AI seems like a cult

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if the Pope references Ai in one of his first public speeches, then there is a significant issue to address. If you don’t understand that, then you don’t understand anything beyond the next year or so.

People who use it to write their final work product are lazy any will always be lazy and will be the first to be fired and the last to be hired.

That's not accurate. You're using AI the wrong way. My VP asked me for a 10-point recommendations report for an upcoming trip to a sibling global organization. He had been in meetings and needed it last minute, rather than earlier in the week. He was so grateful afterward and said, "Wow, your team is amazing — you can really turn things around quickly."

I used AI to pull together all of our notes and ideas to create a final report in just minutes. Then, I spent about an hour editing and refining it. The results were incredible.

But here's the thing: if you're not using AI to improve your productivity, you're going to be the first to be fired. It helps fix grammar, structure, and other basic errors that can waste time and drag down your performance. AI isn’t a crutch — it’s a tool that allows you to focus on the higher-level work, while automating the repetitive tasks that would otherwise take up your time.

Tech writers and admin assistants often ask endless questions about what exactly you want because they lack deep insight into the content they’re working on. They’re essentially following instructions without really understanding the material. AI, on the other hand, can be trained to understand your writing style, your needs, and the context. You can teach it, and it will learn what you’re trying to accomplish, and it will do exactly what you want, with much less back-and-forth. It’s like having a far more capable assistant who knows exactly what you’re thinking and doesn’t need constant guidance.

In fact, it’s such a powerful assistant that it’s likely to replace many of those roles entirely. If you're not using AI in today's world, you're falling behind. It’s not just about saving time; it’s about creating work that stands out, with efficiency and precision that traditional methods simply can’t match.

Did the AI writing program you used get to keep all your companies’ notes, thoughts and opinions?
Or how did you set that part up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think by using AI, we're feeding a monster that will ultimately be very destructive to life as we know it - jobs, personal data, security, intelligence - I'm just not sure to what extent.

Plus the dumbing down of any thinking or decision making or survival skills of many people using it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. I know somebody who just chats at it all day like it's a person.

Look up "dead internet theory." It's the idea that most online interaction is by and for bots - not in the sentient sense, but in the sense of AI text is designed to appeal to search engines, which then promote it. It's circular.

I didn't know that concept had a name, yet I've been wondering about the circular aspect of this. On a related note, my AI essay could be graded by a robot one day (and AI teacher, let's say). Then, my AI gunk is graded by more AI gunk, and what is the point of that??

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the people who claim it's a fad probably don't want to learn how to use it to make them more efficient and thus pretend it's a useless tool that has no applicability for anyone anywhere.

Anybody who has used these models in anything more than a cursory capacity understands why it's such a big deal and that these minor complaints that early models hallucinate or you don't like their tone are really missing the point

This is what a cult member sounds like.

I've tried using it in my job and it's totally useless. I have coworkers who use it and it is making their work product worse than useless.

Agree. I've tested AI out several times to "do my work," and the results are not good and not high quality. I did this so I could see for myself how it works, what it does well or not, and more.

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

One of my professor friends had a student turn in a paper, and AI wrote the paper. AI made up names, places, storylines, and locations. The professor immediately knew that was an AI paper.

So, yeah, AI makes students dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I can see your point. At the same time, AI adds errors and mistakes. Checking for its mistakes takes as much time, or longer, than just doing the work myself from the start.

[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.

I'm glad I do not need to "fight it." I'll be able to avoid using it for the most part. That said, I'm sure it'll be part of my life. Not long ago, the radiology center asked me if I wanted to pay more to have my scans read by AI. Basically, they wanted me to pay for them to test using AI. I declined. But, one day, they will probably default to AI reading the scans, and I bet I'll have no choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I had lunch with two professors. They are going back to bluebooks and in-class written essays. I just suggested this to another professor I know. Otherwise, the students turn in bad ChatGPT mishmash and fail out of the class or even flunk out of school for breaking the honor code.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's great when your boss says, "write up your job description" or other such work. You can tweak and edit rather than starting from scratch

Answers like this always create so many questions for me. Like, how often are you being asked for this? Why is it hard to describe what you do? If it's hard for you, why would AI have a better idea than you do about what you do?

I think AI is the product of people who couldn't stand the fact they didn't excel in art and writing, so instead they are trying to replicate them (poorly) rather than stoop to paying somebody for something they can't do.

I agree. One of the AI creators said that his AI tool would make the "awful" creative part so much better for composers. The composers and musicians just shook their heads...Tech bro is never going to understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This was the saddest article I've seen in a long time: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/openai-chatgpt-ai-cheating-education-college-students-school.html
(Sorry no gift link, but using a paywall bypass website works fine)
College now is basically reduced to AI grading itself (both professors and students). A student mentioned she enjoyed writing and kind of wished she could have written her paper, but knew she'd get a better grade having AI do it, and the grade was more important.

PP. My son does his own work and he's had 3 college instructors tell him his writing is superior for a freshman. His best grades are coming from these classes (A pluses). I am so proud.

Congrats!

OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I can see your point. At the same time, AI adds errors and mistakes. Checking for its mistakes takes as much time, or longer, than just doing the work myself from the start.

Not really? I’ve found high accuracy if I ask AI to summarize a document. It’s recognizing patterns in text at that point, not trying to generate answers. It saves an enormous amount of time. I can ask it to draft out a memo and it basically works as an outline that I can fill in and elaborate on.

It’s a tool, it’s not magical, and you have to know how to use it. You can’t treat it like voodoo or be overly reliant on it. The more you understand how it works, the more powerful it becomes for you.

[Anonymous]

Have any of you watched Black Mirror?
AI is not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if the Pope references Ai in one of his first public speeches, then there is a significant issue to address. If you don’t understand that, then you don’t understand anything beyond the next year or so.

People who use it to write their final work product are lazy any will always be lazy and will be the first to be fired and the last to be hired.

That's not accurate. You're using AI the wrong way. My VP asked me for a 10-point recommendations report for an upcoming trip to a sibling global organization. He had been in meetings and needed it last minute, rather than earlier in the week. He was so grateful afterward and said, "Wow, your team is amazing — you can really turn things around quickly."

I used AI to pull together all of our notes and ideas to create a final report in just minutes. Then, I spent about an hour editing and refining it. The results were incredible.

But here's the thing: if you're not using AI to improve your productivity, you're going to be the first to be fired. It helps fix grammar, structure, and other basic errors that can waste time and drag down your performance. AI isn’t a crutch — it’s a tool that allows you to focus on the higher-level work, while automating the repetitive tasks that would otherwise take up your time.

Tech writers and admin assistants often ask endless questions about what exactly you want because they lack deep insight into the content they’re working on. They’re essentially following instructions without really understanding the material. AI, on the other hand, can be trained to understand your writing style, your needs, and the context. You can teach it, and it will learn what you’re trying to accomplish, and it will do exactly what you want, with much less back-and-forth. It’s like having a far more capable assistant who knows exactly what you’re thinking and doesn’t need constant guidance.

In fact, it’s such a powerful assistant that it’s likely to replace many of those roles entirely. If you're not using AI in today's world, you're falling behind. It’s not just about saving time; it’s about creating work that stands out, with efficiency and precision that traditional methods simply can’t match.

I absolutely love that this was so obviously written by ChatGPT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, if the Pope references Ai in one of his first public speeches, then there is a significant issue to address. If you don’t understand that, then you don’t understand anything beyond the next year or so.

People who use it to write their final work product are lazy any will always be lazy and will be the first to be fired and the last to be hired.

He did? What did he say in a sentence or two?
Perhaps A.I. already got to him and controls the Vatican now!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:AI will probably replace most of the huge population of low skills jobs in the federal govt related to processing forms and compliance.

LMAO, will replace more jobs than just that. That's just a drop in the bucket of what's coming.