Posts by Rikki Tikki 206 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Jun 2020
"Gartner advised organizations to use AI to "enhance human capability while preserving accountability.""
I suggest replacing Gartner with the combined wisdom of The Register's commentards. Isn't this essentially what many of us have been saying for some time?
Time for a --->
It's Friday, nd I"m sure we've all earned it.
Agreed and upvoted.
My initial point was that, although the prescription lenses don't add much weight, the weight of frames and lenses can still make it uncomfortable wearing them all day every day.
And, it is best to keep your old pair in reserve, not just for breakages. "Stolen by a monkey in Bali" as an example.
I now use titanium frames and the lightest possible lenses. Lighter and stronger - even when my wife dropped her glasses in the car park and reversed over them, they survived.
Aside from anything else, I would be dubious about the practically of having prescription lenses in meta glasses:
1. they are be rather heavier than normal frames, and the additional weight of lenses would make them uncomfortable for daily wear;
2. whether they would be durable enough for daily usage, including such things as getting punched in the face, hit with a cricket ball, etc;
3. renewing you prescription every couple of years might be inconvenient, and possibly expensive if you need to keep the old glasses in reserve (see point 2).
Personally, I don't have a problem with some spam getting through to my inbox. I have a secondary neural processing system, powered by Actual Intelligence that has an excellent record of detecting spam.
What irritates me is the increasing tendency of the email spam filter to send genuine emails to the spam folder. This includes invoices etc from companies I deal with regularly.
It is happening a lot more recently since my (unnamed) email provider introduced their new "modern" email system. So, I'm blaming AI.
"And almost entirely from those on the right."
I've caught the Grauniad recently reporting several 'made up' stories relating to Australia (possibly copied from AI sources without checking).
So no, it's not just "the right". I feel it's probably best not to politicise this, there's crap coming from all quarters. We need to be aware of this and try not to let our biases get in the way of assessing content.
"Malatsi said that those involved in drafting and sign-off can expect "consequence management." "
Presumably, though, those who decided "AI is great, let's use it for everything" will get off scot free.
As usual, it will be only those doing what they were told (under time pressure from above) who will face the "consequences".
Agree with Filippo that it's not news there is a hack. I am a bit dubious, though, about Booking.com's assertion that no financial data has leaked.
My own experience with a hotel booking through Booking.com in 2022 resulted in several fraudulent transactions on my travel card. Whether the leak came from Booking.com or the hotel, I don't know (and don't care), but haven't used Booking.com since.
I used {first name}.{surname}@gmail.com for several years, until I started getting too many mistaken identity emails.
My name isn't 'John Smith', but my first name/surname combination is surprisingly common. The mistaken emails included being offered a job with the NHS, several propositions from young women (but I'm married), and getting regular Christmas emails from a US senator.
The final straw was the repeated demands from a phone company in the UAE to pay my account, that had escalated to threats of legal action. I finally countered with an email to their chief legal officer with my own threats.
After that, I ditched my account and started a fresh account with what I hope is a non-guessable name.
What variety of lemons? In Canberra, the most common variety is Meyer, which is somewhat frost hardy. Our near neighbour has a huge lemon tree that has survived Canberra's frosts for many years and produces more fruit than they (and we) can use. Even this year, with multiple winter frosts.
BTW, if they are grafted lemon trees, any shoots growing from the roots will just be whatever root stock was used, and no chance it will ever bear fruit
Ooh ... I can fit the first criterion. Just checked my "anthologie poétique française moyen âge 1", it still bears the bloodstain from a paper cut when I was reading "Le corbeau et le goupil" on a very cold morning in Strasbourg station in 1976.
I fall down on the second criterion, though. Obviously, I'm typing this on my computer. Besides, I'm retired and don't have to worry about bad words like 'work'.
I believe some of the caffeine is broken down in the civet's digestive process, so Kopi Luwak may have about 20% less caffeine than regular coffee.
But, at $1,000+ a kilo, you're probably not going to find enough regular drinkers to determine whether this results in any change to dementia risk.
I'll be sticking to Aldi's own arabica ($20 a kilo)
(n.b. despite my overly pedantic response, I upvoted you)
Yes, he makes some excellent points, including:
"you built an AI system from first principles, it would look drastically different from what's offered today."
As I read, it (including the last paragraph), he's suggesting that AI can be very useful in supporting the work that people do. But, the current LLM-driven hype isn't doing that.
Don't forget, though, that costs of handling cash are usually taken as a cost of doing business. These costs include, among other things, installation and maintenance of cash handling equipment, extra staff time to receive, reconcile, and bank cash, etc.
Whether these costs (per transaction) would work out higher or lower than the card fee would probably depend on the business.
However, since the costs of accepting cash are generally included in the base sale price of the item, rather than calculated per transaction, it means someone using a card would be paying the card transaction fee plus a portion of the cost of other people's cash transactions
"offenders aged 35 to 44 account for 37 percent of cases, making it the largest single age group. Add in those aged 25 to 34, who make up another 30 percent, and nearly six in ten cases involve people between 25 and 44.
Was this calculated using AI maths? When I was at school, 37% + 30% = 67%, that's more than six in ten.
Agree with your assessment.
If having separate functional teams or departments helps provide security, then good.
The problem arises if there is no effective communication between different teams. When I started in my Australian public service role there were certainly "silos", but, when I needed something done by another office/department, I knew who to talk to.
It seems, after successive waves of MHT/JWH (or Reagan? if you are American) inspired "efficiencies", a lot of the knowledge of how things work has been lost. Even, just before my retirement, our IT department totally failed to identify the team I was working with as a stakeholder in a major system upgrade, leaving me to pick up the pieces and provide a "temporary" fix
Upvoted, but a reminder that IP theft used to be the "American Way".
The 18th and 19th centuries saw large scale use of European industrial technologies to develop the US economy. Now, they don't like it when other countries do the same to them.
So , totally agree with the "pot, kettle" title.
Please let's not start the productivity argument again.
In my opinion, if AI was genuinely improving productivity, employees could work fewer hours while producing the same output. If they are working more hours, but producing the same output this has lowered productivity. (The article doesn't mention whether there was any observed increase in either quantity or quality of work).
AI can be useful for so many things, I just wish we could use one of the many disused gold mines in Victoria to bury all the slop.
"local councils do work like picking up trash and taking care of parks and accepting payments for land rates. They off course process building requests for changes and new developments. Thats literally ALL their work.
No, that is not all their work. See here:
https://www.lga.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0036/1666926/The-role-of-local-government-fact-sheet.pdf
(I'm taking a punt you are in SA, it was the state you mentioned).
Oh, and BTW, public housing is largely managed by state housing departments, not federal government.
Mike, not downvoting you, but I believe the grapes example CHF quoted was poorly chosen.
Table grapes may reach $A16 a kilo out of season - often imported. Currently, Coles and Woolworths here are selling grapes for $A5.00-5.50 a kilo, depending on the variety. And I don't believe that farmers are only receiving $0.20 a kilo, this wouldn't even cover their labour costs.
@Dave K
It's a while since I worked in a UK public service job (>40 years), but I was going to post something similar myself, including the sentiment of your last paragraph.
For other comments:
For those who believe payroll, or any other financial function, can be fully automated, try [search engine of choice] "robodebt Australia".
Maybe my initial post was not clearly worded: of course, a lot of the processing is computerised, but it still needs people to manage the process and ensure inputs/outputs are complete, accurate, and timely.
Typical "public servants do nothing" attitude. I have worked in a territory/local government, and I can assure you that most people work hard. Yes, there are some slackers and some (mainly at middle management level) who may not be optimally productive, but these are very much a minority.
There are plenty of jobs that council workers do, I'm sure you would notice of, for example, if the library wasn't there or local footpaths weren't maintained. As to the office staff, just because you don't see it, doesn't mean there is no work. I'm certain the garbos would object quite strongly if the "do nothing" office workers didn't process their pay.
Also, do you still believe anything you see on YT, without confirming from a reliable source?
And don't forget that AI is sometimes liable to hallucinate and send you to somewhere that doesn't actually exist. There was a recent case of tourists being directed to a fictional hot spring in Tasmania.
Even if AI gets it right, it will probably just direct you to the main tourist traps where you will have to struggle through hordes of others who have relied on AI/"the internet".
And, some of the best tourist experiences are totally random, where you accidentally stumble across something and actually engage with local people and culture.
"He said AI is turning people into "passive consumers of unthought thoughts" while "the masterpieces of human genius in the fields of music, art and literature are being reduced to mere training grounds for machines."
This, for me, is a very important point. LLMs are not creative, they simply regurgitate stuff based on their training data, it is unlikely that they would come up with a truly original idea that a (possibly drunk) human could.
Also, in response to Eclectic Man: what was your point about "The Mission"? The movie, at least in part, deals with Jesuit missionaries standing up for indigenous people in the face of colonial power struggles.
Maybe also a critical analysis of "The Sound of Music", based on the history of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the personal history of the Ritter von Trapp?
"Gartner’s findings jibe with other recent reports"
Had to look that one up ... you mean Gartner's findings agree with other reports?
Strewth, mate, some of us have Buckley's of understanding these septic-isms. But, no wocking furries, I have more important concerns this arvo - like watching the poms get their sticks rattled in Brissie.
"The median expert foresees that by 2030 AI will be responsible for 7 percent of US electricity usage, assist in 18 percent of work hours in the US, and provide daily companionship for 15 percent of adults
I predict that, by 2026, AI will be responsible for 95% of all garbage spouted by experts.
If you don't believe me, I'm sure Nostradamus predicted it.
A tempting idea, but don't forget that personal audiences are part of the Pope's role as head of state, and reserved mostly for heads of state, government, and new ambassadors. Extending this to the hoi polloi would certainly ruffle a few self-important feathers (as well as those who miss out because of no internet access, etc).
Maybe John 20:29 sort of applies here
"AI-generated outputs introduced structural inefficiencies in information processing because most AI-prefilled content required manual correction or deletion"
I can't help thinking that the effort required to correct any content that had been prefilled by AI would more than outweigh any supposed efficiency gains - reading, guessing at any mis-transcribed words, and filling in missing bits would, in my mind, take much more time than a human typing away while the client is on the phone.
Add to that the mis-interpretation of emotional cues - which could also be down to client stress on realising they are talking to an AI-bot rather than a real person
"forcing Ukraine into a capitulation which will almost inevitably result in future invasion by Russia into whatever is left
It's not "almost", it is certain. Putin wants to restore Russia to its pre-1914 borders, including Ukraine*, Belarus, Poland, Finland, etc, etc. If the US and Europe don't stand united with Ukraine now, it will happen.
*Yes, I do know that Russia didn't occupy all of Ukraine before 1914, but you think that will bother Vladimir?
Quite so.
There could also be some additional problems for US manufacturers:
- unless the tariff were to apply to the total value of anything with a chip in it (which is quite a lot of stuff these days), there would be no incentive for US companies to produce locally, much easier to import the whole machine.
- if the tariff were to be applied both to the chips and anything with a chip in it, there would likely be retaliatory tariffs on US produced goods for export to other countries. So, the price of US goods for export would face a double tariff - once when importing the component, and again when the completed product is exported to another country. This would possibly mean that US manufacturers would be limited to the local market, while overseas companies could enjoy the advantages both of cheaper labour and the economies of scale by having a larger potential market. And, even with a 25% tariff, it could be harder for US companies to compete with imported washing machines (or whatever) from Thailand (or wherever).
