Not trying to pile on here, but I think it’s pretty clear a sizeable fraction of humanity can’t (or at least doesn’t routinely) do that for a hefty fraction of what pours out of their face.
You’re certainly right that current “AI” is short of conscious. But that doesn’t mean it’s useless.
Once upon a time people used secretaries and interns and TAs for such things and you didn’t have to worry about them making up facts out of whole cloth or abruptly going on incel tirades because they were trained off of social media posts.
In any event, the people hyping AI aren’t promoting it as a timesaver for office emails - they’re presenting it as the greatest sea change in human civilization since the printing press, that’s going to write the Great American Novel, bring the dead back to life on television, make human artists obsolete and usher in the Singularity.
And that’s not happening any time soon.
Well, sure, but that was really expensive and only available to the elites in society. I don’t see how anything you said here suggests that AI isn’t extremely useful to a lot of people. Yes, you have to read over what it says and adjust it, but that’s infinitely faster than writing from scratch for a great many people.
I mean, I love writing. Writing is my superpower. But I also recognize that many people are really bad at it and they are going to be all over a tool that helps–it’s not just students with homework assignments. There’s a lot of smart people out there who really, really struggle to write.
Well, that’s impossible. For humans, computers, or any other sort of intelligence in the Universe.
You seem to be in this universe; what don’t you understand?
AI is a lot more than the current large language model stuff – there are things I linked to like protein folding and new materials. Seems useful and potentially profitable to me.
Brian
You think this is a disincentive for Time to name it “The Year of A.I.”?
Remembering Time’s criteria that the title should go to the person or thing that “for better or for worse… has done the most to influence the events of the year,” I’m wondering about the inclusion of Barbie and King Charles III in the shortlist. Barbie is the title character in an entertaining and fun movie, but I don’t know if she and/or the film fit the criteria.
And all Charles did was formally ascend the throne. In fairness, “influencing the events of the year” is not part of his job description; and I’m sure that if he attempted to, the people of the Commonwealth would drop him faster than a hot potato. And accordingly, outside of the coronation ceremony last May, he’s not been in the news much.
I’m also a little leery of the inclusion of the Trump Prosecutors. The whole Trump legal circus is very entertaining, but I’m not seeing how it is influencing anything. His supporters are dug in; his detractors remain against him; he’s not changing any minds, prosecutions or not. And ultimately, as a private citizen, he cannot really have any influence on the rest of the world. Not in the way that Vladimir Putin or Xi Jinping can, and not in the way that Hollywood entertainment, as SAG/AFTRA and WGA striking, can.
Out of the shortlist candidates, I’m inclined to go with the strikers.
Me too or AI. And as someone else already said, they’re related
Why not just send Suzie, John and Frank your prompt? It conveys exactly the same information in much fewer words.
The whole point of writing a polite email is to show people you took the time to write a polite email. Once they realize that it’s just being spit out by an AI - and they will - how can they see it as anything other than you wasting their time by forcing them to read a bunch of filler?
A slight hijack. This thread inspired me to listen to Ms. Swift for the first time I can recall. Her music is polished but just bland generic pop.
I realise I am an outlier, possibility due to my age and gender, but she has nothing on, say, Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury, hell, even Miley Cyrus.
/end hijack
I can see something very important in the Barbie/Taylor Swift axis: if the “girl next door” is shifting left, that’s an important political realignment. There was a lot of right-wing hate for both of those, because the “Aryan Princess” or the “girly girl” is, in their mind, supposed to be apolitical or conservative. If suburban white women shift left over reproductive rights (among other things), it would have a dramatic impact. But really, that’s the story of 2024, not 2023.
Again, this may be more the story of 2024, but showing that even billionaires and presidents are not above the law is a really big thing. And the Trump prosecutors have accepted real risks to their personal safety and the safety of their families because of their dedication to that principle. Whether or not Trump is convicted, it is extraordinarily important that he was indicted and that the evidence against him will be made public. It goes beyond this particular man or moment. They would get my vote, off this list.
First, if it’s me, I just write an email that sounds like me, with better jokes.
But for people who are weak writers, it’s because there is information in that email that wasn’t in the prompt I fed it. It’s not just polite BS, it’s stuff that is often said in emails like this, but that you couldn’t assume your audience would think of. And people who use AI to write use it dynamically. They read the first output, and see it included something they didn’t want and it cues them to think of something they left out and so they say “take out the part about accomplishments, add the start time is 800 and say they need to email PDFs in advance” or whatever. The writer does a few rounds.
You’re not an outlier; there are a whole bunch of old folks who don’t get the music that Kids These Days listen to. Remember how your grandma thought about Metallica or the Beatles or jazz? Yup.
Anyway, there’s a whole thread for folks who want to figure out what they’re missing:
I watched the 10 minute version of “I was there” in your linked thread (thank you) and my opinion has changed. Still not my preferred style, but she has talent and well written lyrics.
I would be happy if my children listened to her.
I agree it might be a 2024 pick. What it’s showing now is how extraordinarily slow the legal process is.
So far, though, we haven’t seen that.
The main result of the trials so far is to prove the opposite: Trump can act in contempt of court, insult the judge, and openly defy legal gag orders— and get away with it with no punishment…
Could a late surge by George Santos put him over the top?
Of those finalists, I’ve got to go with the prosecutors.
If you ask him they already gave him the award.