This thread is a microcosm of everything annoying about reddit.
A guy posts a photo of a spider wondering if it is a "brown recluse" gets a bunch of different answers many repeats, several people calling him stupid for not 'just googling it' a few calls to burn down the house and move.
It's not a brown recluse. Even if it were they aren't aggressive. Move to a remote location. There is a really good video about the reputation these spiders have I'll link next.
I think it's nice that people go to expert forums to find out about insects. It would be nice if everyone would read the other replies before adding their own.
It would be nice if taking time to tell someone to "google it" would just die... particularly with how google and other searches have... become much less useful over time.
I think the term 'google it' probably means one should try and find the answer or at least make some effort before asking. However I agree this is less helpful, our vocabulary has changed so we google something rather than search it implies google is the only way to search for information, this is not helped by basic IT classes using google and not mentioning alternatives.
Same goes for promoting facebook or zoom, it makes it much harder for replacements to get a proper foothold.
@zleap @futurebird We're also at a point where online information is increasingly suspect and flooded with bad info. ChatGPT will confidently give you a very wrong answer, particularly on things like this.
Expert forums are probably going to get more important.
Quora now give GPT gumbo answers to question, and it's blended in with the real human answers. I hate it so much. (labeled, thankfully but what do you think people will make of such labels??)
Not that Quora was ever useful even before this started.
Am I crazy to think that "providing answers to Quora questions" is a BAD use of a GPT engine? They aren't designed to find correct information they are designed to produce content that looks like correct information. Am I missing something here?
@futurebird @MichaelTBacon @zleap@qoto.org
no you're not missing anything.
Sometimes I've heard people say "oh that's just the kind of answer I was looking for!"
This could be innocent enough-- but I always think "but what if the most correct answer wasn't what you were looking for?" In particular what if the most correct answer is "No one really knows there isn't enough information." or "In fact, the thing you thought was true probably isn't"
I feel like we are hurtling towards a world where such answers will be unheard of things of the past. That scares me.
Yes, I try and write up instructions on my website, that assume that my solution is for my individual problem or task I wanted to complete. The steps I am taking, need to be modified for individual needs depending on what you want to do.
