Do you use AI?

[HolidayHappy123]

Thought it might be interesting to chat about how people are using AI….

I am encouraged to use a specific AI programme at work that is specific to my sector, but I find it to be quite inaccurate and I haven’t found a way to use it that I am confident with.

I used Chat GPE to make our holiday itinerary into quite a cool poster and I’ve just asked Claude to build an itinerary for our Xmas holiday - the first attempt is pretty much the same as the itinerary it took me about 2 weeks to come up with.

Interested to know how others are using AI and what works/doesn’t work?

Quite. It seems to be something that older people have embraced with enthusiasm, possibly because they are secure in their employment. Younger people (mine are still at school) loathe it.

I actually work in the field - I design and build specialised AI systems for big corporates and pubsec, some of which even have sensible use cases rather than just FOMO. But frankly I feel like a car designer who only goes everywhere by bicycle - I make no use of it in my personal life and frankly loathe what is happening. But the pay is good…

No, never intentionally.
I actively hate it tbh. I cannot see a single positive to it only negatives (quite a long list)

I'm generally against it, but I can see the positives when it is used responsibly. With quantum computing and robotic advances, AI could solve problems that would take us decades to solve within minutes (medical research, clean energy research, etc).

The general public clearly cannot be trusted to use it responsibly. We need to put that genie back in the bottle before we burn the planet and end up living in some dystopian hellscape.

I can't get over people using it to write emails and create skincare regimes. Maybe their next and last query should be "Explain to me like I'm 5 the environmental concerns about the use of AI and large data centers and what this means for our future"

I don’t knowingly use it and I don’t have SM etc. don’t drive so don’t use satnav. Really trying to do my bit.

Same. I refuse to use it. I’m also a graphic designer and seeing the ugly posters it churns out… eugh 🤮

I use it to write important emails especially if it's to a professional. I'm not well educated. I have moderate learning difficulties. I don't have a big vocabulary. I don't know how to use grammar punctuation if its there its been done for me through predictive text. I feel that if that comes across in an email I think i wouldn't be taken seriously or it could be taken advantage of.

I occasionally use it on here but only if I'm very stuck and I will say i have used it and why.

I avoid it entirely.

I know how I am with convenience- if something can be made more convenient and less taxing then I will take the easier route, even if it's to the detriment of my overall wellbeing. I would rather a bus than a walk, I would rather take the lift than the stairs, I would rather a ready-meal than cook, I'd rather stay in with friends than go out. Some of these have helped me when it comes to conserving my physical energy, others I feel have become bad habits I now struggle to break out of.

I'm far from a technophobe, I'm arguably already too reliant on my phone and laptop. The thing is, I don't need to conserve my mental energy as such and I worry that if I started to use LLMs to plan my holidays, help my decorating choices, find research papers, choose products, make decisions, etc. then I would become far more dependent on it than I ever want to be. Thinking and planning are quite possibly two of my favourite things in life, and all of those are things I get some joy or satisfaction out of doing. I also worry that it would make me less social and negatively impact my mental health, as I have seen happen to other people.

Also, the environmental impact. Also, the impact on creative careers, including my own. Also, the rampant inaccuracies in my niche area of research. Overall, I have many more reasons not to use "AI" than I have reasons to use it.