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Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

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Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#321
post #319

I made a comment a long time ago explaining this. Tech enthusiast will judge ai based on what it gets right, we’re interested in what “can” do. Everyone else will judge ai based on where it fails, they are interested in what “problems” it “does” solve. > a fluent conversation with a super smart AI that can generate any image/video is mindblowing to me. They see: A computer software generally unreliable and unable to…

I'd dispute this, as I count myself as a tech enthusiast but I'm an enthusiast for tech which works well. I increasingly find myself having to put up with stuff that doesn't work well, and this AI investment instead of fixing the stuff that Windows is routinely doing to make my working day harder is infuriating.

Also, in my experience, it's the non-tech-enthusiasts who are diving into LLMs because they don't understand what is actually going on and it basically looks like a repeat of the whole thing about ELIZA a few decades ago. Just this time it's vastly more expensive and has to run on a datacentre and can write you an essay instead of just rephrasing your question.

Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#324

I am impressed by AI. I just don't want to use it. "Look at how realistic this extruded text looks from a distance!" is definitely an achievement. It just doesn't add to my life in any useful way.

Have you tried using it as a knowledge retrieval mechanism, I. E., in lieu of Google? Because if not, you really should.

Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#325

I am impressed by AI. I just don't want to use it. "Look at how realistic this extruded text looks from a distance!" is definitely an achievement. It just doesn't add to my life in any useful way.

Have you tried using it as a knowledge retrieval mechanism, I. E., in lieu of Google? Because if not, you really should.

I would invite you to read the other comments on this post by people who have tried to use it for that, and found that it makes regular fundamental errors.

Most of the time you're better off reading a few responses to a given question (on, say, Stack Overflow) and synthesizing your own understanding out of them, rather than taking one that an AI has synthesized for you.

Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s a perception problem AMPLIFIED by a trust problem. People don’t trust Microsoft. Or at least they trust Google more than they trust Microsoft. For a small period of time, I was actually using Edge + Copilot everyday (and it was decent) but their competition has improved so much and appears WAY more privacy focused. I know that Sam Altman is trying hard to stay within the bounds of people’s trust, which once brok…

I'll trust Sam Altman as far as I can throw him. For now he doesn't seem like a bad actor in the AI industry. However, the moment it becomes more sustainably profitable to grow a mustache and start wearing monocles he likely will, and if he doesn't he'll be ousted and replaced by someone far worse.

> For now he doesn't seem like a bad actor in the AI industry.

You may want to take a closer look at Altman's persona.

Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried using it as a knowledge retrieval mechanism, I. E., in lieu of Google? Because if not, you really should.

I would invite you to read the other comments on this post by people who have tried to use it for that, and found that it makes regular fundamental errors. Most of the time you're better off reading a few responses to a given question (on, say, Stack Overflow) and synthesizing your own understanding out of them, rather than taking one that an AI has synthesized for you.

I feel that calling it AI is a big part of the problem.

An LLM parses and generates language exceedingly well. I use LLMs daily now and they are a boon for certain tasks.

An LLM is not an all knowing Oracle. It doesn’t know anything. People who treat the language generator as an authority on anything are fools.

Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#328
post #309

I am not unimpressed, I hate with passion to click away intrusive ”Use Copilot" prompts in MS products. AI is deeply unethical shit. Stolen content transformed under massive waste of energy, i.e. heating the planet. Yes, sometimes the results are impressive. But so are the mistakes it makes. You can't just trust the stuff it produces. I don't see that my colleagues who use it all the time have any better productivity…

Every day Teams gives me the choice to 'add Copilot panel', and the alternative is only 'Maybe later'. No simple "No".

In the past week, I have noticed two things that have "aggravated me" to no end...

Many of my colleagues use a Teams virtual background - I noticed the other day that at least one had the CoPilot logo now injected onto the "blank" wall space behind them... Asked one person if they did that themselves... no, they did not...

Next - NOTEPAD... Yeah, at some point recently that was updated to have a CoPilot button.. No thank-you, that's not why I use notepad... (you can turn it off for now at least)

Re: Microsoft AI CEO pushes back against critics after recent Windows AI backlash

#330
post #319

I made a comment a long time ago explaining this. Tech enthusiast will judge ai based on what it gets right, we’re interested in what “can” do. Everyone else will judge ai based on where it fails, they are interested in what “problems” it “does” solve. > a fluent conversation with a super smart AI that can generate any image/video is mindblowing to me. They see: A computer software generally unreliable and unable to…

> A computer software generally unreliable and unable to accomplish basic tasks

Yeah specifically to your quote: it's very easy to create some images and video. It's very hard to create exactly what you need if you have specific needs.

It's almost as if content creation is hard! Well that's because it is. You need to know the client, understand their needs, make the content in line with their other visual language etc.

What AI makes easier if for things to look professional. But a real professional doesn't just make it look good but also makes it what you need.

Where AI comes in is as a helper, and for those situations where "good enough" suffices. And there are many of those situations. Many of which would not have had the budget for a real pro to do it anyway.

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