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I posted some comments about ChatGTP in a local FB group and there was a pretty large percent of folks who responded here that think it's just an awful thing th

by oblib 4y ago

I posted some comments about ChatGTP in a local FB group and there was a pretty large percent of folks who responded here that think it's just an awful thing that's going to lead to the downfall of civilization. I tried to offer that it is pretty cool, but it's just software that basically presents search engine results in a different manner along with a few other tricks, but it's not "HAL". I live in a very red and rural area so that probably has something to do with it. They love to have new things to complain about that have no effect on any of us at all.

jonahx 4y ago
> I live in a very red and rural area so that probably has something to do with it. They love to have new things to complain about that have no effect on any of us at all. That seems an ungenerous interpretation. I don't doubt that their understanding is full of science-fiction inspired fear, but the implications and dangers of this tech is a hotly debated topic among informed experts. So, even if their specific fears are ungrounded, their fear may not be (ie, effects on the economy, culture, education, especially as the tech advances, which it will).
- actionfromafar 4y ago
  Especially since the powers that be didn't really do much to cushion the impact of previous societal advances.
kat_rebelo 4y ago
i'm not a red state / far right / pro-trump in any sense of the word. however, i don't think it is very unreasonable to extrapolate bit and see the potential for societal harm. over the past three years the entire world was impacted by a dire health crisis where misinformation played a large role in distorting public perception. this has direct impacts on public health (people not wearing masks, refusing vaccines) and has spillover effect into other parts of people's lives (political polarization around said issues). what you see as a pretty cool toy could also easily be abused as a giant round the clock fake news generator. it doesn't matter if the text is true or even makes any sense... an alarming amount of people will take anything they read as fact without investigating the sources. this can be done as is with chatgpt right now. it has obscenity filters sure, but fake news is trying to pass as legitimate reporting, so it will probably be framed in a tone that escapes the obvious filters they have. then consider the implications for robotexting, phishing, automated bots that pretend to be you to customer service chats, social media bots, messaging app scammers. all of these things are currently problems that can cause harm both personal and societal... and chatgpt will make it easier and cheaper to scale them up to new levels.
- Silverback_VII 4y ago
  >misinformation played a large role in distorting public perception. this has direct impacts on public health (people not wearing masks, refusing vaccines) I increasingly hear things that suggest that those who wore masks and got vaccinated were the ones who were actually misinformed. Of course, you won't hear any of that on CNN
  - oblib 4y ago
    > I increasingly hear things that suggest those who wore masks and got vaccinated were the ones who were actually misinformed The only folks who were misinformed are those who never took the time to learn about masks and vaccinations. But to be fair that is a huge number of folks here in the U.S. I've yet hear anyone talk about someone they infected who was killed by it though. With over 1.1 Million dead from it here in the U.S. that's astonishing. So is the fact that it is still killing around 2000+ a week here.
gwright 4y ago
> I live in a very red and rural area This seems like an unnecessary invocation of negative stereotypes. What makes you think people outside outside that demographic don't have similar thoughts? Anecdata and all that.
IIAOPSW 4y ago
I'll bite. How does chatgpt fit into any of the conservative themes? I'm baffled. Its not gendered, its not an immigrant, its not "elitist", it generally isn't partisan or for that matter opinionated. Why the hate?
- virissimo 4y ago
  ChatGPT (at least earlier versions) was deliberately fine-tuned to strongly favor one side of the American culture war. See this paper for an attempt at quantifying its political bias: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/148 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/148.
- ilaksh 4y ago
  No topic needs to fit into any theme for one political group to hate it. The only thing it needs is enthusiasm from the other side. None of it is rational. In fact multiple issues in American history have completely switched parties over the years. The fact that people think they are rationally debating issues is the problem.
- oblib 4y ago
  "Its not gendered, its not an immigrant, its not "elitist", it generally isn't partisan or for that matter opinionated." Same could be said about Covid, vaccines, and masking during a viral pandemic. My guess is it's an addiction to the outrage FOX News sells (and others like it).
oblib 4y ago
Wow... I didn't expect to get so many panties knotted up with that observation, but I think those who down voted it prove my observation. What bugs me most about ChatGPT is that it doesn't attribute where it got the results it offers. For example, I asked it: "how to save a document with PouchDB" and it showed me the code, and while I didn't compare it, it looks like a copy and paste from PouchDB.com, and that should be referenced with a link in the response if that's the case, but it was not.

by oblib 4y ago

jonahx 4y ago

> I live in a very red and rural area so that probably has something to do with it. They love to have new things to complain about that have no effect on any of us at all. That seems an ungenerous interpretation. I don't doubt that their understanding is full of science-fiction inspired fear, but the implications and dangers of this tech is a hotly debated topic among informed experts. So, even if their specific fears are ungrounded, their fear may not be (ie, effects on the economy, culture, education, especially as the tech advances, which it will).

actionfromafar 4y ago
Especially since the powers that be didn't really do much to cushion the impact of previous societal advances.

kat_rebelo 4y ago

i'm not a red state / far right / pro-trump in any sense of the word. however, i don't think it is very unreasonable to extrapolate bit and see the potential for societal harm. over the past three years the entire world was impacted by a dire health crisis where misinformation played a large role in distorting public perception. this has direct impacts on public health (people not wearing masks, refusing vaccines) and has spillover effect into other parts of people's lives (political polarization around said issues). what you see as a pretty cool toy could also easily be abused as a giant round the clock fake news generator. it doesn't matter if the text is true or even makes any sense... an alarming amount of people will take anything they read as fact without investigating the sources. this can be done as is with chatgpt right now. it has obscenity filters sure, but fake news is trying to pass as legitimate reporting, so it will probably be framed in a tone that escapes the obvious filters they have. then consider the implications for robotexting, phishing, automated bots that pretend to be you to customer service chats, social media bots, messaging app scammers. all of these things are currently problems that can cause harm both personal and societal... and chatgpt will make it easier and cheaper to scale them up to new levels.

Silverback_VII 4y ago
>misinformation played a large role in distorting public perception. this has direct impacts on public health (people not wearing masks, refusing vaccines) I increasingly hear things that suggest that those who wore masks and got vaccinated were the ones who were actually misinformed. Of course, you won't hear any of that on CNN
- oblib 4y ago
  > I increasingly hear things that suggest those who wore masks and got vaccinated were the ones who were actually misinformed The only folks who were misinformed are those who never took the time to learn about masks and vaccinations. But to be fair that is a huge number of folks here in the U.S. I've yet hear anyone talk about someone they infected who was killed by it though. With over 1.1 Million dead from it here in the U.S. that's astonishing. So is the fact that it is still killing around 2000+ a week here.

gwright 4y ago

> I live in a very red and rural area This seems like an unnecessary invocation of negative stereotypes. What makes you think people outside outside that demographic don't have similar thoughts? Anecdata and all that.

IIAOPSW 4y ago

I'll bite. How does chatgpt fit into any of the conservative themes? I'm baffled. Its not gendered, its not an immigrant, its not "elitist", it generally isn't partisan or for that matter opinionated. Why the hate?

virissimo 4y ago
ChatGPT (at least earlier versions) was deliberately fine-tuned to strongly favor one side of the American culture war. See this paper for an attempt at quantifying its political bias: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/148 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/3/148.
ilaksh 4y ago
No topic needs to fit into any theme for one political group to hate it. The only thing it needs is enthusiasm from the other side. None of it is rational. In fact multiple issues in American history have completely switched parties over the years. The fact that people think they are rationally debating issues is the problem.
oblib 4y ago
"Its not gendered, its not an immigrant, its not "elitist", it generally isn't partisan or for that matter opinionated." Same could be said about Covid, vaccines, and masking during a viral pandemic. My guess is it's an addiction to the outrage FOX News sells (and others like it).

oblib 4y ago

Wow... I didn't expect to get so many panties knotted up with that observation, but I think those who down voted it prove my observation. What bugs me most about ChatGPT is that it doesn't attribute where it got the results it offers. For example, I asked it: "how to save a document with PouchDB" and it showed me the code, and while I didn't compare it, it looks like a copy and paste from PouchDB.com, and that should be referenced with a link in the response if that's the case, but it was not.