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AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

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Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#71

Post by [deleted] »

mallowdram wrote: post #62
oblio wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I understand this. Maybe an example would help, please?

Use your imagination. Any event that cannot be defined by low dimensional meaning (which there are myriad). The problem with the distinctions between event perception (what causes a car crash) and what AI assimilates is the arbitrary bottleneck of words, causal statements, images, deep reductions which are possible illusions of semantics like beliefs, motivations, desires. Humans can take in a remarkable array of sti…

[deleted]

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#72

Post by alexashka »

theideaofcoffee wrote: post #11

The problem with most corporate work that these managerial idiots want replaced with AI is that is all so utterly useless. Reports written that no one will ever read, presentations made for the sake of the busy-ness of "making a deck", notes and minutes of meetings that should never have taken place in the first place. Summaries written by AI of longer-form work that are then shoved into AI to make sense of the AI-wr…

The problem with corporate work is that it exists - that corporations exist.

You do have the option to spend your time elsewhere - if you can handle every NPC friend and family member thinking you've lost your mind when you quit that cushy corporate gig and go work a low status, low pay job in peace and quiet - something like a night time security guard.

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#73

Post by handfuloflight »

varjag wrote: post #68
handfuloflight wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Grasping nuance and implications of human replies is also something LLMs struggle with.

You're claiming there's a detectable "mental signature" but dodging the fact that this claim is inherently testable.

Either the signature is recognizable enough to put you in that "offended 22%," or it isn't. You can't invoke pattern recognition to justify your irritation, then hide behind "nuance" when the logical implication—that you should be able to spot it blind—gets pointed out.

Turns out humans are just as evasive as LLMs when pressed to back up what they actually said.

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#74

Post by belval »

ryandrake wrote: post #30

My management chain has recently mandated the use of AI during day-to-day work, but also went the extra step to mandate that it make us more productive , too. Come annual review time, we need to write down all the ways AI made our work better. That positive outcome is pre-supposed: there doesn't seem to be any affordance for the case where AI actually makes your work worse or slower. I guess we're supposed to ignore…

I was in a lovely meeting where a senior "leader" was looking at effort estimates and said "Do these factor in AI-tools? Seems like it should be at least 30% lower if it did."

Like I use AI tools, I even like using them, but saying "this tool is so good it will cut our dev time by 30%" should be coming from the developers themselves or their direct manager. Otherwise they are just making figures up and forcing them onto their teams.

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#75

Post by handfuloflight »

varjag wrote: post #67
daemonologist wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure if this comment was written by a language model, or by a human pretending to be a language model.

I'm certain the account operator's parents think he is smart.

Yours don't?

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#76

Post by nphardon »

arwhatever wrote: post #58
nphardon wrote: post #53

The ai use mandates are odd. My guess is that the c-level execs have very little practical technical skills at this point, probably haven't written a line of code in 20 years. And they believe ALL the ai hype. They think LLM's can do anything, so any employees not using them are clearly wasting time.

The AI usage mandates are odd because why do the execs doubt that the workers try on their own to get the maximum utility out of the AI tools?

That adds to the dissonance for sure.

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#77

Post by varjag »

handfuloflight wrote: post #73
varjag wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grasping nuance and implications of human replies is also something LLMs struggle with.

You're claiming there's a detectable "mental signature" but dodging the fact that this claim is inherently testable. Either the signature is recognizable enough to put you in that "offended 22%," or it isn't. You can't invoke pattern recognition to justify your irritation, then hide behind "nuance" when the logical implication—that you should be able to spot it blind—gets pointed out. Turns out humans are just as eva…

I am not arguing with bots sweetie. Sorry the little model that almost could, flagging your replies here.

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#78

Post by shash »

joe_the_user wrote: post #50
paultopia wrote: post #45

Is it the “workslop” that is causing the problem, or the slop that companies demand and that passes for work in the first place? Really wanna summon the ghost of David Graeber (“Bullshit Jobs”) here: if you’re a manager who demands your employees to produce PowerPoints about the TPS reports, you probably shouldn’t be surprised when you get meaningless LLM argle-bargle in return.

Fair point, The thing about companies asking for slop is that a middle manager maintaining usual stream of vacuous text is a proxy for that person paying attention to a given set of problems and alerting others. AI becomes a problem because someone can maintain a vacuous text stream without that attention. So it's likely to become an arms-race.

> So it's likely to become an arms-race.

And this is my real fear with the current crop of AI. That rather than improving the system to require less junk, we just use AI to generate junk and AI to parse AI-generated junk that another AI summarises ad infinitum…

Like, instead of building a framework that reduces boilerplate code, we use an LLM to generate that boilerplate instead (in a more complex and confusing manner than using a traditional template would).

Or, when dealing with legal or quasi-legal matters (like certifications), 1. Generate AI slop to fill a template 2. Use AI to parse that template and say whether it’s done 3. Use another to write a response.

Lots of paperwork happening near instantly, mostly just burning energy and not adding to either the body of knowledge or getting to a solution.

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#79

Post by gdulli »

ryandrake wrote: post #30

My management chain has recently mandated the use of AI during day-to-day work, but also went the extra step to mandate that it make us more productive , too. Come annual review time, we need to write down all the ways AI made our work better. That positive outcome is pre-supposed: there doesn't seem to be any affordance for the case where AI actually makes your work worse or slower. I guess we're supposed to ignore…

> but also went the extra step to mandate that it make us more productive, too.

Before you make any decision, ask yourself: "Is this good for the company?"

Re: AI-generated “workslop” is destroying productivity?

#80

Post by handfuloflight »

varjag wrote: post #77
handfuloflight wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're claiming there's a detectable "mental signature" but dodging the fact that this claim is inherently testable. Either the signature is recognizable enough to put you in that "offended 22%," or it isn't. You can't invoke pattern recognition to justify your irritation, then hide behind "nuance" when the logical implication—that you should be able to spot it blind—gets pointed out. Turns out humans are just as eva…

I am not arguing with bots sweetie. Sorry the little model that almost could, flagging your replies here.

[flagged]
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