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This is also where I really dislike a lot of this more recent push toward automating communication. One person deciding what needs to be said, to whom, and whe

This is also where I really dislike a lot of this more recent push toward automating communication. One person deciding what needs to be said, to whom, and when, can have a LOT of leverage in the productivity department, by reducing the time that tens or even hundreds or thousands of other people lose to coping with the fire hose. Microsoft Copilot has been yet another downgrade in this department. Since it got adopted at my job, I've seen a lot of human-written 3-sentence updates get replaced with 3-page Copilot-generated summaries that take 10 minutes to digest instead of 10 seconds.

ToucanLoucan 2y ago
At my company we are aggressively rolling out policies to forbid the use of AI. I'm one of the bigger folks behind it. I just see no benefits. I have no desire to debug AI generated code, I have no desire to read pages and pages of AI generated fluff, I have no desire to look at AI generated images. Either put the work in or don't.
- Nevermark 2y ago
  If you use AI like a quick answer machine, or quick example machine, they all outdo Google by a large margin. The friction between moving between, and knitting different systems and languages together that I don't use frequently enough to be fluent, has been lowered by an order of magnitude or two. Due to small knowledge gaps getting filled the instant I need them to be. The same with getting a basic understanding (or a basic idea) about almost anything. My AI log documents many stupid questions. I have no inhibitions. It is a joy.
  - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
    > If you use AI like a quick answer machine, or quick example machine, they all outdo Google by a large margin. I mean, A) hallucinations still happen, and B) Google sucks anyway. I don't know of anyone at the company still using Google because we're largely an engineering outfit and all were aware as Google's search features slid into uselessness.
    - bunderbunder 2y ago
      I find that the code I get from Copilot Chat frequently fails to do exactly what I asked, but it almost always at least hits on the portions of a library that I need to use to solve the problem, and gets me to that result much more quickly than most other ways of searching do these days.
    - Nevermark 2y ago
      Hallucinations (or more correctly labelled, confabulation) is a property of human beings as well. We fill in memories because they are not precise, sometimes inaccurately. More to the point, once you know that, having a search engine for ideas that can flexibly discuss them is a tremendous and unprecedented boon. A new tool, many (many) times better than Google ever was for many ordinary, sometimes extraordinary tasks. I don't understand the new gigantic carafe of water is half full viewpoint. Yes, it isn't perfect!? It is still incredibly useful.
      - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
        > Hallucinations (or more correctly labelled, confabulation) is a property of human beings as well. Yeah and if, when I asked a coworker about a thing, he replied with flagrantly wrong bullshit and then doubled-down when criticized, I wouldn't ask him anything after that either.
- baq 2y ago
  Do you also ban Google? Working with AI is like working with Google. You shouldn’t be banning AI, you should be banning copy pasting AI slop.
- bunderbunder 2y ago
  I will say I have warmed to GitHub Copilot's chat feature. It's a great way to look up information and get answers to straightforward questions. It feels similarly productive to how well just Googling for information was back in the 2010s, before Google went full content farm.
mlsu 2y ago
Pretty funny to see the solution to the <industry x> paperwork morass is twofold: an AI to generate paperwork and an AI to understand it. Can we just... not do that at all?
- baq 2y ago
  We can’t. Paperwork exists to be able to transfer knowledge and liability. It isn’t meant for you and it is mostly cost for your company. It’s for lawyers, insurers, investigators, auditors, your future replacement, etc.
- saltcured 2y ago
  Ha, no instead we're going to eventually have to have AI workers getting AI salaries and to spend on AI products. Then the AI governments and eventually AI wars...

ToucanLoucan 2y ago

At my company we are aggressively rolling out policies to forbid the use of AI. I'm one of the bigger folks behind it. I just see no benefits. I have no desire to debug AI generated code, I have no desire to read pages and pages of AI generated fluff, I have no desire to look at AI generated images. Either put the work in or don't.

Nevermark 2y ago
If you use AI like a quick answer machine, or quick example machine, they all outdo Google by a large margin. The friction between moving between, and knitting different systems and languages together that I don't use frequently enough to be fluent, has been lowered by an order of magnitude or two. Due to small knowledge gaps getting filled the instant I need them to be. The same with getting a basic understanding (or a basic idea) about almost anything. My AI log documents many stupid questions. I have no inhibitions. It is a joy.
- ToucanLoucan 2y ago
  > If you use AI like a quick answer machine, or quick example machine, they all outdo Google by a large margin. I mean, A) hallucinations still happen, and B) Google sucks anyway. I don't know of anyone at the company still using Google because we're largely an engineering outfit and all were aware as Google's search features slid into uselessness.
  - bunderbunder 2y ago
    I find that the code I get from Copilot Chat frequently fails to do exactly what I asked, but it almost always at least hits on the portions of a library that I need to use to solve the problem, and gets me to that result much more quickly than most other ways of searching do these days.
  - Nevermark 2y ago
    Hallucinations (or more correctly labelled, confabulation) is a property of human beings as well. We fill in memories because they are not precise, sometimes inaccurately. More to the point, once you know that, having a search engine for ideas that can flexibly discuss them is a tremendous and unprecedented boon. A new tool, many (many) times better than Google ever was for many ordinary, sometimes extraordinary tasks. I don't understand the new gigantic carafe of water is half full viewpoint. Yes, it isn't perfect!? It is still incredibly useful.
    - ToucanLoucan 2y ago
      > Hallucinations (or more correctly labelled, confabulation) is a property of human beings as well. Yeah and if, when I asked a coworker about a thing, he replied with flagrantly wrong bullshit and then doubled-down when criticized, I wouldn't ask him anything after that either.
baq 2y ago
Do you also ban Google? Working with AI is like working with Google. You shouldn’t be banning AI, you should be banning copy pasting AI slop.
bunderbunder 2y ago
I will say I have warmed to GitHub Copilot's chat feature. It's a great way to look up information and get answers to straightforward questions. It feels similarly productive to how well just Googling for information was back in the 2010s, before Google went full content farm.

mlsu 2y ago

Pretty funny to see the solution to the <industry x> paperwork morass is twofold: an AI to generate paperwork and an AI to understand it. Can we just... not do that at all?

baq 2y ago
We can’t. Paperwork exists to be able to transfer knowledge and liability. It isn’t meant for you and it is mostly cost for your company. It’s for lawyers, insurers, investigators, auditors, your future replacement, etc.
saltcured 2y ago
Ha, no instead we're going to eventually have to have AI workers getting AI salaries and to spend on AI products. Then the AI governments and eventually AI wars...