BRFR Cake Stop 'breaking news' miscellany

[BoldonLad]

OK, points taken to an extent, but obviously I don't think it's a strawman, otherwise I'd not have made the comparison.

And yes, sure, there is progress (AI's ability to scrape & assimilate data is impressive), but at the moment its claims are wildly overstated, and given its prominence and the centralised and undemocratic control it gives a few very rich people (see Musk's aim of literally rewriting history), I'm still on the decidedly sceptic side of the argument, not least because of the real risk it poses in people's ability to develop deep understanding and ability to assess AI's output. It's not AI that is going to kill humans, but humans who don't recognise AI's flaws.

Daughter No3 makes use of AI when producing reports (she is a Civil Engineer). She does all of the calculations "the old way", then, gets AI to incorporate them into a report (I think she uses ChatGP, but, not certain). She claims it saves her a lot of time, and, often produces better English prose than she would have produced, BUT, she checks it over carefully, becuase, sometimes, it produces garbage.

I did see a News Report (would have BBC News at 6) that Streeting was making plans to use AI to "triage" patients. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[briantrumpet]

Daughter No3 makes use of AI when producing reports (she is a Civil Engineer). She does all of the calculations "the old way", then, gets AI to incorporate them into a report (I think she uses ChatGP, but, not certain). She claims it saves her a lot of time, and, often produces better English prose than she would have produced, BUT, she checks it over carefully, becuase, sometimes, it produces garbage.

I did see a News Report (would have BBC News at 6) that Streeting was making plans to use AI to "triage" patients. What could possibly go wrong?

That kind of 'knowledgeable use' sounds sensible; it's when people haven't learnt the nuts and the bolts the hard way (which includes getting it wrong and understanding why it's wrong) that danger lurks.

I was reading a book on memory recently, and a phrase that jumped off the page at me was about the power of "error-driven learning" in understanding and remembering stuff. And the question experts will always ask themselves: "Am I missing something, or am I being really stupid here?" when something doesn't quite 'feel right' (or even if everything seems fine, but, but...). All totally alien to AI.

 

[briantrumpet]

OK, I'm being silly. Again.

"...even fictional ones...".

Even a five-year-old would say "Stop being silly, Daddy!"

 

[PurplePenguin]

OK, I'm being silly. Again.

"...even fictional ones...".

Even a five-year-old would say "Stop being silly, Daddy!"

View attachment 8752

Just makes me think of a nurse in a nursing home reassuring the patient that everything will be ok even if the zombies come. The nurse does this because its his/her job.

 

[briantrumpet]

I'm just concerned that it didn't mention safeguarding the werewolf, as I think they might only be acting strangely as they are suffering abuse. And I'm not sure if they are covered by the same protection as afforded to bats.

 

[briantrumpet]

A reasonably interesting response to the Emily Bender interview on AI - it does cite the usefulness in analysing vast quantities of complex health data

https://skywriter.blue/pages/did:plc:6n5uasvj43ivtc2unyoyabjn/post/3ls4acpj2us2e

 

[Mr Celine]

I'm just concerned that it didn't mention safeguarding the werewolf, as I think they might only be acting strangely as they are suffering abuse. And I'm not sure if they are covered by the same protection as afforded to bats.

I'm concerned that it doesn't even know it's not a full moon, so whatever is in your chimney ain't no werewolf.

 

[icowden]

OK, I'm being silly. Again.
"...even fictional ones...".

I did a double take there...

 

[briantrumpet]

@PurplePenguin 's favourite Dan Neidle reckons that Reform's nakedly populist non-dom tax policy would cost £34bn over five years.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/reforms-britannia-cards-will-cost-34-billion/

Speaking today at Church House in Westminster, Nigel Farage announced that Reform will introduce a ‘Britannia card’ that will let wealthy foreigners pay a £250,000 fee to move to the UK, and live here exempt from all tax on their foreign assets. The move is an attempt to win over ‘non-doms’ alienated by Labour and Conservative governments and bring their wealth back into the country.

Farage may think his policy will attract ‘talented people’ from around the world, in reality it is more likely to deter them. The party says the policy will raise between £1.5 and £2.5 billion annually. Our analysis of the data suggests it is more likely to cost around £34 billion over five years.

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

Daughter No3 makes use of AI when producing reports (she is a Civil Engineer). She does all of the calculations "the old way", then, gets AI to incorporate them into a report (I think she uses ChatGP, but, not certain). She claims it saves her a lot of time, and, often produces better English prose than she would have produced, BUT, she checks it over carefully, becuase, sometimes, it produces garbage.

I did see a News Report (would have BBC News at 6) that Streeting was making plans to use AI to "triage" patients. What could possibly go wrong?

My wife has started using ChatGP for personal use. I caught her out when I noticed a review she had left for our wedding venue. It was so verbose and overblown there was no way she had written it 😂

Aside from patient safety, the other key issue with the triaging suggestion is surely data protection for patients. My wife works in Mental Health and her organisation has issued a policy not to use any AI platforms for writing patient notes to protect patient confidentiality.

 

[briantrumpet]

My wife has started using ChatGP for personal use. I caught her out when I noticed a review she had left for our wedding venue. It was so verbose and overblown there was no way she had written it 😂

Aside from patient safety, the other key issue with the triaging suggestion is surely data protection for patients. My wife works in Mental Health and her organisation has issued a policy not to use any AI platforms for writing patient notes to protect patient confidentiality.

A fundamental point is that the effort/struggle to corral your thoughts into words and cogent utterances is an absolutely indispensable part of clarifying thinking, and without that, one's thinking will be, quite simply, deficient. Our brains have evolved along with our spoken/written language, and the beauty of that language is that it forces us to categorise swirly thoughts and concepts in order to choose the correct words.

 

[Pblakeney]

A fundamental point is that the effort/struggle to corral your thoughts into words and cogent utterances is an absolutely indispensable part of clarifying thinking, and without that, one's thinking will be, quite simply, deficient. Our brains have evolved along with our spoken/written language, and the beauty of that language is that it forces us to categorise swirly thoughts and concepts in order to choose the correct words.

Maybe those in charge would be quite happy with a non-thinking electorate? 🤔😢

 

[briantrumpet]

Maybe those in charge would be quite happy with a non-thinking electorate? 🤔😢

I'd be rather happier if we didn't have non-thinking politicians.

 

[BoldonLad]

Maybe those in charge would be quite happy with a non-thinking electorate? 🤔😢

Shouldn't that be:

Those in charge are quite happy with a non-thinking electorate?

 

[midlandsgrimpeur]

A fundamental point is that the effort/struggle to corral your thoughts into words and cogent utterances is an absolutely indispensable part of clarifying thinking, and without that, one's thinking will be, quite simply, deficient. Our brains have evolved along with our spoken/written language, and the beauty of that language is that it forces us to categorise swirly thoughts and concepts in order to choose the correct words.

Perhaps the more philosophical/existential argument, but one I fully agree with. The problem with the "tech bros" is that their fascination is with making money through new technology and they have hit on the (rather successful) formula that the way to do this is to make basic human functions and experiences "simpler". As you point out, the problem is that much of this erodes human agency and personal interaction which seems to have the largely obvious consequence of diminishing the human experience (whilst convincing most that it actually enhances it).