THE AI Thread

[FriendlySpartan]

To @FriendlySpartan and @MJ29 who dumb-filed a funny AI post, fer Crissakes...

Who spit in your cornflakes this morning?

Dave is not pleased.

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AI slop deserves to be dumbed. I know you’re on the older end but you’re legit helping not only destroy the environment with those posts but just speeding up the downfall of society.

Get you won’t be around to see it but for the rest of us AI is the doom that will destroy society/humanity as we know it. Kids already don’t see a reason to read because AI will do it for them. No need to think about anything when AI will do it for you.

Glad you found a chatbot years after they were mainstream but that kinda stuff isn’t fun, funny or useful

 

[nrg4isu]

AI slop deserves to be dumbed. I know you’re on the older end but you’re legit helping not only destroy the environment with those posts but just speeding up the downfall of society.

Get you won’t be around to see it but for the rest of us AI is the doom that will destroy society/humanity as we know it. Kids already don’t see a reason to read because AI will do it for them. No need to think about anything when AI will do it for you.

Glad you found a chatbot years after they were mainstream but that kinda stuff isn’t fun, funny or useful

You definitely come off as "old man is scared of technology that they don't understand". When the printing press was invented a bunch of people freaked out about how it would dumb us down (it didn't). When the internet arrived, it was a fad that nerds would use and it wouldn't really be meaningfully useful. Calculators will make us forget how to do math... you get the point.

Do you use AI at all? Have you attempted to understand how it works and apply it to problems? I use it every day and interestingly, I use it often for non-software projects (and I'm a software dev by trade).

In my opinion it's not a panacea, but it's also not the end of the world.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

You definitely come off as "old man is scared of technology that they don't understand". When the printing press was invented a bunch of people freaked out about how it would dumb us down (it didn't). When the internet arrived, it was a fad that nerds would use and it wouldn't really be meaningfully useful. Calculators will make us forget how to do math... you get the point.

Do you use AI at all? Have you attempted to understand how it works and apply it to problems? I use it every day and interestingly, I use it often for non-software projects (and I'm a software dev by trade).

In my opinion it's not a panacea, but it's also not the end of the world.

When people compare AI, especially the future of AI to the printing press or internet I just don’t know how to explain how little you get about disruptive this tech will be.

There are already the studies out there showing the horrific effects on humanity that AI is currently causing and we are in its infancy.

When you get laid off in 5-10 years remember this post.

 

[nrg4isu]

When people compare AI, especially the future of AI to the printing press or internet I just don’t know how to explain how little you get about disruptive this tech will be.

There are already the studies out there showing the horrific effects on humanity that AI is currently causing and we are in its infancy.

When you get laid off in 5-10 years remember this post.

As a physician, you're well versed in understanding the value and applicability of studies. I will remember

 

[FriendlySpartan]

As a physician, you're well versed in understanding the value and applicability of studies. I will remember

Btw I would love to be wrong about this and hope humanity puts guardrails in place so that it is another tool but that’s just not happening nor is that going to happen.

 

[Gonzo]

Hachette pulls horror novel Shy Girl after suspected AI use

The publisher has cancelled the US release of Shy Girl by Mia Ballard and withdrawn the UK edition after weeks of online speculation about the novel’s origins

www.theguardian.com

 

[CyCoug]

I used Claude to pick my brackets this year, asking it to look at historical metrics to predict winners.

So far my percentile on ESPN is 99.8% with 29 of 32 first round games correct. It missed victories by Texas, Iowa , and Texas A&M.

It correctly predicted major upsets by High Point and VCU.

 

[Gonzo]

When people compare AI, especially the future of AI to the printing press or internet I just don’t know how to explain how little you get about disruptive this tech will be.

There are already the studies out there showing the horrific effects on humanity that AI is currently causing and we are in its infancy.

When you get laid off in 5-10 years remember this post.

I've seen idiots who justify using AI to do their writing for them compare it as just a new "tool" like the typewriter and word processing programs were when they came along.

I don't know if I can even engage with someone who brings such a moronic take to the argument. Typewriters and word processing software never generated the ideas and did the writing for you. Such nonsense.

 

[Yaz]

I've seen idiots who justify using AI to do their writing for them compare it as just a new "tool" like the typewriter and word processing programs were when they came along.

I don't know if I can even engage with someone who brings such a moronic take to the argument. Typewriters and word processing software never generated the ideas and did the writing for you. Such nonsense.

It is a tool, whether you like it or not. Were you so enraged when auto spell check came out? And your remark on having something write something for you is not being informed. Sure it can write something for you, but if that's the extent of your understanding, you dont get it. Were you as enraged when Google came out and it eliminated traditional references likewise encyclopedia and the library card?

BTW I'm not arguing if it's right or wrong for humankind, but you should at least understand it and by your remarks and friendlyspartan, you dont.

 

[Gonzo]

It is a tool, whether you like it or not. Were you so enraged when auto spell check came out? And your remark on having something write something for you is not being informed. Sure it can write something for you, but if that's the extent of your understanding, you dont get it. Were you as enraged when Google came out and it eliminated traditional references likewise encyclopedia and the library card?

BTW I'm not arguing if it's right or wrong for humankind, but you should at least understand it and by your remarks and friendlyspartan, you dont.

How is it not being informed to say gen AI writing programs do the actual writing for people? That's exactly what it does. Sure most who use it are going to clean it up and put their own touch on the content, but the original version is generated entirely by AI. Just the truth.

 

[Yaz]

How is it not being informed to say gen AI writing programs do the actual writing for people? That's exactly what it does. Sure most who use it are going to clean it up and put their own touch on the content, but the original version is generated entirely by AI. Just the truth.

Your changing your narrative. You said this.
I've seen idiots who justify using AI to do their writing for them compare it as just a new "tool" like the typewriter and word processing programs were when they came along.
It is a tool. That is my point. Whether they take credit for it, polish it or shove it up their ass is up to them, but it is a tool.

 

[Gonzo]

Your changing your narrative. You said this.
I've seen idiots who justify using AI to do their writing for them compare it as just a new "tool" like the typewriter and word processing programs were when they came along.
It is a tool. That is my point. Whether they take credit for it, polish it or shove it up their ass is up to them, but it is a tool.

Yeah but you left out the part where I drew the difference. Gen AI is NOT a tool "like the typewriter and word processing programs" because typewriters and word processing programs never did the writing for you. AI does the writing for you. Big difference.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

You definitely come off as "old man is scared of technology that they don't understand". When the printing press was invented a bunch of people freaked out about how it would dumb us down (it didn't). When the internet arrived, it was a fad that nerds would use and it wouldn't really be meaningfully useful. Calculators will make us forget how to do math... you get the point.

Do you use AI at all? Have you attempted to understand how it works and apply it to problems? I use it every day and interestingly, I use it often for non-software projects (and I'm a software dev by trade).

In my opinion it's not a panacea, but it's also not the end of the world.

Only in its infancy.

 

[12191987]

So far my percentile on ESPN is 99.8% with 29 of 32 first round games correct. It missed victories by Texas, Iowa , and Texas A&M.

It is spooky how much Claude’s biases align with my own. I wouldn’t pick those three to win anything either.

 

[Yaz]

Yeah but you left out the part where I drew the difference. Gen AI is NOT a tool "like the typewriter and word processing programs" because typewriters and word processing programs never did the writing for you. AI does the writing for you. Big difference.

It's a tool as is a typewriter and wordprocessing...theyre tools too. Are they equal in impact on the outcome, no. But they are tools. End of story. Do you have a drilled down definition of what a tool is and what isnt and how to rank them? Please let us know. It's a tool.

 

[Gonzo]

It's a tool as is a typewriter and wordprocessing...theyre tools too. Are they equal in impact on the outcome, no. But they are tools. End of story. Do you have a drilled down definition of what a tool is and what isnt and how to rank them? Please let us know. It's a tool.

Agree, it's a tool.

To me there's a distinction between a tool that enables you to do your work faster and more efficient, and a tool that literally does the work in your place. Typewriters, MS Word, digital cameras, etc, are tools that enabled you to do your job faster and more efficient. Gen AI is a tool that does the work for you.

Go talk to my three friends and former colleagues who have lost their jobs as writers/copywriters because the organizations they worked for decided they didn't need that actual human writer anymore, they could hire a kid who's sharp with AI prompts, pay them half as much, and kick the actual writers who'd devoted much of their careers to that organization to the curb. Go tell them AI is just another tool like typewriters were. Or the several freelance writers/designers I know who have seen their businesses crater because of former clients using AI to create all of their marketing content. These are professionals who spent decades being educated, trained, and building their careers who are now out on the street with no idea what they're going to do to earn a living.

Yes, they're all tools. But saying AI is a new tool just like typewriters and word processing software were new tools is just dumb.

 

[12191987]

I've seen idiots who justify using AI to do their writing for them compare it as just a new "tool" like the typewriter and word processing programs were when they came along.

I don't know if I can even engage with someone who brings such a moronic take to the argument. Typewriters and word processing software never generated the ideas and did the writing for you. Such nonsense.

Obviously nobody can predict how successfully humans will adapt, but our track record is pretty decent so far.

You could make the argument that our brains are essentially able to run fast simulations of natural selection.

Right at this moment with the limitations of these tools the adaptation is that people must develop their critical thinking skills and intuition to efficiently evaluate the correctness of what the LLMs spit out.

At least that’s been my very limited experience with using them.

 

[CyCoug]

It is a tool, whether you like it or not. Were you so enraged when auto spell check came out? And your remark on having something write something for you is not being informed. Sure it can write something for you, but if that's the extent of your understanding, you dont get it. Were you as enraged when Google came out and it eliminated traditional references likewise encyclopedia and the library card?

BTW I'm not arguing if it's right or wrong for humankind, but you should at least understand it and by your remarks and friendlyspartan, you dont.

I am taking some graduate courses (to try to stay relevant in today’s world). My current class is risk analysis and I decided to do my term paper on the risk of flooding in Lee County Florida in non-flood zones. There is rich data because of Hurricane Ian a few years ago. Within an hour I was able to to determine that in the ~230 census tracts in the county, there is an 85% higher likelihood of flood claims in tracts that are all or mostly in flood zones compared to those that are not.

I was using Claude AI to help write the code for that. Then the AI said it had other interesting findings because I had already imported the census data to identify the tracts. I had originally planned to use the census tracts only as a geographical marker that were more detailed than zip codes, but less burdensome than trying to analyze at the street level. But since we had the data I was interested.

Specifically it found a very strong negative correlation between income and social vulnerability and flood claims. I probably would not have noticed that. But what is also strongly correlated is the number of post-disaster grants and income assistant requests tied to income. The reason - because low-income, vulnerable people can't afford flood insurance or live in housing where their landlords have not paid for flood insurance.

I would have never come up with that finding on my own, but I think the paper is much more interesting now. In my methods section, I am acknowledging the role that the AI model played in uncovering that. Hopefully it's not "cheating" but I'm much more satisfied with the result than if I had stopped with "Yes - areas with flood zones have a many more flood claims than those that do not."

Edit … 85 times more likely. Not 85 percent.

 

[Yaz]

Agree, it's a tool.

To me there's a distinction between a tool that enables you to do your work faster and more efficient, and a tool that literally does the work in your place. Typewriters, MS Word, digital cameras, etc, are tools that enabled you to do your job faster and more efficient. Gen AI is a tool that does the work for you.

Go talk to my three friends and former colleagues who have lost their jobs as writers/copywriters because the organizations they worked for decided they didn't need that actual human writer anymore, they could hire a kid who's sharp with AI prompts, pay them half as much, and kick the actual writers who'd devoted much of their careers to that organization to the curb. Go tell them AI is just another tool like typewriters were. Or the several freelance writers/designers I know who have seen their businesses crater because of former clients using AI to create all of their marketing content. These are professionals who spent decades being educated, trained, and building their careers who are now out on the street with no idea what they're going to do to earn a living.

Yes, they're all tools. But saying AI is a new tool just like typewriters and word processing software were new tools is just dumb.

Typically technology will replace jobs, so nothing new. One of my best friends is highly successful PR person who has been very successful in writing copy. She is currently being shadowed by AI technology at her company. Rather than feeling sorry for herself, she has been preparing for the future, as should anyone in life. You get comfortable, you get past.

For those that refuse to use AI, just because you don't like it or it's threating to you, is nonsense because you're getting left in the dust by your competitor.

I started using AI with the last year and it has saved me 5 digits at least in marketing fees, helps me respond to marketing needs faster and will write code for my website and has grown my company to record sales.

For those that think you don't need to know anything about your content that AI is writing for you, doesn't understand how to use it. If you are using AI as pr or writing or marketing and you don't have a good understanding of the goal and tone, you're wasting your time because people will see through it.
The research capabilities are endless too.

Nothing in life is a guaranteed, so plan accordingly.

 

[Yaz]

I am taking some graduate courses (to try to stay relevant in today’s world). My current class is risk analysis and I decided to do my term paper on the risk of flooding in Lee County Florida in non-flood zones. There is rich data because of Hurricane Ian a few years ago. Within an hour I was able to to determine that in the ~230 census tracts in the county, there is an 85% higher likelihood of flood claims in tracts that are all or mostly in flood zones compared to those that are not.

I was using Claude AI to help write the code for that. Then the AI said it had other interesting findings because I had already imported the census data to identify the tracts. I had originally planned to use the census tracts only as a geographical marker that were more detailed than zip codes, but less burdensome than trying to analyze at the street level. But since we had the data I was interested.

Specifically it found a very strong negative correlation between income and social vulnerability and flood claims. I probably would not have noticed that. But what is also strongly correlated is the number of post-disaster grants and income assistant requests tied to income. The reason - because low-income, vulnerable people can't afford flood insurance or live in housing where their landlords have not paid for flood insurance.

I would have never come up with that finding on my own, but I think the paper is much more interesting now. In my methods section, I am acknowledging the role that the AI model played in uncovering that. Hopefully it's not "cheating" but I'm much more satisfied with the result than if I had stopped with "Yes - areas with flood zones have a many more flood claims than those that do not."

Edit … 85 times more likely. Not 85 percent.

I recently wrote a 3 page presentation/blog if you will using AI. I still had a days worth of seeking information, confirming information and writing in a tone that the reader could comprehend. It still takes time to use it properly, however, your resources for research are endless and I love learning while I go through the process.