Tumblr users will see a story that is compelling because it is sad and upsetting and say “okay but what if it was completely happy and nothing ever happened”
It wasn’t just Ottawa: Microsoft Travel published a whole bushel of absurd articles, including the notorious Ottawa guide recommending that tourists dine at the Ottawa Food Bank (“go on an empty stomach”):
There was the article recommending that visitors to Montreal try “a hamburger” and went on to explain that a hamburger was a “sandwich comprised of a ground beef patty, a sliced bun of some kind, and toppings such as lettuce, tomato, cheese, etc” and that some of the best hamburgers in Montreal could be had at McDonald’s.
For Anchorage, Microsoft recommended trying the local delicacy known as “seafood,” which it defined as “basically any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish,” going on to say, “seafood is a versatile ingredient, so it makes sense that we eat it worldwide.”
In Tokyo, visitors seeking “photo-worthy spots” were advised to “eat Wagyu beef.”
There were more.
Microsoft insisted that this wasn’t an issue of “unsupervised AI,” but rather “human error.” On its face, this presents a head-scratcher: is Microsoft saying that a human being erroneously decided to recommend the dining at Ottawa’s food bank?
But a close parsing of the mealy-mouthed disclaimer reveals the truth. The unnamed Microsoft spokesdroid only appears to be claiming that this wasn’t written by an AI, but they’re actually just saying that the AI that wrote it wasn’t “unsupervised.” It was a supervised AI, overseen by a human. Who made an error. Thus: the problem was human error.
To make this more relatable: think about how often you have trained yourself to just click “OK” or “Next” (or the like) when doing something on the computer.
Now think about how many times simply blindly clicking “OK”, “Next”, or the like has resulted in some unwanted operation: an accidentally-deleted file, an unwanted piece of adware, etc.
Even in everyday computing scenarios we humans have the tendency to just fall into blindly following a pattern - usually to speed up a boring, routine and repetitive task - that exceptions can very easily slip through.
Now imagine applying that to reviewing lines of AI-written garbage, and the obviously facepalm-worthy stuff (like that food bank travel recommendation) is going to slip through as well, especially given the pressure from up top to churn out as much of this garbage as quickly as possible.
We need more humans, not more AI.
I guess that explains why when I’m thumbing through images, I have a habit of needing to go back because I just got used to clicking next.
sounds like we need a second AI to review the output of the first AI
“Hello? Finding Out department? I’d like to register an appointment.”
Here’s a little collage with my favorite part: all Natan’s friends watching, filming, and saying “you’re doing amazing sweetie” as he kicks that arrogant little Nazi’s ass
bonus: the shirt Natan chose to wear for the “match”
I’m a survivor of the terror attacks who lived 4 blocks east of the World Trade Center. I lost my home that day, spent years homeless and destitute, and I carry a Zadroga Act diagnosis of 9/11-connected PTSD. If anyone who’s doing this RP needs character coaching or if you need help with authentic scenarios, I’m available for consulting services at reasonable rates. DM me here or leave your number on the men’s room wall at any leather bar and it’ll get to me in 24 hours. Happy 9/11 y'all, and remember fireworks are unsafe and illegal in most jurisdictions.
when fictional characters are addicts i will literally never let anyone forget it or what it means to that character. “teehee he drinks a lot” yeah. and WHY does he do that. what is he using the depressant to depress. why did he start. what is keeping him from recovery. does he know he’s an alcoholic. there’s just so much there and also i wish all of these characters the recovery they deserve
me standing over a dead body with a bloody knife in my hand: look i know this looks very…uh…(absently snaps fingers three times) oh what’s the word….(”bad?”) no, not bad…i mean, yes bad, obviously, but…uh…it’s like “convicting” but it’s not? you know? well anyway..ugh this is gonna be bothering me all day until i think of it..
(3 seconds after getting thrown into the brig) INCRIMINATING
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