"Why spend so much money and energy on a technology that gets 1 out of every 5 answers wrong?"
Because we spent decades building, by-hand, software that still can't get any answers right. If #AI can get 4 out of 5 with minimal prior configuration, we'll fucking take it.
@LouisIngenthron This looks like a great way to start an argument on Monday morning. But I only ask to opt out while y'all sort out the remaining 1 out of 5. That seems to be more than Google, MS, and others are willing to grant. What are we missing?
@harmonygritz I agree with that. I don't want AI chocolate in my Windows peanut butter.
More importantly, AI shouldn't be used to create or present factual answers. That's like using a screwdriver to hammer a nail.
But in the use cases for which it excels, it's a game changer.
@LouisIngenthron The challenge for "the rest of us" is the unsolicited, involuntary intrusion that we are just supposed to... play with as we try to do our day jobs? And make sure no errors slip through as we connect with the public? Hmph.
In my case it's higher education, so the connections are with the public as well as students & parents. But this seems to apply to any large staff that is dependent on MS Office, Google, & Adobe, plus enrollment management systems and areas I don't even see.
@harmonygritz Yeah, unfortunately, education gets hosed any time there's any kind of fast progress, good or bad. Updating materials is a tedious pain-in-the-ass, especially if it's in response to something you're not personally versed in.
But I fully agree that these systems should be opt-in, not opt-out. Currently, you can usually turn them off, but that's out of a lot of people's reach.
I suggest everyone does their best to vote with their wallets, and support companies that focus on giving you what you need instead of gimmicks. I'm personally migrating away from Google and Microsoft for those very reasons.
@harmonygritz Yep. I read recently (and this rang very true) that executives thinking about adding AI aren't really worried about hackers... but they are worried about legal threats.
Framing the issue in terms of increased legal liability (which most uses of AI in commerce open a company up to) is one of the quickest ways to get them off the slapdash-AI-trend train.
@LouisIngenthron I'm a "ringer" in that I'm a decades-long edtech advocate. My take is that the AI rush has created a huge mess.
What we as "consumers" do seems to matter far less than what whole institutions do. Our campus disabled the default otter.ai in Zoom when our president & provost got "surprised" in an academic senate meeting, for example.
That's what it took. They're in fact pro-AI, but anti getting surprised with an AI record of their comments. I wonder what they think of Recall.