I am so tired of every tech bro telling us how AI will change the world without giving us any concrete examples

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and we are being forced to use AI to provide feedback on student work. It is bad, the kids know and don't like it, and the writing is on the wall: it is only a matter of time before our roles degenerate into crowd control aides only. This will do so much damage to kids; quality of education has already been degraded by screens/tech. I expect there will be a generation sacrificed to the AI teaching experiment before it is generally understood that this will hurt and not help.

Seeing this already at my kid's junior high. the teachers have handed more than 50% of their work over to Google. They've become tech facilitators rather than teachers, and if the child is failing, they pawn that failure off on the child and parents and their failure to follow the lessons and schedules on Google. They've washed their hands of any responsibility. Long gone are the days when teachers actually stayed after school to tutor kids like my high school math teacher did because he loved teaching and cared about the kids.

Oh no, your slave won't do unpaid labor fit you anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if you’re saying things like “AI isn’t good at summaries” or “someone did something with AI and it was terrible” then this is user error and/or refusal to use the paid tools. And in some cases it might be that the AI isn’t quite there yet but if you’ve seen how fast it has improved, you would know that it will be there in a few months.

It... isn't good at summaries. And you're right, I'm not using the paid tools. Why would I pay if the free version has demonstrated it's garbage? "Oh, this is crap, so I should definitely sign up for a paid subscription to get the non-crap version!"

Maybe you can do a free trial or use someone else’s account? The new versions really ARE very good at summaries, especially if you’ve given context around what you need the summary to include, what to exclude, what is important to you, etc. you don’t just say: “summarize this contract”. I’ve given my ChatGPT a profile of who I am, for example “commercial real estate lawyer” and then detailed prompts on what to look for, what I need to know, etc. it’s like you’re instructing a junior associate to produce a summary, and it does an amazing job, very quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if you’re saying things like “AI isn’t good at summaries” or “someone did something with AI and it was terrible” then this is user error and/or refusal to use the paid tools. And in some cases it might be that the AI isn’t quite there yet but if you’ve seen how fast it has improved, you would know that it will be there in a few months.

It... isn't good at summaries. And you're right, I'm not using the paid tools. Why would I pay if the free version has demonstrated it's garbage? "Oh, this is crap, so I should definitely sign up for a paid subscription to get the non-crap version!"

Maybe you can do a free trial or use someone else’s account? The new versions really ARE very good at summaries, especially if you’ve given context around what you need the summary to include, what to exclude, what is important to you, etc. you don’t just say: “summarize this contract”. I’ve given my ChatGPT a profile of who I am, for example “commercial real estate lawyer” and then detailed prompts on what to look for, what I need to know, etc. it’s like you’re instructing a junior associate to produce a summary, and it does an amazing job, very quickly.

PP. I have done this with free versions (ChatPDF because it doesn't require a login and is free), not with contracts specifically but documents for a hobby of mine, and I will literally say "please include every instance of X," (and all of the instances are listed on the cover sheet) and it will omit some in the summary, and then I will write "please do it again with Y which you omitted" and then it will give me a summary of just Y instead of incorporating it into the master summary. I'll tell it to refrain from giving me commentary on what things mean and just tell me what the document says, and it will cut down on commentary, but not eliminate it so I still have to go through and delete a lot of junk. And then as I go through the summary, it also just makes many factual mistakes, saying A called B, when B actually called A.

So it's not really a ringing advertisement that makes me want to try a paid version. The only reason I use it is it at least organizes everything into bullets so I can just edit it instead of typing the summary myself, but the prompting and editing take enough time anyway, and I would not feel comfortable using it for anything work related.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please tell us in the most concrete and specific terms possible, exactly what tasks AI has done in your organization that were previously done by a human. I don't want to hear that your organization has replaced 30 employees when that's what it has done every year for the past two decades because it just likes to hire and fire people. I also don't want to hear about how you vibe coded an app that no one will ever use. I want to hear about the specific, recent things (i.e., past six months or so) that AI has suddenly done within your company that has already replaced work previously done by humans. No speculation about what will happen in the future; I want examples that have already happened.

Your question is confusing. You want to know what AI is going to do in the future based on what it can do right now when it is only in its early stages? Imagine posing that question in the very earliest days of desktop computers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if you’re saying things like “AI isn’t good at summaries” or “someone did something with AI and it was terrible” then this is user error and/or refusal to use the paid tools. And in some cases it might be that the AI isn’t quite there yet but if you’ve seen how fast it has improved, you would know that it will be there in a few months.

It... isn't good at summaries. And you're right, I'm not using the paid tools. Why would I pay if the free version has demonstrated it's garbage? "Oh, this is crap, so I should definitely sign up for a paid subscription to get the non-crap version!"

Maybe you can do a free trial or use someone else’s account? The new versions really ARE very good at summaries, especially if you’ve given context around what you need the summary to include, what to exclude, what is important to you, etc. you don’t just say: “summarize this contract”. I’ve given my ChatGPT a profile of who I am, for example “commercial real estate lawyer” and then detailed prompts on what to look for, what I need to know, etc. it’s like you’re instructing a junior associate to produce a summary, and it does an amazing job, very quickly.

PP. I have done this with free versions (ChatPDF because it doesn't require a login and is free), not with contracts specifically but documents for a hobby of mine, and I will literally say "please include every instance of X," (and all of the instances are listed on the cover sheet) and it will omit some in the summary, and then I will write "please do it again with Y which you omitted" and then it will give me a summary of just Y instead of incorporating it into the master summary. I'll tell it to refrain from giving me commentary on what things mean and just tell me what the document says, and it will cut down on commentary, but not eliminate it so I still have to go through and delete a lot of junk. And then as I go through the summary, it also just makes many factual mistakes, saying A called B, when B actually called A.

So it's not really a ringing advertisement that makes me want to try a paid version. The only reason I use it is it at least organizes everything into bullets so I can just edit it instead of typing the summary myself, but the prompting and editing take enough time anyway, and I would not feel comfortable using it for anything work related.

Ok, I don’t really know what to say then, because it sounds like you’re using a blunt knife and complaining it doesn’t cut so knives are no good, but you won’t buy a sharper knife. The paid for versions of these tools are many many times better, that is literally what you are paying for. In a few months, the current models in the paid tools will go to the free tools, as the paid ones will advance, so try the free tools again in maybe 6 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if you’re saying things like “AI isn’t good at summaries” or “someone did something with AI and it was terrible” then this is user error and/or refusal to use the paid tools. And in some cases it might be that the AI isn’t quite there yet but if you’ve seen how fast it has improved, you would know that it will be there in a few months.

It... isn't good at summaries. And you're right, I'm not using the paid tools. Why would I pay if the free version has demonstrated it's garbage? "Oh, this is crap, so I should definitely sign up for a paid subscription to get the non-crap version!"

Maybe you can do a free trial or use someone else’s account? The new versions really ARE very good at summaries, especially if you’ve given context around what you need the summary to include, what to exclude, what is important to you, etc. you don’t just say: “summarize this contract”. I’ve given my ChatGPT a profile of who I am, for example “commercial real estate lawyer” and then detailed prompts on what to look for, what I need to know, etc. it’s like you’re instructing a junior associate to produce a summary, and it does an amazing job, very quickly.

PP. I have done this with free versions (ChatPDF because it doesn't require a login and is free), not with contracts specifically but documents for a hobby of mine, and I will literally say "please include every instance of X," (and all of the instances are listed on the cover sheet) and it will omit some in the summary, and then I will write "please do it again with Y which you omitted" and then it will give me a summary of just Y instead of incorporating it into the master summary. I'll tell it to refrain from giving me commentary on what things mean and just tell me what the document says, and it will cut down on commentary, but not eliminate it so I still have to go through and delete a lot of junk. And then as I go through the summary, it also just makes many factual mistakes, saying A called B, when B actually called A.

So it's not really a ringing advertisement that makes me want to try a paid version. The only reason I use it is it at least organizes everything into bullets so I can just edit it instead of typing the summary myself, but the prompting and editing take enough time anyway, and I would not feel comfortable using it for anything work related.

Ok, I don’t really know what to say then, because it sounds like you’re using a blunt knife and complaining it doesn’t cut so knives are no good, but you won’t buy a sharper knife. The paid for versions of these tools are many many times better, that is literally what you are paying for. In a few months, the current models in the paid tools will go to the free tools, as the paid ones will advance, so try the free tools again in maybe 6 months.

Thats what I was thinking too, that this supposedly great stuff will leak into the free versions eventually and then I can see if the hype was true or not. For now, not worth it to pay.

[Anonymous]

You all should be using the paid versions. Game changer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all should be using the paid versions. Game changer.

I never pay for stuff on the internet. Just tangible things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a teacher and we are being forced to use AI to provide feedback on student work. It is bad, the kids know and don't like it, and the writing is on the wall: it is only a matter of time before our roles degenerate into crowd control aides only. This will do so much damage to kids; quality of education has already been degraded by screens/tech. I expect there will be a generation sacrificed to the AI teaching experiment before it is generally understood that this will hurt and not help.

Seeing this already at my kid's junior high. the teachers have handed more than 50% of their work over to Google. They've become tech facilitators rather than teachers, and if the child is failing, they pawn that failure off on the child and parents and their failure to follow the lessons and schedules on Google. They've washed their hands of any responsibility. Long gone are the days when teachers actually stayed after school to tutor kids like my high school math teacher did because he loved teaching and cared about the kids.

Oh no, your slave won't do unpaid labor fit you anymore.

Lots of people stay late for no compensation and ultimately to help someone else like Elon Musk or Zuckerberg make money? Or to finish what’s ultimately in the grand scheme of things a trivial project? I’d say staying an extra hour to help a few teens succeed in a subject they’re having trouble with is a lot more impactful and noble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all should be using the paid versions. Game changer.

FOR WHAT.

[Anonymous]

I just used a free AI to get advice about my child's special needs and it was immensely helpful. The pre-AI alternative is to crowd source advice from other parents and/or hire an advocate. While all these options have their place I think AI is an amazing tool.

I suspect 10 years from now, not using AI would be like using a horse and buggy to travel 100 miles or like typing an important report on a typewriter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all should be using the paid versions. Game changer.

Why should we pay for this service that is responsible for us to have no electricity, no jobs, no computer appliances or devices because chips are no longer available or too expensive?

This is the most tech bro thing ever because tech wants us to buy “this one cool thing” as it is defeating us. You all haven’t had to do a really good PR campaign ever and it shows.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all should be using the paid versions. Game changer.

Why should we pay for this service that is responsible for us to have no electricity, no jobs, no computer appliances or devices because chips are no longer available or too expensive?

This is the most tech bro thing ever because tech wants us to buy “this one cool thing” as it is defeating us. You all haven’t had to do a really good PR campaign ever and it shows.

+1 pay for the privilege to improve their tool that they are desperately trying to convince everyone is The Answer before the bubble bursts? And the tool is designed to replace us and cost us more money in infrastructure and contribute to tragedy of the commons? And like a phishing email everyone is using the most transparent tactics of convincing you that It's Urgent! FOMO!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly if you’re saying things like “AI isn’t good at summaries” or “someone did something with AI and it was terrible” then this is user error and/or refusal to use the paid tools. And in some cases it might be that the AI isn’t quite there yet but if you’ve seen how fast it has improved, you would know that it will be there in a few months.

It... isn't good at summaries. And you're right, I'm not using the paid tools. Why would I pay if the free version has demonstrated it's garbage? "Oh, this is crap, so I should definitely sign up for a paid subscription to get the non-crap version!"

Maybe you can do a free trial or use someone else’s account? The new versions really ARE very good at summaries, especially if you’ve given context around what you need the summary to include, what to exclude, what is important to you, etc. you don’t just say: “summarize this contract”. I’ve given my ChatGPT a profile of who I am, for example “commercial real estate lawyer” and then detailed prompts on what to look for, what I need to know, etc. it’s like you’re instructing a junior associate to produce a summary, and it does an amazing job, very quickly.

PP. I have done this with free versions (ChatPDF because it doesn't require a login and is free), not with contracts specifically but documents for a hobby of mine, and I will literally say "please include every instance of X," (and all of the instances are listed on the cover sheet) and it will omit some in the summary, and then I will write "please do it again with Y which you omitted" and then it will give me a summary of just Y instead of incorporating it into the master summary. I'll tell it to refrain from giving me commentary on what things mean and just tell me what the document says, and it will cut down on commentary, but not eliminate it so I still have to go through and delete a lot of junk. And then as I go through the summary, it also just makes many factual mistakes, saying A called B, when B actually called A.

So it's not really a ringing advertisement that makes me want to try a paid version. The only reason I use it is it at least organizes everything into bullets so I can just edit it instead of typing the summary myself, but the prompting and editing take enough time anyway, and I would not feel comfortable using it for anything work related.

Ok, I don’t really know what to say then, because it sounds like you’re using a blunt knife and complaining it doesn’t cut so knives are no good, but you won’t buy a sharper knife. The paid for versions of these tools are many many times better, that is literally what you are paying for. In a few months, the current models in the paid tools will go to the free tools, as the paid ones will advance, so try the free tools again in maybe 6 months.

I’ve been hearing the “it will be really great in 6 months” for at least two years

[Anonymous]

I don't think AI is great right now at doing new complex tasks that it hasn't been trained on. But my understanding is that employers are training AI so that it can do these tasks and that it is showing enormous capabilities under those circumstances.

I've tried to ask AI to do my job and it sucked at it, but for advice about various issues (health, home repair, parenting) it has been extremely helpful, well beyond what I can get from an internet search. I can absolutely see how it has disrupted the tech sector and will be extremely disruptive in many other sectors. I know friends that work in finance that are proactively looking for other jobs because their companies are training AI to do their jobs.