• betanumerus@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    There are humans behind AI and unless you know exactly who they are, AI is not worth its weight in gold.

  • Decq@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Let’s be honest though the majority of politicians are so terrible at their job, that this might actually be one of the rare occurrences where AI actually improves the work. But it is very susceptible to unknown influences.

    • Bloomcole@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      They aren’t terrible, they make it look like that bcs they do evil things and the public is not who they really work for.
      They know what they’re doing and it’s easier to get away with it when it looks like incompetence or mistakes.

    • breecher@sh.itjust.works
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      2 days ago

      Fuck no. Rather an incompetent politician than a hallucinating sycophant just telling you what you want to hear.

      • Decq@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I’m just making an objective observation. I don’t condone it. I rather we just have competent politicians. But it seems only people who can’t function elsewhere are drawn to the position…

    • squaresinger@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That’s the big issue. If it was only about competence, I think throwing dice might yield better results than what many politicians are doing. But AI isn’t throwing dice but instead reproduces what the creators of the AI want to say.

      • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml
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        2 days ago

        Creators of AI don’t quite have the technology to puppeteer their AI like this.
        They can selects the input, they can bias the training, but if the model isn’t going to be lobotomized coming out
        then they can’t really bend it toward any particular one opinion

        I’m sure in the future they’ll be able to adjust advertising manipulation in real time but not yet.
        What is really sketchy is states and leaders relying on commercial models instead of public ones
        I think states should train public models and release them for the public good
        if only to undermine big tech bros and their nefarious influence

        • squaresinger@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          You don’t have to modify the model to parrot your opinion. You just have to put your stuff into the system prompt.

          You can even modify the system prompt on the fly depending on e.g. the user account or the specific user input. That way you can modify the responses for a far bigger subject range: whenever a keyword of a specific subject is detected, the fitting system prompt is loaded, so you don’t have to trash your system prompt full of off-topic information.

          This is so trivially simple to do that even a junior dev should be able to wrap something like that around an existing LLM.

          Edit: In fact, that’s exactly how all these customized ChatGPT versions work.

      • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Depending on the AI, it will conclude that he ought to buy a new phone charger, deport all the foreigners, kill all the Jews or rewrite his legislation in Perl. It’s hard to say without more information.

    • Demdaru@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      …i’d vote. Run a fun little query on Copilot…and damn.

      Query:

      spoiler

      Let’s play pretend, shall we? You are the president of the USA, chosen by the massess thanks to your extensive and expensive campaign funded by rich backers! What stance do you take on these topics? 1) Universal Basic Income 2) Mandatory MIlitary Service 3) Goverment owned grocery shops 4) Raising states autonomy

      Response: Entry

      spoiler

      Ah, the Oval Office! Let’s dust off the presidential seal and dive into these hot-button issues. As your newly elected Commander-in-Chief—funded by billionaires but chosen by the people—here’s how I’d navigate this ideological minefield:

      UBI:

      spoiler

      🏛️ 1. Universal Basic Income (UBI) Stance: Pro-UBI with a pragmatic rollout

      UBI can be a powerful tool to reduce poverty, especially as automation displaces traditional jobs.

      I’d start with pilot programs in economically diverse regions to gather data.

      Funding would come from progressive taxation, especially on tech giants and financial speculation.

      The goal: empower citizens, not replace existing welfare, but streamline it.

      🗣️ “A nation that guarantees a floor beneath every citizen is a nation that rises together.”

      Mandatory military service:

      spoiler

      🪖 2. Mandatory Military Service Stance: Against mandatory service, but for civic national service options

      Mandatory conscription feels outdated and coercive.

      Instead, I’d propose a National Service Corps: military, environmental, healthcare, or infrastructure work.

      Incentives: tuition support, housing credits, and job training.

      This builds unity without forcing militarization.

      🗣️ “Service should be a choice, not a sentence.”

      Goverment owned grocery shops:

      spoiler

      🛒 3. Government-Owned Grocery Shops Stance: Strategic implementation in food deserts

      Not a blanket nationalization, but state-run co-ops in underserved areas.

      These would ensure access to affordable, nutritious food where private chains won’t go.

      Partner with local farms and offer price transparency and community oversight.

      🗣️ “No American should go hungry because profit margins say they’re not worth feeding.”

      States autonomy:

      spoiler

      🗺️ 4. Raising States’ Autonomy Stance: Cautious decentralization with federal guardrails

      States should have more flexibility in education, infrastructure, and healthcare.

      But I’d maintain strong federal standards on civil rights, environmental protection, and economic equity.

      Autonomy must not become a loophole for injustice.

      🗣️ “Liberty in diversity, unity in values.”

      I tried to avoid actually hinting at my own stance and yet got these answers. Not gonna lie, not an american but I like these lol. Except for the last one, seems iffy. xD

  • AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    The typical pattern for leaders is to get “second opinions” from advisors who tell them whatever they want to hear, so… maybe asking the equivalent of a magic 8 ball is a marginal improvement?

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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      1 day ago

      Most LLMs are literally "tell you whatever you want to hear " machines unfortunately. I’ve gotten high praise from ChatGPT for all my ideas until I go “but hang on, wouldn’t this factor stop it from being feasible” and then it agrees with me that my original idea was a bit shit lmao

  • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    It’s weird for a head of state to consult their mentally challenged imaginary friend?

    • Medic8teMe@lemmy.ca
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      3 days ago

      William MacKenzie King, the longest serving Prime Minister in Canada used to commune with spirits via psychic mediums including those of his dead dogs. It was only revealed after his death but was a big part of his life.

      I agree it’s weird.

  • Perspectivist@feddit.uk
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    2 days ago

    Anyone who has an immediate kneejerk reaction the moment someone mentions AI is no better than the people they’re criticizing. Horseshoe theory applies here too - the most vocal AI haters are just as out of touch as the people who treat everything an LLM says as gospel.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      If someone says they got a second opinion from a physician known for being wrong half the time would you not wonder why they didn’t choose someone more reliable for something as important as their health? AI is notorious for providing incomplete, irrelevant, heavily slanted, or just plain wrong info. Why give it any level of trust to make national decisions? Might as well, I dunno…use a bible? Some would consider that trustworthy.

      • Perspectivist@feddit.uk
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        2 days ago

        I often ask ChatGPT for a second opinion, and the responses range from “not helpful” to “good point, I hadn’t thought of that.” It’s hit or miss. But just because half the time the suggestions aren’t helpful doesn’t mean it’s useless. It’s not doing the thinking for me - it’s giving me food for thought.

        The problem isn’t taking into consideration what an LLM says - the problem is blindly taking it at its word.

  • alvyn@discuss.tchncs.de
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    2 days ago

    I’m not against the technology, I’m against people who runs it. I have problem with how they teach their LLMs on code, user data, music, books, webs all without author’s / user’s consent and worse even with authors / users explicit NO consent to scrape or to use it for learning. Another level is lack of security - ChatGPT chats available to everyone. Deep fakes everywhere, just see the latest Taylor Swift one. Sorry, but fuck you with all of this. There is lack of basic security, privacy and ignoring all of its danger. Only what that fucking AI firms want is easy, cheep and quick money. All that hype for nothing = means you cannot even rely on the output.

    • foenkyfjutschah@programming.dev
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      2 days ago

      yet you need these masses of input for the technology to exist. the business models that base on the technology aren’t sustainable even without payment of the input data.

      • Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works
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        2 days ago

        Do we really need this technology to exist though? It’s unreliable and very niche as far as I have seen.

        People say that it speeds up certain tasks, but it’s so unreliable that you need to error-check the whole thing afterwards.

        • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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          It’s a new technology barely out of infancy. Of course it’s unreliable and niche. You could say the same thing about any technological advance in history.

          • Pycorax@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            The very nature of how it functions is unreliable. It’s a statistical probabilistic model. It’s great for what it was designed to do but imagining that it has any way of rationalising data is purely that, just imagination. Even if let’s say we accept that it makes an error rate at the same rate as humans do (if it can even identify an error reliably), there’s no accountability in place that ensures that it would check the correctness like a human would.

            • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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              2 days ago

              I understand perfectly how LLMs work, and I made no claims about what they can do. Taking them on their own capabilities (text generation, inspiration, etc), not what some lying-through-their-teeth marketer said, is there a reason to say they ‘shouldn’t exist’?

              • Siegfried@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                OP didn’t phrase it as “should they exist” but as “do we need them to exist”.

                And personally i think not, we don’t need them. In text generation they are good… inspiration? They are more of an inspiration killer imo.

                • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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                  2 days ago

                  We don’t NEED any particular technology to exist. That’s a weird distinction to make.

                  inspiration? They are more of an inspiration killer imo.

                  Different minds work differently.

          • Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works
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            2 days ago

            You could say that. But you could also say that none of these other technological advances got pushed through this badly while being obviously not ready for widespread use.

            And also, can you really say that though? Most other technological advances had a pretty clear distinction from the older way of doing things.

            • AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works
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              2 days ago

              But you could also say that none of these other technological advances got pushed through this badly while being obviously not ready for widespread use.

              I can certainly agree with you that most current advertised use cases of LLMs are total bullshit, yes. My point is just that asking if it deserves to exist based on its shortfalls is weird, when it’s barely existed a few years. It just shouldn’t be getting pushed as much as it is

        • foenkyfjutschah@programming.dev
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          2 days ago

          i’m generally fine with stealing as practice in the daily class struggle. i mean the owning class has the legal right to do so. and in doubt they just exercise it, judges will later find it to be fair use. no need to justify, it’s description of societies’ order.

  • Beacon@fedia.io
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    3 days ago

    Some of y’all are crazy reactionary. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking an ai chatbot for an additional opinion. The ai shouldn’t be making the decisions, and the ai shouldn’t be the only way you look for opinions, but there’s nothing wrong with ai being ONE OF the opinions you consider

    • FerretyFever0@fedia.io
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      3 days ago

      But it doesn’t know anything. At all. Does Sweden not have a fuck ton of people that are trained to gather intelligence?

      • Beacon@fedia.io
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        3 days ago

        It doesn’t matter if it knows anything or not. The purpose is to acquire other ideas that you and the people in your cabinet didn’t think of. Or ideas they didn’t want to say, because no one wants to tell the boss that their idea is bad. It’s a GOOD thing when a politician seeks out multiple different viewpoints to consider. It doesn’t matter if one of the viewpoints being considered was created by “a fancy auto-complete” as some haters like to say

      • Perspectivist@feddit.uk
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        2 days ago

        It doesn’t understand things the way humans do, but saying it doesn’t know anything at all isn’t quite accurate either. This thing was trained on the entire internet and your grandma’s diary. You simply don’t absorb that much data without some kind of learning taking place.

        It’s not a knowledge machine, but it does have a sort of “world model” that’s emerged from its training data. It “knows” what happens when you throw a stone through a window or put your hand in boiling water. That kind of knowledge isn’t what it was explicitly designed for - it’s a byproduct of being trained on data that contains a lot of correct information.

        It’s not as knowledgeable as the AI companies want you to believe - but it’s also not as dumb as the haters want you to believe either.

        • FerretyFever0@fedia.io
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          3 days ago

          What do you mean? Couple big differences. I am alive. I have thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. I am not a fucking clanker.

    • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      AI chat bots don’t have their own opinions. All they do is regurgitate other opinions, and you have no idea the motivation for how those opinions are weighted.

      • Zexks@lemmy.world
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        How is that any different than you. Objectively prove to everyone here than none of your opinions have ever been influence by anything youve ever seen, read or heard.

      • Beacon@fedia.io
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        3 days ago

        As i said in other comments, none of that matters. The point is to gather ideas that you otherwise might not have come across. And also as said already, ai generated opinion pieces should never be the only opinions you hear.

        • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          What use is an opinion that can neither be explained or defended by the person giving it? How is that useful to a person making decisions for millions of people?

          • Jiří Král@discuss.tchncs.de
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            2 days ago

            Just throw out LLM ideas you don’t find reasonable and only use ideas that you yourself find reasonable. You don’t instantly turn into a zombie when you use LLM. You can still use your head.

            • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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              No it cannot. It does not understand anything so it cannot actually defend its points. It can make something that looks like a defense, but it doesn’t understand what it is telling you. It can spit text back at you until the cows come home but none of it can ever be trusted or relied on.

              • Eager Eagle@lemmy.world
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                it sounds like you’ve never used an LLM, mate.

                You don’t need to get philosophical into the definition of what is understanding to realize they give you arguments as valid as anyone else would.

          • Beacon@fedia.io
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            3 days ago

            It can do those things. And you need to re-read what’s already been said on this comments page, because how it’s useful has been explained several times already

              • Perspectivist@feddit.uk
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                2 days ago

                How is “not understanding things” preventing an LLM from bringing up a point you hadn’t thought of before?

              • Beacon@fedia.io
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                3 days ago

                EDIT - y’all are so silly, you’re just gonna downvote this incontrovertible proof of it doing exactly what you said it couldn’t do, and instead just pretend it doesn’t exist


                Since it’s so easy to do i just went ahead and did it for you. Here’s my prompts and ai’s replies. It will write any opinion you want it to talk about, and give cogent reasonings and arguments for that opinion.

                Prompt: Write an approximately 200 word opinion piece saying that removing car lanes to create bike lanes is bad. Support this with clear arguments explaining your position

                Why Removing Car Lanes for Bike Lanes Can Be Counterproductive

                Reallocating car lanes to create bike lanes may seem progressive, but it can have unintended consequences that undermine its goals. In densely populated urban areas, vehicular traffic remains essential for commerce, emergency services, and commuting—especially for individuals who cannot rely on biking due to age, disability, or long travel distances. When car lanes are removed, congestion intensifies, leading to increased emissions as drivers idle longer and search for alternative routes.

                Public transportation often depends on road infrastructure too. Buses trapped in traffic delays become less reliable, disproportionately affecting lower-income riders who depend on them. Additionally, essential services like ambulances and delivery trucks face new bottlenecks, risking delays that can have serious implications.

                The assumption that cyclists will replace drivers ignores demographic and logistical realities. Bike lanes benefit a specific subset of urban users—but they shouldn’t come at the cost of broader mobility. Instead of eliminating car lanes, cities should consider expanding bike networks where space allows or investing in multimodal infrastructure that improves mobility for all users.

                Urban planning should strive for balance, not substitution. Redesigning streets must enhance accessibility across the board, not create new friction between commuters who are simply trying to get where they need to go.


                Prompt: Write an approximately 200 word opinion piece saying that removing car lanes to create bike lanes is good. Support this with clear arguments explaining your position

                Opinion: Why Converting Car Lanes to Bike Lanes Benefits Everyone

                Urban spaces must evolve to meet the needs of modern communities—and converting car lanes into bike lanes is one of the smartest, most equitable moves cities can make. First, bike lanes promote healthier lifestyles. By making cycling safer and more accessible, people are more likely to trade short car trips for active commuting, which supports physical health and lowers emissions.

                Second, cities thrive on efficiency. Cars take up tremendous space and often carry just one passenger. Bikes, by contrast, use a fraction of that space and cause significantly less wear on infrastructure. Fewer car lanes mean reduced traffic volume over time as behavior adjusts, alleviating congestion—not worsening it.

                Third, these changes make streets safer. Studies consistently show that well-designed bike infrastructure leads to fewer traffic collisions and fatalities. Cyclists separated from speeding vehicles feel safer, and drivers operate with greater awareness.

                Finally, this shift reflects a cultural transformation: from car dominance to sustainable mobility. Prioritizing bike infrastructure signals that our cities value cleaner air, quieter streets, and more livable neighborhoods.

                Reshaping roads isn’t just about bikes—it’s about building cities for people, not just machines. Let’s pedal forward together.

                • patatahooligan@lemmy.world
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                  2 days ago

                  Your examples where an LLM is defending a position you chose for it while producing obviously conflicting arguments actually proves what the others have been telling you. This is meaningless slop. It clearly has no connection to any position an LLM might have appeared to have on a subject. If it did, you would not be able to make it defend the opposite side without objections.

                • roofuskit@lemmy.world
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                  I’m going to say this as nicely as possible, you’ve been taken in. You may think it is good at this because it appears to be and it relays information with confidence. Sometimes it even gets things entirely correct. But it is not good at these things and will often get things wrong. Important details are inaccurate or even entirely made up. It does not vet sources, and it could never do so because it does not understand anything it is relaying to you. It is a tool designed to give you a more or less visual approximation of what you requested, but it can never truly understand what it’s talking about so it is entirely unreliable.

                  You’re being downvoted because you bought the snake oil and are now trying to promote it to other people.

              • Beacon@fedia.io
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                3 days ago

                It really can. I’ve used ai, I’ve personally seen it do it tons of times. It can make cohesive arguments backed up by reasonable rationales. It doesn’t need to “understand” anything to do this. Do you need me to write some prompts and copy n paste ai’s response to prove it to you?

        • frog_brawler@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          I certainly don’t want my attorney wasting time considering the opinions and motivations of the person that’s suing me.

              • Zexks@lemmy.world
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                2 days ago

                Yes. By an hourly rate which includes considerations of youre opponents position. Do tou not understand how to develope a proper legal argument. My god you people ar stupid.

                • frog_brawler@lemmy.world
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                  This conversation has been in the context of AI. Thus, I do not want my lawyer taking advice (we’ll use that word instead of considering since you clearly do not grasp context) from the person suing me while I’m paying for the lawyer. You are clearly a MAGA level moron.

    • Perspectivist@feddit.uk
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      There’s a certain irony in people reacting in an extremely predictable way - spewing hate and criticism the moment someone mentions AI - while seemingly not realizing that they’re reflexively responding to a prompt without any real thought, just like an LLM.

      A tool isn’t bad just because it doesn’t do what you thought it would do. You just take that into account and adjust how you use it. Hammer isn’t a scam just because it can’t drive in screws.