AI??

[Raso719]

I'm personally grateful there's a sub forum for AI stuff. It's all super boring and samey to look at.

At the end of the day the current technology is just too limited and the output is bland and boring. Not my cup of tea, but I'll cheer on the occasional diamond in the rough that accidentally ends up being brilliant.... whenever that happens.

I said that I was not considering "arts" because it is simply a preference. I was referring to the usage of our brains.

When I was a kid, we were not allowed to have calculators in school. We had to do all the work on paper and in our heads. Today, stores shut down when the power goes out because the cashiers can't figure out how much change I get back from a $10 bill buying a $7.83 pack of smokes.

No they shut down because security cameras, magnetic locks, lights, air conditioning/heating and the internet that connects operates the inventory management software, timesheets and myriad other functions cease to operate in the absence of electricity and a lot of that comes down to liability issues or matters of RoI for staying open under circumstances where costumer traffic is expected to be low.

AI "art" isn't art and it's mostly soulless and devoid of creativity. But let's not resort to lazy attacks on "young people" to sell that point. Like, you want to talk about not using their brains? It's predominantly older folks out there re-sharing obviously fake AI garbage and falling for AI scams all over social media. Generalizations gonna generalize, right?

[DocRick]

This quote from The Terminator sums up my feelings about AI:

"Listen. And understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

As Raso says in the above posting: "AI "art" (and writing) isn't art and it's mostly soulless and devoid of creativity."

[Prof Sai]

When I was a kid, we were not allowed to have calculators in school. We had to do all the work on paper and in our heads. Today, stores shut down when the power goes out because the cashiers can't figure out how much change I get back from a $10 bill buying a $7.83 pack of smoke

It's more like they depend too much on the records that the cash registers keep for inventory. And almost no items have stamped prices, you have to look up the current UPC code.

Horses still exist but probably less than 1 in 10,000 people know how to ride them and there are far, far less horses around than in 1890. Automatic transmissions replaced manual transmissions but probably less than 1 in 10,000 people can drive a standard, which makes my car nearly theft proof.

I can do both of those things. It has been ages since I've done either,though.

Skills not taught or used are lost. Education professors say writing is no longer a useful skill to teach in schools. Reading comprehension is a lost art because people can't write intelligently in informal writing, so no one actually "reads" what someone writes, as I pointed out in the first sentence.

Who said this? I write massively more and better today than I did in college. The internet ought to be a huge motivation for people to learn to write, because that is how you communicate.

The more we depend on technology, the more helpless people are when it fails.

There is a big difference between a skill becoming niche, and becoming extinct. If cars and calculators somehow became impossible, you would have a social collapse and die-off that no skill set could prevent. But the needed skills still exist, and would be revived and retaught quicky. In reality, those old skill sets have been replaced with new ones: How to recognize and deal with bad cell reception. How to navigate complex menus and web pages. I am very much hoping that the true nature of AI teaches everyone how to think critically, instead of blind acceptance, or worse, blind cynicism.

[Josh the Cyborg]

We still have not Figured out how to make Machine's Think, Only Calculare. My point Bringing up the Illiteracy Epidemic was not in fear of the Singularity. In my Opinion the Singularity is still atleast a Millenium away from now, simply due to the Limitations of Hard Drive Disks and Solid State Drives being extremely Faulty in their Own ways. If a Thinking Machine where equiped woth either of them to serve as Memory Banks. They would go Brain Dead within Minutes of Powering own. The HDDs would shake themselves apart from Data constant Writing and SSDs would would Write so much Data within minutes it would reach the Write cap and become Read Only. The Singularity refers to a Point where we so reliant on Technology that if Soceity Collapses like it Often Does, thar instead of Re-adapting to the Situation we'll Die out as a Species because we basically forgot how to Hunt and Farm at the Genetic Level. The reason I think this is still far off is because well even if we invent the Drives that don't die so easily and can be written to for Centuries even then the Mantenience Crews of those Farms could learn to Farm by Watching the Machines do it. For the Singularity to Happen we as Species must lose the Ability to think for ourselves which Intern will make lose the Ability to Adapt.

My point simply was the second half of Gen Z and all of Gen A is more prone to Stupidity because of their Over Reliance on Chat GPT 4. America is basically Barbie land you can literally get by on looks alone while if you don't have that you have to work. Chat GPT is incapable of becoming Sentient its nothing more than an Advanced Chat Bot. When you have a Conversation with it. You're basically have a Conversation with a Frozen point of Internet History. Which is also why its so Prone to talk about Conspiracy Theories, because thats actually Majority of whats on the Internet these Days. Unfurtunately...

We don't even understand how or why we can think to begin with so the idea that we can replicate it is Propostereous.

Skynet is highly unlikely... Skynut already exists... I get the fear of the Generations getting Dumber thanks to it, but also I do kinda take offense to the Calculator comment. I was Born the last year you could be Born a Millenial(the first half of 1995). When I grew up they did not let us use Calculators either in Elementary and Middle school and when they did in High school it was still heavily Discouraged. Its not that the Cashier can't do the Math if their Millenial or Older Gen Z, its that Corporate does not trust you or any Cashier or the Managers for that matter to not use it as an Oppurtunity to Steal Store Product or Money from Customers or the Cash Register, because modern Technology is Horribly Insecure and easy to Manipulate.

[Prof Sai]

People were always stupid. It is just more obvious now that everything is being written down. Before the internet, this conversation would happen in a bar, and no one would remember squat.

[Elana]

Automatic transmissions replaced manual transmissions but probably less than 1 in 10,000 people can drive a standard, which makes my car nearly theft proof.

The numbers sound a bit wrong.
It's more like 1 in 20 people who can only drive automatic
as around 90% still claim automatic is inferior and uses more fuel and insist on driving manual(automatic is of course more efficient for at least 3 decades now, but humans tend to be allergic to facts )
(Not using US centered numbers can make a huge difference )

[Prof Sai]

If you put someone in a manual and told them what to do, (or they watched a YouTube video) I don't think it would take long for them to learn. I assumed that I can because I watched my mom do it when I was a kid. But now that I think of it, I wonder.

[Josh the Cyborg]

The issue with the people currently in school(College down to Elementary level even) using it is there is no way to tell if they used it or not. AI Detection tools Flat out just just don't work because they are AI themselves and AI can't detect itself because its not Sentient. So we legitimately don't know who's trying and who is not.

[Prof Sai]

Easy. Put them in a room with pencil and paper and ask them to write. Don't worry too much about spelling. Also, hire enough teachers to actually have time to think about what the students wrote.

[DocRick]

Automatic transmissions replaced manual transmissions but probably less than 1 in 10,000 people can drive a standard, which makes my car nearly theft proof.

The numbers sound a bit wrong.
It's more like 1 in 20 people who can only drive automatic
as around 90% still claim automatic is inferior and uses more fuel and insist on driving manual(automatic is of course more efficient for at least 3 decades now, but humans tend to be allergic to facts )
(Not using US centered numbers can make a huge difference )

You're in the old country, right? You people still drive for the enjoyment of it. In the colonies, driving is just a means to get from here to there for most people. With the exception of sports cars, it's hard to find an MT on the lot of a car dealership over here. I bought my first manual in 1982, then another in 1988, in 1990 and in 2002. Finally bought an AT in 2017 as I'm getting old but still keeping my MT Jeep Wrangler for the apocalypse and for summer cruising with the top down and the doors off.

[Josh the Cyborg]

Easy. Put them in a room with pencil and paper and ask them to write. Don't worry too much about spelling. Also, hire enough teachers to actually have time to think about what the students wrote.

Yes but unfurtunately the school system has not bothered to do that. The Obvious Solution is force all Assignments back to being Pencil and Paper, but they don't want to do that because Technology makes things to Convenient. The Other Excuse is Paper is bad for the Envoirnent when in Reality thats a Flat out Lie, All modern Paper mills get their Paper from Farms that Exist Solely to Grow Trees to Produce Paper, we're not chopping down Entire Forests to Produce Paper like the Propaganda would have us Believe.
Don't get me started on the Fact that schools mass Adopted Chrome OS but 99% of Infrastructure is, Unix, Linux, and Windows 95. We need People Educated on Unix and Linux so they can interface with Legacy Systems. Chrome OS is only good for replacing Windows Office.
We are slowly Approaching the Fate of Mankind in w40k and it is maddening because Yes the Cult Mechanicus is a Real thing that could Happen that we seem to be Marching Gleefully toward. And as I get Older I find myself agreeing more and more with Tolkien... ok then.

[Little Sally]

Automatic transmissions replaced manual transmissions but probably less than 1 in 10,000 people can drive a standard, which makes my car nearly theft proof.

The numbers sound a bit wrong.
It's more like 1 in 20 people who can only drive automatic
as around 90% still claim automatic is inferior and uses more fuel and insist on driving manual(automatic is of course more efficient for at least 3 decades now, but humans tend to be allergic to facts )
(Not using US centered numbers can make a huge difference )

You're in the old country, right? You people still drive for the enjoyment of it. In the colonies, driving is just a means to get from here to there for most people. With the exception of sports cars, it's hard to find an MT on the lot of a car dealership over here. I bought my first manual in 1982, then another in 1988, in 1990 and in 2002. Finally bought an AT in 2017 as I'm getting old but still keeping my MT Jeep Wrangler for the apocalypse and for summer cruising with the top down and the doors off.

I love autos, and I've had one or two over the years (A Toyota Avensis was my fave), but the price of smaller automatics
over here in the UK always carry a much higher price. So I'm in a Citroen Picasso C3 currently and it's a manual, and I like it a lot. Really economical on fuel too as it's a diesel. Road tax is good too at the moment, but that's probably until this crappy Labour government decides to punish us with more road tax rises.

[Prof Sai]

Is it still true that automatics get worse mileage? I always questioned if that was true for "normal" drivers or just experts. Are things closer in Europe? Does needing to drive less worth the higher gas prices?

[Little Sally]

Is it still true that automatics get worse mileage? I always questioned if that was true for "normal" drivers or just experts. Are things closer in Europe? Does needing to drive less worth the higher gas prices?

I'm no expert, but I gather it's because an auto transmission works differently and soaks up a bit more energy from the engine (hence a bit more fuel used). But I think if you're a bit lighter on the accelerator, that doesn't become a big problem. Obviously a bigger car is always going to use more fuel (and you can get a used one of those cheaper than a small one in the UK).

Best thing I liked about my auto was when in a traffic queue. It's much less stressful, than constantly changing gear.

[Prof Sai]

If the transmission was mechanical that would be the case. But today's automatics probably use computerized shifting. They are effectively manuals with a little robot. In any case, my car has a CVT. It sort of pretends to have gears, and doesn't run at a continuous rpm.

[Elana]

...

You're in the old country, right? You people still drive for the enjoyment of it. In the colonies, driving is just a means to get from here to there for most people. With the exception of sports cars, it's hard to find an MT on the lot of a car dealership over here. I bought my first manual in 1982, then another in 1988, in 1990 and in 2002. Finally bought an AT in 2017 as I'm getting old but still keeping my MT Jeep Wrangler for the apocalypse and for summer cruising with the top down and the doors off.

Well if we go by Germany, 100% of drivers know how to use manual, as that is a requirement to get your license.

But at least the amount of drivers world wide who can only drive automatic is higher than the amount of drivers in the US

[Little Sally]

If the transmission was mechanical that would be the case. But today's automatics probably use computerized shifting. They are effectively manuals with a little robot. In any case, my car has a CVT. It sort of pretends to have gears, and doesn't run at a continuous rpm.

And all EVs are auto of course. But they're so expensive over here at the moment, and I'd struggle to charge one at home so they're a non starter for me.

[Elana]

Just shrink down and modify an RC car.
Much cheaper than the big ones and they need much less of a charge

[Little Sally]

Just shrink down and modify an RC car.
Much cheaper than the big ones and they need much less of a charge

Good idea! It would have to heavily modified though. I wouldn't want some dude radio controlling me!

[Prof Sai]

I wouldn't want some dude radio controlling me!

That might make an interesting story. Especially out of context.

[Little Sally]

I wouldn't want some dude radio controlling me!

That might make an interesting story. Especially out of context.

Yes I agree it might.

I don't know why, but it makes me think of a kind of 'Stepford Wives' concept, but played out in a smaller scale.

[Prof Sai]

Mind control and body control are different. I like the latter. Death of personality isn't fun at all.

[Little Sally]

Mind control and body control are different. I like the latter. Death of personality isn't fun at all.

That's true. I only mentioned the Stepford Wives thing because it's kind of creepy. I like that sometimes.

[Prof Sai]

I never actually saw that film. Is it told from the woman's or man's perspective? Control can be interesting if the woman is aware of it and trying to puzzle her way out of it. But there is too much stupid in real life, so just "Duh, I want sex and to serve." is a turnoff for me.

[DocRick]

Just shrink down and modify an RC car.
Much cheaper than the big ones and they need much less of a charge

Good idea! It would have to heavily modified though. I wouldn't want some dude radio controlling me!

Aw, come on. You can trust me.