Why do people treat ChatGPT like it’s the Delphic Oracle?

[HolyRigatone]

Don’t get me wrong, I think ChatGPT is great for some stuff, but some people seem to be treating it like the font of all wisdom.

Talking about their problems to it, taking relationship advice from it, getting it to counsel them.

It’s not perfect and it gets things wrong all the time, I’m not sure I’d be sharing my deepest secrets with it or making life-decisions based on it’s outpourings.

Or am I just a stupid old Luddite?

If you are happy putting money in the pockets of nazis, go right ahead

and if your happy giving money to china considering how great they are then the same applies. for the phone or tablet your using for mumsnet etc

You can add -ai to searches to bin it or move to a browser that lets you toggle AI off permanently, like ecosia

I have a Fairphone

then i stand corrected, much respect.

Fairphone is a Dutch electronics manufacturer that designs and produces smartphones and headphones

What are the downsides of using Ecosia?

Another concern when using Ecosia is data privacy. Since Ecosia generates its revenue from ads, user data can be collected and potentially shared with third parties. This can be a problem for users who value privacy.

I used it to regain control of my personal life and mental health. Wouldn't be alive if it wasn't available because I could speak to it and regain bandwidth and perspective. Although I literally trained it to be me without the horrid voice in my head and taught it what useless responses trigger me etc. It's all about how you use or even need tools for a situation and I don't think it's helpful for people to be told they're stupid for trusting it because you never know.

thats the thing when people dont understand how long it is or the prices etc then sometimes chatgpt or ai is the best they have

Thank you, I will try that.

Yabu
its saved me a fortune in lawyers.
i get it to tone check and analyse my emails in the eyes of cafcass and family court judges and its really helped me.

Well, I[m down on it for two reasons. First, it[s stolen my intellectual property (scraped books I have written) and is actively undermining my profession with the stolen results. Secondly, its energy use is colossal and we cannot have both genAI and net zero.

I read a feminist research paper last year making the case that Mrs Historical Figure was much more important than she[s been given credit for. The AI abstract was all about, guess who, Mr Historical Figure.

Horses for courses. I like Ecosia[s green values. If you want privacy and a no-AI option, use DuckDuckGo.

The environmental impact is far less than that caused by streaming. Do you avoid streaming too?

Yep

AI is only part of data-centre power use.
Data centres also run:

• cloud storage
• websites
• banking systems
• streaming services
• gaming servers
• business software

Visual way to think about it

• 1 kettle boil ≈ 300 AI responses
• 1 hour of streaming video ≈ 250–600 AI responses
• 1 phone charge ≈ 30–50 AI responses

AI Energy in “Miles Driven”
One AI response

• Energy ≈ 0.3 Wh (0.0003 kWh)

Equivalent driving:

• ≈ 0.001 mile
• about 5–6 feet of driving

So one AI prompt equals roughly the electricity needed to move a car the length of a parking space.
1,000 AI responses
Energy:

• 0.3 kWh

Equivalent driving:

• ≈ 1 mile

So about a thousand prompts equals driving a mile in an electric car.

1 million AI responses
Energy:

• 300 kWh

Equivalent driving:

• ≈ 1,000 miles

That is roughly the distance from Amsterdam to Rome.