Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 18:28     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:While it was useful, it’s not really something a premiere intelligence agency needs to publish. There are plenty of resources available with the same information, and AI is rendering many similar compendia obsolete.


You do realize that AI is just a fancy natural language search engine right? It doesn't produce any independent data. Garbage in becomes garbage out.


Suuuuuure. Just a search engine…

https://www.evidentlyai.com/blog/ai-failures-examples

(This is a random site that came up when I looked for a list of AI hallucinations, and it tries to sell a product at the end. Sharing anyway because it’s a decent list of examples.)
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 18:15     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:While it was useful, it’s not really something a premiere intelligence agency needs to publish. There are plenty of resources available with the same information, and AI is rendering many similar compendia obsolete.


You do realize that AI is just a fancy natural language search engine right? It doesn't produce any independent data. Garbage in becomes garbage out.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 18:12     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:This is sad news to hear.

This was a well-researched resource about other countries and their political landscape and more.

“Taylor Hale was in the middle of teaching a Western geography lesson on Wednesday afternoon when his sixth-grade students informed him that the online reference they usually consulted was gone. He’d instructed them to compare the gross domestic products of Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, and so they turned to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook. But instead of finding the usual index of countries, they hit a blue webpage announcing that the Factbook was no more...”

https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/05/us/cia-world-factbook-countries-cec



https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/spotlighting-the-world-factbook-as-we-bid-a-fond-farewell/



Facts.
Who needs facts?
People say "But sir, sir, sir, it's a fact!"
And I say "Says who?"

I say says who?
We don't need any facts.


Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 17:36     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
It's pretty clear that the CIA isn't supportive of the shutdown.

https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/spotlighting-the-world-factbook-as-we-bid-a-fond-farewell/
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 11:02     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:Oh boy! I guess ai have to dust off my old Funk and Wagnall’s for real facts.


Well, encyclopedias have gone the way of the dodo. Records have gone to streaming, as have video stores. Perhaps the CIA decided it wasn’t part of its core mission anymore. The State Department could pick it up, or maybe a private company can do so for a subscription fee. Libraries and schools can get it for free or at low cost, like Google Workspace.

This isn’t the end of the world.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 09:43     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
I remember using this so much for my high school homework assignments.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:44     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Oh boy! I guess ai have to dust off my old Funk and Wagnall’s for real facts.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:30     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:So it’s the CIA’s job to supply lazy schoolteachers with course content?


Can we stop supplying a lazy 79 year old with a free house, free airplane, free fuel, free guards, and free healthcare then?

I actually PAY my taxes unlike certain 79-year-old elderly men from Queens, NY.



Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:27     Subject: Re:CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:I bet my next lunch it will be replaced by a "Trump-approved" AI platform provided by one of the tech bros who bought a shiny trinket to the Oval Office last year.


Yep!

And there will be ads for Viagra alongside the info, which will be incorrect.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:19     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:While it was useful, it’s not really something a premiere intelligence agency needs to publish. There are plenty of resources available with the same information, and AI is rendering many similar compendia obsolete.


Hm. Do I trust researchers with intelligence experience or an AI tool from a tech bro photographed with Epstein?

Hm. I shall have to sleep on that.

Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 22:18     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:[img]
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So it’s the CIA’s job to supply lazy schoolteachers with course content?


The website was one of the most visited websites in the federal government. Isn’t providing resources a core function of the federal government? I’m sure it was relatively inexpensive to operate, compared to the rest foot he government.


Surely it is preserved somewhere? The Wayback machine? People must have saved it somewhere. Perhaps a nonprofit can operate it now.


Should be rescued before we’re left with the Donald J. Trump World Atlas powered by TrumpAI for $49.99 or at a discount if you use TrumpCoin. It comes with endless photos of Trump shaking hands with world leaders and photos of Trump golf courses. Includes embarrassing rants in the sections about Mexico and Western Europe.


Do the photos of his golf courses include the dead bodies?

Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 18:50     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
While it was useful, it’s not really something a premiere intelligence agency needs to publish. There are plenty of resources available with the same information, and AI is rendering many similar compendia obsolete.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 18:45     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Anonymous wrote:This wasn't a core function of the CIA.

But the CIA should be disbanded anyway. No need to sow instability world wide.



Trying to control culture and sports isn’t a function of the Executive branch, but here we are.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 18:08     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
[img]
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So it’s the CIA’s job to supply lazy schoolteachers with course content?


The website was one of the most visited websites in the federal government. Isn’t providing resources a core function of the federal government? I’m sure it was relatively inexpensive to operate, compared to the rest foot he government.


Surely it is preserved somewhere? The Wayback machine? People must have saved it somewhere. Perhaps a nonprofit can operate it now.


Should be rescued before we’re left with the Donald J. Trump World Atlas powered by TrumpAI for $49.99 or at a discount if you use TrumpCoin. It comes with endless photos of Trump shaking hands with world leaders and photos of Trump golf courses. Includes embarrassing rants in the sections about Mexico and Western Europe.
Anonymous
Post 02/08/2026 14:00     Subject: CIA deleted the World Factbook
Do you remember when we received government services for our tax money?