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If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

fastcompany.com

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Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#31

Post by lurk2 »

tempaccount420 wrote: post #30
lurk2 wrote: post #13

> What is so insulting to me about those AI-written messages is that they take less time and consideration to produce than they do to consume. This is as long as the article needed to be.

Incredible, that's what I always hated about articles. Nowadays I can just pipe them into an LLM to remove the fluff :)

That’s one of the things I’ve always liked about Twitter and Instagram Reels; length restrictions force the content to be more economical. YouTube rewards the opposite behavior, so I find that I don’t spend as much time there.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#32

Post by shmoobadge »

There was a cartoon floating around a few weeks ago wherein the sender of an email used an AI to pad out his 3 points into flowing paragraphs, whereupon the receiver used her AI to summarise it ... down to 3 points.

The value add in that scenario is nearly infinite.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#33

Post by 3np »

kstenerud wrote: post #3

> What is so insulting to me about those AI-written messages is that they take less time and consideration to produce than they do to consume. You are, by the nature of sharing these automated words, signaling to me that you care less about my time and attention than you do your own. Of course you’re free to believe that as much as you like—in your own head. Just don’t drop it into my inbox or feed. Because that’s ru…

> some formulaic letter, complete with all the required phatic flourishes

Why do you think that person reading your letter requires those phatic flourishes? Culturally I believe they serve as a form of proof-of-work: The effort is the point.

Written by an LLM, it becomes truluy valueless slop. Just don't generate the slop in the first place.

> I'd you're actually plowing though that slop yourself, you have only yourself to blame.

What a way to react to someone sincerely reading what you wrote them.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#34

Post by 3np »

thunky wrote: post #21

Is a birthday e-card insulting because I didn't put in the time to go to Hallmark and put a card in the mail? Is a card in the mail insulting because I didn't bother to call? Is a phone call insulting because I didn't offer to take you to dinner? Is dinner insulting because I didn't get you a gift? Is my gift insulting because it only cost $30? Can't please everyone.

More suitable analogues:

An obviously autogenerated ecard

An unsigned card

A robocall

A coupon for dinner instead of actually taking me out

Gifting me an airdrop of your ICO

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#35

Post by alessandroberna »

shmoobadge wrote: post #32

There was a cartoon floating around a few weeks ago wherein the sender of an email used an AI to pad out his 3 points into flowing paragraphs, whereupon the receiver used her AI to summarise it ... down to 3 points. The value add in that scenario is nearly infinite.

Was it this one? https://marketoonist.com/2023/03/ai-written-ai-read.html

I know that it talks about only 1 and not 3 points, but it seems close enoguh

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#36

Post by danjl »

I have noticed that many of the AI generated slop posts intentionally contain grammatical and spelling errors. Sometimes missing or inappropriate words. Clearly this is intentional and designed to make it seem more like a human wrote it, when obviously it was an AI.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#37

Post by danjl »

thunky wrote: post #21

Is a birthday e-card insulting because I didn't put in the time to go to Hallmark and put a card in the mail? Is a card in the mail insulting because I didn't bother to call? Is a phone call insulting because I didn't offer to take you to dinner? Is dinner insulting because I didn't get you a gift? Is my gift insulting because it only cost $30? Can't please everyone.

I've always found ecards to be insulting and never read them. The article has nothing to do with financial commitments. It's about time, a much more valuable and limited resource.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#38

Post by thunky »

danjl wrote: post #37
thunky wrote: post #21

Is a birthday e-card insulting because I didn't put in the time to go to Hallmark and put a card in the mail? Is a card in the mail insulting because I didn't bother to call? Is a phone call insulting because I didn't offer to take you to dinner? Is dinner insulting because I didn't get you a gift? Is my gift insulting because it only cost $30? Can't please everyone.

I've always found ecards to be insulting and never read them. The article has nothing to do with financial commitments. It's about time, a much more valuable and limited resource.

Case in point.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#39

Post by jjk166 »

3np wrote: post #33
kstenerud wrote: post #3

> What is so insulting to me about those AI-written messages is that they take less time and consideration to produce than they do to consume. You are, by the nature of sharing these automated words, signaling to me that you care less about my time and attention than you do your own. Of course you’re free to believe that as much as you like—in your own head. Just don’t drop it into my inbox or feed. Because that’s ru…

> some formulaic letter, complete with all the required phatic flourishes Why do you think that person reading your letter requires those phatic flourishes? Culturally I believe they serve as a form of proof-of-work: The effort is the point. Written by an LLM, it becomes truluy valueless slop. Just don't generate the slop in the first place. > I'd you're actually plowing though that slop yourself, you have only yours…

The effort is not the point. Communicating is the point. Up until very recently, there was no alternative way to send a letter without writing a letter. There was no need to prove work was done. Cultural changes are much slower than technological changes, and thus things continue to be culturally required despite no longer being useful.

The idea that someone should waste their time to "prove their work" to you is absurd. If I knew someone did, I would deliberately go out of my way to bury information in excessive AI slop for them.

Re: If you use AI to write me that note, don't expect me to read it

#40

Post by jjk166 »

Bad take, bad article. Using tools at your disposal to produce things of comparable quality to what you would produce without the tools is not bad etiquette, complaining about other people not putting more time and effort into something they are giving you for free is.
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