AI is a Lie

Have you noticed that every AI company leader says that [insert big technology break here] is just over the horizon?  Have you noticed how long they've been saying it?  That's because AI is a lie.

Have you noticed how frequently AI returns results that are wildly incorrect (hallucinations) or overly flattering (sycophantic)?  That's because AI is a lie.

You might think that I'm engaging in a bit of hyperbole, but I am not.  Indeed, the concept of Artificial Intelligence, at least as it stands today, is the genuine hyperbole.  To illustrate my point, I'd like to fall back on a couple of definitions. 1) Intelligence:  The ability to learn, understand, reason, solve problems, and adapt to new situations, using capacities like logic, abstract thinking, and using knowledge effectively for survival and success in diverse environments.  2) Hyperbole:  Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.  Until Artificial Intelligence can adapt to new situations and apply abstract thinking, AI is hyperbole because it's not actually intelligent.

I'd also like to clarify that Artificial Intelligence has two distinct and separate aspects: 1) Large Language Model (LLM) is the the technology that allows a computer to present information in a manner that appears conversational.  2) Machine Learning (ML) is the technology that allows computers to identify patterns and make predictions.  Neither of these aspects of AI are truly intelligence; rather, they are incredibly complex computer programs that work because of an unfathomable amount of available data, and a phenomenal amount of human oversight and error correction.  To paraphrase an IT Security friend and colleague of mine, AI is basically fancy Google.  You ask the question, and you receive a response which may or may not be factual and practical.

AI can do a few things with tremendous efficiency.  For example, it can paraphrase or summarize an existing article, paper or piece of literary work based on a massive database of dictionary definitions and a meticulously-defined set of linguistic rules.  This is how LLM AI works.  It can also make predictions based on historical data.  That's how Machine Learning works.  AI is great for performing mundane, repetitive tasks that require no creativity or abstract thinking.  However, I do not envision a world where computers independently and spontaneously create the next great invention, such as the automobile, or the computer.  (See what I did there??)

Let me use automated manufacturing as a lousy analogy.  In my example, a set of robotic arms is designed to weld two pieces of metal together.  Without explicit training, these robotic arms will not know if the weld is accurate and strong. These arms would not know they're out of flux without sensors and programming.  These robotic arms would not innately know that trying to weld two pieces of wood together would not work.  By extension, LLM AI cannot spontaneously write the next great novel, and Generative AI cannot create an intricate piece of art without being fed some sort of parameters.

As I mentioned earlier, two of the greatest shortcomings of AI are hallucinations and sycophancy.  Both of these deficiencies are based on limits that cannot be easily overcome.  In a well-known example, someone once asked AI how to keep cheese from sliding off of a slice of pizza, and the AI chatbot said to use glue.  From my understanding, this answer came from a Reddit post, where someone humorously used this advice for a similar question.  It's factually correct of course, but it's a hallucination because the AI bot didn't understand that glue is inedible.  Sycophancy is a result of the human inability to recognize and agree on basic facts.  (Human stupidity trumps artificial intelligence every time.)

The root problem is that Artificial Intelligence has been marketed as a panacea, and society has eagerly bought into that lie.  AI still has great potential, but we need to acknowledge the limits of the technology.  Until that happens, AI is a lie. 

They'll Be Fine

I returned home late last night after an unscheduled visit to see my older daughter, and I guess it's time to tell the full story...

The tale starts a bit over a year ago, around Thanksgiving 2024.  My ex was having relationship issues.  Her boyfriend, or fiancee or whatever, was a recovering alcoholic who had fallen off the wagon, and she decided enough was enough.

After discussing options, my older daughter and her husband agreed to let the ex move in.  The plan was that the ex would buy an RV, and my son-in-law would build an RV pad in the back 40 of their property, complete with electricity and sewage.  I know I was skeptical this would work out as advertised, and I believe I shared this with my daughter, but I cannot say this with absolute certainty.

Fast-forward a year or so, and my ex was still living in the house, working a part-time job, and not really contributing to the household.  My daughter's family started calling her the troll, because she spent all of her time in her bedroom.  As you might imagine, this started causing a bit of tension around the house.

Before I continue the linear progression of the story, I should share that my ex did indeed purchase an RV, but it didn't run, and it was not weather tight.  I understand that she made it weather proof, but can't say for certain.  Son-in-law (SIL) was working 12/7, so he didn't really have the time to do the work required to get the ex (X) out of the house and into the RV.

What did happen is that SIL would come home after a 12-hour shift (plus the commute each way to the job site) to a mother-in-law who just sat around, rotting away.  One could imagine how this might cause stress in the household, and this is happening every day, for months on end.

SIL is a bit conflict avoidant and never found the testicular fortitude to tell X that something needed to change.  Eventually, his stress built up to the point where SIL mistreated X's dog, repeatedly.  To my understanding, the abuse was not severe, but it was certainly not healthy.  My grandson heard it and recorded the audio with his phone.  He then told X, who bought a nanny cam and caught the mistreatment on video.

In the video, SIL walked into X's room, saw dog laying on the bed, grabbed the dog by the collar, tossed it off the bed, and walked out.  It was unwarranted.  It was f*ck3d up.  It was traumatic for the dog.  It was also minor.  X and grandson kind of hyped things up in their minds and went to daughter with a united front.  Grandson said he didn't feel safe.  Daughter understandably freaked out.  SIL got kicked out, and Daughter fell apart.  So I went out and helped my little girl deal.

By the time I got there, a couple of days had passed, and so had the worst of the stress.  Daughter and her family realized things couldn't continue without change and they made appointments for counseling... family counseling, SIL counseling and grandson counseling.  X is moving out... and moving back in with alcoholic ex-boyfriend.

This, of course, is the short story.  Daughter, SIL and grandson are all committed to making things work.  I've made a point of telling them ALL that progress won't work in a predictable manner... that they need to expect progress to work in a non-linear fashion.  This is a $h!++y scene, and X is the bringer of the chaos.  (After she had a conversation with daughter, where X said that moving out is the best way forward, she called younger daughter and said that older daughter is kicking her out.)  But in the end, I'm firmly convinced they'll be fine.

Dodged A Bullet

I haven't yet mentioned that my ex-wife lives with my daughter.  I don't hate my ex, but I don't like her either.  To paraphrase my kids, my ex lives in her own world, and we're privileged enough to be able to share it with her.

My ex is a troll.  Again, my own kids' words.  I've been here for a bit over a week and she's effectively never left her room.  At first, I thought she was doing it out of some misplaced sense of consideration, but I asked my daughter if that was the case, and she said no, she's always in her room, and they call her the troll for that reason.

My ex can't hold a job.  She got fired from a part time job at a sandwich shop.

My ex doesn't contribute to the household.  Okay, that's not completely true.  She has taken my grandson to and from school.  She's fed the family dogs.  She's made food - for herself - once.  But once she was done eating, she went back to the bedroom without cleaning her mess and putting her leftovers away.

She's moving out.  I think this is good, but in my older daughter's words, she moved in, lived here rent free for a year and now that $h!+'s getting tough, she's moving out.  She always takes the easy way out, and she never has consequences.

She's physically falling apart.  I see her get up from the couch and walk across the room and she's an old woman.  There's no spring in her step or twinkle in her eye.  She's just a beaten old woman.

This week with my daughter drove home how awesome I have it with wife 2.2.  She's SUCH an upgrade!  I've been reminded what I'd be married to if my ex hadn't decided that she wanted out.  That divorce devastated me, and this week has demonstrated how much of a blessing that crushing blow was.

A Five Star Review

 I mentioned in my last post that I'm visiting my older daughter for a family emergency.  Let me start by saying it's all good... nobody is dead or dying or injured or critically ill.

With that said though, older daughter asked for help and it's been all hands on deck.  I came out and am staying for a couple of weeks total.  Younger daughter came and left.  Wifey came and left.  This gave us all some time with family in combinations we haven't done for a while.  My kids made my heart melt...

My girls and I went on a hike a couple of days ago, and as is usually the case, we kind of talked about everything and nothing.  During the conversation one of my girls said "Dad, [sister] and I have said time and time again that you were literally put on this earth to be a dad."  My wife and my kids are without a doubt the center of my world.  And while I've heard that comment before, I've got to admit that every time I hear it, my eyes may leak a little bit.  It's kind of like when your favorite customer gives you a five star review.

Well... That Was... Challenging

 I had to make an unexpected trip to help my daughter with a family emergency.  She's never asked me to drop everything and come help before, so of course I did exactly that.  I got a plane ticket scheduled to leave my place around 5:00 AM next day and arrive at her place around noon.  Things didn't exactly go as planned.

About two hours after I booked my flight, I received notice that my flight had been canceled and the airline automatically rebooked me.  The rebooked flight left at 6:00 PM, with an overnight layover in Chicago.  The second leg of the flight left Chicago at 5:00 AM, another (additional) layover in Phoenix, and then arrival at daughter's place around noon next day.  Sigh...

I arrived at the airport and my flight ended up being delayed by about three hours.  No big deal, because the layover in Chicago was long anyway...

Around midnight, while at the Chicago airport, I found out that the second leg of my flight was canceled and the airline was unable to automatically reschedule.  I spent the next hour in line to speak with an airline customer service rep for rebooking.

The customer service rep found me a new flight scheduled to leave at 5:00 AM the NEXT day... meaning I'd be stuck in Chicago for about 36 hours.  Fortunately, another rep found me a trip leaving around 8:00.  But I still ended up sleeping at the airport.  (This was my choice.  It was less hassle to sleep in the airport than to go a hotel at 2:00 AM and then come back through TSA.)

That flight was also delayed.  I was worried that I'd miss my final connecting flight.  But no.  Why?  Because the final flight was late too.

In the end, it was a misadventure.  It was... challenging.  But I'm here for my little girl.  That's what matters. 

Oh yeah... one of the stops ended up being in San Diego, so I got to see MCRD San Diego, where I went to Marine Corps Boot Camp.  A quick detour down memory lane. 

Translation Below

I just read an article saying that ICE agents will be appearing at the Super Bowl.

Translation:  Gregory Bovino wants to watch the big game live, but doesn't have the clout, cash or connections to get his hands on a real ticket. 

We Need to Expand Our Vocabulary

Tragic... epic... owned... destroyed... unprecedented... heroic...

These are words I tend to see multiple times daily.  I'd like to point out the fact that these words are all considered superlatives when taken in context, and they're invariably used to grab the audience's attention.  Mass media and social media content generators alike love their dazzling headlines, and quite frankly, I'm over it.

To use a fictitious example, the death of a social media influencer's dog is not the same as 100 people dying in a train wreck that also somehow released a massive amount of toxic fluid into the local water supply, yet in both cases, the author of each article is likely to use the word tragic.  The dictionary definition of tragic is causing or characterized by extreme distress or sorrow.  While technically correct in both of these fictitious examples, the scale is radically different.  The passing of a canine companion can certainly be considered tragic to the owner, but it cannot realistically be compared to an event that causes massive ecologic damage and large-scale human death.

There's an old adage in business that says if everything is urgent, then nothing is urgent.  The idea behind this is that treating everything as an emergency dilutes all things critical, because we cannot categorize and prioritize.  The same core principle applies with over-utilizing extreme language in writing.  The end result is that the reader becomes desensitized, and the word loses impact.

I'm probably one of the few people who has noticed and publicly commented on this longstanding trend, and have incorporated this observation into my writing and speaking style.  While I know that I cannot single-handedly reverse this trend, I can do my part to correct things by avoiding sensationalistic language when possible.  As a result, I tend to use understatements in my writing, rather than overstatements.  I generally come across as a bit stoic*, which works for me, because when I do use high-impact words and phrases, they tend to have a bit more impact.  I wish more people did this.  We, as a society, need to expand our vocabulary.

*NOTE:  While I frequently speak using understated language, I will concede that I do overuse profanity when interacting face-to-face.