Possible to give AI summaries of really long threads?

[Anonymous]

Hi Jeff - question for you.

You'll likely have seen how amazon, washington post, etc provide AI summaries of reviews and comments. I find those summaries to be extremely helpful. Is something like that at all feasible or DCUM? Or is the tech not there yet from an accessibility perspective for smaller operators?

For example -- I have an interest in the MCPS boundary study discussion in this thread, but it has become way to long. I can't discern anything useful from it. An AI summary would be so helpful.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1380/1295604.page

Just curious!

[jsteele]

We have briefly looked at how AI might be integrated into DCUM but there are a number of technical hurdles plus the fact that I have no time whatsoever to devote to such a project. So, while I won't say that it is impossible that such a feature will be added, I wouldn't hold your breath.

[Anonymous]

Jeff, here are a few reasons I hope you won’t move forward with AI in the way OP suggests:

1. I assume page views are a critical part of the revenue model—presumably you’d have to rethink that if people don’t have to go read the posts.

2. Similarly, interaction is part of the model. If people don’t have to read the posts, they won’t respond. Doesn’t that kind of kill the message board concept?

3. AI would just regurgitate the same stupid theories and lies people on here already post, but with the edges smoothed out for digestibility. It would make it much easier for misinformation to flourish.

4. Being able to read and assess and synthesize is what our brains are for. We should use them.

5. AI is terribly extractive, using an insane amount of water and energy.

[jsteele]

I agree with all of your points. I actually hate the way that AI is being used with search engines and that, in fact, has significantly reduced our number of users because users read the (frequently wrong) AI summary rather than clicking on links. But at the same time, it is important to realize that AI is simply a tool and, like any tool, can be used for better or worse. Part of what we have been considering when evaluating how AI might be used on DCUM is how to mitigate its worst characteristics while providing benefit to our users. Because of the considerable challenges this presents, any progress on the project has been marginal at best. As I said, nobody should be holding their breath waiting for us to integrate AI here.

[Anonymous]

You can paste the URL into a Gemininpr ChatGPT chat and ask for a summary. Remind it to look for more pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can paste the URL into a Gemininpr ChatGPT chat and ask for a summary. Remind it to look for more pages.

this is the answer.

OP: You can ask ChatGPT to read a website or a URL and summarize it for you. Or a book, or a book chapter. Or history. Really, any thing you can think up, if only you try.

[Anonymous]

Even better, AI to regenerate a post's title so that it actually tells what it is about instead of "Lunch" or whatever generic title was created for a very specific question.

(I came to the Website Feedback forum after feeling very curmudgeonly about this situation 🤣)