28 Comments

All I have to add is that.... I find this very sad.

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BmjT: There are good and bad aspects to almost everything. Let's be aware of the potential problems,l but take advantage of the benefits.

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So what are the good and bad aspects of WW11 or Covid19?

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There are many. E.g. COVID-19 publicly exposed the incompetence of the FDA, which will now go through some major (and long overdue) improvements.

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I admire your optimism.

As a teacher, I can see the day when I will be replaced by an 'AI' lecturer.

It's already happening in some universities.

The most rewarding part of my job is seeing the personal achievements and the wonderful interactions with students in the educational setting.

Real, loving, caring, happy young people navigating through a rapidly changing environment. Real human interactions demonstrating, friendship, laughter, compassion, understanding, responsiveness, concern, sensitivity, identification, involvement, personalities, fellow feeling, perceptiveness, empathy, grief and sympathy.

This may of-course continue well into the future. Who knows? I prey it does.

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You had many desirable characteristics — but you did not list Critical Thinking. Without that all the rest are suspect.

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Bravo.

Will AI be able to have any of the characteristics mentioned or be able to demonstrate 'Critical Thinking'? Transhumanism comes to mind.

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AI nailed it wow!

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John…this is totally astounding! Thanks for the tip on this Notebook…Don Runkle

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Don: IMO it's distrubingly good.

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Natural vs. Artificial is targeted distinction but since the “ars” “facio” is a human product and we are natural may I suggest a distinction without a difference? What is the financial benefit from deriving knowledge from a comprehensive summarized distillation of recorded thinking, hopefully true, on selected subjects? It is the reuse of human thought without compensation to the thinker. Replacing original source research for “classic comics” denigrates the result in my opinion.

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John: TY for a very different perspective.

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Yes, its impressive and scary as hell.I believe this is already being done with video of " people" talking. I hesitate to state what made me recognize this talking " person" image as fake. Because of course they would improve it and why make it that much easier!!?? Seemed to be a test of some sort.

It was "forecasting" weather- harmless, heh??

We are all likely to be duped- just like those "grandchildren" scams, calling because they need money wired. THIS is on steroids.

I'm afraid, This goes beyond being able to think critically. I also agree VERY manipulative to personify. GOD help us-

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Wendy: Yes it is scary. I do not think it goes beyond our ability to use Critical Thinking as a defense.

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John -

I listened to the audio produced by NotebookLM. That was indeed amazing. I was impressed with the subtle exchanges, intonations, and overall how realistic it sounded. It sounds like you have a new toolbox entry. Forget expert panels, chat rooms, etc. I wish you the best in adapting this into your work.

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I'm also amazed at how realistic the conversation is. The AI handled your material as well as I could have imagined. There are so many who can learn so much from this brief 10 minute summary of your work and some of the opposing reasons for being critical of critical reasoning. I love it and intend to use it myself.

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Robert: I agree that it was a very natural sounding conversation. I'm sure that they will make it even better soon...

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Let’s provide critical thinking to the audio discussion. These two do not disagree in any way so they are not using critical thinking in promoting critical thinking. In other words, what is the downside of teaching critical thinking.

But, isn’t that the problem? Who has any argument to counter the idea that teaching critical thinking is needed. You gave them your past work and they used AI to put this together. It is clearly biased. That, to me, proves the danger of AI in the long run.

Now, how about that for some critical thought? I love your campaign to promote critical thinking and agree 100%! But, you have shown me exactly why our future doesn’t need AI. We need humans doing the thinking!

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Jim: We have no argument about that — but you are missing the point. We will have advanced AI whether they are needed or no, and whether they are beneficial or not. Therefore we MUST have critically thinking citizens to be able to have some defense against this onslaught.

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Thank you. They do sound a bit fake (especially the female exclamations, imo) ... but overall, I find this is disturbingly deceptive. AI says "I remember how I drove my parents crazy".. that is manipulative humanization. We should not tolerate, encourage, or get USED to lies and manipulation, no matter how beneficial or benign they might seem.

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HD: It seems very real to me. Theirs inflections, interruptions, etc. are very well done.

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So what happens when you feed that AI link a bunch of BS?

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SM: Garbage in, garbage out...

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Yet it would sound incredibly believable. That's the scary part.

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SM: Yes, and Critical Thinking is our best defense. It is imperative.

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Agreed.

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John Droz,

This report is BEYOND helpful .

Your writing and advice is always well done and Informative for a broad audience.

Thanks.

John Shanahan

allaboutenergy net

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John: TY for your support. My objective is to keep attentive citizens well informed.

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