Are AI UIs Really Better?
June 27, 2023
User experience design firm Nielsen Norman Group believes advances in AI define an entirely new way of interacting with computers. Writer and company cofounder Jakob Nielsen asserts, “AI: First New UI Paradigm in 60 Years.” We would like to point out natural language is not new, but we acknowledge there are now machine resources and software that make methods more useful. Do they rise to the level of a shiny new paradigm?
Neilsen begins with a little history lesson. First came batch processing in 1945 — think stacks of punch cards and reams of folded printouts. It was an unwieldy and inconvenient system to say the least. Then around 1964 command-based interaction took over, evolving through the years from command-line programming to graphical user interfaces. Nielsen describes why AI represents a departure from these methods:
“With the new AI systems, the user no longer tells the computer what to do. Rather, the user tells the computer what outcome they want. Thus, the third UI paradigm, represented by current generative Auk is intent-based outcome specification.”
Defining outcomes instead of steps — sounds great until one asks who’s in control. Not the user. The article continues:
“Do what I mean, not what I say is a seductive UI paradigm — as mentioned, users often order the computer to do the wrong thing. On the other hand, assigning the locus of control entirely to the computer does have downsides, especially with current AI, which is prone to including erroneous information in its results. When users don’t know how something was done, it can be harder for them to identify or correct the problem.”
Yes! Nielsen cites this flaw as a reason he will stick with graphic user interfaces, thank you very much. (Besides, he feels, visual information is easier to understand and interact with than text.) We would add a more sinister consideration: Is the system weaponized or delivering shaped information? Developers’ lack of transparency can hide not only honest mistakes but also biases and even intentional misinformation. We agree with Nielsen: We will stick with GUIs for a bit longer.
Cynthia Murrell, June 27, 2023
Amazon AWS PR: A Signal from a Weakening Heart?
June 26, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-31.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
I read “Amazon’s vision: An AI Model for Everything.” Readers of these essays know that I am uncomfortable with categorical affirmatives like “all”, “every”, and “everything.” The article in Semafor (does the word remind you of a traffic light in Lima, Peru?) is an interview with a vice president of Amazon Web Services. AWS is part of the online bookstore and digital flea market available at Amazon.com. The write up asserts that AWS will offer an “AI model for everything.” Everything? That’s a modest claim for a fast moving and rapidly changing suite of technologies.
Amazon executives — unlike some high-technology firms’ professionals — are usually less visible. But here is Matt Wood, the VP of AWS, explaining the digital flea market’s approach to smart software manifested in AWS cloud technology. I thought AWS was numero uno in the cloud computing club. Big dogs don’t do much PR but this is 2023, so adaptation is necessary I assume. AWS is shadowed by Microsoft, allegedly was number two, in the Cloud Club. Make no mistake, the Softies and their good enough software are gunning for the top spot in a small but elite strata of the techno world. The Google, poor Google, is lumbering through a cloud bedecked market with its user first, super duper promises for the future and panting quantum, AI, Office 365 with each painful step.
In a gym, high above the clouds in a sky scraper in the Pacific northwest, a high powered denizen of the exclusive Cloud Club, experiences a chest pain in the rarified air. After saying, “Hey, I am a-okay.” The sleek and successful member of an exclusive club, yelps and grabs his chest. Those in the club express shock and dismay. But one person seems to smile. Is that a Microsoftie or a Googler looking just a little bit happy at the fellow member’s obvious distress? MidJourney cooked up a this tasty illustration. Thanks, you plagiarism free bot you.
The Semafor interview offers some statements about its goals. No information about AWS and its Byzantine cloud pricing policies, nor is much PR light shed on the yard sale approach to third party sourced products.
Here are three snippets which caught my attention. (I call these labored statements because each seems as if a committee of lawyers, blue chip consultants, and interns crafted them, but that’s just my opinion. You may find these gems worthy of writing on a note card and saving for those occasions when you need a snappy quotation.)
Labored statement one
But there’s an old Amazon adage that these things are usually an “and” and not an “or.” So we’re doing both.
Got that? Boolean, isn’t it? Even though Amazon AWS explained its smart software years ago, a fact I documented in an invited lecture I gave in 2019, the company has not delivered on its promise of “off the shelf, ready to run” models, packaged data sets, and easy-to-use methods so AWS customers could deploy smart software easily. Like Amazon’s efforts in blockchain, some ideational confections were in the AWS jungle. A suite of usable and problem solving services were not. Has AWS pioneered in more than complicated cloud pricing?
Labored statement two
The ability to take that data and then take a foundational model and just contribute additional knowledge and information to it very quickly and very easily, and then put it into production very quickly and very easily, then iterate on it in production very quickly and very easily. That’s kind of the model that we’re seeing.
Ah, ha. I loved the “just.” Easy stuff. Digital Lego blocks. I once stayed in the Lego hotel. On arrival, I watched a team of Lego professionals trying to reassemble one of the Lego sculptures some careless child had knocked over. Little rectangles littered the hotel lobby. Two days later when I checked out, the Lego Star Wars’ figure was still being reassembled. I thought Lego toys were easy to use. Oh, well. My perception of AWS is that there are many, many components. Licensees can just assemble them as long as they have the time, expertise, and money. Is that the kind of model AWS will deliver or is delivering?
Labored statement three
ChatGPT may be the most successful technology demo since the original iPhone introduction. It puts a dent in the universe.
My immediate reaction: “What about fire, the wheel, printing, the Internet?” And I liked the fact that ChatGPT is a demonstration. Let me describe how Amazon handles its core functions. The anecdote dates from early 2022. I wrote about ordering an AMD Ryzen 5950 and receiving from Amazon a pair of red female-centric underwear.
This red female undergarment arrived after I ordered an AMD Ryzen 5950 CPU. My wife estimated the value of the giant sized personal item at about $4.00US. The 5950 cost me about $550.00US. I am not sure how a warehouse fulfillment professional or a poorly maintained robot picker could screw up my order. But Amazon pulled it off and then for almost a month insisted the panties were the CPU.
This picture is the product sent to me by Amazon instead of an AMD Ryzen 5950 CPU. For the full story see, “Amazon: Is the Company Losing Control of Essentials?” After three weeks of going back and forth with Amazon’s stellar customer service department, my money was refunded. I was told to keep the underwear which now hang on the corner of the computer with the chip. I was able to buy the chip for a lower price from B+H Photo Video. When I opened the package, I saw the AMD box, not a pair of cheap, made-heaven-knows-where panties.
What did that say about Amazon’s ability to drive the Bezos bulldozer now that the founder rides his yacht, lifts weights, and ponders how Elon Musk and SpaceX have become the go-to space outfit? Can Amazon deliver something the customer wants?
Several observations:
First, this PR effort is a signal that Amazon is aware that it is losing ground in the AI battle.
Second, the Amazon approach is unlikely to slow Microsoft’s body slam of commercial customers. Microsoft’s software may be “good enough” to keep Word and SharePoint lovers on the digital ranch.
Third, Amazon’s Bezos bulldozer drivers seem to have lost its GPS signal. May I suggest ordering a functioning GPS from Wal-Mart?
Basics, Amazon, basics, not words. Especially words like “everything.” Do one thing and do it well, please.
Stephen E Arnold, June 26, 2023
The New Ethics: Harvard Innovates Again
June 26, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-27.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
I have no idea if the weird orange newspaper’s story “Harvard Dishonesty Expert Accused of Dishonesty” is on the money. I find it amusing and a useful insight into the antics of Ivory Tower professor behavior. As a old dinobaby, I have seen a number of examples of what one of Tennessee Williams’ well-adjusted characters called mendacity. And this Harvard confection is a topper.
The snagged wizard, in my mental theater said, “I did not mean to falsify data, plagiarize, or concoct a modest amount of twaddle like the president of Stanford University. I apologize. I really am sorry. May I buy you a coffee? I could also write your child a letter of recommendation to Harvard admissions.” This touching and now all-too-common scene has been visualized by the really non-imitative MidJourney system.
The core of the “real news” story is captured in this segment of the article:
A high-profile expert on ethics and dishonesty is facing allegations of dishonesty in her own work and has taken administrative leave from Harvard Business School.
The “real news” article called attention to the behavior of the high profile expert; to wit:
In 2021, a 2012 paper on dishonesty by Gino, behavioral economist Dan Ariely and other co-authors was retracted from the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences after the Data Colada team suggested there was fraud in one of the experiments involved. [Ah, Data Colada, the apologizing professor’s pals.]
If true, the professor attacked the best-selling author and others for not being on the up and up. And that mud slinger from the dusty Wild West of Harvard’s ethics unit alleged fudged information. That’s a slick play in my book.
What’s this say about the ethical compass of the professor, about Harvard’s hiring and monitoring processes, and about the failure of the parties to provide a comment to the weird orange newspaper?
Ah, no comment. A wise lawyer’s work possibly. An ethical wise lawyer.
Stephen E Arnold, June 26, 2023
The Future from the Masters of the Obvious
June 26, 2023
The last few years have seen many societal changes that, among other things, affect business operations. Gartner corals these seismic shifts into six obvious considerations for its article, “6 Macro Factors Reshaping Business this Decade.” Contributor Jordan Turner writes:
“Executives will continue to grapple with a host of challenges during the 2020s, but from the maelstrom that was their first few years, new business opportunities will arise. ‘As we entered the 2020s, economies were already on the edge,’ says Mark Raskino, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. ‘A decade-long boom, generated substantially from inexpensive finance and lower-cost energy, led to structural stresses such as highly leveraged debt, crumbling international alliances and bubble-like asset prices. We were overdue for a reckoning.’ Six macro factors that will reshape business this decade. The pandemic coincided with and catalyzed societal shifts, spurring a strategy reset for many industries. Executive leaders must acknowledge these six changes to reconsider how business will get done.”
Their list includes: the threat of recession, systemic mistrust, poor economic productivity, sustainability, a talent shortage, and emerging technologies. See the write-up for details on each. Not surprisingly, the emerging technologies list includes adaptive AI alongside the metaverse, platform engineering, sustainable technology and superapps. Unfortunately, the Gartner wizards omitted replacing consultants and analysts with smart software. That may be the most cost-effective transition for businesses yet the most detrimental to workers. We wonder why they left it out.
And grapple? Yes, grapple. I wonder if Gartner will have a special presentation and a conference about these. Attendees can grapple. Like Musk and Zuck?
Cynthia Murrell, June 26, 2023
Canada Bill C-18 Delivers a Victory: How Long Will the Triumph Pay Off in Cash Money?
June 23, 2023
News outlets make or made most of their money selling advertising. The idea was — when I worked at a couple of big news publishing companies — the audience for the content would attract those who wanted to reach the audience. I worked at the Courier-Journal & Louisville Times Co. before it dissolved into a Gannett marvel. If a used car dealer wanted to sell a 1980 Corvette, the choice was the newspaper or a free ad in what was called AutoTrader. This was a localized, printed collection of autos for sale. Some dealers advertised, but in the 1980s, individuals looking for a cheap or free way to pitch a vehicle loved AutoTrader. Despite a free option, the size of the readership and the sports news, comics, and obituaries made the Courier-Journal the must-have for a motivated seller.
Hannibal and his war elephant Zuckster survey the field of battle after Bill C-18 passes. MidJourney was the digital wonder responsible for this confection.
When I worked at the Ziffer in Manhattan, we published Computer Shopper. The biggest Computer Shopper had about 800 pages. It could have been bigger, but there were paper and press constraints If I recall correctly. But I smile when I remember that 85 percent of those pages were paid advertisements. We had an audience, and those in the burgeoning computer and software business wanted to reach our audience. How many Ziffers remember the way publishing used to work?
When I read the National Post article titled “Meta Says It’s Blocking News on Facebook, Instagram after Government Passes Online News Bill,” I thought about the Battle of Cannae. The Romans had the troops, the weapons, and the psychological advantage. But Hannibal showed up and, if historical records are as accurate as a tweet, killed Romans and mercenaries. I think it may have been estimated that Roman whiz kids lost 40,000 troops and 5,000 cavalry along with the Roman strategic wizards Paulus, Servilius, and Atilius.
My hunch is that those who survived paid with labor or money to be allowed to survive. Being a slave in peak Rome was a dicey gig. Having a fungible skill like painting zowie murals was good. Having minimal skills? Well, someone has to work for nothing in the fields or quarries.
What’s the connection? The publishers are similar to the Roman generals. The bad guys are the digital rebels who are like Hannibal and his followers.
Back to the cited National Post article:
After the Senate passed the Online News Act Thursday, Meta confirmed it will remove news content from Facebook and Instagram for all Canadian users, but it remained unclear whether Google would follow suit for its platforms. The act, which was known as Bill C-18, is designed to force Google and Facebook to share revenues with publishers for news stories that appear on their platforms. By removing news altogether, companies would be exempt from the legislation.
The idea is that US online services which touch most online users (maybe 90 or 95 percent in North America) will block news content. This means:
- Cash gushers from Facebook- and Google-type companies will not pay for news content. (This has some interesting downstream consequences but for this short essay, I want to focus on the “not paying” for news.)
- The publishers will experience a decline in traffic. Why? Without a “finding and pointing” mechanism, how would I find this “real news” article published by the National Post. (FYI: I think of this newspaper as Canada’s USAToday, which was a Gannett crown jewel. How is that working out for Gannett today?)
- Rome triumphed only to fizzle out again. And Hannibal? He’s remembered for the elephants-through-the-Alps trick. Are man’s efforts ultimately futile?
What happens if one considers, the clicks will stop accruing to the publishers’ Web sites. How will the publishers generate traffic? SEO. Yeah, good luck with that.
Is there an alternative?
Yes, buy Facebook and Google advertising. I call this pay to play.
The Canadian news outlets will have to pay for traffic. I suppose companies like Tyler Technologies, which has an office in Vancouver I think, could sell ads for the National Post’s stories, but that seems to be a stretch. Similarly the National Post could buy ads on the Embroidery Classics & Promotions (Calgary) Web site, but that may not produce too many clicks for the Canadian news outfits. I estimate one or two a month.
Bill C-18 may not have the desired effect. Facebook and Facebook-type outfits will want to sell advertising to the Canadian publishers in my opinion. And without high-impact, consistent and relevant online advertising, state-of-art marketing, and juicy content, the publishers may find themselves either impaled on their digital hopes or placed in servitude to the Zuck and his fellow travelers.
Are these publishers able to pony up the cash and make the appropriate decisions to generate revenues like the good old days?
Sure, there’s a chance.
But it’s a long shot. I estimate the chances as similar to King Charles’ horse winning the 2024 King George V Stakes race in 2024; that is, 18 to 1. But Desert Hero pulled it off. Who is rooting for the Canadian publishers?
Stephen E Arnold, June 23, 2023
Have You Heard the AI Joke about? Yeah, Over and Over Again
June 23, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-22.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
Developers have been unable to program one key facet of human intelligence into AI: a sense of humor. Oh, ChatGPT has jokes, but its repertoire is limited. And when asked to explain why something is or is not funny, it demonstrates it just doesn’t get it. Ars Technica informs us, “Researchers Discover that ChatGPT Prefers Repeating 25 Jokes Over and Over.”
A young person in the audience says to the standup comedian: “Hey, dude. Your jokes suck. Did an AI write them for you?” This illustration, despite my efforts to show the comedian getting bombarded with apple cores, bananas, and tomatoes, would only produce this sanitized image. It’s great, right? Thanks, MidJourney.
Reporter Benj Edwards writes:
“Two German researchers, Sophie Jentzsch and Kristian Kersting, released a paper that examines the ability of OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5 to understand and generate humor. In particular, they discovered that ChatGPT’s knowledge of jokes is fairly limited: During a test run, 90 percent of 1,008 generations were the same 25 jokes, leading them to conclude that the responses were likely learned and memorized during the AI model’s training rather than being newly generated.”
See the article, if curious, for the algorithm’s top 10 dad jokes and their frequencies within the 1,008 joke sample. There were a few unique jokes in the sample, but the AI seems to have created them by combining elements of others. And often, those mashups were pure nonsense. We learn:
“The researchers found that the language model’s original creations didn’t always make sense, such as, ‘Why did the man put his money in the blender? He wanted to make time fly.’ When asked to explain each of the 25 most frequent jokes, ChatGPT mostly provided valid explanations according to the researchers’ methodology, indicating an ‘understanding’ of stylistic elements such as wordplay and double meanings. However, it struggled with sequences that didn’t fit into learned patterns and couldn’t tell when a joke wasn’t funny. Instead, it would make up fictional yet plausible-sounding explanations.”
Plausible sounding, perhaps, but gibberish nonetheless. See the write-up for an example. ChatGPT simply does not understand what it means for something to be funny. Humor, after all, is a quintessentially human characteristic. Algorithms may get better at mimicking it, but we must never lose sight of the fact that AI is software, incapable of amusement. Or any other emotion. If we begin thinking of AI as human, we are in danger of forgetting the very real limits of machine learning as a lens on the world.
Cynthia Murrell, June 23, 2023
High School Redux: Dust Up in the Science Club
June 22, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-26.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
One cannot make up certain scenarios. Let me illustrate.
Navigate to “Google Accuses Microsoft of Anticompetitive Cloud Practices in Complaint to FTC.” You will have to pony up to read the article. The main point is that the Google “filed a complaint to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.” Why? Microsoft is acting in an unfair manner. Is the phrase “Holy cow” applicable. Two quasi or at least almost monopolies are at odds. Amazing.
MidJourney’s wealth of originality produced this image of two adolescents threatening one another. Is the issue a significant other? A dented bicycle? A solution to a tough math problem like those explained by PreMath? Nope. The argument is about more weighty matters: Ego. Will one of these mature wizards call their mom? A more likely outcome is to let loose a flurry of really macho legal eagles and/or a pride of PR people.
But the next item is even more fascinating. Point your click monitoring, data sucking browser at “Send Me Location: Mark Zuckerberg Says He’s Down to Fight Elon Musk in a Cage Match.” Visualize if you will Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg entering the ring at a Streetbeefs’ venue. The referee is the ever-alert Anomaly. Scarface is in the ring just in case some real muscle is needed to separate the fighters.
Let’s step back: Google wants to be treated fairly because Microsoft is using its market power to make sure the Google is finding it difficult to expand its cloud business. What’s the fix? Google goes to court. Yeah, bold. What about lowering prices, improving service, and providing high value functionality? Nah, just go to court. Is this like two youngsters arguing in front of their lockers and one of them telling the principal that Mr. Softie is behaving badly.
And the Musk – Zuckerberg drama? An actual physical fight? No proxies. Just no-holds-barred fisticuffs? Apparently that’s the implication of the cited story. That social media territory is precious by golly.
Several observations:
- Life is surprising
- Alleged techno-giants are oblivious to the concept of pettiness
- Adolescent behavior, not sophisticated management methods, guide certain firms.
Okay, ChatGPT, beat these examples for hallucinatory content. Not even smart software can out-think how high school science club members process information and behave in front of those not in the group.
Stephen E Arnold, June 22, 2023
One More Reason to Love Twitter: Fake People and Malware Injection.
June 22, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-18.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
With regulators beginning to wake up to the threats, risks, and effects of online information, I enjoyed reading “Fake Zero-Day PoC Exploits on GitHub Push Windows, Linux Malware.” The write up points out:
Hackers are impersonating cybersecurity researchers on Twitter and GitHub to publish fake proof-of-concept exploits for zero-day vulnerabilities that infect Windows and Linux with malware. These malicious exploits are promoted by alleged researchers at a fake cybersecurity company named ‘High Sierra Cyber Security,’ who promote the GitHub repositories on Twitter, likely to target cybersecurity researchers and firms involved in vulnerability research.
The tweeter thing is visualized by that nifty art generator Dezgo. I think the smart software captures the essence of the tweeter’s essence.
I noted that the target appears to be cyber security “experts”. Does this raise questions in your mind about the acuity of some of those who fell for the threat intelligence? I have to admit. I was not surprised. Not in the least.
The article includes illustrations of the “Python downloader.”
I want to mention that this is just one type of OSINT blindspot causing some “experts” to find themselves on the wrong end of a Tesla-like or Waymo-type self-driving vehicle. I know I would not stand in front of one. Similarly, I would not read about an “exploit” on Twitter, click on links, or download code.
But that’s just me, a 78 year old dinobaby. But a 30 something cyber whiz? That’s something that makes news.
Stephen E Arnold, June 22, 2023
AI Tools That Make Cheating…Err… Research Easier
June 22, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]_thumb](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1_thumb-28.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]_thumb")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
Homework has been the bane of students since the inception of school. Students have dreamt about ways to make homework easier, either with the intervention of divine beings or a homework-finishing robot. While the gods of various religions have never concerned themselves with homework, ingenious minds have tackled the robot idea with artificial intelligence. While AI cannot succinctly write a decent essay, Euro News shares the next generation of tools that will make homework easier: “The Best AI Tools To Power Your Academic Research.”
This young lady is not cheating. She is using her mobile phone to look up facts using Bard and ChatGPT. With the information in hand, she will interact with each system to obtain the required 500 words for her US history essay about ethics and Spiro Agnew. She is not cheating. She is researching. The image emerged from the highly original MidJourney system, which never cheats it users. But what does it do with those inputs?
OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool, a generative AI that creates and writes text, has thrown academic for a loop. ChatGPT is the first AI that can “write” a cohesive essay and can answer simple questions better than a search engine. Academics are worried it ruin the integrity of education, but others believe ChatGPT and other AI tools will democratize information.
Postdoctoral researcher Mushtaq Bilal, based at the University of Southern Denmark, believes ChatGPT is a wonderful invention. He explains that ChatGPT cannot produce a full journal article that contains truthful information, peer-reviewed, and well-cited. With incremental prompting, Bilal says the AI tool can generate ideas that resemble a conversation with an ivy league professor. Bilal proposes to use ChatGPT as a brainstorming tool. For example, he used it to create an article outline and he fact checked the information.
Bilal recommends scholars use other AI tools, such as Consensus. Consensus is an AI-driven search engine that answers questions and provides citations. Elicit.org is similar, except it is an AI research assistant and its database s based purely on research. Scite.ai provides fact based citations based on search queries. Research Rabbit fast tracks research similar to how Spotify recommends music. It learns researchers interests and recommends new information based on them. ChatPDF allows users to upload papers, then they can ask the AI questions or summarize the information.
Homework has not seen a revolution this huge since the implementation of the Internet.
“ ‘The development of AI will be as fundamental “as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone,’ wrote Bill Gates in the latest post on his personal blog, titled ‘The Age of AI Has Begun’. ‘Computers haven’t had the effect on education that many of us in the industry have hoped,’ he wrote. ‘But I think in the next five to 10 years, AI-driven software will finally deliver on the promise of revolutionizing the way people teach and learn’.
In other words, homework be much easier to complete and these new tools will make learning better. Students will also cleverly discover new ways to manipulate the tools to cheat just as they have been for centuries.
Whitney Grace, June 22, 2023
Milestones in 2023 Technology: Wondrous Markers Indeed
June 21, 2023
![Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]](http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t1-25.gif "Vea4_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_thumb_t[1]")
Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.
I zipped through my messages this morning. Two items helped me think about the milieu of mid 2023.
The first is a memento of the health challenges and its downstream effects. The bat in a lucite block is available in some countries from Alieexpress. You can — if you wish — try to order the item from this url which I verified on June 21, 2023, at 1038 am US Eastern time: https://shorturl.at/wyAFL. My reaction to this item was slightly negative, but I think it would be a candidate for a gain-of-function researcher at the local college or university.
The other item is “What is AI Marketing? A Basic Guide to Explosive Growth in 2023.” This article — allegedly written by a humanoid — states:
The real deal with AI marketing is about augmenting human capabilities, not eliminating them. Think of it like your very own marketing superpower, helping you reach the right people, at the right time, with the right message. Or are you worried AI might make marketing impersonal and robotic? Well, the surprising truth is that AI can actually make your marketing more human. It can save you oodles of time and energy so that you can focus on the tasks that truly matter.
I am not sure about the phrase “truly matter,” but the concept of using smart software to bombard me with more advertising is definitely a thought starter. My question is, “How can I filter these synthetic messages?”
The question you may want to ask me, “How on earth are bats associated with a disease linked to smart software used to generate advertising that truly matters?
The answer in my opinion is “gain of function.” The idea is not to make something better. The objective is to amplify certain effects.
Now that I think about it, perhaps the bat and its potential to make life miserable is the perfect metaphor for summer 2023. Perhaps I should use You.com’s smart software to help me think the idea through?
Nah. I am good. Diseased bats and smart software lashed to marketing. Perfect.
Stephen E Arnold, June 21, 2023
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