Jeff JarvisMar 17, 2023
I wonder how different both hype and #MoralPanic around LLMs would be if they did not use the first-person singular but instead spoke in mechanistic third-person: not "I did this" but "the program assembled this." Anthropomorphism is what leads to wonder ("It sounds like us") and misplaced promise ("It seems smart") and fear ("It could replace us").
Show threadJR Buckley ðŸģïļâ€ðŸŒˆâš›ïļMar 17, 2023

@jeffjarvis
Back in the 1988 I was working for IBM in Austria. One day I had a bit of a blow out with my boss because he wanted me to replace

"DELETE FILE? (Y/N)"

with

"Shall I delete this file for you?"

I said I'd do it only if it stayed ALL CAPS.
😜

"One is glad to be of service."
~Andrew Martin, 'Bicentennial Man'

Show threadKristinaMar 17, 2023
@JRBuckley @jeffjarvis All CAPS?
How did that go.. Not well I suppose - he probably reprimanded you for yelling. 😂
Show threadJR Buckley ðŸģïļâ€ðŸŒˆâš›ïļMar 17, 2023

@swannrise @jeffjarvis

Good one! But this was the 80s and all caps didn't mean yelling yet - especially since mainframes were just discovering the existence of lower case. 😂

Show threadKristinaMar 17, 2023
@JRBuckley @jeffjarvis damn mainframes.. Always in trouble. 😂
Show threadJR Buckley ðŸģïļâ€ðŸŒˆâš›ïļMar 17, 2023
@swannrise @jeffjarvis
This is what a high speed printer looked like back in the day. The first time I saw one that could print lower case was in 1985. Since printing with lc slowed it down we only set up for it when we had to, which included changing out the print chain located in the swing gate (open) on the right. It was messy because you had to take the ribbon out to get in there. And then there was reloading the buffer..... ðŸĪŠðŸĪĢ
Show threadKristinaMar 17, 2023

@JRBuckley @jeffjarvis
Yes! I remember data processing.. The ladies would enter data manually, punch cards. The wall of IBM reels would process the data at blazing 100 characters (?) a second.. Omigod, stand there, it would feel like you were in hurricane 😂

Then CRAY..young kids have no idea what they have in their hands.

Ahh the good ol days ðŸ’Ą

Show threadJR Buckley ðŸģïļâ€ðŸŒˆâš›ïļMar 17, 2023

@swannrise @jeffjarvis
I was there when we switched from running programs by loading punch cards into the reader to this new fangled thing called "Magnetic Card Images!" And then the data entry ladies had their key punches taken away and replaced by a "Key To Disk" system - which was really key to tape.

Those were the days!
#GoodTimes

Show threadKristina

@JRBuckley @jeffjarvis

#MesozoicEra 🙃

Mar 17, 2023 at 10:16pmMastodon for Android