Category: Technology

Bear with me!

I was on the phone with some utility… I don’t remember who. Who can? Their phone prompts sounded just like Apple’s, and every other “Helpful Automated Phone system.”  None of which are helpful to me at all.

In that moment while I was grinding my teeth listening to a bunch of choices that I didn’t want, and having the system telling me, “I didn’t understand what you’re asking for, so let’s try again…”

I thought, “I don’t want or need to deal with this frustration in my life,” in addition to the frustration of whatever problem was serious enough for me to call this Servicer Company in the first place.

Yeah, I’m getting right back to acting like a Nebari. Folks this ain’t gonna be pretty. 

“Servicer, here is the account number, I don’t care what your name is, I don’t choose to give you my name, I give the commands – You execute the commands. That is the extent of our relationship.”

I gotta admit there are some fictional races from science fiction that have really stuck with me. The Nebari from FarScape, The Romulans from StarTrek, The Omecs and the Indogenes from Defiance. There are others, Predators and Aliens for example, and still more which are the stuff of nightmares. 

I think the Nebari stick with me most because they simply “KNOW” they’re right. I identify with the kind of arrogance!

Anyway, my point is that I’m not going to willingly talk to automated phone systems anymore. I don’t as a rule use a company’s website for anything except the simplest of things and these days the list of simple things is dwindling as well. It’s gotten to the point that some websites won’t show you your bill without 97 factor authentication.

If I’ve already set up multi-factor authentication, then let’s do it! Stop changing the protocol such that my stored passwords are no longer functional and my stored user ID is locked out.

Does no-one test their software anymore prior to shoving it down a captive population’s throat?

Due to the ever increasing complexity of corporate phone trees, and the ever decreasing return on my investment of time to get something done I’ve started going to the branches of the corporations in question.

I will no longer be a faceless, imaginary, easily ignored, person. Oh they’re going to have to see me, hear me, and if I’ve been working in the yard… smell me!

If they point out that they have phone and web services I’m going to show them my smart phone or watch and loudly explain that I choose to be a physical pain in their asses because satisfaction cannot be had via their corporate phone or web site. 

I want to see them CRY!

As this particular train of thought derailed in my mind, it occurred to me that AI living on the Web might meet its demise not through corrupted use but through lack of use. AI could be the death of the internet, or at least a driving force in humankind choosing to use the internet less.

For years, there have been “news” sites on the internet that read like the old tabloid publications from the grocery checkout lines. Within the last 15 years or so, even so-called “reputable” news sites have become nothing more than replicators of a single story with a paragraph or two of “Original” material serving as an “Analysis” of the original item that is being reposted.

The same thing is happening on the major broadcast news sites too if you think about it.

The only changes there are the talking heads, and a slightly different spin to appear non-homogeneous but the underlying story is exactly the same shit.

That’s why a lot of people are disconnecting their cable feeds and going back to antennas or just the internet.

Why pay for the exact same take on every single news article from 50 news channels when an antenna can pull the same garbage right off the air for free?

See I just saved you $200 a month. You’re welcome!

I’ve been noticing for years that people “Writing” are actually dictating their articles. I’ve also noticed that they’re not always proofreading their articles. (Yes, I know I’m the kettle calling the pot black. I however am not a trained journalist. I also don’t dictate my pieces, I actually type them. Although sometimes the autocorrect systems “Help” me really fuck up a word I’ve spelled incorrectly.)

Lately I’ve been noticing AI generated output. I’m looking for an example because like an idiot I didn’t save what I was reading when I noticed the Artificial-ness  (I know, the word is “artificiality”, ) of the article. I went with “Artificial-ness so I wouldn’t be called racist for using actual English words correctly. Apparently having a vocabulary these days is in fact a demonstration of white privilege, a micro aggression, and completely racist. So you may notice me giving myself a lobotomy from time to time…

I digress, AI generated articles are interesting and noticeable. I can’t really describe what the tip off is, I can only say you’ll know it when you see it.

The text is just “off”, and the conclusions of the piece are skewed in an odd way. It’s rather like reading something that’s been passed through Google Translate© several times. The construction is prefect but the meaning is ambiguous or lost entirely. 

Admittedly, there are some articles that are very subtly non human. I’ve noticed that I don’t enjoy reading them. In the case of some “scientific” articles the lead is buried completely.

For Example, there’s an archeological site in Turkey that was thought to be a “One Off” religious site not an example of a civilization. The site is called Göbekli Tepe and dates to somewhere between 10 and 12 thousand years and was intentionally buried.

10 to 12 thousand years ago, Humanity was supposed to be loosely aggregated bands of small semi-agricultural hunter gatherer villages, there was no civilization as defined by archeologists. That’s why the site is called a “one off” religious site and Archeologists breathed a sigh of relief that they didn’t have to explain the sophistication of the site as anything other than religious fervor. 

Then a second site called Karahan Tepe, using the same architecture, and also buried intentionally was discovered 10-20 miles away. Then a third site may have been discovered in the same general area, 10-20 miles from the first two sites, which has yet to be excavated but appears to have the same architectural elements.

We’re talking about a heretofore undiscovered civilization that pushes humanity’s civilization period 5000 years back in time. That’s a big deal! Archeologists are having to rethink civilization and how long humans have been capable large scale coordinated building projects and why.

Interestingly, this discovery also reopens the question of age of the Sphinx. The Egyptian authorities have steadfastly maintained that the Sphinx was built by the Egyptian civilization not an older civilization. The weathering on the sphinx enclosure and the sphinx itself indicate that the sphinx is approximately 12000 years old. Egyptian authorities have denied this age because it predates the Egyptian civilization of the Nile by around 6000 years. 

They’ve been able to maintain their denial because there was no evidence of other civilizations from 10-12 thousand years ago.

Until now.

The AI version of this information was “A site has been discovered in Southern Turkey which has a similar age and building style to Göbekli Tepe, a neolithic site of interest.”

The AI version went on to discuss the original site, and that it was thought to be a Temple Complex for an unknown religion.  The article details the original sites discovery date and makes vague reference to the detailed bass reliefs carved into the stones. 

What the AI articled failed to point out was finding a second site and potentially a third site with the same architecture and artwork isn’t what is typically associated with neolithic people. You might get some petroglyphs on cave walls but you don’t typically get freestanding stones with bass relief depictions of local wildlife, fantasy/mythology creatures,  and humans.

AI doesn’t have soul. AI isn’t going to be fascinated by discoveries. While AI might connect the RAW data, as in this case, AI will not recognize the significance. AI will ultimately produce something that is factually correct but lacks excitement. 

I think that a lot of people will stop using AI because of its lack of excitement in discovery. 

How many people do you know that call utility companies to talk to the helpful people personality phone tree?

One can hope that people with brains will be unimpressed with AI and the technology will be relegated to the pile of interesting ideas that didn’t really pan out.

Fingers crossed! Otherwise the internet is going to become really dull, boring, and extremely annoying to use. Sort of like attempting to contact your local utility company.