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ChatGPT's ability to mass produce content just demonstrates the banality of most content. Ditto DALL-E et al. It reminds me of Dadaism. With the algorithms are

ChatGPT's ability to mass produce content just demonstrates the banality of most content. Ditto DALL-E et al. It reminds me of Dadaism. With the algorithms are the critics, vs the artists. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada -- I also agree with other critical hot takes, like Ted Chiang's analogy "ChatGPT is jpeg style compression for text". A less accusatory framing than Chomsky's plagiarism thesis, more or less. -- I'm still chewing on the learning angle. Did adoption of calculators lead to less learning of arithmetic. Certainly. Was that a bad thing? I honestly don't know.

Spooky23 4y ago
> Did adoption of calculators lead to less learning of arithmetic. Certainly. Was that a bad thing? I honestly don't know. IMO it was bad for individuals, good for society. People are innumerate and that is exploited by people selling products and services.
- Version467 4y ago
  I don't understand how you get from here: > People are innumerate and that is exploited by people selling products and services. to here: > good for society Did I misunderstand your argument?
  - Spooky23 4y ago
    Maybe economy is a better word? In the short term, any ding dong punching into a calculator or Excel can do something productive cheaper than someone who knows what they are doing. An elderly relative was manager in a cash room at a regional bank. In the 70s… they had a huge cash room, that would accommodate 25’ trucks. When she started they were still doing manual counts, and eventually moved to tabulating machines. Each generation of tech eliminates a chunk of workforce. Instead of 5,000 clerks, that bank has 50 software engineers performing the same functions with a couple of dozen clerical staff.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- emodendroket 4y ago
  It is not obvious to me why I should believe people were more numerate in the past.
thundergolfer 4y ago
> Did adoption of calculators lead to less learning of arithmetic. There's discussion of this in the book The Shallows, which is a book that gives a good overview of the relationship between technology that augment our intellect and contemporary society. The gist is that calculators where a boon to mathematical education, because they freed up students to spend more time working through the challenging abstract aspects of mathematics, and less time with the mechanics of arithmetic. I don't see there being any analogy between using ChatGPT _as an essay writer_ and using a calculator. The essay writing itself is the substantive educational process, and so it cannot be outsourced. What is not the substantive part of the educational process is the actual production of the typed word, and so the use of a pen, typewriter, or computer keyboard is less material, though still absolutely relevant. The affect of the writing/typing tool on the essayist is also discussed in the book.
- specialist 4y ago
  I'm remiss in having not yet read (the highly recommended) The Shallows. Thanks. I'd be elated to have my hunches about this proven wrong. > the actual production of the typed word FWIW, this is my hang up. I'm quite comfortable typing. And yet I still write many things out manually. It just feels different. And I don't know why.

Spooky23 4y ago

> Did adoption of calculators lead to less learning of arithmetic. Certainly. Was that a bad thing? I honestly don't know. IMO it was bad for individuals, good for society. People are innumerate and that is exploited by people selling products and services.

Version467 4y ago
I don't understand how you get from here: > People are innumerate and that is exploited by people selling products and services. to here: > good for society Did I misunderstand your argument?
- Spooky23 4y ago
  Maybe economy is a better word? In the short term, any ding dong punching into a calculator or Excel can do something productive cheaper than someone who knows what they are doing. An elderly relative was manager in a cash room at a regional bank. In the 70s… they had a huge cash room, that would accommodate 25’ trucks. When she started they were still doing manual counts, and eventually moved to tabulating machines. Each generation of tech eliminates a chunk of workforce. Instead of 5,000 clerks, that bank has 50 software engineers performing the same functions with a couple of dozen clerical staff.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
emodendroket 4y ago
It is not obvious to me why I should believe people were more numerate in the past.

thundergolfer 4y ago

> Did adoption of calculators lead to less learning of arithmetic. There's discussion of this in the book The Shallows, which is a book that gives a good overview of the relationship between technology that augment our intellect and contemporary society. The gist is that calculators where a boon to mathematical education, because they freed up students to spend more time working through the challenging abstract aspects of mathematics, and less time with the mechanics of arithmetic. I don't see there being any analogy between using ChatGPT _as an essay writer_ and using a calculator. The essay writing itself is the substantive educational process, and so it cannot be outsourced. What is not the substantive part of the educational process is the actual production of the typed word, and so the use of a pen, typewriter, or computer keyboard is less material, though still absolutely relevant. The affect of the writing/typing tool on the essayist is also discussed in the book.

specialist 4y ago
I'm remiss in having not yet read (the highly recommended) The Shallows. Thanks. I'd be elated to have my hunches about this proven wrong. > the actual production of the typed word FWIW, this is my hang up. I'm quite comfortable typing. And yet I still write many things out manually. It just feels different. And I don't know why.