AI seems like a cult

[Anonymous]

New-generation versions of AI are much better than the ones of even a year ago. But ...aren't the hallucinations getting worse? That was the gist of the recent NY Times article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ultimately AI will make us all dumber, more misinformed, mistrustful and lazier.


And that’s the REAL intent of AI.

+1

[Anonymous]

Here's the link to the NY Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/technology/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-google.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New-generation versions of AI are much better than the ones of even a year ago. But ...aren't the hallucinations getting worse? That was the gist of the recent NY Times article.

Yes, the new NYT article said that hallucinations have gone from 1-2% to up to 50% or more from the new gen AI.

That doesn't even include the irrelevant information or the incorrect-but-also-bland tone that AI does when it is correct or not hallucinating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the link to the NY Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/technology/ai-hallucinations-chatgpt-google.html

No gift link makes me sad 😢

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think AI is a tool, and most people are using it incorrectly.

For many people, it's easier to edit something that stare at a blank page. So it's a tool to put words on paper, and then you edit to fit the circumstance.

Boring routine stuff - write an email, draft a thank you note. Take these notes and create an agenda or summary - AND THEN YOU HAVE TO EDIT IT.

THat's the key.

I had a research prject dumped on me and I asked AI. It spewed a bunch of stuff that seemed interesting, but completly unsourced. I told it to tell me the same thing but include sources. Then I went to the sources and built my own research report, building on the AI but pulling other things from the sources that were more relevant to our particulars.

We had to provide options to a customer for wording for something. AI was great for that in the sense that it provided options, some of which were nonsense, but gave us a head start instead of starting from blank white space.

Also - always remember gargage in, garbage out. Sometimes I ask things repeatedly until i get to the right prompt of the thing I want.

Now, anyone using it to make funny pictures is just wasting resources (I worry a lot about the energy needs of AI).

How did you manage to do these extremely basic tasks before AI? And OMG having AI do your research project for you is beyond pathetic - it’s actually scary.

[Anonymous]

Asking AI for sources is really the worst use for it- AI does best when you load in a document and ask for a summary, talking points, etc.

It’s also great for first drafts of things that don’t matter that much, like an email.

I’ve also loaded standard operating procedures and asked for improvements or automations I can make in processes.

I’ve also used it to grab code to automate some current processes- something that I really did not have time to figure out before- it’s amazing, but it’s a tool, and you have to know how to use it properly.

[Anonymous]

Totally agree.

If we KNOW AI is going to displace so many people…why are we in such a rush to make this happen? WHO is pushing the AI agenda? (I do believe it’s an agenda)

This is a hot take but I believe that by developing and engaging AI in this manner we are opening a Pandora’s box and we will all be far worse off than we are now.

I don’t FW AI as much as I can. I’m now seeing people say that AI (chatgpt) is essentially their “friend”/sounding board/therapist.

I think we should resist AI as much as we can.

[Anonymous]

Everything I’ve ever used AI for while dabbling with it has required VERY careful proofreading and fact-checking, because in every instance, it has made an error of some kind or had a glaring inaccuracy.


That’s not a time saving tool for me. I can just write the same thing, and not require editorial inspection or fact checking because I wrote it and I already know it’s right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ultimately AI will make us all dumber, more misinformed, mistrustful and lazier.


And that’s the REAL intent of AI.

I feel like it makes me dumber.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally agree.

If we KNOW AI is going to displace so many people…why are we in such a rush to make this happen? WHO is pushing the AI agenda? (I do believe it’s an agenda)

This is a hot take but I believe that by developing and engaging AI in this manner we are opening a Pandora’s box and we will all be far worse off than we are now.

I don’t FW AI as much as I can. I’m now seeing people say that AI (chatgpt) is essentially their “friend”/sounding board/therapist.

I think we should resist AI as much as we can.

Welcome to NeoLudditism. I’m in on the ground floor.

[Anonymous]

Yes, 100%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several friends are into AI and using it to write. They don't understand AI makes up references and is based on people's existing ideas and writing.

The way some talk about AI sounds cult-like. Meanwhile, they are contributing to something that is designed to make money from corporations that want to replace their workers with AI.

Anyone else feel this way?

Imagine going back to 2010, and listening to friends rave about these new “smart phones” and how, in cult-like terms, they claimed:

- smart phones will everyone’s lives

They were right. Everyone has a “smart phone” (we don’t even call them that anymore). Phones have transformed lives. They have altered our kids’ childhood (generally not for the better).

AI is going to change your life, OP. You can try to fight it, OP.

But you won’t stop the changes about to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Several friends are into AI and using it to write. They don't understand AI makes up references and is based on people's existing ideas and writing.

The way some talk about AI sounds cult-like. Meanwhile, they are contributing to something that is designed to make money from corporations that want to replace their workers with AI.

Anyone else feel this way?

Imagine going back to 2010, and listening to friends rave about these new “smart phones” and how, in cult-like terms, they claimed:

- smart phones will everyone’s lives

They were right. Everyone has a “smart phone” (we don’t even call them that anymore). Phones have transformed lives. They have altered our kids’ childhood (generally not for the better).

AI is going to change your life, OP. You can try to fight it, OP.

But you won’t stop the changes about to happen.

There's a reason that minimalist or dumbphones are getting more and more popular. Phones are bad for us.

AI is also bad for us, individually and collectively. I am happy to see how quickly it has spread so that everyone can quickly see how awful AI is, for just about every task. Some people excuse the badness but everyone sees it.

And soon we will turn a corner. Schools are going back to bluebooks for tests and paper and pencil for assignments. Chromebooks/laptops in class = AI and distraction, maybe not in that order. Glad to see those are going away too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally agree.

If we KNOW AI is going to displace so many people…why are we in such a rush to make this happen? WHO is pushing the AI agenda? (I do believe it’s an agenda)

This is a hot take but I believe that by developing and engaging AI in this manner we are opening a Pandora’s box and we will all be far worse off than we are now.

I don’t FW AI as much as I can. I’m now seeing people say that AI (chatgpt) is essentially their “friend”/sounding board/therapist.

I think we should resist AI as much as we can.

Despite awareness of these issues, I have used AI extensively because it is so, so powerful. It is letting me streamline my work in ways I could never have imagined. There are so many tedious aspects of my job that I am quickly knocking out