I have my own definition of AI which I use if I get annoyed. AI Programming is work one of my sons does. Just finished his degree and out in the real world. Had him do his year placement at work.
He is not artificial but grown in my wife. His brother does fron line IT support, perhaps that should be called JI then?
Sep 22, 2023·edited Sep 22, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
I love 'TNT Steve's', I spent a long and very lucrative career sorting out the shit they left behind them.
In fact you could call me the Reverse 'TNT Steve' Steve.
So, many thanks to them all for my early retirement and a healthy bank balance.
As for 'AI' in the workplace, I'm very happy to say 'You're on your own, Jack. Don't call me unless you have very deep pockets'
Afterthought: Oddly enough the vast majority of 'TNT Steve's' I crossed paths with all worked for either IBM, Oracle or one of the plethora of multi-national consultancies, a lesson to be learned there perhaps?
I remember from a decade or so back, the senior management at the insurance company where I worked decided to replace the existing AS400 based terminal system, with a new shiny (latest buzzword) system.
Two years later the project was abandoned, the consultancy company was sued for breach of contract and everyone kept using the terminals. When you look back at it the speed the call handlers could go through the text menus was so fast, any attempt to introduce a mouse and modern gui would have slowed them down a huge amount. I left there 5 years ago and would guess they are still running on the same platform as it was reliable, fast and got the job done.
Which to be honest is the main purpose of any good system.
Some years ago, I worked for the UK subsidiary of a company that designed and installed utilities around the world. Our continental masters introduced a new ‘concept’ for quoting large projects. An intelligent database, decision-making branching and reiteration. Early AI….
We lost two engineers to the team in Paris writing the pseudo-code for process-modules which then went off for coding by a contractor. It was a massive undertaking and was clearly going to be the best thing since sliced baguette. It was shrouded in secrecy.
Two years later, the project was abandoned. €20 million had evaporated, probably with the bloke doing the coding, leaving only a Gallic shrug from his dad.
Publishing, of the on-line variety, is already under invasion. (As I'm sure you're well aware.)
The result is exactly the kind of verbose, but empty, drivel you'd expect.
And hundreds/thousands of tech articles shat out from the same template:
"In this article we will" <close tab>
Not to mention (which I will anyway) review sites—already plagued with being "updated in aug. 23", when the only thing updated is the year in the title, and the most recent device in the review is five years old—are just automatic flowery rehashes of the spec-sheets in a language reminiscent of a Google translation anno 2009 from Urdu to Danish.
Sep 22, 2023·edited Sep 22, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
Yeah I have no idea which of the dross articles are AI, or just poorly written excessively verbose crap, into which more and more of the same irrelevant ad links can be crammed.
Either way sites like that end up on my ever increasing mental list of, don't click.
I really should take the time to get something more technical setup to avoid them.
Sep 22, 2023·edited Sep 22, 2023Liked by Alistair Dabbs
And guess what will be used to train the next generation of LLM? Sounds like a system of ever diminishing returns to me, the models will get bigger and bigger and their usefulness will get less and less. An outcome to be hoped for.
I keep trying to hold them off. And I'm sure my younger self would have said to me "Illegitimi non carborundum". But this may be the one that finally does it.
I'm just hoping that I can avoid the nonsense and keep doing the job I enjoy for just a little longer - now less than 1000 days until I can take at least partial retirement.
Those outside the UK may be unfamiliar with Broadmoor. It is a high-security mental hospital, the sort of place where TNT Steves ought to be confined to preserve OUR mental health.
I have my own definition of AI which I use if I get annoyed. AI Programming is work one of my sons does. Just finished his degree and out in the real world. Had him do his year placement at work.
He is not artificial but grown in my wife. His brother does fron line IT support, perhaps that should be called JI then?
Gotta love a bit of AC/DC ! Very polite audience though.
According to the description accompanying the video, Angus was 22 years old when this was filmed.
Ooh, that's a hard life right there.
I saw them in 1981 and I think 1984.
One bit of advice, do not have Van Halen on before you.
I love 'TNT Steve's', I spent a long and very lucrative career sorting out the shit they left behind them.
In fact you could call me the Reverse 'TNT Steve' Steve.
So, many thanks to them all for my early retirement and a healthy bank balance.
As for 'AI' in the workplace, I'm very happy to say 'You're on your own, Jack. Don't call me unless you have very deep pockets'
Afterthought: Oddly enough the vast majority of 'TNT Steve's' I crossed paths with all worked for either IBM, Oracle or one of the plethora of multi-national consultancies, a lesson to be learned there perhaps?
Did they crash Birmingham Council?
Our electric bill and water bill plummeted when AI went!
My NDA prohibits me from responding apart from to say, 'Sometimes a situation is so fucked up there is no recovering from it.'
FUBAR so much worse than SNAFU.
This world is totally Fugazi.
I remember from a decade or so back, the senior management at the insurance company where I worked decided to replace the existing AS400 based terminal system, with a new shiny (latest buzzword) system.
Two years later the project was abandoned, the consultancy company was sued for breach of contract and everyone kept using the terminals. When you look back at it the speed the call handlers could go through the text menus was so fast, any attempt to introduce a mouse and modern gui would have slowed them down a huge amount. I left there 5 years ago and would guess they are still running on the same platform as it was reliable, fast and got the job done.
Which to be honest is the main purpose of any good system.
Would I be wrong in thinking that the 'new shiny (latest buzzword) system' was also from IBM?
It could have been but it was a long time ago and not something I was directly involved in so can’t remember to be honest.
IBM were notorious for overselling and under specifying systems, causing no end of problems for us poor sods at the sharp end
That would be Sequent!
Ps the video linked is blocked for those in the uk.
I think this is a link to the same content but not linked https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti-WdTF2Qr8
Thanks for sharing that. I keep meaning to VPN-check my links for compatibility with UK, US and Oz but always forget.
Just a thought on XML, Json and the other human readable data formats that totally crap out when they encounter something wrong.
Here the stochastic parrot ability of the modern 'AI' LLM could really be of use,
'Hey ChatGPT, I've got this token, looks wrong to me, what do you suggest?' Insert answer, problem solved.
Of course, if the AI starts to tell you lies, it could lead to a very interesting front page on tomorrows publication.
Just ask if any proposed use of AI is DEI compliant. Sorted.
Some years ago, I worked for the UK subsidiary of a company that designed and installed utilities around the world. Our continental masters introduced a new ‘concept’ for quoting large projects. An intelligent database, decision-making branching and reiteration. Early AI….
We lost two engineers to the team in Paris writing the pseudo-code for process-modules which then went off for coding by a contractor. It was a massive undertaking and was clearly going to be the best thing since sliced baguette. It was shrouded in secrecy.
Two years later, the project was abandoned. €20 million had evaporated, probably with the bloke doing the coding, leaving only a Gallic shrug from his dad.
Wait until they disruptively put AI on the Blockchain...
Publishing, of the on-line variety, is already under invasion. (As I'm sure you're well aware.)
The result is exactly the kind of verbose, but empty, drivel you'd expect.
And hundreds/thousands of tech articles shat out from the same template:
"In this article we will" <close tab>
Not to mention (which I will anyway) review sites—already plagued with being "updated in aug. 23", when the only thing updated is the year in the title, and the most recent device in the review is five years old—are just automatic flowery rehashes of the spec-sheets in a language reminiscent of a Google translation anno 2009 from Urdu to Danish.
Yeah I have no idea which of the dross articles are AI, or just poorly written excessively verbose crap, into which more and more of the same irrelevant ad links can be crammed.
Either way sites like that end up on my ever increasing mental list of, don't click.
I really should take the time to get something more technical setup to avoid them.
And guess what will be used to train the next generation of LLM? Sounds like a system of ever diminishing returns to me, the models will get bigger and bigger and their usefulness will get less and less. An outcome to be hoped for.
The scars run deep on this one.
My brain automatically translates “We’re moving everything to XML!” into "We are going to poke out your eyes with angle brackets"
"Yada yada yada. Twaddle twaddle ..."
<checks buzzword bingo sheet ... BINGO!>
"twaddle. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit,"
<checks 2nd buzzword bingo sheet ... BINGO!>
"Our style is purposefully disruptive."
Ah there it is!
Meaning if this breaks you it's your fault you did not get "it" and got disrupted.
"No true Scotsman" is always a dependable pillar for the grift!
Can somebody please find these Hippodromes and shut them down already?
Its 2023 free those poor hippos!
I keep trying to hold them off. And I'm sure my younger self would have said to me "Illegitimi non carborundum". But this may be the one that finally does it.
I'm just hoping that I can avoid the nonsense and keep doing the job I enjoy for just a little longer - now less than 1000 days until I can take at least partial retirement.
Yeah, I have a countdown clock...
I looked carefully through the whole thing & didn't see ANYTHING to do with blockchain, wtf.
How do NFTs work?
The whole point of NFTs is that they DON'T work. Being made of nothing at all they can have no interaction with reality.
Those outside the UK may be unfamiliar with Broadmoor. It is a high-security mental hospital, the sort of place where TNT Steves ought to be confined to preserve OUR mental health.