Got insincere flattery?

[firecat]

“But I had an epiphany. You know what all this sycophancy constantly being told you’re right, that you’re brilliant, that every decision is flawless? That sounds an awful lot like being a billionaire.”

[sic - perhaps the grammatical error is to show the writer is not an AI]

"The Secret Tool AI Uses to Seduce You: Explained," by Taya Graham and Stephen Janis

I use AI to get answers to simple questions and I hate when the bot addresses me personally. I hate it possibly to an irrational degree. (Even when someone else shares with me an AI convo they had, I get mad.) Do you use AI for anything and what do you think of this design choice?

Comments

[kore]

Sometimes I look at the AI result when doing a search, and one time I couldn't resist it, I told the AI it was horrible and wrong. The bot was like positively servile, it was very weird.

[sabotabby]

Huh, maybe that's why I'm immune. If someone flatters me, or uses my name, I assume they're lying and trying to get something.

I want my tools to feel like tools—an extension of my brain and body. My toaster doesn't talk to me. I put bread in it and it comes out warmer and crispier. When my computer addresses me by name, I get a little spooked even though it's obviously programmed to know my name.

I don't knowingly use AI for anything. I know it's stuffed into some tools I use, like Google, and the result is that I avoid or double check answers when I'm using these tools. I think it's a full-on blight that is going to create a new Dark Ages if enough people don't flat-out refuse and keep their ability to think with their brains.

I loathe AI

[jesse_the_k]

for many reasons. I asked a simple question and it insisted on falsehoods.

It's scammy bubble nonsense, for short.

erinptah does excellent reasons to distrust LLMs link spams

[pameladean]

I avoid AI fervently. It's degrading the environment with every use, and it's easier to avoid than a lot of things that also do that. Also it's based on mass plagiarism. Also it sets my teeth on edge as it seems to do yours. P.

[lilacsigil]

I avoid it and have never deliberately used it. A few results popped up on Duck Duck Go before I turned it off and 2 of the 3 "answers" I saw were completely wrong, and the other one was only half right.

I do think analytical AI is an amazing tool for research. But generative AI is not just pointless but actively harmful.