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RPK

Lifer
Dec 30, 2023
1,017
7,529
Central NJ, USA
Not sure of the order but we had solar panels followed by wind turbines followed by electric vehicles and now AI…………. loads of people are getting very wealthy whether these ideas work or not…………. wonder whats next ? ?
 
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Alanon

Might Stick Around
Nov 1, 2025
88
195
Europe
My personal opinion regarding AI and LLMs is that they do not offer significant value to work that justifies these large tech companies spending billions on the technology and putting up data centers left and right without oversight. But because big tech has gambled so big on this they're force feeding AI to everyone. Now I cannot control what my employer wants us to use, nor can I control whether Apple chooses to force their AI onto my phone, but I did jettison Windows for Linux and I havdnt been happier.
I agree, the industry is completely overleveraged and there simply isn’t enough utility or income to justify the billions invested, nor the crazy valuations of these AI companies. But that will have to end sooner or later and then I suppose actually profitable AI companies will have to surface, but I don’t believe it’s going away.
 

Sobrbiker

Lifer
Jan 7, 2023
6,662
90,980
Casa Grande, AZ
I agree with Bill Bupert that one of AI’s first jobs should be to check all the “peer reviewed” papers’ content and references that give supposed credibility to the faculty, administration, staff, and current direction of thought to America’s tertiary education system, both in liberal and STEM studies.
That would be some interesting “fact checking” and a good indicator of why we’re where we are, and even more concerning, where we’re going.
 

sablebrush52

The Bard Of Barlings
Jun 15, 2013
23,036
58,802
Southern Oregon
jrs457.wixsite.com
I agree with Bill Bupert that one of AI’s first jobs should be to check all the “peer reviewed” papers’ content and references that give supposed credibility to the faculty, administration, staff, and current direction of thought to America’s tertiary education system, both in liberal and STEM studies.
That would be some interesting “fact checking” and a good indicator of why we’re where we are, and even more concerning, where we’re going.
I’d want someone to check the AI’s assertions. Having been using AI assisted searches for a personal project, I’ve found it decidedly mixed. It blithely makes categorically wrong assertions. Never has it responded with a “to the best of our knowledge” qualifier.

What’s currently happening is field testing on the populace. There’s a long way to go.
 

Dshift

Lifer
Mar 28, 2025
1,251
6,343
Germany
ebay.us
My personal opinion regarding AI and LLMs is that they do not offer significant value to work that justifies these large tech companies spending billions on the technology and putting up data centers left and right without oversight. But because big tech has gambled so big on this they're force feeding AI to everyone. Now I cannot control what my employer wants us to use, nor can I control whether Apple chooses to force their AI onto my phone, but I did jettison Windows for Linux and I havdnt been happier.
Up until 5 years ago I was obsessed with technology - getting into arguments about what's better apple vs PC, android vs iphone; religiously following Update roumors and logs; switching phones, laptop and cameras every year... Then i needed a laptop for video editing so i got the then new 14" apple silicone MacBook and an iphone, although I was the biggest apple hater. Bought myself a motorcycle and got into camping...and stop caring that much about technology... I still use it, i still know my stuff, but no obsessions - i use it as a tool and if it still works well enough, I am happy.
 
Dec 9, 2023
1,958
27,074
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I agree with Bill Bupert that one of AI’s first jobs should be to check all the “peer reviewed” papers’ content and references that give supposed credibility to the faculty, administration, staff, and current direction of thought to America’s tertiary education system, both in liberal and STEM studies.
That would be some interesting “fact checking” and a good indicator of why we’re where we are, and even more concerning, where we’re going.
Almost all scholarship cites the sources so there is no reason why someone who questions the thesis of a paper can’t to do their own fact checking. AI is a crutch, and a bad one at that.
 
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Sobrbiker

Lifer
Jan 7, 2023
6,662
90,980
Casa Grande, AZ
Almost all scholarship cites the sources so there is no reason why someone who questions the thesis of a paper can’t to do their own fact checking. AI is a crutch, and a bad one at that.
I may be blue collar, but I fully understand how “scholarship” ie journal and peer reviewed studies are formatted.
There are many examples of plagiarism and citations to nowhere, among many top level administrators and “leaders” in their fields, but the full extent of the problem would take millions of man-hours to unravel. This is exactly the kind of job AI could (and will be doing), and dropping such cumulative results would make more of an impression to the general public than the easily batted away, one at a time revelations that disappear inside the circles of academia when brought forward currently.
The gatekeeping that is done to “protect their own” for the good of all is a detriment to what principles most had when they entered the pool.
 
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Dec 9, 2023
1,958
27,074
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
I may be blue collar, but I fully understand how “scholarship” ie journal and peer reviewed studies are formatted.
There are many examples of plagiarism and citations to nowhere, among many top level administrators and “leaders” in their fields, but the full extent of the problem would take millions of man-hours to unravel. This is exactly the kind of job AI could (and will be doing), and dropping such cumulative results would make more of an impression to the general public than the easily batted away, one at a time revelations that disappear inside the circles of academia when brought forward currently.
The gatekeeping that is done to “protect their own” for the good of all is a detriment to what principles most had when they entered the pool.
Oh, I agree, plagiarism and un-cited sources exists in research and scholarship, hell I found some examples myself when I was working on my masters degrees in History and LIS. But my original point still stands

Additionally LLMs can be manipulated to produce results the user or creator wants to see. IE Musk manipulating Grok to get results that better fit what he wanted to see. So sure, we as a society could run all the scholarship that exists to this date to detect plagiarism, but I personally wouldn't trust the results because at least here in the US we are so completely divided I have a hard time believing tgat any organization would remain unbiased in that project.

AI can be a useful tool in some situations with human oversight. Its not a miracle tool that solves all of our problems and everyone should be skeptical of its use for at least the next decade.
 

MisterBadger

Lifer
Oct 6, 2024
1,212
10,719
Ludlow, UK
Over the last few years I've taken to the roads, I've noticed that fewer and fewer drivers seem to be using maps and are employing GPS to navigate them instead. I use it myself, but always keep a road atlas in the car and, if I don't know precisely where I'm going, I study the map first - just in case. And mostly GPS seems to work fine - but...

I live in a picturesque little tourist town full of medieval buildings, and in the summer we get lots of visitors. The main approach to the town from the south is to cross the bridge over the river and then make a counter-intuitive immediate right turn away from the town, ignoring the road dead ahead which beckons to the town centre - and which, according to most GPS, is the quickest and most direct route into the old town with its very narrow streets and intricate one-way system.

On sunny afternoons I like to sit outside with a beer at The Wheatsheaf, which offers a view of the road leading up from the river and is right next door to the town's last surviving medieval gate in the last surviving secion of the old town fortifiication walls. An ordinary saloon car attempting to go through the gate has about two inches of clearance on either side, and with something like a Winnebago, you don't even want to contemplate it.

You can see nine out of ten visitors from "Off" approach the gate in obedience to their GPS, hesitate and attempt to turn around where there really isn't much room to, especially if there are drivers backing up behind or, worse, coming through the gate the other way.

I know Schadenfreude isn't good for the soul but it's about the only amusement I can derive from AI - apart from the verbal slop it also produces and proudly presents as expert advice.

Now it's time, as JimInks says, to clean a few pipes... now where did I put the ziplock bags, kosher Epsom salts and isopropyl alcohol brought to a rolling boil?Broad Gate.jpg
 
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