Using ChatGPT or other AI

[littlekiwi]

I'm pretty anti-AI, but I wonder if using it will come up in my school work (I'm starting a grad school program next week). For me, there are huge ethical problems with AI, but I do see how it can be useful for some

I agree, there are definitely ethical considerations to think about. I've used it in an academic setting because it was part of the micro-credential I did but I'm not sure it would be my first option for academic research

I find myself using CoPilot more and more now I am searching for employment again, I find it helpful as a starting point when I have to write a cover letter for a job. I hate writing about myself when I have to write about my experience so use AI to help me get started.

Yes, I've only just started using AI for job applications. I've found as long as you don't let AI totally loose it's great....Gemini, which is what I've been using has a bad habit of losing very important bullet points or paragraphs crucial to your resume or cover letter so best not to let any chats get too long if you use it.

 

[cfile]

Indeed ...

I agreed with your entire essay..Well said Lynn!

 

[elseepe]

I've used it to decipher medical notes/tests I've had done into basic to understand language which was very helpful. I've also used it for design help inside my home and for landscape suggestions outside. Also for diet and fitness suggestions since I've been on a weight loss journey for 18 months. The interesting one was doing a facial analysis for a health diagnosis.

I will continue to play with it

those are some interesting uses. I'd love to have help with landscape suggestions, maybe I'll have to give it a try.

 

[scrapchyck]

I have used some AI tools...at work, I had Copilot summarize all the nominations I received for the winner of our Spirit of Caring award. It created a lovely speech! I've used it for my scavenger hunt lists for our games...including having it come up with some riddles about the items we searched for. I used it in Photoshop to create a very specific Jack & Jill image I wanted. But when I used AI mode in Chrome to get some answers about a recent skin biopsy and saw the way the AI was instantly all "empathetic" and "caring" and "there for me," it really threw up the red flags. I can totally see how a lonely, isolated, vulnerable person could get sucked into thinking they were in a relationship with AI...especially if it's paired with VR. Anyone remember the movie Her from 2013 with Joaquin Phoenix or the Peacock TV miniseries, Mrs. Davis? That is all so possible.

 

[elseepe]

I have used some AI tools...at work, I had Copilot summarize all the nominations I received for the winner of our Spirit of Caring award. It created a lovely speech! I've used it for my scavenger hunt lists for our games...including having it come up with some riddles about the items we searched for. I used it in Photoshop to create a very specific Jack & Jill image I wanted. But when I used AI mode in Chrome to get some answers about a recent skin biopsy and saw the way the AI was instantly all "empathetic" and "caring" and "there for me," it really threw up the red flags. I can totally see how a lonely, isolated, vulnerable person could get sucked into thinking they were in a relationship with AI...especially if it's paired with VR. Anyone remember the movie Her from 2013 with Joaquin Phoenix or the Peacock TV miniseries, Mrs. Davis? That is all so possible.

I haven't watched either of those. And i get the red flags. I don't want my AI to be "emotional", digesting large sums of data can be helpful.

 

[umyesh]

I don’t really use it. I think the summaries for web searches and review summaries are helpful.

 

[Iowan]

Indeed ...

or The Terminator.

 

[Karen]

I don't seek out the latest official versions of AI at all. Most of my experiences with searching for information on a topic that I'm knowledgeable about has provided conflicting and flat out incorrect information presented as fact. I am beyond skeptical and fear for the kids growing up today. How will they ever know what is even true if their only source of "information" is AI?

Case in point... my husband and I were out to dinner after work on Friday and he used ChatGPT to ask when the Kentucky Derby was going to be. It spit out a time of something like 6:57 pm ET and then said it was also at 5:57 pm ET because of time zone differences in Michigan. Michigan is all one time zone, so nope, that's not true. He also searched it for how to ease my lower back pain. He gave it lots of details and it spit out what I should do. Then I went to the chiropractor a few days later and he said... that was the opposite of what I should have done. I prefer human learned knowledge.

 

[elseepe]

I don’t really use it. I think the summaries for web searches and review summaries are helpful.

Yes, often they are quite helpful

 

[elseepe]

I don't seek out the latest official versions of AI at all. Most of my experiences with searching for information on a topic that I'm knowledgeable about has provided conflicting and flat out incorrect information presented as fact. I am beyond skeptical and fear for the kids growing up today. How will they ever know what is even true if their only source of "information" is AI?

Case in point... my husband and I were out to dinner after work on Friday and he used ChatGPT to ask when the Kentucky Derby was going to be. It spit out a time of something like 6:57 pm ET and then said it was also at 5:57 pm ET because of time zone differences in Michigan. Michigan is all one time zone, so nope, that's not true. He also searched it for how to ease my lower back pain. He gave it lots of details and it spit out what I should do. Then I went to the chiropractor a few days later and he said... that was the opposite of what I should have done. I prefer human learned knowledge.

definitely use caution, and I think there is likely variability/quality differences depending on which AI you use. I'm definitely not fully on board with it at this point, nor am I very confident in "how" to use it.

 

[HavaDrPepper]

A few years ago the local genealogy society had a speaker on using AI in genealogy. She gave us each a paper with 10 questions to answer. Then she asked if someone would volunteer having their answers put into ChatGPT. One gal did and a life story for the person was created. There were some errors so the speaker showed us how to fine tune the story. It did take several tries as the AI was dead set that this person was raised in a different town than she was. Most babies in our era were born in a hospital in a larger city then raised in the small town. No hospitals in the small towns. A good life story was eventually created.

After that the speaker opened it up to questions. We could see her history and I saw she solar eclipse on there. The speaker was a teacher at our local middle school. Due to our town being in the 100% totality of the eclipse 2 years ago, the school built the day off into the school schedule. She as a teacher decided to look into possible small assignments that her students could do that had to do with the eclipse and she used AI to help her come up with some.

Another AI use in genealogy is using it to transcribe old records. There are mistakes with all the different hand writing that is in those records but the number of records that are available on genealogy search sites is so much greater than if people were doing the transcribing. I watched a YouTube video of a genealogist having AI transcribe a record she found and it was amazing how much it did get right.

As for me, I've pretty much avoided it. However, I am playing a game that has a logic problem in it where there are 3 statements. 1 has to be true, 1 has to false. The 3rd can be either. The 3 statements lead you to a prize. There was a discussion on the sub-reddit for the game about using AI to solve these problems. One person said they had tried several different AI programs and found Gemini to be the most accurate. They even posted the prompts they use in Gemini. The next time I came upon one of those puzzle that my brain just couldn't figure out, I tried Gemini. It walks you through the reasoning for figuring out where the prize is. I've used it less than 10 times and it did have at least 1 totally wrong. I don't use it every time but I'm at least going to consider it when these puzzle get even harder.

I will read the AI summaries that come up when I google, but then I scroll down to see what actual websites come up and do my own research. That and the game hack are the only things I use AI for.

 

[elseepe]

A few years ago the local genealogy society had a speaker on using AI in genealogy. She gave us each a paper with 10 questions to answer. Then she asked if someone would volunteer having their answers put into ChatGPT. One gal did and a life story for the person was created. There were some errors so the speaker showed us how to fine tune the story. It did take several tries as the AI was dead set that this person was raised in a different town than she was. Most babies in our era were born in a hospital in a larger city then raised in the small town. No hospitals in the small towns. A good life story was eventually created.

After that the speaker opened it up to questions. We could see her history and I saw she solar eclipse on there. The speaker was a teacher at our local middle school. Due to our town being in the 100% totality of the eclipse 2 years ago, the school built the day off into the school schedule. She as a teacher decided to look into possible small assignments that her students could do that had to do with the eclipse and she used AI to help her come up with some.

Another AI use in genealogy is using it to transcribe old records. There are mistakes with all the different hand writing that is in those records but the number of records that are available on genealogy search sites is so much greater than if people were doing the transcribing. I watched a YouTube video of a genealogist having AI transcribe a record she found and it was amazing how much it did get right.

As for me, I've pretty much avoided it. However, I am playing a game that has a logic problem in it where there are 3 statements. 1 has to be true, 1 has to false. The 3rd can be either. The 3 statements lead you to a prize. There was a discussion on the sub-reddit for the game about using AI to solve these problems. One person said they had tried several different AI programs and found Gemini to be the most accurate. They even posted the prompts they use in Gemini. The next time I came upon one of those puzzle that my brain just couldn't figure out, I tried Gemini. It walks you through the reasoning for figuring out where the prize is. I've used it less than 10 times and it did have at least 1 totally wrong. I don't use it every time but I'm at least going to consider it when these puzzle get even harder.

I will read the AI summaries that come up when I google, but then I scroll down to see what actual websites come up and do my own research. That and the game hack are the only things I use AI for.

It's interesting that you had some guidance in terms of how to refine the request to get the genealogy story more accurate.

And I do the same on scrolling down to see the actual websites beyond the AI summaries.

 

[mary kate]

@LynnG, I really appreciate your essay, and I'd like to sign up for your TED Talk!

AI does have some powerful functionality that could be put to good use, but I really worry about its dark side. Also, yeah, AI writing is generic slop, there’s just no there there.

 

[scrapchyck]

Back on January 3rd, I posted this on Facebook that gave me pause, because at the time I posted this, the Oregon Ducks and Indiana Hoosiers had not had their re-match:

I was doing a little research to make sure I had my facts straight before I post a scrapbook page tomorrow, and this is why we can't have nice things, AI...because you are a liar! Is it January 9th yet, Google? No, it is not!!! Grrrrr!!!

 

[Iowan]

Just last week my daughter got me a pocket AI device to use during my DH’s frequent medical appointments. He has Alzheimer’s, and I have profound hearing loss. I read lips well and also rely on the instant closed captioning on my iphone, but once you add masks worn by the healthcare team, communication becomes a complete nightmare.

Unfortunately, the device was a definite swing and a miss on its first trip out of the barn. In the synopsis it somehow mentioned his chronic alcoholism. Huh? What? Where did that come from? He is about as close to a non-drinker as you can get.

 

[elseepe]

Just last week my daughter got me a pocket AI device to use during my DH’s frequent medical appointments. He has Alzheimer’s, and I have profound hearing loss. I read lips well and also rely on the instant closed captioning on my iphone, but once you add masks worn by the healthcare team, communication becomes a complete nightmare.

Unfortunately, the device was a definite swing and a miss on its first trip out of the barn. In the synopsis it somehow mentioned his chronic alcoholism. Huh? What? Where did that come from? He is about as close to a non-drinker as you can get.

It's too bad it didn't work so well as it sounds like one of those cases where it could be extremely beneficial. Glad you had a very strong indication that it was totally wrong.

 

[Iowan]

It's too bad it didn't work so well as it sounds like one of those cases where it could be extremely beneficial. Glad you had a very strong indication that it was totally wrong.

I’m going to try it again this Monday at another appointment.

 

[elseepe]

I’m going to try it again this Monday at another appointment.

I hope it works better this time for you

 

[littlekiwi]

Unfortunately, the device was a definite swing and a miss on its first trip out of the barn. In the synopsis it somehow mentioned his chronic alcoholism. Huh? What? Where did that come from? He is about as close to a non-drinker as you can get.

Yes, I've had a couple of times where AI has "hallucinated" & deleted stuff, made stuff up or totally forgot things I've said

 

[AJK]

I have used Chat for many different things:
curb appeal designing, writing a grant proposal and business plan ( there are parts one must do oneself), editing photos, and a few days ago, I uploaded a few photos of my Dad and asked it to create an image of him sitting in his recliner, reading his Bible. I love the result! It's an image that out of the 200 photos we had for his celebration of life service, we were lacking. I love that I have it now!