Xmas Decorations:
i put up Xmas decorations. Doing so required me to move a bunch of things. Putting up Xmas decorations comes with some downsides. i partially aggravated some pre-existing conditions. Finally got an Xmas tree up, but had limited places to put it. Couldn't use where it was last year.
Yes, i partially decorate with Bark Box dog toys (Rudolph). Sorry dogs, those are for decoration, not playing.
Alexa Interface, Smart Plugs and Wi-fi issues:
A few months ago, the router/modem kind of crapped out. So, when i went to hook up the tree to a smart plug (have it on a couple of routines, one turns on the tree at 4:15PM, one turns it off at 9:03PM) and i had to change the network information - you think it would be really easy, right? Wrong. It took several attempts for me to get the devices recognized so i could move them over to the new network. Eventually i got my Amazon Smart plug to work, the GE Sync Smart Plug is a different matter entirely (was going to use it to turn on/off a wreath i have on the door). i need the device to be auto detected.
One of my problems is i hate the Alexa App. It is not exactly well designed. i long for the days when everything didn't need a damn phone app to setup. Even worse, since phone apps constantly "need" to be updated and support eventually ends for the fork of the tablet/phone OS. What i wanted from it was an old school computer layout - not just using detected devices. i wanted a list of past devices used (even if currently undetected), then a properties option where i could change settings like Wi-fi from there. What i got was a series of trial and error until it finally detected the devices.
AI Bubble:
To me, it looks like AI is shaping up to be a bigger bubble than the "Dot Com" one. What most people think of as AI, may not be exactly that (to be true AI, needs some type of machine learning). Several companies have already been busted for using human workers and pretending they were AI.
As much as i long for the rise of Cyberdyne Systems/Skynet and the Terminator future, such a thing is highly unlikely. For one, you would have to give AI operational control (that is to let AI make decisions on data). Very bad idea. Decisions making, no matter how cut and dry has some element of morality involved. Letting AI decide will result in "greater good" (a bs term) trolley problem decisions, that fails to take outside factors into account.
Most of what is considered AI by the consumer sector is a variation of search. In the business sector, it is sems to be a term for increased automation. Computers can go through vast arrays of data quickly, but that still requires a guiding hand to decide what to do with it.
What exactly is AI anyway? Most consumer interactions with it are search and so-called AI assistants (like Alexa, Siri, and whatever Google is called). Most interactions are search, it may have another couple of steps, but ultimately, that is what it comes down to. With Alexa, basically: Microphone active, Activate Keyword used (start listening), keyword search term, look for modifiers, convert to text, get search results, convert from text to speech. The natural language queries kind of disguise how slow the search results are.
Now, if i tell MSFT Copilot to write a poem, is it really AI? i see it as little more than Mad Libs. You give it a topic/style then it fills in a prewritten script. It is likely going off form recognition, a keyword cloud, and other means. Do that enough, and you would likely start to see a pattern in how things are written (making AI "writing" far more obvious).
Another problem i have it the nature of technology. Any increase in technology comes with a decrease in natural human ability/skills. Skills are forever lost as people become dependent on technology. When technology fails, the ability to do what was possible before technology is lost.
Humans have a fixed productivity potential. Most "productivity" gains in the modern era have come from off sourcing responsibilities to technology. More widgets (and ECON favorite) get built, but the credit doesn't really go to the humans. It goes to the machines (as productivity is machine based, that should keep salaries lower - as productivity gains come with a cost and maintenance).
No comments:
Post a Comment