AI Garbage

[Xan]

An older brother of a kid at my kids' school was in a bad car wreck last week. When I heard about this he was not dead but fighting for his life. That afternoon I did a search on his name to see if there were a local news article about it with an update.

What I saw was a sickening sign of the times. Almost all the results were AI garbage. For example, earlymemorials.com seems to be a site that reads a news article and then writes a fake obituary. It knows maybe two or three actual facts and then writes pablum that you'd expect to see in an obituary. "The cityname community is coming together", "beloved community member so-and-so", made-up quotes that say almost nothing. There seem to be a multitude of sites doing this.

There are even video results: one is just an Indian guy talking in a foreign language about who-knows-what, but the description and title are "NAME obituary - CITY".

There isn't a real obituary to compete with this, of course, because I don't believe the guy is dead. But I can't tell much for certain.

This is about as low as it gets: tricking people who are looking for an update on whether somebody is alive or dead into clicking on your worthless website. Some people will believe what they read even though it is entirely fiction. Wouldn't be possible without "AI" generating this crap.

It makes me literally want to throw up.

[dualstow]

That is truly awful. I have seen less benign (and probably pre-AI) versions of this in the past. For example, I searched for a certain t-shirt to see if it existed and it was clear that the Amazon result was some place that would just print anything. It had the drink brand I wanted but the popular logo of a completely different product.

In the way that stone masons have given way to prefab, a lot of journalism will die as AIs deliver text. Some of it will be perfectly fine sports recaps. Others will be like what you mentioned, sadly.

There were jokes about the journalsm that i half agree with — like, are human journalists putting out quality right now? Obviously, though, the premature/false death notice is a worst case scenario.

[dualstow]

P.S. https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtificialInte ... ng_now_to/

[Tortoise]

Kind of reminds me of the early days of Web search engines, when the search results were flooded with useless auto-generated pages containing nothing but long strings of random words and phrases, designed to maximize search engine hits. It was really annoying. But after a few years, the search engines adapted to filter out most of that crap.

I'm guessing a similar technological adaptation will made here. Over time, search engines will probably learn how to detect and filter out AI-generated garbage pages that users don't want to see.

If not, distrust of technology may gradually build to the point where we may see a cultural movement to increase reliance on "low-tech" face-to-face interactions or phone calls to get trustworthy information.

[Smith1776]

Ah, the glorious age of AI-generated content! Because who needs the messy unpredictability of human creativity when you can have algorithms spitting out prose that's as profound as a fortune cookie written by a particularly lazy seer?

I mean, why bother with the nuanced beauty of human expression when you can have an AI generate a poem that sounds like Shakespeare after a wild night with a malfunctioning thesaurus? It's like the AI looked at all the great works of literature and thought, "I can do that, but way more algorithmic!"

And let's not forget the joy of AI-generated articles. Who wouldn't want to read an enlightening piece on quantum physics written by a bot that thinks a quark is just a fancy snack? It's like having a conversation with a particularly confused Roomba. "Yes, Mr. AI, please tell me more about the complexities of string theory and why I should switch to a plant-based vacuum cleaner."

And don't get me started on AI-generated art. Who needs the soul-stirring emotions of a Van Gogh when you can have a digital doodle that looks like a kaleidoscope sneezed? It's the artistic equivalent of a microwave dinner – quick, bland, and leaves you questioning your life choices.

In the grand tapestry of human expression, AI-generated content is like that one thread your grandma accidentally dyed hot pink. Sure, it's there, but does it really add anything meaningful? As we marvel at the rise of AI creativity, let's not forget to pour one out for the endangered species known as "original thought."

[vnatale]

Ah, the glorious age of AI-generated content! Because who needs the messy unpredictability of human creativity when you can have algorithms spitting out prose that's as profound as a fortune cookie written by a particularly lazy seer?

I mean, why bother with the nuanced beauty of human expression when you can have an AI generate a poem that sounds like Shakespeare after a wild night with a malfunctioning thesaurus? It's like the AI looked at all the great works of literature and thought, "I can do that, but way more algorithmic!"

And let's not forget the joy of AI-generated articles. Who wouldn't want to read an enlightening piece on quantum physics written by a bot that thinks a quark is just a fancy snack? It's like having a conversation with a particularly confused Roomba. "Yes, Mr. AI, please tell me more about the complexities of string theory and why I should switch to a plant-based vacuum cleaner."

And don't get me started on AI-generated art. Who needs the soul-stirring emotions of a Van Gogh when you can have a digital doodle that looks like a kaleidoscope sneezed? It's the artistic equivalent of a microwave dinner – quick, bland, and leaves you questioning your life choices.

In the grand tapestry of human expression, AI-generated content is like that one thread your grandma accidentally dyed hot pink. Sure, it's there, but does it really add anything meaningful? As we marvel at the rise of AI creativity, let's not forget to pour one out for the endangered species known as "original thought."

So many of Lex's interviews are absolutely saturated with AI discussions.

[boglerdude]

Its not that AI is going to outsmart us, its that the easy jobs it might replace are important, they keep people in a routine and away from drugs. many smart people will choose to do nothing when they have UBI and social media.

[vnatale]

Its not that AI is going to outsmart us, its that the easy jobs it might replace are important, they keep people in a routine and away from drugs. many smart people will choose to do nothing when they have UBI and social media.

On the other hand it used to take a high percentage of the population to produce the food that we eat. Now it's a tiny percentage compared to then. What were the negative results of that?

The positive of AI is that it will take away a lot of the drudge work and tasks, freeing people to be even more productive, similar to what we saw with food production.

[Xan]

Its not that AI is going to outsmart us, its that the easy jobs it might replace are important, they keep people in a routine and away from drugs. many smart people will choose to do nothing when they have UBI and social media.

On the other hand it used to take a high percentage of the population to produce the food that we eat. Now it's a tiny percentage compared to then. What were the negative results of that?

The positive of AI is that it will take away a lot of the drudge work and tasks, freeing people to be even more productive, similar to what we saw with food production.

I would submit that writing text for people to read is not drudge work, nor should it be done by a machine, yet that seems to be the first thing that it's being used for. I would say that's especially true when the text is meant for publication, that is, for very many people to read it.

[vnatale]

Its not that AI is going to outsmart us, its that the easy jobs it might replace are important, they keep people in a routine and away from drugs. many smart people will choose to do nothing when they have UBI and social media.

On the other hand it used to take a high percentage of the population to produce the food that we eat. Now it's a tiny percentage compared to then. What were the negative results of that?

The positive of AI is that it will take away a lot of the drudge work and tasks, freeing people to be even more productive, similar to what we saw with food production.

I would submit that writing text for people to read is not drudge work, nor should it be done by a machine, yet that seems to be the first thing that it's being used for. I would say that's especially true when the text is meant for publication, that is, for very many people to read it.

You are focused on one aspect of the use of AI and your judgement may be correct. However, the uses of AI are far wider than what your focus is.

It is not a form of AI that is constantly highlighting to me words I am misspelling, providing auto-complete suggestions in almost anything I write anywhere?

[vnatale]

Linked to AI:

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2023/11/14 ... 4107145G5I

Your theme for the tech sector is “Intelligent Ways to Play AI.” What are they?

Part of the promise of AI is trumped by the companies that produce the “picks and shovels.” Think: the Gold Rush [of the 1800s].

To get to the AI Gold Rush, businesses have to invest to upgrade their computers. They have to power the super computers that are going to deliver all of this great, promising AI technology.

Here are two companies that are “picks and shovels”:

Power management company Eaton isn’t as inexpensively priced as some of the other stocks I’m talking about, but they’re going to be in tremendous demand.

The AI revolution and the next generation of computing technology will require more and more power to fuel the actual computing that AI needs.

And as companies invest in the new tech, they need data centers; that is, big warehouses for all the computers. Digital Realty, a data center REIT, will benefit from that.

[vnatale]

Another example of how quickly AI is getting embraced:

https://www.financial-planning.com/web- ... 0163065264

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