of voluntary or mandatory oversight of AI systems that would help mitigate risk? Can inspiration be drawn from analogous or instructive models of risk management in other sectors, such as laws and policies that promote oversight through registration, incentives, certification, or licensing?

What are the national security benefits associated with AI? What can be done to maximize those benefits?

How can AI, including large language models, be used to generate and maintain more secure software and hardware, including software code incorporating best practices in design, coding and post deployment vulnerabilities?

How can AI rapidly identify cyber vulnerabilities in existing critical infrastructure systems and accelerate addressing them?

What are the national security risks associated with AI? What can be done to mitigate these risks?

How does AI affect the United States’ commitment to cut greenhouse gases by 50-52% by 2030, and the Administration’s objective of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050? How does it affect other aspects of environmental quality?

Advancing equity and strengthening civil rights:

What are the opportunities for AI to enhance equity and how can these be fostered? For example, what are the potential benefits for AI in enabling broadened prosperity, expanding economic and educational opportunity, increasing access to services, and advancing civil rights?

What are the unique considerations for understanding the impacts of AI systems on underserved communities and particular groups, such as minors and people with disabilities? Are there additional considerations and safeguards that are important for preventing barriers to using these systems and protecting the rights and safety of these groups?

How can the United States work with international partners, including low- and middle- income countries, to ensure that AI advances democratic values and to ensure that potential harms from AI do not disproportionately fall on global populations that have been historically underserved?

What additional considerations or measures are needed to assure that AI mitigates algorithmic discrimination, advances equal opportunity, and promotes positive outcomes for all, especially when developed and used in specific domains (e.g., in health and human services, in hiring and employment practices, in transportation)?

How might existing laws and policies be updated to account for inequitable impacts from AI systems? For example, how might existing laws and policies be updated to account for the use of generative AI to create and disseminate non-consensual, sexualized content?

Bolstering democracy and civic participation:

How can AI be used to strengthen civic engagement and improve interactions between people and their government?

What are the key challenges posed to democracy by AI systems? How should the United States address the challenges that AI-generated content poses to the information ecosystem, education, electoral process, participatory policymaking, and other key aspects of democracy?

What steps can the United States take to ensure that all individuals are equipped to interact with AI systems in their professional, personal, and civic lives?

Promoting economic growth and good jobs:

What will the principal benefits of AI be for the people of the United States? How can the United States best capture the benefits of AI across the economy, in domains such as education, health, and transportation? How can AI be harnessed to improve consumer access to and reduce costs associated with products and services? How can AI be used to increase competition and lower barriers to entry across the economy?

How can the United States harness AI to improve the productivity and capabilities of American workers, while mitigating harmful impacts on workers?

What specific measures – such as sector-specific policies, standards, and regulations – are needed to promote innovation, economic growth, competition, job creation, and a beneficial integration of advanced AI systems into everyday life for all Americans? Which specific entities should develop and implement these measures?

What are potential harms and tradeoffs that might come from leveraging AI across the economy? How can the United States promote quality of jobs, protect workers, and prepare for labor market disruptions that might arise from the broader deployment of AI in the economy?

What are the global labor force implications of AI across economies, and what role can the United States play in ensuring workforce stability in other nations, including low- and middle-income countries?

What new job opportunities will AI create? What measures should be taken to strengthen the AI workforce, to ensure that Americans from all backgrounds and regions have opportunities to pursue careers in AI, and otherwise to prepare American workers for jobs augmented or affected by AI?

How can the United States ensure adequate competition in the marketplace for advanced AI systems?

Innovating in public services:

How can the Federal Government effectively and responsibly leverage AI to improve Federal services and missions? What are the highest priority and most cost-effective ways to do so?

How can Federal agencies use shared pools of resources, expertise, and lessons learned to better leverage AI in government?

How can the Federal Government work with the private sector to ensure that procured AI systems include protections to safeguard people’s rights and safety?

What unique opportunities and risks would be presented by integrating recent advances in generative AI into Federal Government services and operations?

What can state, Tribal, local, and territorial governments do to effectively and responsibly leverage AI to improve their public services, and what can the Federal Government do to support this work?

Additional input:

29. Do you have any other comments that you would like to provide to inform the National AI Strategy that are not covered by the questions above?

Dated: May 23, 2023 Stacy Murphy, Operations Manager.

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