As humans, are we abandoning our creative potential to ChatGPT?

brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
I think so.  Reading other sites that tend to talk about this more, I am seeing a huge surge in the interest and embracing of the new AI technology that indicates to me that we are abandoning our creative potential and willingly and eagerly handing it over to the machine.  I would venture to guess, the younger the person, the more likely to embrace this. 

Agree/ disagree?

Also, within this discussion (assuming it goes anywhere), what about how this will affect jobs in the future?

And please, none of that "old man yelling at clouds" nonsense.  I have always yelled at clouds.  :lol: 
"Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

"Try to not spook the horse."
-Neil Young













Comments

  • mace1229mace1229 Posts: 9,481
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    From what I know of it, it has this massive data bank that it draws ideas from to form anything from a poem or song, to a picture to a (and this is where it also gets concerning) a news article.  We're not just handing our creative potential over to the machine, we're giving it the ability to tell us what it sees as "news" and journalism.  Unsettling thought.
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,987
    edited April 2023
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). It writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they are actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,987
    edited April 2023
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!

    Remember they have to use their resume to get that cover letter generated, so the actual skills and abilities would be totally real (unless they are lying on their resume, and that would have nothing to do with ChatGPT, hahaha). I just think it's a great option because when you're job hunting, all those personalized cover letters are a HUGE DRAG, and cause way more stress than they are worth. They are a stupid formality that shouldn't even exist as far as I'm concerned, so why not have ChatGPT put together a polished cover letter that will highlight what you have to offer nicely, as it relates to the position you're applying for? Sounds fantastic to me!

    Anyone using ChatGPT to create "art" is NOT an artist. They are just a phony. So I'm really not concerned about that aspect at all. Actual artists worth enjoying would never turn to this to create anything, unless to use it basically as a thesaurus.
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!

    Remember they have to use their resume to get that cover letter generated, so the actual skills and abilities would be totally real (unless they are lying on their resume, and that would have nothing to do with ChatGPT, hahaha). I just think it's a great option because when you're job hunting, all those personalized cover letters are a HUGE DRAG, and cause way more stress than they are worth. They are a stupid formality that shouldn't even exist as far as I'm concerned, so why not have ChatGPT put together a polished cover letter that will highlight what you have to offer nicely, as it relates to the position you're applying for? Sounds fantastic to me!

    Anyone using ChatGPT to create "art" is NOT an artist. They are just a phony. So I'm really not concerned about that aspect at all. Actual artists worth enjoying would never turn to this to create anything, unless to use it basically as a thesaurus.

    Cover letters... OMG, so glad not to ever have to do one of those again!

    Yeah, I agree about ChatGPT not being art.  Art without the humanity, the human experience, is mechanics, not true art.
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 37,338
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 
    "Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk"
    -EV  8/14/93




  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 37,338
    yeah, been seeing it all over social media lately. then a guy at work told me what it was. I'm caught in a weird spot in history of being 2000's digital. half digital, half analog. digilog. I mean, I like my ipod click wheel if it still worked. my favourite ipod. lol. I'm sure my iPhone 11 can do about a million more things than I know about, and yet, I just don't give a shit to figure it out. 

    I wouldn't even own a phone if it wasn't really the only option for the things I do need. 

    anyway, I'll be following this thread anyway, just out of interest. 
    "Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk"
    -EV  8/14/93




  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    yeah, been seeing it all over social media lately. then a guy at work told me what it was. I'm caught in a weird spot in history of being 2000's digital. half digital, half analog. digilog. I mean, I like my ipod click wheel if it still worked. my favourite ipod. lol. I'm sure my iPhone 11 can do about a million more things than I know about, and yet, I just don't give a shit to figure it out. 

    I wouldn't even own a phone if it wasn't really the only option for the things I do need. 

    anyway, I'll be following this thread anyway, just out of interest. 

    I hear you!  I really resisted digital everything early on- to the point of once naively declaring my motto to be "Analog love songs will save the world!" (I'm still a little naive that way, haha).  I have since learned to incorporate digital technology into my life in ways that are helpful.  And fun!  Here I am, merrily tying away on a computer.
    But on this topic, I will always draw a certain line with art. Not that digital can't be a great tool in art.  For example, although I strongly find the more analog and "organic" a piece of music is, the more I am likely to like it, I also really love Kraftwerk's musical piece "Autobahn"! But where I draw the line (for me anyway) is calling AI generated poems or songs or paintings "art".  One guy on another forum said that he believes telling AI what to produce is an art form.  I didn't respond but, oh man, my eyes rolled circle in my head!

    Yes, it will be interesting to see what others think here. 

    I'm sincerely interest, folks, so jump in!  And truly, my interest is in discussing, not arguing.

    (Also, just occurred to me this could have gone in AET, so OK with me, Kat or SEA, if you move it.)

    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • mace1229mace1229 Posts: 9,481
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,987
    brianlux said:
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 

    It's spreading like wildfire because it is totally fucking groundbreaking in term of AI bots and how regular people interact with it. That technology itself isn't brand new at all = other companies have the same tech - but how it has now been made available to us and so, so easy to access and use is the real groundbreaking part I think. It's an actual game changer, not just well-marketed hype. For better or worse (in academia at least, definitely worse, lol).
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • mace1229mace1229 Posts: 9,481
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?
  • DarthMaeglinDarthMaeglin Toronto Posts: 2,641
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    Very interesting thread!

     I fall in the camp of being slower to adopt newer technologies, but do watch the advancements with amazement.

    One thing I find interesting (going to your second paragraph Brian) is that, having read science fiction (and watching movies and tv) I’m blown away by how that medium has allowed us to ponder many of the moral angles on this, with AI being a prime example. I can recall some AI system being let loose on the internet and through its interactions with humans it very quickly became angry and hateful because that’s what it (she?) learned from us.

     The thing that troubles me about all the AI systems being developed is that we never (or almost never) hear about safeguards being built into the systems, a la Asimov’s Laws Of Robotics. Star Trek has also done an excellent job of examining this as well, primarily through the character of Data.

    Or, maybe I’ve watched the Terminator movies (and 2001) a few times too many, lol. I do also find myself nodding in agreement with Agent Smith (The Matrix) that humans are a virus on the planet, a conclusion a purely rational AI might find itself arriving at fairly quickly.


    "The world is full of idiots and I am but one of them."

    10-30-1991 Toronto, Toronto 1 & 2 2016, Toronto 2022
  • PJ_SoulPJ_Soul Vancouver, BC Posts: 49,987
    edited April 2023
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?

     It can. Really, we're all machines. The brain is a neural network, which AI also has. It's just a matter of an AI neural network being capable of processing the same info our own brains do. It's not really a far out concept when you think about it. Us being biological/flesh and blood is not what determines our sentience at all. It the level and nature of neural activity in our brains that does. If AI does become sentient, there will inevitably be problems, because there will be a very extreme culture clash to contend with!
    Post edited by PJ_Soul on
    With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
  • 1ThoughtKnown1ThoughtKnown Posts: 6,155
    edited April 2023
    I am excited about the potential AI has as it pertains to worker health and safety. Significant life changing incidents (serious injury, fatality) incidents could be virtually eliminated by the use of AI, particularly in the robotic sense. 
    AI could perform many of the dangerous work activities currently being performed by humans. This is legislatively required in some jurisdictions, usually known as the “hierarchy of controls” as it pertains to method of controlling the hazards in a workplace. Employers must first attempt to eliminate the hazard, if that is not possible you move to substitution, then engineering controls (controlling hazardous energy, etc), then administrative controls (procedures, standards), and lastly Personal Protective Equipment. 

    With the above in mind, it is conceivable industry (particularly construction, utilities, mining, etc) will be paying close attention to the benefits AI could have for their safety programs. If humans aren’t performing the high danger tasks, risk to the organization is reduced. Productivity would go up, AI doesn’t require coffee, lunch breaks, or even days off. 
    There are mining operations currently running with haul trucks that have no operators. The trucks are managed through the GPS system. To the shovel and to the dump location. It’s already there. 

    The world is going to change in a real hurry. My nephew is currently working with an AI outfit in France that is developing AI delivery (think Door Dash). His focus is on the AI avoiding people on the sidewalks as it arrives at your door (recognizing obstacles and hazards). 

    In a nutshell, this is very exciting times. I would advise learning how AI could affect you and if your profession could become obsolete because of it. 
  • HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 37,338
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?

     It can. Really, we're all machines. The brain is a neural network, which AI also has. It's just a matter of an AI neural network being capable of processing the same info our own brains do. It's not really a far out concept when you think about it. Us being biological/flesh and blood is not what determines our sentience at all. It the level and nature of neural activity in our brains that does. If AI does become sentient, there will inevitably be problems, because there will be a very extreme culture clash to contend with!
    so The Matrix/The Terminator were documentaries then?

    scares the fuck out of me. 
    "Oh Canada...you're beautiful when you're drunk"
    -EV  8/14/93




  • 1ThoughtKnown1ThoughtKnown Posts: 6,155
    edited April 2023
    @brianlux

    On your point about art, for shits and giggles I had ChatGPT write some Vedder-esque lyrics a few months ago:
    https://community.pearljam.com/discussion/297081/openai-com-chatgpt#latest


    Post edited by 1ThoughtKnown on
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 

    It's spreading like wildfire because it is totally fucking groundbreaking in term of AI bots and how regular people interact with it. That technology itself isn't brand new at all = other companies have the same tech - but how it has now been made available to us and so, so easy to access and use is the real groundbreaking part I think. It's an actual game changer, not just well-marketed hype. For better or worse (in academia at least, definitely worse, lol).
    Definitely worse for academia!
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?
    Good question.  My thinking is self awareness can be achieved without having feelings.  And if that is true, that would potentially make IA self-awearness minus feeling all the more dangerous.
    I am excited about the potential AI has as it pertains to worker health and safety. Significant life changing incidents (serious injury, fatality) incidents could be virtually eliminated by the use of AI, particularly in the robotic sense. 
    AI could perform many of the dangerous work activities currently being performed by humans. This is legislatively required in some jurisdictions, usually known as the “hierarchy of controls” as it pertains to method of controlling the hazards in a workplace. Employers must first attempt to eliminate the hazard, if that is not possible you move to substitution, then engineering controls (controlling hazardous energy, etc), then administrative controls (procedures, standards), and lastly Personal Protective Equipment. 

    With the above in mind, it is conceivable industry (particularly construction, utilities, mining, etc) will be paying close attention to the benefits AI could have for their safety programs. If humans aren’t performing the high danger tasks, risk to the organization is reduced. Productivity would go up, AI doesn’t require coffee, lunch breaks, or even days off. 
    There are mining operations currently running with haul trucks that have no operators. The trucks are managed through the GPS system. To the shovel and to the dump location. It’s already there. 

    The world is going to change in a real hurry. My nephew is currently working with an AI outfit in France that is developing AI delivery (think Door Dash). His focus is on the AI avoiding people on the sidewalks as it arrives at your door (recognizing obstacles and hazards). 

    In a nutshell, this is very exciting times. I would advise learning how AI could affect you and if your profession could become obsolete because of it. 

    To be honest, if AI makes being a bookseller become obsolete (which to a degree it is if you knew what the business was like 40 years ago in it's prime), I would be obsolete (which also to a degree is quite possibly true, lol).
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • 1ThoughtKnown1ThoughtKnown Posts: 6,155
    There is always room for retro in an ever advancing world blux! Books have never become obsolete, and never will. Just like vinyl! 😂
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    There is always room for retro in an ever advancing world blux! Books have never become obsolete, and never will. Just like vinyl! 😂

    I think that true!  I'm always encourage to see that the children's book section at the bookstore is still doing well and when I go to thrift stores seeing the same happening.  It's great to see a lot of kids growing up reading books!  Just yesterday, I bought a couple of books at out local Goodwill.  One was a David Foster Wallace collection and the other was Art Spiegelman's illustrated Maus.  The cashier, who looked to be barely old enough to work a regular job, said, "Oh!  Great books... you might like..." and recommended something rather scholarly sounding. (Drat I lost the note I made and can't remember the title).  To see a kid that age reading good strong literature is very cool!
    Same with vinyl, of course!  :smiley:
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • mace1229mace1229 Posts: 9,481
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 

    It's spreading like wildfire because it is totally fucking groundbreaking in term of AI bots and how regular people interact with it. That technology itself isn't brand new at all = other companies have the same tech - but how it has now been made available to us and so, so easy to access and use is the real groundbreaking part I think. It's an actual game changer, not just well-marketed hype. For better or worse (in academia at least, definitely worse, lol).
    Definitely worse for academia!
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?
    Good question.  My thinking is self awareness can be achieved without having feelings.  And if that is true, that would potentially make IA self-awearness minus feeling all the more dangerous.
    I am excited about the potential AI has as it pertains to worker health and safety. Significant life changing incidents (serious injury, fatality) incidents could be virtually eliminated by the use of AI, particularly in the robotic sense. 
    AI could perform many of the dangerous work activities currently being performed by humans. This is legislatively required in some jurisdictions, usually known as the “hierarchy of controls” as it pertains to method of controlling the hazards in a workplace. Employers must first attempt to eliminate the hazard, if that is not possible you move to substitution, then engineering controls (controlling hazardous energy, etc), then administrative controls (procedures, standards), and lastly Personal Protective Equipment. 

    With the above in mind, it is conceivable industry (particularly construction, utilities, mining, etc) will be paying close attention to the benefits AI could have for their safety programs. If humans aren’t performing the high danger tasks, risk to the organization is reduced. Productivity would go up, AI doesn’t require coffee, lunch breaks, or even days off. 
    There are mining operations currently running with haul trucks that have no operators. The trucks are managed through the GPS system. To the shovel and to the dump location. It’s already there. 

    The world is going to change in a real hurry. My nephew is currently working with an AI outfit in France that is developing AI delivery (think Door Dash). His focus is on the AI avoiding people on the sidewalks as it arrives at your door (recognizing obstacles and hazards). 

    In a nutshell, this is very exciting times. I would advise learning how AI could affect you and if your profession could become obsolete because of it. 

    To be honest, if AI makes being a bookseller become obsolete (which to a degree it is if you knew what the business was like 40 years ago in it's prime), I would be obsolete (which also to a degree is quite possibly true, lol).
    That might be the case. But I don’t see how self awareness matters without feelings.

    Without emotion, I don’t see how there is a desire to dominate and control.

    However smart they get, at the end of the day it’s a machine without emotions. It will do what it’s programmed to. Caring about survival and dominating the planet requires emotions.
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 

    It's spreading like wildfire because it is totally fucking groundbreaking in term of AI bots and how regular people interact with it. That technology itself isn't brand new at all = other companies have the same tech - but how it has now been made available to us and so, so easy to access and use is the real groundbreaking part I think. It's an actual game changer, not just well-marketed hype. For better or worse (in academia at least, definitely worse, lol).
    Definitely worse for academia!
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?
    Good question.  My thinking is self awareness can be achieved without having feelings.  And if that is true, that would potentially make IA self-awearness minus feeling all the more dangerous.
    I am excited about the potential AI has as it pertains to worker health and safety. Significant life changing incidents (serious injury, fatality) incidents could be virtually eliminated by the use of AI, particularly in the robotic sense. 
    AI could perform many of the dangerous work activities currently being performed by humans. This is legislatively required in some jurisdictions, usually known as the “hierarchy of controls” as it pertains to method of controlling the hazards in a workplace. Employers must first attempt to eliminate the hazard, if that is not possible you move to substitution, then engineering controls (controlling hazardous energy, etc), then administrative controls (procedures, standards), and lastly Personal Protective Equipment. 

    With the above in mind, it is conceivable industry (particularly construction, utilities, mining, etc) will be paying close attention to the benefits AI could have for their safety programs. If humans aren’t performing the high danger tasks, risk to the organization is reduced. Productivity would go up, AI doesn’t require coffee, lunch breaks, or even days off. 
    There are mining operations currently running with haul trucks that have no operators. The trucks are managed through the GPS system. To the shovel and to the dump location. It’s already there. 

    The world is going to change in a real hurry. My nephew is currently working with an AI outfit in France that is developing AI delivery (think Door Dash). His focus is on the AI avoiding people on the sidewalks as it arrives at your door (recognizing obstacles and hazards). 

    In a nutshell, this is very exciting times. I would advise learning how AI could affect you and if your profession could become obsolete because of it. 

    To be honest, if AI makes being a bookseller become obsolete (which to a degree it is if you knew what the business was like 40 years ago in it's prime), I would be obsolete (which also to a degree is quite possibly true, lol).
    That might be the case. But I don’t see how self awareness matters without feelings.

    Without emotion, I don’t see how there is a desire to dominate and control.

    However smart they get, at the end of the day it’s a machine without emotions. It will do what it’s programmed to. Caring about survival and dominating the planet requires emotions.

    What if it learns how to program itself?  What if it decides that logic, free of emotion, determines AI domination makes sense?  What if one country were to program AI to help it gain domination over the world?  Would you be OK with that if that country was your country?  Would you be OK with that if that country was not your country?
    "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
    -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

    "Try to not spook the horse."
    -Neil Young













  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 29,901
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 

    It's spreading like wildfire because it is totally fucking groundbreaking in term of AI bots and how regular people interact with it. That technology itself isn't brand new at all = other companies have the same tech - but how it has now been made available to us and so, so easy to access and use is the real groundbreaking part I think. It's an actual game changer, not just well-marketed hype. For better or worse (in academia at least, definitely worse, lol).
    Definitely worse for academia!
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?
    Good question.  My thinking is self awareness can be achieved without having feelings.  And if that is true, that would potentially make IA self-awearness minus feeling all the more dangerous.
    I am excited about the potential AI has as it pertains to worker health and safety. Significant life changing incidents (serious injury, fatality) incidents could be virtually eliminated by the use of AI, particularly in the robotic sense. 
    AI could perform many of the dangerous work activities currently being performed by humans. This is legislatively required in some jurisdictions, usually known as the “hierarchy of controls” as it pertains to method of controlling the hazards in a workplace. Employers must first attempt to eliminate the hazard, if that is not possible you move to substitution, then engineering controls (controlling hazardous energy, etc), then administrative controls (procedures, standards), and lastly Personal Protective Equipment. 

    With the above in mind, it is conceivable industry (particularly construction, utilities, mining, etc) will be paying close attention to the benefits AI could have for their safety programs. If humans aren’t performing the high danger tasks, risk to the organization is reduced. Productivity would go up, AI doesn’t require coffee, lunch breaks, or even days off. 
    There are mining operations currently running with haul trucks that have no operators. The trucks are managed through the GPS system. To the shovel and to the dump location. It’s already there. 

    The world is going to change in a real hurry. My nephew is currently working with an AI outfit in France that is developing AI delivery (think Door Dash). His focus is on the AI avoiding people on the sidewalks as it arrives at your door (recognizing obstacles and hazards). 

    In a nutshell, this is very exciting times. I would advise learning how AI could affect you and if your profession could become obsolete because of it. 

    To be honest, if AI makes being a bookseller become obsolete (which to a degree it is if you knew what the business was like 40 years ago in it's prime), I would be obsolete (which also to a degree is quite possibly true, lol).
    That might be the case. But I don’t see how self awareness matters without feelings.

    Without emotion, I don’t see how there is a desire to dominate and control.

    However smart they get, at the end of the day it’s a machine without emotions. It will do what it’s programmed to. Caring about survival and dominating the planet requires emotions.

    What if it learns how to program itself?  What if it decides that logic, free of emotion, determines AI domination makes sense?  What if one country were to program AI to help it gain domination over the world?  Would you be OK with that if that country was your country?  Would you be OK with that if that country was not your country?
    Yeah not down with AI crap at all! This all seems so incredibly scripted like we’ve seen this in movies and now it’s reality totally nuts..
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 42,288
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    brianlux said:
    I didn’t even know what this was until this morning. I’m so behind, and admittedly disinterested. At only 48. 

    Admittedly, I believe the whole ChatGPT thing is rather new on social media but I'm seeing it spread like wildfire.  Before I started this thread this morning I asked my wife if she was aware of it and expected her to say similar to what you did.  Even though she had never mentioned it before, she said, "Oh yeah, people are starting to talk about it like crazy."
    It's weird.  It's almost like a flash craze.  I think we will start to hear about it all over the place.  And believe me, I wish I were wrong about that!  Maybe, with a lot of luck, I am. 

    It's spreading like wildfire because it is totally fucking groundbreaking in term of AI bots and how regular people interact with it. That technology itself isn't brand new at all = other companies have the same tech - but how it has now been made available to us and so, so easy to access and use is the real groundbreaking part I think. It's an actual game changer, not just well-marketed hype. For better or worse (in academia at least, definitely worse, lol).
    Definitely worse for academia!
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    mace1229 said:
    brianlux said:
    PJ_Soul said:
    mace1229 said:
    I haven't used chatGPT. I tried, but I needed an account and didn't want to create one.
    I've seen some examples. Seems impressive with writing a poem. But what all can it do? If you ask it to write a song will it be any good and original? Or just a copy of one that's out there?

    It can do some pretty amazing things, I have to admit. I'm sure it could write perfectly good lyrics. I think the MOST useful thing I know it can do is write personalized cover letters for you. You just plug in your resume and the job posting, and it whips up a fantastic cover letter for you in 1 second. That is pretty incredible, and I would be more than willing to use it for that if I was job hunting. It can also do complicated taxes for you apparently (so my IT guy said). You paste in all the tax regulations plus your info somehow, and it spits it right out (you'd want to double check that obviously!). I writes emails of all kinds, and you can request formal, friendly, casual, professional, a combination of various moods, etc etc. Just include a couple basic details and it makes the email totally personalized, and they actually very well-written. It's also good for descriptions, like for products or workshops, powerpoint presentations, or whatever. It's all pretty spectacular for office workers at least. That said, I used it for an email at work twice, and both times I felt guilty after, LOL.
    It does 100% allow us to think less if we let it. If we spend our brain power on bigger and better things, and just leave the emails and website blurbs, etc etc to AI (plus human review), then I think that's just fine. If we use ChatGPT as a way to just not think at all and sit there and twiddle our thumbs, that's obviously very bad. And it's clearly also bad when it comes to possible ways to cheat on school assignments, but as I work at a university, I can confirm that this is a big conversation already - there are already methods and new ideas all the time about how to beat ChatGPT in academia, how to tell it's a ChatGPT paper, etc. We haven't had time to see how well that will pan out yet, but everyone's talking about it, and of course universities are drafting new policies around its use.

    Hmmm... some of what you said gives me reason to be at least a little less skeptical.  I'm a bit on the fence regarding the cover letter.  I think as long as that doesn't supersede a prospective employees actual abilities as they relate to the job they are applying for, that may not be a bad thing.  You don't want the equivalent of a  bass player who actually only knows how to play "Louie Louie" getting a gig as cellist for a major metro orchestra, lol. 
    For tax purposes, I can much more strongly see the usefulness.  I can do accounting if need be, but I'd rather spend that time scouting for interesting books for my book business.

    But what you point out about allowing IA do too much thinking for us is an excellent example of what concerns me.  Not only do I believe artistic pursuits work best when they evolve out of human experience, I am also concerned that we humans may devolve mentally the more and more we rely on machines.  Not to sound too crass, but I really do believe there is enough stupidity in our world as it is!
    My taxes were super easy this year. Got it done in  under 2 hours. And that was moving out of state and changing jobs.
    I used the free version of Turbo Tax, and all I had to do was take a picture of each of my documents, it auto filled everything, and asked me some basic questions.
    Taxes are getting easier and easier to do already. 

    I miss the good old days of doing my own taxes.  It only cost me a little postage!  When I got together with my wife in 2002, that all changed because she had a bookstore, and we bought a house, and I started my little book and record business, and all of the sudden it got way to complicated.  Small price to pay for a good marriage though, lol.
    A big concern to me is that one day AI may become self-aware enough to start taking control.  I don't think that is a far fetched notion.  And it may not even be far off and it's probably not going to be stoppable.
    So yeah, having computer programs to help with taxes, created better medical care, and other beneficial means is fine.  But dehumanizing ourselves by having a machine do "art" (in quotes because I do not consider something generated by a machine as true art), and allowing AI to become self-aware- that is where I draw the line. 


    I just can't comprehend the idea of AI ever being self aware. It isn't real, its a machine, it can't have feelings, therefore ever been self aware. Can it?
    Good question.  My thinking is self awareness can be achieved without having feelings.  And if that is true, that would potentially make IA self-awearness minus feeling all the more dangerous.
    I am excited about the potential AI has as it pertains to worker health and safety. Significant life changing incidents (serious injury, fatality) incidents could be virtually eliminated by the use of AI, particularly in the robotic sense. 
    AI could perform many of the dangerous work activities currently being performed by humans. This is legislatively required in some jurisdictions, usually known as the “hierarchy of controls” as it pertains to method of controlling the hazards in a workplace. Employers must first attempt to eliminate the hazard, if that is not possible you move to substitution, then engineering controls (controlling hazardous energy, etc), then administrative controls (procedures, standards), and lastly Personal Protective Equipment. 

    With the above in mind, it is conceivable industry (particularly construction, utilities, mining, etc) will be paying close attention to the benefits AI could have for their safety programs. If humans aren’t performing the high danger tasks, risk to the organization is reduced. Productivity would go up, AI doesn’t require coffee, lunch breaks, or even days off. 
    There are mining operations currently running with haul trucks that have no operators. The trucks are managed through the GPS system. To the shovel and to the dump location. It’s already there. 

    The world is going to change in a real hurry. My nephew is currently working with an AI outfit in France that is developing AI delivery (think Door Dash). His focus is on the AI avoiding people on the sidewalks as it arrives at your door (recognizing obstacles and hazards). 

    In a nutshell, this is very exciting times. I would advise learning how AI could affect you and if your profession could become obsolete because of it. 

    To be honest, if AI makes being a bookseller become obsolete (which to a degree it is if you knew what the business was like 40 years ago in it's prime), I would be obsolete (which also to a degree is quite possibly true, lol).
    That might be the case. But I don’t see how self awareness matters without feelings.

    Without emotion, I don’t see how there is a desire to dominate and control.

    However smart they get, at the end of the day it’s a machine without emotions. It will do what it’s programmed to. Caring about survival and dominating the planet requires emotions.

    What if it learns how to program itself?  What if it decides that logic, free of emotion, determines AI domination makes sense?  What if one country were to program AI to help it gain domination over the world?  Would you be OK with that if that country was your country?  Would you be OK with that if that country was not your country?
    Yeah not down with AI crap at all! This all seems so incredibly scripted like we’ve seen this in movies and now it’s reality totally nuts..
    I don't mind the idea of using a specific computer program to assist with specific tasks like taxes or budgeting, but no way am I going to turn over my creative or every day life over to a machine.  And yet that is exactly what a lot of people are willingly and eagerly doing right now.  To my way of thinking/living, that's just plain f'in crazy!


      35 Ways Real People Are Using A.I. Right Now

      By Francesca Paris and Larry BuchananApril 14, 2023

      The public release of ChatGPT last fall kicked off a wave of interest in artificial intelligence. A.I. models have since snaked their way into many people’s everyday lives. People are using ChatGPT and other A.I. tools to save time at work, to code without knowing how to code, to make daily life easier or just to have fun.

      It goes beyond everyday fiddling: In the last few years, companies and scholars have started to use A.I. to supercharge work they could never have imagined, designing new molecules with the help of an algorithm or building alien-like spaceship parts.

      Here’s how 35 real people are using A.I. for work, life, play and procrastination.


      More at link (too many photos to post directly).


      "Pretty cookies, heart squares all around, yeah!"
      -Eddie Vedder, "Smile"

      "Try to not spook the horse."
      -Neil Young













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