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I bought an encyclopedia

optoutproject.net

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Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#101

Post by alvperez82 »

Completely agree with the author of the article; the excess of screens added to the rise of generative AI is leading to a generation without critical thinking. For some time, I have been discussing with my family and friends about the resurgence of encyclopedias, reliable sources of information commonly accepted by everyone.

But people don't understand what I'm talking about; they are so used to the pre-digested information from traditional media that they don't question how much truth there is in a news story. The funny thing about this is that a couple of years ago I contacted a very prestigious publisher in my country to ask for information on how to get their encyclopedia, and well, the salesperson almost treated me like I was crazy.

Anyway, let's see what this new rise of AI brings, and I'll keep trying to find an encyclopedia XD.

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#102

Post by neontomo »

susiecambria wrote: post #74

Before my younger daughter headed off to college, I put her through a mini library studies class. It was designed to teach her how to identify authors with different positions on a topic, write summaries, and write brief analyses. It was very loosely based on a required prep school class I took in the early 1980s. She absolutely hated it. Not sure how much good it did her given her lack of interest in the lessons. To…

I'm curious, did you explain to your daughter why you were putting her through it, like you've described it here? If I don't sufficiently understand the "why", the task becomes a chore.

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#103

Post by [deleted] »

aidenn0 wrote: post #92
082349872349872 wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The degree to which my children's teachers actively don't care about this is hard to overstate. Where are you? In the US, education is "free to play"; to win, you need to pay to live in a good school district. (ancient china worked similarly, if the anecdote about Mencius' mother is to be believed)

Southern California. I'd estimate the median household income at my kid's elementary school (which is the most local) to be over $200k. The public secondary schools cover the entire area, so are more economically diverse.

[deleted]

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#104

Post by hammyhavoc »

keiferski wrote: post #33
tpoacher wrote: post #5

There's a very implicit assumption in this text that the encyclopedia you buy in 2024 does NOT contain all sorts of AI-generated stuff. Not sure I have that much faith in the world anymore to trust that to be true.

Knowledge of and use of AI tools in non-tech industries is still pretty low. I wouldn’t expect a publisher of encyclopedias to implement AI tools for years.

AI in publishing is already a huge problem.

https://qz.com/for-dummies-books-publisher-john-wiley-sons-a...

https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/wiley_journals_ai/

https://www.wired.com/story/scammy-ai-generated-books-floodi...

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#105

Post by keiferski »

hammyhavoc wrote: post #104
keiferski wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowledge of and use of AI tools in non-tech industries is still pretty low. I wouldn’t expect a publisher of encyclopedias to implement AI tools for years.

AI in publishing is already a huge problem. https://qz.com/for-dummies-books-publisher-john-wiley-sons-a... https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/wiley_journals_ai/ https://www.wired.com/story/scammy-ai-generated-books-floodi...

Publishing an encyclopedia is a considerably more lengthy process than publishing papers in journals.

I also don't think you actually read the articles you linked to. The first one says that the publisher is planning on using AI, it doesn't say that they have already. As I said in the initial comment:

> I wouldn’t expect a publisher of encyclopedias to implement AI tools for years.

Meaning, an encyclopedia bought today won't be using these tools. Which is what the grandfather comment was about.

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#106

Post by AstroJetson »

Rediscover wrote: post #49
freakcage wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who never owns a car and wants to learn about car. Do you think it's a good book? I am still contemplating between buying book about car or buy pc games called Car Mechanic Simulator.

I really enjoyed John Muir pubs like How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive: A Manual of Step by Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot. They are available for a handful of vehicles (the Subaru one is a favorite of mine). Available at a used bookshop or new. Great drawings, useful for non-motor-heads. The Sub version has info like resuscitating a drowned lizard :) Avoid if You hate R. Crumb style drawings and hippies. Try…

I had this book (and many many many VW's) it was a great help, I did my first valve adjustment with this book in hand.

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#107

Post by namaria »

nottorp wrote: post #8
hiAndrewQuinn wrote: post #4

Conversely, I spent years convincing my parents to buy a computer precisely so I could read Wikipedia. It was pretty much my main hobby between the ages of 14 and 16.

Wikipedia is one of the major positive use cases for the internet*. As long as they can keep up with curation, that is. Paper encyclopedias may be fun, but let's point out that he bought one for the kids to play a 20 year old game in an emulator. So they only need information from 20 years ago. * along with cat photos, obviously.

I fully expect in a 50 years social media will be a bad memory and Wikipedia will be stronger than ever.

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#108

Post by hammyhavoc »

keiferski wrote: post #105
hammyhavoc wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AI in publishing is already a huge problem. https://qz.com/for-dummies-books-publisher-john-wiley-sons-a... https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/wiley_journals_ai/ https://www.wired.com/story/scammy-ai-generated-books-floodi...

Publishing an encyclopedia is a considerably more lengthy process than publishing papers in journals. I also don't think you actually read the articles you linked to. The first one says that the publisher is planning on using AI, it doesn't say that they have already. As I said in the initial comment: > I wouldn’t expect a publisher of encyclopedias to implement AI tools for years. Meaning, an encyclopedia bought tod…

I'll contextualize it better for you as I don't think you understood the unifying theme of two Wiley-related articles:

May 16th: Wiley shuts down journals over AI use: https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/wiley_journals_ai/

June 13th: Wiley book series is going to be using AI: https://qz.com/for-dummies-books-publisher-john-wiley-sons-a...

My interest in Wiley is that my late uncle helped them to "go digital" decades ago, and remained remotely as a proofreader, editor and fact-checker for physics titles. He would be spinning in his grave if he weren't cremated. Honestly depressing to see it happen.

Ten bucks says there's LLM-generated content in encyclopedias today because LLMs have been mainstream for a few years now, and even prominent scientists and experts have been caught out "writing" with LLMs.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.01268

Why wouldn't there be LLM-generated content in encyclopedias today if it's been (ab)used for several years now? Seems a little naive, especially when even Wiley (wow) is openly embracing AI now with a sudden heelturn.

Re: I bought an encyclopedia

#109

Post by hammyhavoc »

bawolff wrote: post #52
jiehong wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the last paragraphs say it clearly: Our information literacy project must start somewhere, preferably far enough from the meandering blather of generative systems that when we encounter them, we have the tools under our belt to evaluate their results. And that, ultimately, is why I bought an Encyclopedia.

But at the start of the article he claims his kids are getting information from wikipedia and youtube videos. Neither of which are generative AI (well i guess it depends which youtube video). So he bought an encyclopedia to prevent his kids from using generative AI even though they weren't using it in the first place? It makes no sense.

You don't think Wikipedia isn't being inundated with LLM-generated shite? And you haven't seen the AI-generated slop on YT with fake voices reading bunk info over slideshows?
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