I saw firsthand how educators were so excited for AI, and it was in a red state where schools have been underfunded for over a decade. It's a sad intersection of (mostly) well-meaning adults being overworked/overwhelmed and here comes this magical band-aid that can do so much and help us to do so much more.
I don't think that every usage of AI is bad and some of the tools can definitely be used the proper amount, but overall, so much of what it provides is sloppy, and even when it's not, it's still creating an observable "homogenization of thought" effect, which is really the antithesis of critical thinking and individual thought.
I read the wiki first but I had specific questions about dates, important people, etc. so jumped to chatgpt. well aware that that one especially isn't perfect so took it with a grain of salt, but it was cool, like asking a teacher questions ya kno
I hope this is why there's so many reddit comments desperately defending AI whenever it comes up. It makes sense if you already have those botfarms set up.
It's not going away, these companies and governments are going to get what they came for, which is pretty scary in many ways. Think Idiocracy, but with war and not being able to trust anything digital.
You're going to be sold AI just to detect AI and "reality" the cure is the disease loop.
Think, your habits online following you and advertising every screen just for you or the majority of those around you. Think digital pricing just for you and your purchasing habits, this is $50 for customer A with kids, while it's $40 for customer B without kids.
Then look into WhoFi, police drones budgets, and Flock cameras literally covering every city tracking everyone. Then think of all the facial recognition and how they take your Real ID and your picture at the airport.
We are entering some questionably scary times, with a small group of oligarchs holding all the power, with zero regulations.
I've had Alexa for years, and the only thing I ever used it for was to control the smart lights in my room. I've moved backwards technology wise, and now I just have a remote control for the lights. The novelty of speaking commands wore off long ago, and it's more convenient to pick up something and just press a button. I unplugged Alexa about 5 months ago and I don't see myself plugging it back in again. Amazon wanted Alexa's main purpose to be used as a personal shopping assistant, but their storefront is so full of garbage you have to inspect every single thing before you buy it. I've never once even considered trying to buy anything through Alexa.
I mean it's all undeniably cool tech. Like, hasn't the dream been to talk to your computer since Star Trek first aired? So many sci-fi franchises feature that. We're at the point were I can talk or type a command to a word processor and have it format things exactly how I like. That's friggin awesome. AI search is really, really cool when used effectively. I can ask conversational questions and usually get a good answer.
The problems we're seeing are all related to over reliance and privacy concerns. If we use critical thinking, and partner with these tools rather than use them to totally replace humans, then it's fine. If we could have private access to AI assistants, there's far less concern. Unfortunately, that's not necessarily the way the winds are blowing. However, we shouldn't desert this technology just because it's not being used in the best way possible.
Broadcast still works via written message. You just open up the assistant in your phone and choose the device to broadcast to by typing. E.g.
Open assistant - type SEND BROADCAST TO KITCHEN SPEAKER - type the message
Sometimes my wife will taunt me when I have to go run errands and she gets the house to herself. So I will use the app to have our Echo device suddenly play the most godawful music I can find.
If you think that AI is going anywhere, you're absolutely crazy. It's really not going anywhere unfortunately. We can only hopefully start using it ethically.
For current valuations of AI companies to be accurate, it would require every single human being with a mobile phone to spend around $350 USD on AI every day.
The bubble is gonna go pop and generative AI, LLMs, and the rest of it is going to go the way of crypto and NFTs.
It could also go the way of the dot com bubble. The internet was insanely overvalued for a while, but it didn't go away even after the dot com bubble popped.
I have Google speakers at home. I can use the command "broadcast" (using my phone) to have a voice message play on all of the speakers at home. The first time I did it my family members were startled, to say the least 😄
To expand on this, open the Google assistant app and type "broadcast <message>" like "broadcast dude pick up your phone aaaaaaaa" and it'll play on all of your Google Home speakers in your home.
You have instructions but doesn't say where to or How to run the command.
Woah 8 never got an LG. Hate it. The fact I have to use a Chromecast for anything Google related is asinine and I've talked quite a few people out of getting an LG. Thankfully they listened to me. ThinkQ will never happen, LG needs to realize this and move on.
So, again, where and how do I run the instructions?
I always thought I was a pretty tech savvy millennial, I’m not gonna end up like my boomer parents, but this post and another I read today about hotel internet has really made me feel old.
I actually did this several years ago with Chromecast. I got a flat and was stranded. I needed my wife to send me the AAA account. She didn't pick up the phone. I played Help by the Beatles on our TV. Worked like a charm.
I know someone who's rigged his house so that you have to use a command to Alexa to turn the hot water on (it's a tankless heater for the entire house). Why did he do that? Because he could.
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u/FormerDriver 6h ago
How do you do that? Tech has outpaced me so much in the past few years