I have begun relying on AI and I don’t know how I feel about it.

I'm actually the very definition of a Luddite and if I had any choice wouldn't be using modern technology at all frankly. And Luddites weren't just regressive thickos. They gave a shit about the people industrialisation displaced. As do I. If you really think the positives of AI etc outweigh the negatives, that's fine. I happen to disagree. It's called a debate.

Ha ha. Is that your best comeback? Because you haven't actually thought about the power that is involved in looking at various websites for some useful input?

Alright Claude, don't worry it seems you and Hal have more fawning friends than opposers.

It has no personal biases

It displays consistent racist and sexist bias

Fuck that shit. Who wants to live in a world where people outsource basic thought functions to a fucking plagiarism machine?

Please can you tell me the name of this app? Ty

But Google just lists websites for me. That I must then visit. Maybe two or three, to get a useful answer. And those websites use server power. And so do my visits.

It's about time people stopped parroting "OMG AI uses soooo much power!" and started using critical thinking.

It has no personal biases and can process huge amounts of data quickly.

I think it's the future of a lot of healthcare among other things.

I'm beginning to think that episode of Black Mirror where the plebs have to generate electricity by riding static bikes and "win" freedom would appeal to so many posters here.

We’ll all get left behind whether you kiss AI arse or not.

True though. The march of technology will wait for no one. Embrace it or get left behind. Best to go with the flow rather than trying to hold back the tide.

Fucking hell 😂

Ten times funnier if you read this in a sinister robot voice

I doubt whether knowing how to prompt AI or not is going to be the deciding factor as to whether someone is ‘surplus to requirements’. If it’s going to steamroller whole industries, then the ability to get ChatGPT to create a PowerPoint presentation or devise a holiday itinerary is not going to save anyone.

I completely agree, btw, with the pp who pointed out the glee some seem to have about the comeuppance we AI cynics are going to get.

Well let’s face it quite a lot already are. We will have to decide how we deal with that increase on %

sounds like people are going to be surplus soon

Clearing out MIL's house, there are a few very old pieces of furniture and some very old ornaments. OH was going to send the ornaments to the charity shop and get the council to come to take the furniture to the tip (they charge for that!).

After seeing someone mention using AI for pictures, I took some photos and have uploaded to ChatGPT to ask it what they are, and what they're worth. Wow! Glad I did. I know you can't be 100% certain, but it's given really accurate descriptions/dates of many of the items with pretty impressive values. I've checked a few things out myself just to check and it seems to be spot on. Realistically, could be looking a several hundred pounds worth (at lowest valuation prices) and maybe into a couple of thousand if they go well at auction!

Some of them were inherited by MIL from her parents/grandparents, so when ChatGPT dates them to Victorian era, it could well be right!

I’m currently using it to meal plan to my specific preferences. It’s brilliant

Google Search: Uses 0.0003 kWh per query, emitting 0.2g CO2.
ChatGPT: Uses 0.0029 kWh per query (10x more energy), emitting 68g CO2.

Did you mean to sound a bit like a.fascist there?

You will be very rapidly left behind. If you don’t get on this wagon you’ll be surplus’s to requirements.

I've started doing the same and think it's great.

The biggest problem around the idea of AI potentially achieving "consciousness" is that A, we don't fully understand consciousness in humans as it is, and B, in this era of misinformation/disinformation we could be manipulated by humans to believe it has, even if it hasn't or it isn't because how the heck would we know?

I have so many thoughts around all this, and fully accept that many are probably fuelled by paranoia and fear of the unknown.

One such fear is that we have been primed to "follow the science" - we saw how that became a dogma during Covid, and even though science is actually based on continuous testing and questioning many people became fixed on certain ideas and beliefs and even when it became obvious that it was a constantly evolving situation it was difficult for many to shift the original beliefs, which lead to so much division and unpleasantness.

Also, I see a parallel between the concepts of "God" and AI - something all seeing and all powerful that can be used both practically and psychologically in many potentially damaging ways.

When you lose trust in your very senses, due to the information being presented and the possibility that it isn't "real" we're in scary territory.

I remember a few years ago, there were bus shelters, where the end panel appeared to show the street beyond, but scenes like UFOs and dinosaurs could be digitally superimposed as if visible through the panel. I was appalled then - the "what ifs" went through my head. "What if" it startled someone enough that they ran into the road? "What if" someone with mental health issues believed what they were seeing and it caused them to spiral? I really didn't think it was just harmless fun, as presented.

There is a huge scope for harm with all this, and I wish I had confidence that TPTB and the innovators were all invested in benign outcomes and benefits, but the world being as it is at the moment, that confidence is sadly lacking.

I just can't shake the feeling that this is not going to end well, and we might not have time to realise it.

I had no idea many people were so dependent on it until several MN posts say similar

I’ve been sleepwalking through the rise of AI and its implications.
Need to learn more about it but so far I feel very uncomfortable about the scope for dependency on it especially given that we live in the disinformation era.

It appeals to the unimaginative and gullible. I think you can upload a photo which I think is gullible in itself.