[ Jer moved instances ]Sep 30, 2023
I've been talking about how AI will directly lead to Idiocracy (2006) scenarios (like Brawndo has what plants crave, Charlie Chaplin leading the 3rd Reich, etc) for some time, but today's update to the "can you melt eggs?" saga is as clear an illustration of how as I think it's possible to ever have.

Quora's AI answers made up the melting point of eggs, and then Google picked it up and responded affirmatively that you can indeed melt eggs.

Then people wrote articles about how stupid it is that Google says eggs can melt. Then Google fixes the answer.

Then Google ingests an article about how stupid it is that Google says you can melt eggs, and suddenly Google starts answering affirmatively again that you can melt eggs, citing the article about how stupid Google is for thinking you can melt eggs.
Show threadOmnivoreSep 30, 2023

@nyquildotorg

#AI

This exists in human-written scholarly papers as well. Citations get copied from one paper to the next without review. "Artificial Intelligence is no match for real stupidity." (everybody, ~2007)

I do think the [Artificial Intelligence] descriptor should be replaced with [Clever Idiocy] so we truly admit the limitations of the tools.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7500547/

MyCites: a proposal to mark and report inaccurate citations in scholarly publications

Inaccurate citations are erroneous quotations or instances of paraphrasing of previously published material that mislead readers about the claims of the cited source. They are often unaddressed due to underreporting, the inability of peer reviewers and ...

PubMed Central (PMC)
Show threadBornachSep 30, 2023

@Ralph @nyquildotorg

I prefer the term "Automated Idiocy"

That way we can use the same acronym

Show threadOmnivoreSep 30, 2023

@bornach @nyquildotorg

I think "Mechanical Savant" is what I was reaching for. It contains the idea that the box is only educated in one dimension (or domain of knowledge).

I like the idea of AI as an acronym (AI! AI! AI!🐶 ), but I worry about acronym overloading (it will confuse the AIs).

Show thread[ Jer moved instances ]
@Ralph @bornach oh you know, just me pedantically interjecting that "AI" is not an acronym, it's an initialism.
Sep 30, 2023 at 5:14pmWeb
Show threadOmnivoreSep 30, 2023

@nyquildotorg @bornach

I never complain about the need for truth and understanding (and I have the same compulsion).

Show threadBob O`BobSep 30, 2023
@nyquildotorg @Ralph @bornach
that's not pedantry. Pedantry is pointing out *to you* that the class initialism is a subset of the class acronym. Being both definitely does not make it stop being one.
Show threadOmnivoreSep 30, 2023

@obob @nyquildotorg @bornach

This gets better and better! Acronyms are pronounceable, making them subsets of initialism.

(What do you call a "pedant-gasm"? Cause that just sounds creepy.)

Show threadBob O`BobSep 30, 2023
@Ralph @nyquildotorg @bornach incorrect. RaDAR for example, one of the older technical acronyms, is not an initialism.
Show threadOmnivoreSep 30, 2023

@obob @nyquildotorg @bornach

Fair enough, but what about FBI? I think it's an initialism and not an acronym. Looks like we have an intersect and not a subset.

I hope you are enjoying this because I sure am. Looking forward to your next salvo.

Apologies to the original poster for hijacking your thread.

Show thread[ Jer moved instances ]Sep 30, 2023
@Ralph @obob @bornach I am enjoying the pedant-off!
Show threadclacke: exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛Oct 4, 2023

@obob Huh! Until today I have thought that an acronym was necessarily an initialism, but WP agrees with you: RADAR is an acronym.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acronym

> An acronym is a word or name consisting of parts of the full name's words.


Thanks!

@bornach @Ralph @nyquildotorg

Acronym - Wikipedia

Show threadOmnivoreOct 4, 2023

@clacke @bornach @obob @nyquildotorg

After excessive reconsideration I think that the superclass is abbreviation and some of the sub classes are acronym, initialism, and couple-name, such as Brangelina (for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie).

Show threadBob O`BobOct 4, 2023
@clacke @bornach @Ralph @nyquildotorg I was a CoBOL programmer in the 70s. Almost everyone capitalized the first "o" but my uses varied.
Show threadBornachSep 30, 2023
@nyquildotorg @Ralph
What if you mispronounce it?
https://youtube.com/shorts/HcG_n_yQM0k
AlBot #vfx #animation #shorts

YouTube
Show threadOmnivoreOct 1, 2023

@bornach @nyquildotorg

AI is as pronounceable as AL, although I would never be able to spell it if I heard it without seeing it.

A before I,
except when it's my,
pronoun for me,
cause 'i' just have to be.
(needs work)