Carl T. Bergstrom

In the 2014 World Cup, footballer Luis Suarez ran across the pitch and, off the ball, bit Giorgio Chiellini in the neck.

It was one of those absolutely WTF moments where you can't imagine what someone could possibly be thinking.

I call these sorts of choices "Luis Suarez moments."

Until I suffered an unfortunate stint in a higher education administrative role, I had no idea that this sort of thing was so common off the field as well.

Not biting, mind you. Just absolute WTF actions.

Feb 21, 2023 at 2:48amWeb
Show threadCarl T. BergstromFeb 21, 2023

This past week, an administrator at Vanderbilt University had a very serious Luis Suarez moment.

You see, it fell to them to write the students a message of support in the aftermath of the MSU mass shooting. They somehow decided that it would be a good idea to let ChatGPT write the message for them.

And then, with perverse scrupulosity, they ADDED THIS TEXT TO THE EMAIL:

“Paraphrase from OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 15, 2023.”

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pocharaponneammanee/vanderbilt-email-chatgpt-ai-msu-shooting

Vanderbilt University Staff Used ChatGPT To Write Email On MSU Shooting

An associate dean at Vanderbilt told the student newspaper it was “poor judgment.”

BuzzFeed News
Show threadBrittle Anxious Nonlinear IncoFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom make it stop
Show threadmyrmepropagandistFeb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom

There was a commercial where they were like "we asked an AI to show us LOVE" then "we asked an AI to show us how Jesus loves"

and ... I was so lost. Not just due to the religion, but the premise. It's like some people think text/ image engines are a magical collective unconscious.

Rather than being more suspect because it's an algorithm to these people it's more "universal" "objective"

this scares me.

And I say that as someone who thinks these engines are "kinda neat"

Show threadmyrmepropagandistFeb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom

Having seen that strange commercial I understand the source of the impulse to do such a thing. And it worries me since it's placing a kind of trust in algorithms that they have not earned and don't deserve.

This is mashed and remixed things that people made. It's not magic. It's not some short cut to "truth" -- it's the ultimate in mediocrity.

Show threadCharo del GenioFeb 22, 2023
@futurebird @ct_bergstrom then again, that's exactly what the administrators would have done: rehash past speeches and messages delivered in similar circumstances and change a few words. So, in a sense, the statistics algorithm saved them some time and some boredom.
Show threadmyrmepropagandistFeb 22, 2023

@paraw @ct_bergstrom

But what they *wouldn't* have done is say that's what they did at the end of the email.

Show threadCharo del GenioFeb 22, 2023
@futurebird @ct_bergstrom true! So, from this point of view, at least they've been academically honest...😅
Show threadAllan ChowFeb 21, 2023
@futurebird @ct_bergstrom IT IS A MIRROR TO HUMANITY AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
Show threadmyrmepropagandistFeb 21, 2023

@grumpasaurus

just kill m,e

Show threadJohn MullinaxFeb 21, 2023

@futurebird @ct_bergstrom Yes, this. Some people seem to look to AI like a new miracle, or a savior long predicted, and finally come to help them make more ($) with less (people). Completely unaware of the perverse effects they are/will cause.

My charcoal drawing: Cortana, Salvatore Mundi (2018).

Show threadJessica 🦕Feb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom
THE ONE THING that academic administrators should be good at doing is communicating with campus communities. What else are they there for?!
Show threadShannon Quinn Feb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom I can’t get past how many layers of approval are normally required for these things. Either someone(s) thought a statement of this magnitude didn’t need to go through all those layers, or multiple high-level admins ok’d this before its release.

Neither option is particularly easy to sit with.

Show threadEyeInHandFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom Thoughts and prayers, boilerplate version..
Show threadcommie lib (not a joke)Feb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom it’s the “this is an opportunity for us ALL to reflect upon AI and etc etc” like buddy, it wouldn’t have been much better if you’d paid someone to write it for you.

Like, imagine using a line like that if it was a student rather than an administrator. “Let this be an opportunity for all of us to reflect upon copying whole Wikipedia articles, and on how poorly this is understood”. Such a shitty slight of hand to try and pull in an apology.

Show threadRobert Riedl Feb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom i have an idea on how MSU can save hundreds of thousands of dollars each year!
Show threadNamneziaFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom You know, I can sympathize. Sometimes folks struggle to find the right words to express a sentiment and struggle on how to best translate what they feel and want to say into actual words, especially in a moment of grief. So I really don’t blame this person in using tools at hand to generate words that expressed what they wanted to say. And at least they were honest about their use. I am terrible at writing these types of emails myself.
Show threadLotusFeb 21, 2023

@Namnezia @ct_bergstrom I think the issue is more that it conveys a lot of insincerity and that they couldnt care much. Going against the entire point of making these statements.

More importantly, these are people trained in communications and easily couldve given someone else the task if they were grieving, etc.

Show threadCharo del GenioFeb 22, 2023
@LotusHopper @Namnezia @ct_bergstrom what makes you think they actually care at all, beyond possible repercussions on student intake numbers and, consequently, company income?
Show threadNamneziaFeb 23, 2023
@ct_bergstrom @paraw @LotusHopper For the most part, all the deans I interact with regularly care a lot about the students and really go out of their way to look after their wellbeing.
Show threadStan YoshinobuFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom How utterly terrible for them to use AI after the MSU shooting.
Show threadUncle 6 🌁Feb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom @futurebird I mean, they were always on us about “cite your references…”
Show threadUncle 6 🌁Feb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom @futurebird now entering farce mode: the student paper, the Vanderbilt Hustler, promptly busted the administration on the GPT fiasco. The Verge wrote an article about it. I went to comment “God bless the Hustler kids” and my comment was immediately auto-blocked for using the word Hustler.

It is to snicker.

Show threadDavid EpithetFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom It is very inappropriate for me to find this hilarious, but here we are.
Show threadDarrel PlantFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom
Message: We Care! 🫶
Show threadtyxFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom Impressive. If I would try hard to produce the worst piece of my (rather dark) humor sense I wouldn't come to a plot like this.
Show threadBlackDutchSnarkFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom less meaningful than Thoughts and Prayers…
Show threadBlackDutchSnarkFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom and I never thought that was possible, yet here we are…
Show threadAlexey MerzFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom NO THIS CANNOT BE TRUE STOP IT CARL
Show threadCarl T. BergstromFeb 21, 2023

@merz I also thought that it was a hoax but then when I saw that the administration's non-apology read

"As with all new technologies that affect higher education, this moment gives us all an opportunity to reflect on what we know and what we still must learn about AI",

I knew it had to be the real thing.

Show threadThe Febrile MuseFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom Kinda illustrated what is wrong w society, didn't they? Plus, it's the guns.
Show threadMac KnowlesFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom
Thots n Prairs [note that text was copy/pasted]
Show threadkarinchuFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom “An associate dean at Vanderbilt told the student newspaper it was “poor judgment.”” Why does everyone have such piss poor judgement any more???!!?!😡
Show threadChris C.Feb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom This academic administrator has clearly demonstrated he/she lacks the capability of performing his/her job at a reasonably acceptable level, and should be replaced forthwith.
Show threadKanaMaunaFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom The Onion has incarnated.
Show threadJoe HeafnerFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom These jerks are ostensibly paid obscene salaries to be “leaders” too.
Show threadZathrasFeb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom @glennf

So instead of phoning it in, they GTP’d it.

Show threadDaniel DuqueFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom The sad thing is, those words have been said so many times, the AI actually nailed the message
Show threadcbudFeb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom academic integrity guidelines

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/studentaccountability/academic-integrity

Show threadMichael Smith 2ndFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom But was the apology generated by AI? 🤔
Show threadShriram KrishnamurthiFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom The real story here is that probably nobody would have noticed but for that footer, because communication from academic administration is exactly that Identikit.
Show threadDouglas Michael MassingFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom
I had not expected the brief of DEI to be expanded in quite this way.
Show threadGretchen AndersonFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom so they didn’t write it *and* they didn’t read it?!
Show threadCarl T. BergstromFeb 21, 2023
@gretared excellent point.
Show threadKathy E. Gill 🇺🇦Feb 22, 2023
@ct_bergstrom I can’t even. But I have to share with my tech comm class,
Show threadSimon I Groove musicallyFeb 22, 2023
@ct_bergstrom That is the worst citation formatting I have ever seen. And an inhumane slap in the face to boot. What amazing hypocracy.
Show threadMarc JacobsFeb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom I have no words.

I cannot imagine being responsible for this, at any level.

Show threadDebby RyanFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom 🤮 I wish I had the words to express my dismay! This is where humanity will fail. We will become unable or unwilling to think. If all we do is interact with devices, our brains go to sleep permanently! And to think, it all comes at a high price…Vandy is not a community college!
Show threadSarah GreenFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom Begs the question: when ChatGPT says “we” who does it mean?
Show threadAlexander PlattFeb 21, 2023

@fatamorgana @ct_bergstrom

ChatGPT never means anything. It just strings words together.

Show threadFerles  Feb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom Incipient vampirism?

Maybe if Giorgio didn't want to be bitten he shouldn't have made his neck so attractively tasty.

Show threadESFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom Jumping in with a slight tangent as this did produce one of my favorite headlines of all time.
Show threadArgot_RobbieFeb 21, 2023

@ct_bergstrom I actually believed this would be that rare toot about something besides ChatGPT.

Ya got me!

Show threadJustinFeb 21, 2023
@ct_bergstrom do tell.