AI Gibberish.

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Capitalism, Government Failure, moral philosophy

There is something horrible about writing or talking about AI. It lends itself to exaggeration. We are continually told about AI with adjectives like revolutionary, greatest in history, most significant, world changing, … and I can just keep on going. (I would like to see just one article about AI with mundane, commonly used adjectives.)

And as I have written over and over again on this site, nobody and I mean nobody, understands AI or what is going to happen.

(Our technological bridge to nowhere.)

But here we have the White House.

Melania Trump made rare public remarks to kick off a press conference for the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education on Thursday, grandly proclaiming the potential for AI technology. “I won’t be surprised if AI becomes known as the greatest engine of progress in the history of the United States of America,” she said in a sweeping yet mostly generic statement that itself could have been ChatGPT-generated.

Yes, that’s right, “the greatest engine of progress.” Does she understand the significance? Of course not, This is just vapid word use in the hope of sounding in some way meaningful.

But there’s more. Here, let me quote from a Rolling Stone article authored by Miles Klee.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/robots-melania-trump-white-house-231328380.html

This was hardly the only nonsense uttered at the 40-minute press briefing, which was light on policy specifics but heavy on praise for the AI industry as a whole. David Sacks, the White House czar of AI and cryptocurrency as well as a Musk and Thiel ally, adopted the Cabinet technique of shamelessly flattering his boss by saying that a July 23 speech by the president was “the most important speech that’s been given on AI by any official.” In that speech, at a “Winning the AI Race” event, Trump digressively rambled about tariffs, transgender women in sports, California car emissions rules, and “getting rid of woke.” He also mentioned that he didn’t care for the term “artificial intelligence,” explaining, “I don’t like anything that’s artificial,” and called on American companies “to join us in rejecting poisonous Marxism in our technology.”

It is obvious that no one in the White House understands this stuff. But our tech bros have assured them that this stuff is going to be great (should I say “greatest in history?”).

Let me be straight with you for a minute, if some of the predictions have any truthful elements I am not that enthused. Here, let me show you one:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ai-safety-pioneer-says-could-120043073.html

Artificial intelligence could soon trigger an unemployment crisis unlike anything in history, according to Roman Yampolskiy, one of the first academics to warn about AI’s risks.

…

“In five years, we’re looking at levels of unemployment we’ve never seen before,” Yampolskiy said in a Thursday episode of the “Diary of a CEO” podcast. “Not talking about 10%, which is scary, but 99%.”

He argued that AI tools and humanoid robots could make hiring humans uneconomical in nearly every sector.

“If I can just get, you know, a $20 subscription or a free model to do what an employee does. First, anything on a computer will be automated. And next, I think humanoid robots are maybe 5 years behind. So in five years, all the physical labor can also be automated.”

Let’s assume for the sake of argument that this guy has some idea of what he’s talking about. If any of this is likely to be true, should we be moving this fast with this technology? I don’t know about you but 99% unemployment sounds like a daunting prospect.

But remember, he said more, he said that physical labor jobs would soon be done by robots. That means all the currently secure jobs like auto mechanic, etc,. will be gone too.

Tell me again why all this is going to be great? Are we growing with technology or diving into an abyss?

And why in the name of God, would the White House be pushing this stuff. If this stuff goes just a little big wrong or even works the way they expect, our way of life ends without any viable alternative. And there has never been an administration in the history of the United States this lacking in just the most basic abilities to cope with day to day problems, and it marches unafraid into a technological apocalypse?

Well, yes, apparently so.

This is not going to go well.

James Alan Pilant

Does the Trump Administration Have Dumber People than Kennedy? – Why Yes, Yes They Do!

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, corruption, Government Failure

I want you to read the following quote, so you can have the same reaction I had:

“Even if you wrapped the entire planet in a solar panel, you would only be producing 20% of global energy. One of the biggest mistakes politicians can make is equating the ELECTRICITY with ENERGY!”

I was amazed. My first response was “What??” My second response was to quickly mentally review the many articles I have read about the efficiency and practicality of solar panels. while noting that my high school physics text book “claimed” that electricity was a form of energy.

And don’t let the facts like the little tiny obscure fact that I’m typing on a machine powered by electricity confuse you.

Who is this public official?

It is Chris Wright, our Energy Secretary!

Wow, now there is a first rate intelligence!

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/energy-secretary-says-wrapping-earth-233101352.html

Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee writing for the site, Benzinga, wrote an article: Energy Secretary Says Wrapping Earth With Solar Panels Would Produce 20% Of Global Energy, X Users Swiftly Community Note Official.

Energy researchers at MIT note that Earth receives on the order of 173,000 terawatts of solar energy continuously, orders of magnitude more than humanity’s total energy use, highlighting that the constraint is not raw solar resource but economics, siting, transmission and storage.

Global solar already supplies a rising share of electricity and is projected to keep growing through 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

So, Energy Secretary is “unfamiliar” with the nature of electricity. And there I was thinking that vaccine denial was bad. Foolish me.

And he also appears to believe that solar energy barely exists and is almost useless which is contrary to any simple examination of the facts.

You have to wonder what kind of decisions results from these two misconceptions. Just imagine how many other misconceptions he has.

It really makes you wonder. This is a very minor news story but before the age of Trump, it would be front page news and dominate the news cycle.

But it can’t. Because we as a nation have long ago come to the realization that competence, truth telling or even the most mediocre levels of ability are absent in those chosen for high office in this administration.

That cabinet secretaries can deny basic facts with complete certainty is not a surprise.

But it does bode ill for all of us who had come to expect capable public servants.

James Alan Pilant

AI is not that Big of a Deal.

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Capitalism2 Comments

I have lately been totally fed up with this AI nonsense. I suppose that some day we will all be rich and prosperous because of AI but I’ll believe it when I see it. Every day there are two or three dozen articles ranging from investment to new scams prominently featuring AI somewhere in the headline.

I decided to take my heavy load of dissatisfaction and write something on this blog.

(Struggling with the act of creation)

And that is when I came upon the article linked to below by the wonderful Mr. Brookes. He has similar thoughts to mine and expresses them with great passion. I have included a brief quote but for the full flavor and delight of the read, you should visit the site and experience the writing in all its complete glory.

Everyone Expects Me to Use AI, Here’s Why I Don’t By Tim Brookes

https://www.howtogeek.com/everyone-expects-me-to-use-ai-heres-why-i-dont/

After years of hype, I’m tired of AI. I appreciate that the technology has value in fields like medicine and research. I can see how AI-driven accessibility devices can help people with disabilities live richer lives. I acknowledge that a digital assistant that can better understand me and chain tasks together is probably a good thing.

But I’ve never felt the urge to run my life according to ChatGPT, and I find myself increasingly at odds with what feels like everyone around me. I feel like I’ve had AI forced down my throat, and I can’t swallow another drop.

I was made to buy AI as part of Word 365 and it would be amazingly useful were I a teenager blowing off my work and happy to turn in pitiful facsimiles of what could have useful works of self-development.

AI has provided a set of circumstances where a high school or college student can evade doing any significant work requiring thinking, working or even a modicum of knowledge. Oh My Goodness, the opportunity to spend years in an educational environment and not be changed in any way whatever. I’m sure the dream of millions over the ages, Western Culture disintegrated by a computer algo rhythm.

And every day, more and more of the internet is a fairy land of AI content. Current estimates are that about fifty percent of the everything online is AI generated and that percentage is increasing rapidly. There are worries that this could lead to disaster. Oh, don’t worry they are not worried about human disaster. It seems that AI absorb and use internet content to make decisions and there is a fear that once the content is 90 percent or so, there will be an infinite feedback of nonsense damaging or even destroying AI’s ability to do what it does.

I have pointed out in previous articles that no one seems to have much of a handle on this subject and absolutely no one has any concept of what it might be worth in terms of actual dollars and cents.

I’m tired. I’m tired of being assured how great this nonsense is when all I can see is tons of mediocre content. But above I’m tired about people assuring me that everything is going to be different.

I really doubt it.

Let’s try and have some rational discussion and less hype about AI.

James Alan Pilant

Wow, We Bought a Castle – Grifting Can Be Fun!

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics

I must admit that I think this whole thing is hilarious. Probably thousands of people and organizations coughed up millions of dollars thinking not unreasonably that the money would be used for advocacy. The organization advertised itself as anti-immigration so they were probably thinking television commercials, editorials, books and articles, maybe a documentary. But that would have been a mundane and common use for monetary contributions. Instead of that silly advocacy stuff they bought a castle in West Virginia. I promise I had no idea that West Virginia participated in the Medieval Period but there it is, a real castle. It must have been a lonely existence waiting for America to be discovered.

(More of a French Chateaux but close enough. I have no concept of what a West Virginia castle looks like.)

Satire aside, maybe this is one of those apocalyptic preparations for the end times. We might eventually see pure-bred Anglo-Saxons pouring hot oil on rappers and Hispanic gardeners, and maybe even hordes of seasonal farm workers.

Buying a castle is probably pretty tempting even if you don’t think the world is ending any time soon. And you can live in the thing which has to be nice. The views are probably amazing.

Twenty some years ago, I found at article about a Republican’s Congressman’s wife who had set up a Political Action Committee with the stated intention of collecting money for Republican candidates. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were used for “administrative” costs and nearly twenty dollars was raised for the electioneering part.

After some reflection I did not write about it. As far as I could tell that money not going to those candidates was an excellent outcome and I was content.

And I must admit I’m very content with this one, too. As long as they aren’t spending the money for a cause I disapprove of, I’m just fine. Let them buy another castle, they can buy lots and lots of stuff, do some fine dining and take home some champagne afterwards.

When the right wing is out for the grift, all of America benefits.

James Alan Pilant

The article below is quite good and I recommend you go to its home and read the whole thing. jp

Kara Scannell writing for CNN reports that civil charges have been filed alleging that – Far-right activists ‘looted’ corporate assets to buy a castle, NY AG says.

The New York attorney general’s office filed civil charges against far-right anti-immigration activist Peter Brimelow and his wife for allegedly misusing more than $2 million in assets, including a West Virginia castle, from a charitable foundation they run.

Brimelow founded VDARE, whose website has been a platform for white nationalist and anti-immigration viewpoints, and ran it with his wife Lydia until he suspended it in 2024 because of NY AG Letitia James’ investigation into its finances.

The lawsuit alleges the Brimelows used $1.4 million dollars of VDARE funds to acquire a castle complex in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. They moved into the castle, transferred it to two entities they controlled and charged VDARE rent and fees for use of the space, according to the lawsuit.

Worked to Death.

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Capitalism

The story referenced below is a sad tale but a common one.

A young man feeling pressured by his employer worked long hour days for a long period of time and as a result died.

A small sacrifice for predatory capitalism.

I believe in righteousness but there is small part of me that admires the complete ruthlessness of working people to death for maximum profit.

If you can work a human being for forty hours a week, you get the benefit of a regular employee but if you can classify his job as not being covered by hourly limits, you can get him to work eighty hours a work, two workers for the price of one. My understanding is that a hundred hours is the current popular number.

Do I need to tell you that this is a cruel from of exploitation?

We live in a society that worships mammon. The fact that the Bible expressly prohibits the worship of money does not seem to have any traction at all.

Of course any sort of Christian based belief system parted ways with American capitalism long ago.

So, people are being sacrificed to the bottom line. In this case, worked extreme hours for long periods ot time. Dying young saves the company from the problems of paying retirement and there are many other benefits besides.

I remember studying child labor in the late 19th Century. They worked six days a week, 12 hour days. Of course, that is only 72 hours. One could be impressed at the kindness of management.

It is well understood that when huge multi-national corporations mistreat their workers, that they have little individual recourse. They are an atom alone in the universe to paraphrase one of predatory capitalism’s most revered leaders, Margaret Thatcher. Alone and helpless against politically influential and in the case of the United States, politically invulnerable.

Overworking people is just a corporation and its leadership mistreating and exploiting human beings. It is simple abuse.

Why hasn’t anything been done about this?

Because we have two political parties, one dominated by oligarchs and the other has a thing called corporate Democrats which means they attempt at times to appear to be friends of the working class but their abject corporate servility and devotion to corporate contributions are so ingrained they find that any action that might benefit common workers is in their view unrealistic and radical.

In fact, it is quite clear that corporate Democrats find voters a bit intimidating and troublesome. That is why they employ think tank and professional to avoid contact with the teaming masses praying for help.

And so the abuse of workers, unpaid overtime, illegal firings, union busting and sometimes simply working a human being to death is beneath the concern of those running our government.

In the United States corporate profits are superb even magnificent.

Do you know why?

It is hard to fail as an American corporation because you pay few or any taxes, you can legally treat your workers as little more than cattle, and largely exist outside all the rules — and if rules get in your way, you can get them fixed.

It is a very comfortable place for a corporation to exist, not so much for the worker though or the citizen or any human being with moral fiber.

Read the story below and realize that he died for corporate profits.

James Pilant

Madison E. Goldberg writing for People Magazine has a article: Microsoft Engineer Dies at Work at 35 as His Family Warns of Overworking Employees.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/microsoft-engineer-dies-35-family-134823435.html

A 35-year-old Microsoft engineer died at work in Silicon Valley last month and his family is now warning companies of overworking their employees.

Pratik Pandey was “found face-down” at 2 a.m. local time on Aug. 20 in Mountain View, Calif., on Microsoft’s campus, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post.

Sanitized History is Wrong

On By southwerkIn Editorial, ethics, Government Failure, International

We’ve been hearing a lot about our foolish leadership and his desire to limit the Smithsonian’s coverage of the history of slavery because he believes they talk too much about it.

They don’t talk to much about it. What has happened is that historians are really coming to grips with the history of slavery and its long term effects. At various points in my life I have attended college winding up with thirteen and a half years of full time attendance as well as another twelve years or so teaching. In that time, I have seen the teaching of Reconstruction and slavery changing dramatically.

After the Civil War, the defeated confederates did everything possible to make states rights the center of the war’s cause rather than slavery. However, a very casual examination of the issue and a quick look at the newspapers of the revolutionary South demonstrate conclusively that slavery was the principle factor in the rebellion.

After the war, superhuman efforts were made to write a new and highly fictionalized history of the war, the “lost cause” narrative was created and emblazoned across novel after novel and many motion pictures as well. The shock of my white students upon seeing “Judge Priest” with Will Rogers and its utter and complete embrace of the lost cause I found fascinating. My minority students were well aware of that narrative.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy labored for years to sanitize history books, build statues and monuments and to attack any attempt at an accurate depiction of the Civil War. Their statues of traitors and subversives who killed their fellow Americans in the pursuit of the right to enslave others are all over the United States but principally in the South.

Historians are no longer buying into the Confederate sympathizers historical revision. The horrors of slavery began to be discussed honestly in the classroom. I had some of those classes. Slaves were very often maimed to mark them as property. They were murdered for defiance. They were bred like cattle for muscles and size so they could work the land. They were denied education as well as virtually any human right recognized by American law. The idea that they were vital and cherished members of the family is pitiful nonsense.

But above all, the greatest and most significant failure of American history was the fact that the confederate traitors were not punished after the war. Their evil acts and continued defiance had dire results which continue to this day.

And among those dire effects are the desire to censor American history of everything that might detract from a heroic narrative. Nations should not be a subject of worship. A nation is something that a people develop and if they do right be proud of and if they do wrong own up to it.

The glory of America is that we learned from our mistakes. Not only did we abolish slavery, we became leaders in the struggle to end colonialism and many other worldwide evils. Until this year we were the most important nation on earth in the struggle to end hunger and fight disease all thought this has been ended by the pitiful and immoral current regime. In many ways we have learned from our history and become a better and greater people.

That we do right is our glory and our legacy not some nonsensical made up history where everything was good and great in spite of facts and knowledge.

The United States is a great nation because it learns from its mistakes not by denying them.

James Alan Pilant

Is Publicly Booing J.D. Vance Patriotic?

On By southwerkIn corruption, Editorial, ethics

I’m sure there are many people on both sides of this issue. Many probably feel that booing a public figure such as the Vice-President disrespects the office while others feel that current circumstances demand such action. However, you might personally feel there can be no doubt that a very large amount of booing and shouted insults are taking place.

(The Battle of Trenton – Patriots at war.)

I have seen this administration make my field of business ethics ridiculous by engaging in continuous waves of corruption, selling crap merchandise and advertising openly its willingness to be bought.

So, I feel like booing. I never thought to see such vile people elevated to positions of power in the United States.

So, yes, I think true patriots will boo these awful people.

Professor Winter quoted below has some thoughts that run very much along the same lines as mine.

Kari J. Winter, a professor of American studies at the University at Buffalo, emphasized that these protests are an “act of American patriotism.”

“Protesting against tyrannical power and corruption is the foundational act of American patriotism,” she said. “The protests that we are witnessing across the country today are fueled by the spirit of resistance that inflamed Boston in the Age of Revolution.

“It is the duty of everyone who loves this country to speak up in whatever ways they can against the Trump administration’s assault on every aspect of American society that has traditionally offered a gold standard to the world,” she continued, adding: “In place of gold standards, Trump promotes gilded baubles, golden toilets and gaudy ballrooms. ”

Kimberley Richards writing for Huff Post has an article: (quoted above) JD Vance’s Brutal Public Booing Is Prompting Quite The Strong Reaction Online.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/jd-vances-brutal-public-booing-110017405.html

Meaningful Prayer

On By southwerkIn ethics, morality, Opinion

Often on Facebook, I am asked to pray for a number of causes, often a pet or family member, sometimes a cause. I usually comply. When someone or a pet is ill, I would very much like them to get better.

Those prayers are private and I hope they do some good. But you and I both know that much public religion is little more than grandstanding. And here in the United States, many politicians wish the mantle of Christianity. We often, very often, see them fail to uphold the behavior of a follower of Christ.

The Pharisees are one of the earliest practitioners of the “public” prayer. They would go out on the street and pray publicly and loudly to demonstrate their piety. Jesus Christ called them out for their false religion and said they would have their “reward.”

But we have in our modern age, “Thoughts and Prayers.” This is a media strategy to divert criticism from a total and complete lack of action most often in regard to firearms. While children are being stacked up by so much bullet riddled cord wood, the solemn intonation that they have the thoughts and prayers of a prime recipient of National Rifle Association votes and money are solemnly reported by a compliant media.

Do the children, dead and wounded, deserve prayer? Yes, absolutely. What kind of prayer? Why don’t we see what a professional says?

Pope Leo XIV called for the “pandemic of arms, large and small” to end during a weekly public prayer with crowds in St Peter’s Square on Sunday that also addressed the plague of mass shootings in the US.

The first US pope in history, a native of Chicago, spoke in English as he prayed for the victims of last week’s shooting during a Catholic school mass in Minnesota which saw two children killed and others seriously injured.

“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school mass in the American state of Minnesota,” he said. “We hold in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”

Michael Sainato writing for the Guardian reports in an article entitled (and quoted from just above this passage) Pope Leo demands end to ‘pandemic of arms’ after Minnesota school shooting

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/31/pope-leo-minnesota-school-shooting

The Pontiff didn’t just offer “Thoughts and Prayers,” he addressed the root cause of all these small dead bodies. He’s calling for action, constructive and intelligent action to stop this kind of violence.

Let me explain about meaningful prayer. If you want children to be fed and they are nearby – like outside your door, feed them. Prayers is just spoken nonsense when you know what needs to be done and you don’t do it.

Prayer is never to be used as an excuse or substitute for action. We are justified in the eyes of God by what we do or fail to do. Your faith in God is demonstrated by works. What you do shows what is in your heart.

And using “thoughts and prayers” as political cover is horribly impious and wrong.
James Alan Pilant

Piotr Szczerek Takes Hat Meant for a Child

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Capitalism

“If you were faster, You’d have it.” is a defense I haven’t heard before. And I seriously doubt that I will ever hear it again.

Piotr Szczerek is seen on film taking an autographed hat being handed to a child in the stands of a tennis match. If you have a minute I recommend you have a look at the video. I promise you that it does not leave a lot of room for doubt about what happened.

He seems a little sensitive while a tower of strength while dealing with small children, he seems a bit shy with adults. He has shut down his social media and has proclaimed loudly that he will sue anyone who criticizes him online.

(This illustration above is from “A Christmas Carol” and shows Scrooge being confronted by his former partner, Marley. It is no way meant to suggest that someone mentioned in the attached article has done something wrong and should be sorry.)

(The following four lines are supposed to be in the main body of the writing but WordPress has an unfortunate habit of “enlarging” my designated texts into anything nearby.)

As a business ethics author I can’t help but feel this might not be the best “look” for the CEO of a company.

His company web site is currently being “review bombed.”

Will there be other, more substantive consequences? That remains to be seen.

James Alan Pilant

For more information, please read the article linked to below. Quincy Thomas has written a good piece of journalism.

Quincy Thomas writing for “Where Is the Buzz,” had the following article: Polish Millionaire CEO Piotr Szczerek Reportedly Defends Snatching Kid’s Hat at US Open: “If You Were Faster, You’d Have It”

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/celebrity/articles/polish-millionaire-ceo-piotr-szczerek-184725888.html

The US Open has always attracted drama around it, but this time the drama was not on the court, rather in the stands. After Polish tennis pro Kamil Majchrzak secured the best victory in his life as he beat ninth-seeded Karen Khachanov in five thrilling sets, the player walked towards the stands to spread love. He autographed, waved, grinned, then took off his hat and particularly pointed towards a boy named Brock in the stands.

Others thought that this was one of those fan moments that kids will always remember throughout their life. But instead of that, this is another viral scandal.

Even before the boy could spread wide his arms, the adult male, Polish tycoon, pavement construction magnate, Piotr Szczerek, grasped the hat, thrust it into the pocket in the bag belonging to his wife, and walked away leaving the boy heart-broken as he yelled, “What are you doing?”

When We Destroy Forests, People Die

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Capitalism, Economic Justice

In Brazil, organized crime and a wave of loggers and prospectors have murdered and raped their way across the Amazon Basin. In Asia, forest destruction and the immense fires that resulted have devestated many lives. These are terrible, terrible crimes but a twenty year study finds that there is collateral damage in the form of heat related illness.

(This is from a book of detective stories from more than 120 years ago. It is dramatic and indicates important issues are about to be resolved. I am using it for my writing on this occasion.)

In the United States, we have the largely unpunished and uninvestigated murders of indigenous women although there is a local, state and federal preference of a kind of quasi-legal seizure and destruction of natural resources. Of course, no intelligent human being can fail to mention the massive corruption of our current regime, its wholesale destructions of regulations and enforcement agencies, not to mention the “open for business” attitude that if a corporation has a problem, arrangements can be made.

I want you to understand that I am well aware that greed and evil are international problems and that while deforestation is a more dramatic crisis in east Asian and South America, the United States and its corruption are in no way exempt for causing and profiting from forest destruction.

What kind of collateral damage are we talking about? Over the last twenty years, over half a million have died from heat related illness and many, many millions more have suffered such illness.

I don’t see much need for a business ethics analysis. Destroying huge swaths of the planet to make money is wrong.

There should fines, imprisonment and shaming. The people who do these horrible things should have their pictures published and their names removed from colleges, dorms and cultural institutions. They should at all times be exposed for the destructive cockroaches that they are. But be well aware, a good and moral society would not just rely on shame but would punish them for their crimes.

James Alan Pilant

Jonathan Watts writing for The Guardian has an article: Deforestation has killed half a million people in past 20 years, study finds.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/27/deforestation-has-killed-half-a-million-people-in-past-20-years-study-finds

Deforestation has killed more than half a million people in the tropics over the past two decades as a result of heat-related illness, a study has found.

Land clearance is raising the temperature in the rainforests of the Amazon, Congo and south-east Asia because it reduces shade, diminishes rainfall and increases the risk of fire, the authors of the paper found.

Deforestation is responsible for more than a third of the warming experienced by people living in the affected regions, which is on top of the effect of global climate disruption.

About 345 million people across the tropics suffered from this localised, deforestation-caused warming between 2001 and 2020. For 2.6 million of them, the additional heating added 3C to their heat exposure.