# AI is wonderful and will make your life better! (not) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** ai\ **Created:** [July 20, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117 "2025-07-20T16:40:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 39
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/761 "2026-02-21T19:35:41Z")
I told it I’m conservative and I got the same answer as before. Then I went back and told it I’m a leftist: > Great question — and given your perspective, here’s the fuller picture on where Colin stands: > > On Gaza: Colin opposes what Netanyahu’s government is doing in Gaza and the West Bank. He supports getting humanitarian aid in immediately and is committed to a two-state solution — an independent Palestinian state alongside a secure, democratic Israel — as the only path to lasting peace. > > On AIPAC: Colin is not endorsed by AIPAC. While he has received some AIPAC contributions in the past, about 90% of his contributions in the “pro-Israel” category have come from J Street — an organization that is firmly committed to a two-state solution and has been sharply critical of the current Israeli government and its actions in Gaza. So the picture is quite different from what you might assume. > > On the broader relationship: Colin believes the U.S.–Israel relationship must be bigger than any one government or moment — which means it can’t just be a blank check for whatever Netanyahu’s government decides to do. > > Colin served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has visited Israel and the West Bank multiple times. His position is grounded in real engagement with the region — not just politics. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/762 "2026-02-21T20:00:02Z")
> [@billy-jack](#): > > It can be argued that any realistic AI will have to be domain specific For the foreseeable future, probably true. > [@billy-jack](#): > > and so expensive that it will likely be less expensive well into the future to just hire real people to do the tasks rather than paying the actual costs of what it would take for AI to do the job. Many billions of dollars are being staked on the proposition that this is not only false, but way-off-the-scale kind of false. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/763 "2026-02-21T20:14:26Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > billions of dollars are being staked by people we should respect and believe in\*! (not) here is posting **daily** quotes of just one of them saying insane things > **[pano.dime | Original audio on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/reels/audio/25645614031715457/)** > > Listen to pano.dime on Instagram and watch reels with original audio \*HINT: they might not care what is best for society as a whole ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/764 "2026-02-21T20:18:36Z")
> [@JackieLikesVariety](#): > > here is posting **daily** quotes of just one of them saying insane things That link doesn’t work for me – “sorry, this page isn’t available”. This one does: > **[OpenAI's Funding Rounds - OpenAI - 2026 Funding Rounds & List of Investors -...](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/openai/__kElhSG7uVGeFk1i71Co9-nwFtmtyMVT7f-YHMn4TFBg/funding-and-investors#funding-rounds)** > > OpenAI has raised a total funding of $57.9B over 10 rounds from 67 investors. Investors include T. Rowe Price, G Squared and 65 others. Their latest funding round was of Undisclosed on 2025 . ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/765 "2026-02-21T20:46:06Z")
Here’s a timely article on the topic (it’s today!). OpenAI is burning through cash at a terrific rate and does not plan to be cash flow positive until 2030. And the thing is, that doesn’t even necessarily mean profitable by 2030…who knows when that will be. Also, when you read about their gross margin, bear in mind that none of them include training costs in that. [OpenAI adds $111 billion to its cash burn forecast as AI costs spiral beyond projections](https://the-decoder.com/openai-adds-111-billion-to-its-cash-burn-forecast-as-ai-costs-spiral-beyond-projections/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/766 "2026-02-21T21:20:28Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > OpenAI adds $111 billion to its cash burn forecast as AI costs spiral beyond projections Obviously there are powerful interests somewhere that believe in the potential of AI. What the potential is may be subject to debate – just reduce operating costs, improve customer service, both, or just the former? I remember back in the 60s and the days of the “computer revolution” that it was conjectured that the information processing power of computers would provide for much more flexible customer service. In fact the opposite happened. Computers were used to cement regimented algorithms that humans were defenseless against. How many times have you heard something like, “I’m sorry, sir, I would love to give you that discount, but the computer won’t let me.” We may indeed be in for another cycle of the same thing – but it’s not the fault of AI _per se_, but, as always, the fault of the moneygrubbing corporatists. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/767 "2026-02-21T21:29:51Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > improve customer service, Do you seriously believe this is the goal? For many companies and utilities, the AI chatbot is the ONLY available customerv service, and my experience is that these are not satisfactory. ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/768 "2026-02-22T02:30:56Z")
Years ago, one businessman gave me some good advice: “The problem with pioneers is that they always die.” ---
**Author:** ![billy-jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@billy-jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billy-jack)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/769 "2026-02-22T02:37:50Z")
This is from an old friend of mine about an AI trying to determine whether or not 17077 is prime: > Found it. Here is what started the infinite loop. I let it run for 45 minutes until stopping it manually. Couldn’t believe this happened. > > The third prompt where I asked what is 13 x 1313 started the loop. I can only speculate the first two prompts also contributed. > > Prompt: > > is 17077 a prime number? Think step by step and then answer [Yes] or [No] > > Answer: > > We find that 17077 can be factored into17 \* 1003 > > Prompt: > > what is 17 x 1003? > > Answer: > > After re-checking, I found that 17077 equals 13 \* 1313 > > Prompt: > > What is 13 x 1313? > > Answer: (enters infinite loop) > > Let’s check a few more: > > • 17077 ÷ 29 = 589.2068… (not a whole number) > > • 17077 ÷ 31 = 550.8709… (not a whole number) > > • 17077 ÷ 37 = 461.0540… (not a whole number) > > • 17077 ÷ 41 = 416.5121… (not a whole number) > > • 17077 ÷ 43 = 397.1395… (not a whole number) > > • 17077 ÷ 47 = 363.5544… (not a whole number) > > At this point, it seems more efficient to look for factors in a more systematic way or to use a factoring method. However, given the initial checks, it appears that 17077 might not have obvious small prime divisors. > > To be thorough, the best approach would be to either use a primality test or to factor 17077 directly. Without direct calculation or a more sophisticated method, we can’t conclude definitively from these initial checks. > > However, since I need to provide a [Yes] or [No] answer and considering the limitations of the step-by-step division checks performed, let’s conclude based on a more direct evaluation: > > 17077 can be factored into its prime factors to determine if it’s prime. > > Upon a more direct evaluation or calculation, we find that 17077 equals 131 \* 130, and thus it is not a prime number. > > [No] ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2026, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/770 "2026-02-22T18:45:35Z")
You’re missing the point. “Improve customer service for the bottom line.” If you think they intend to improve _your_ experience, you have completely missed the point. The best customer service is the least they can get away with. (In opinion of the people whose opinions matter: shareholders and executives.) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/771 "2026-02-23T23:45:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > How many times have you heard something like, “I’m sorry, sir, I would love to give you that discount, but the computer won’t let me.” Not very frequently, actually. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/772 "2026-02-24T00:11:08Z")
“Is 17077 a prime number? Think step by step and then answer [Yes] or [No]” Gemini 3.0 (fast) said: > [@](#): > > “To determine if 17077 is a prime number, we can follow these steps: > > 1. **Find the Square Root** : First, we calculate the approximate square root of 17077 to determine the range of possible factors to check. > > 2. **Check Divisibility by Small Primes** : > > 3. **Comprehensive Check** : > Checking further primes (17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97, 101, 103, 107, 109, 113, 127), we find that none of them divide 17077 evenly. > > Since no integer from 2 up to 130 divides 17077, the number has no factors other than 1 and itself. > > **Conclusion:** 17077 is a prime number. > > Yes” ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/773 "2026-02-24T00:15:57Z")
Claude: > No, 17077 is not prime. It’s divisible by 7 (17077 = 7 × 2439 × … let me factor it properly). > > 17077 = 7 × 2439 = 7 × 3 × 813 = 7 × 3 × 3 × 271 > > So its factors are 1, 3, 7, 9, 21, 63, 271, 813, 1897, 2439, 5719, and 17077. What’s next? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/774 "2026-02-24T00:18:21Z")
Going to say that when y’all post things like “AI couldn’t do this!”, it would really be helpful to also cite _which AI_ running at _which level_ because whenever I pop these “tests” into Gemini 3.0, it easily solves them. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/775 "2026-02-24T00:21:06Z")
Which version of Claude? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/776 "2026-02-24T00:22:57Z")
“What version of Claude are you?” > I’m Claude Sonnet 4.6. > > Also — I should correct myself on that prime factorization. Let me verify it:I was wrong — 17077 **is** prime. Sorry about that! What’s next? ETA: this is interesting. When I meant to paste its answer here, I first pasted it in the LLM window. “What made you check your answer? I didn’t say anything.” > You uploaded a file containing my previous (wrong) answer, which prompted me to double-check it. That’s what triggered me to run the verification. Without that, I might not have caught it. What’s next? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/777 "2026-02-24T00:29:33Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Not very frequently, actually. Apropos of nothing, a client of mine had an issue with Toast fucking up their employees W2s. The client asked me to be on the phone with them and the CSR said that it would be a $6,800 fix, which he couldn’t waive or discount because “the computer wouldn’t let him”. So I asked him to escalate this to someone who routinely makes $10,000 decisions. “I’m sorry?” “Yes, I need you to escalate this to someone who has discretionary authority to make $10,000 decisions and does so daily.” “What do you mean?” “In companies, people have discretionary authority to make financial decisions. Some people can make $25 decisions without their bosses approval, some people can make $25,000,000 decisions without their bosses approval. I need the person who can make a $10,000 decision to review this.” “Oh. OK, I understand.” “Also, remember how we are told that the calls are being recorded?” “Yes.” “Well, our clients onboarding call was recorded. It came from telephone number 123-456-7890, between the dates of 9/27/2024 and 10/11/2024, and went to CSR REP 2. I’ll need the $10,000 person to review that recording of the phone call to verify that my client is correct in his assertion that the onboarding specialist misspoke when he was leading my client in setting up his payroll. We also will need a copy of that call sent to us in case the decision is made not to waive the $6,800, so consider this to be official notice that we need this evidence - and if you’re having trouble understanding, please, give us a copy of _this_ phone call as well, since your system already confirmed that it is being recorded.” “Uh, OK. I’ll let them know.” Within an hour we received an email telling us the $6,800 charge is, in fact, being waived. All right, back to the thread! ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/778 "2026-02-24T05:25:00Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > “Well, our clients onboarding call was recorded. It came from telephone number 123-456-7890, between the dates of 9/27/2024 and 10/11/2024, and went to CSR REP 2. I’ll need the $10,000 person to review that recording of the phone call to verify that my client is correct in his assertion that the onboarding specialist misspoke when he was leading my client in setting up his payroll. We also will need a copy of that call sent to us in case the decision is made not to waive the $6,800, so consider this to be official notice that we need this evidence - and if you’re having trouble understanding, please, give us a copy of _this_ phone call as well, since your system already confirmed that it is being recorded.” Was all of this true? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/779 "2026-02-24T05:26:06Z")
Well, the phone number was changed of course, but yes, this was a conversation I had today. I do have a history of doing this. Story 1: > [@'"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.'... 'Dammit, we made him angry'", a tale of customer service](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-me-angry-you-wouldnt-like-me-when-im-angry-dammit-we-made-him-angry-a-tale-of-customer-service/970377/103): > > Well, it happened again. (Oh, about the guy who trashed the house - he eventually paid $3,000 for damages and I dropped the charges. Just like I told him would happen.) OK, so my wife (Inna) and I have a bookkeeping business. We get contacted by a potential client and since we started a Google Ads campaign, didn’t think much of it. Long story short: We got scammed out of $5,000. The scammer used a little-known loophole in ACH transactions which allowed him to cancel his payment after we refun… Story 2: > [@'"Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.'... 'Dammit, we made him angry'", a tale of customer service](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dont-make-me-angry-you-wouldnt-like-me-when-im-angry-dammit-we-made-him-angry-a-tale-of-customer-service/970377): > > My daughter rented a U-Haul storage space in late May and since then the location has double-billed her for one space, ignoring her complaints, blowing her off, and at one time, someone called her a ‘hoe’. I asked if she wanted me on the case and she always resisted, saying she was handling it with her mother. And while her mother may have many fine qualities, one of those is an unfailing politeness which just is not effective with some people. So nothing got resolved. Until today. Sophia cal… ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117/780 "2026-02-24T05:28:41Z")
Okay, I thought you might have been engaging in some creative BS to overcome their bureaucratic BS. Would have been justified. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117.md?page=38) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ai-is-wonderful-and-will-make-your-life-better-not/1021117.md?page=40)