Finished a new blog post: "My Coworkers Don't Want AI. They Want Macros"
An exploration of how we are using macros in our current system, contrasted with what we're getting pitched by vendors. We want to: enter consistent data, avoid typos, improve system design, add conditional logic, and generally save the user repetitive, mindless work. Right now, that seems to require macros.
From the post, to summarize at an abstract level, we are using macros to:
- Enter consistent data
- Avoid typos
- Improve system design
- Add conditional logic
- Save the user repetitive, mindless work
At its best (pattern-recognition), “AI” is overengineered for what we need: logic and lookups.
At its worst (predictive text), it’s the opposite of the very concrete and repeated things we want to be able to do.
@platypus Thank you for this article. It was a great read.
The place I previously worked at could have benefited from that kind of automation. For example, I was among the staff tasked with putting labels on our serials. Everything had to be done manually, from editing Alma’s default call numbers, to individually pasting those in a custom spreadsheet used as a template for priting labels, to actually putting the correct sheet of paper in the printer. It was a study in repetition.
@platypus
My experience mirrors this in many ways. People need tools so that simple things are simple, and when doing repetitive things they only need to do the minimum operations per iteration, to minimize mistakes. Sharing and flexibility give them power.
AI is entirely the wrong tool: randomness and nonlinearity are core to the technology. Make me an AI without either of those and maybe it'll be helpful.
Karin Dalziel
Ruth [☕️ 👩🏻💻📚✍🏻🧵🪡🍵]
Sam Popowich
AnneArchy Anne
Hector Correa
Viviane Arnould
Three plus or minus five