Am I the only one that has NEVER used an AI specific program like ChatGPT, Claude etc. (NOT a Poll)

[1242Vintage]

I often use ChatGPT.

I’m a workout junkie and record everything (speed, Heart Rate, equipment etc) on the STRAVA application. I download and run most workouts and races through AI for analysis. Output are either equipment recommendations or focus areas for future improvement.

This morning I uploaded data from a bike race yesterday. AI says:

* 65–75% of your time loss occurred on climbs

And equipment recommendations.

* my choice of race tires likely cost me approx 7 minutes on the four hour race.

 

[stepford]

* my choice of race tires likely cost me approx 7 minutes on the four hour race.

GP5000 FTW

 

[Pointby2]

It should have been a poll. A minority has no use for it, but I suspect that number will continue to shrink.

Came back home late last night from a week-long trip to a cabin in Cable, Wisconsin. The house was hot so we flipped on the AC. DW took the dog out and said the AC was just making a groaning noise. Too late to call an AC guy, so ChatGpt and I worked to troubleshoot it. She had me check the batteries on the controller and found they were going bad, changed them out, it worked, but it was noisy. After a few more troubleshooting steps and giving Chatty some images with video we decided it wasn't anything serious and I could relax and go to bed.

My $20 a month is money well spent, IMHO.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't like it when folks go off topic but lighten up. It's not like the discussion is veering off into an entirely different subject. If you wanted a simple yes/no answer maybe you should have phrased it that way.

Here is the scorecard:

Definitely do not use AI:
Old Medic
Sunnysideup
Gumby
Audreyh1
engineernerd
Disneysteve
Pluperfect
Winemaker
Wrigley
Thatguy

Probably do not, or only use it sparingly:
Fermion
TripleLindy
PlayinwithFIRE

You can’t say I don’t use AI because I do searches and appreciate the AI Overviews Google provides. I do use AI. IMO I think the distinction between using a specific tool or not or that using searches that use AI doesn’t count is splitting hairs.

 

[disneysteve]

I can remember when Craig McCaw (Cellular One founder) was touting cellular phone technology and people ridiculed him saying things like, I don't need a walkie-talkie, the phone system works fine as it is.

Our first cellphones were with Cellular One before AT&T bought them.

Cellphones are actually a great analogy to AI. I was an early adopter of cellphones. Why? Because I identified a clear need for one related to my career, so I got one in 1991, long before most people had one. Having one was very much a novelty at the time.

Right now, today, I have not yet identified a clear need for AI, so I haven't jumped onboard yet. Will I? Of course. So will nearly everyone else, just as 99% have gotten cellphones. We all adopt new technology when we see the need for it in our lives.

So far, I don't think I've seen any posts in this thread mentioning a use for AI that is relevant to me or is something that I can't already easily do without AI. When that changes, I'll add AI to my toolbox.

 

[Qs Laptop]

You can’t say I don’t use AI because I do searches and appreciate the AI Overviews Google provides. I do use AI. IMO I think the distinction between using a specific tool or not or that using searches that use AI doesn’t count is splitting hairs.

The AI augmented searches is a tiny fraction of what AI can do. Sorry, but you're not really "using AI" when you do a Google search.

 

[audreyh1]

The AI augmented searches is a tiny fraction of what AI can do. Sorry, but you're not really "using AI" when you do a Google search.

Sure it’s a small fraction, that has no bearing. As Google explains, the AI Overviews use Gemini to create them, thus I’m using AI. Otherwise a search result is just a list of links that I have to wade through and sort and summarize info myself.

 

[Qs Laptop]

So far, I don't think I've seen any posts in this thread mentioning a use for AI that is relevant to me or is something that I can't already easily do without AI. When that changes, I'll add AI to my toolbox.

Well, open up that toolbox and make some space. I remember you saying you watch YouTube videos to find answers. You can copy the link to the YouTube video, load it into AI, ask it to watch the video for you, give you a bulleted summary of the content and give you time stamps for the particular subject matter you are really interested in seeing. You can also ask it to find other closely relevant videos. Turn that 20 minute YouTube video into a 3 minute answer session.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Sure it’s a small fragment, but clearly the results are AI enhanced, thus I’m using AI.

If so, are you "using AI" when you use Apple or Google Maps? Why or why not?

What about spell check? AI or not?

 

[audreyh1]

If so, are you "using AI" when you use Apple or Google Maps? Why or why not?

What about spell check? AI or not?

I elaborated on my reply above:

Sure it’s a small fraction, that has no bearing. As Google explains, the AI Overviews use Gemini to create them, thus I’m using AI. Otherwise a search result is just a list of links that I have to wade through and sort and summarize info myself.

 

[Route246]

I can give a recent example where AI helped me socially and professionally in my workplace prior to my retirement last year. S/W engineering has a high number of South Asian immigrants (Indian, Pakastani, Nepali, et. al.) who have fanatical interest in cricket, on par with my interest in NFL football. Many of my co-workers were in amateur cricket leagues and one even travelled to Dallas to watch the sport over a weekend. I would hear these guys talking about cricket and every nuance that went along with it. I had no clue about cricket so I asked my favorite chatbots to explain it.

I asked, "explain why cricket is so important to indian immigrants here in silicon valley" and multiple chatbots responded with great narratives that went into extreme details about the diaspora, preserving culture and how the passion was nurtured from an early age. It explained the nuance and more importantly the differences from baseball and really gave me a good idea of what the interest was about.

That said, I was invited to a match at a local park and really saw something that would otherwise not be possible. It was great for team building at the same time, having me show up to watch the game.

Realistically, this would not have been possible without a chatbot because I was able to ask followup questions, drill down on details in real time and very efficiently get to a good state very quickly.

I view chatbots as my personal expert users. Sometimes, your expert user is wrong or has opinions you disagree with and chatbots are no different. The big difference is your chatbot doesn't get offended when you question it.

 

[tulak]

AI is an amazing way to ramp-up on a topic. It’s a personal tutor that you can ask any question. I don’t know of any other equivalent, besides paying for a tutor, which for some topics isn’t practical.

 

[Route246]

AI is an amazing way to ramp-up on a topic. It’s a personal tutor that you can ask any question. I don’t know of any other equivalent, besides paying for a tutor, which for some topics isn’t practical.

I think this way because I am naturally curious. To my surprise, some people are not. I just assumed everyone was curious to a certain extent but one of my best friends is not. Once he retired (S/W engineer) he shutdown most of his intellectual thought and switched to watching Netflix. He has no idea about chatbots and has no interest. He watches his adult children using AI/ML and nothing connects. He told me his daughter composed a song using AI and was impressed but he has no interest in hacking it himself. To be perfectly honest this came as a shock to me because I felt he was a computational thinker but I was very wrong about this. He confessed that he got very little satisfaction out of his job, it was just a job, which he was very good at but I guess he was just working to live instead of living to work like me.

I'm no longer amazed when people show little or no interest in something that is of great interest to me and others.

 

[tulak]

Skimming over this thread, I can see a lot of references to AI slop, especially for content. That’s a hard one to avoid, because humans are inherently lazy and AI makes it incredibly easy to generate a lot of volume of reasonable sounding material.

But if go beyond that, and are less lazy, it’s a powerful tool. For content, I have to almost always edit the output, but it saves me time by giving a good enough template to work from.

It’s easy to mock and avoid AI if you’re retired, but if you’re employed and not using AI, you will be left behind.

 

[disneysteve]

It’s easy to mock and avoid AI if you’re retired, but if you’re employed and not using AI, you will be left behind.

I suppose this is part of it. When I was working in urgent care I used Dragon dictation all day every day. It was quite impressive and mistakes were impressively sparse. Some of my colleagues didn’t use it and I was constantly trying to get them onboard and I was often successful.

Right near the end of my time they introduced a newer AI program where we didn’t need to dictate into a microphone anymore. The program just listened to the conversation in the exam room and created the note from that including both provider and patient comments. I didn’t use it because I knew I was leaving shortly and didn’t feel the need to learn a new system that I’d only be working with for a brief time.

Today that system is as widely used as Dragon was 2-3 years ago. I visited my old family practice last week (unrelated to the urgent care) and my former partner is using a similar system. He showed me the output and it’s great. If I was still working there I’m sure I’d be using it too.

I think this just goes back to what I’ve already said. People adopt new technology when it is relevant to them. It isn’t a lack of curiosity. It certainly isn’t a lack of creativity as someone suggested. It’s just not something I have yet found a use for. When I do, I’ll use it. I read every thread on this forum and elsewhere about AI and how people are using it. So far I haven’t seen anybody mention something that made me say “oh, I’d like to do that”.

 

[folivier]

That's kinda scary, as is lots of other things. DW and I always go to a doctor appointment together and while waiting in the exam room will often talk about other more personal and financial things. So Dragon is listening to us?

 

[disneysteve]

That's kinda scary, as is lots of other things. DW and I always go to a doctor appointment together and while waiting in the exam room will often talk about other more personal and financial things. So Dragon is listening to us?

Absolutely not. The provider only turns it on when they come into the room and starts the visit. And they should be getting your consent before doing so also.

 

[Turbo29]

I think this way because I am naturally curious. To my surprise, some people are not. I just assumed everyone was curious to a certain extent but one of my best friends is not. Once he retired (S/W engineer) he shutdown most of his intellectual thought and switched to watching Netflix. He has no idea about chatbots and has no interest. He watches his adult children using AI/ML and nothing connects. He told me his daughter composed a song using AI and was impressed but he has no interest in hacking it himself. To be perfectly honest this came as a shock to me because I felt he was a computational thinker but I was very wrong about this. He confessed that he got very little satisfaction out of his job, it was just a job, which he was very good at but I guess he was just working to live instead of living to work like me.

I'm no longer amazed when people show little or no interest in something that is of great interest to me and others.

Several years ago a friend of mine, who was a civil engineer, asked me if I knew how to add freon to a car air conditioner. I said that I did and went to help him. As we added it, the can of freon got cold (due to the freon changing from liquid to gas as it was pulled into the AC) and he seemed surprised and asked why the can was cold. I said, "Don't you know how refrigeration works?" He replied, "No." Now, as far as I know, civil engineers don't design and work on refrigeration but I would have thought that any type of engineer, with all of the physics and other sciences they are required to study, would at least have an idea of how refrigeration works or be curious enough to look it up. Twenty-five years later I think about this and am still amazed.

 

[tulak]

I think this just goes back to what I’ve already said. People adopt new technology when it is relevant to them. It isn’t a lack of curiosity. It certainly isn’t a lack of creativity as someone suggested. It’s just not something I have yet found a use for. When I do, I’ll use it. I read every thread on this forum and elsewhere about AI and how people are using it. So far I haven’t seen anybody mention something that made me say “oh, I’d like to do that”.

That’s a fair viewpoint.

I’m happy we have AI. It saves me work.

On the personal front, I was cycling in Lyon last week and was looking for routes to cycle. The easiest solution I found was to subscribe to Strava, whose AI generated routes were exactly what I was looking for. I spent a good amount of time before that looking at other apps, etc, without much luck. In the future, I’ll use Strava.

That’s an indirect use of AI, but one that I appreciate.

 

[iloveyoga]

I have not. But I use google and Siri all day long so I assume there is some AI involved with the answers. And my computer and phone always telling me what to do

 

[disneysteve]

I use google and Siri all day long so I assume there is some AI involved with the answers

I use GPS all the time. That's an AI service. I'm quite capable of looking at a map and planning a route but the AI can evaluate traffic patterns, road closures, speed limits, etc. I don't see that just looking at a map. Plus it gives me verbal turn by turn instructions which is way safer than me trying to follow written directions. And it can quickly redirect me if any issues arise along the way.

Using GPS has taught me new ways to get places that I never would have considered, even in my own local area. I'm often surprised by what it says is the fastest route because that isn't the way I would have gone. A couple of times on road trips I've chosen to ignore the GPS instructions and I regretted it because GPS had information that I didn't about the route options.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I will submit, I use GPS also, but I do not consider it AI in this context. I have used it for over 20 years right from when TomTom was popular.

 

[audreyh1]

I will submit, I use GPS also, but I do not consider it AI in this context. I have used it for over 20 years right from when TomTom was popular.

Only if you ask Grok to create a route (which is technology available in our car and takes voice instructions).

 

[Route246]

Several years ago a friend of mine, who was a civil engineer, asked me if I knew how to add freon to a car air conditioner. I said that I did and went to help him. As we added it, the can of freon got cold (due to the freon changing from liquid to gas as it was pulled into the AC) and he seemed surprised and asked why the can was cold. I said, "Don't you know how refrigeration works?" He replied, "No." Now, as far as I know, civil engineers don't design and work on refrigeration but I would have thought that any type of engineer, with all of the physics and other sciences they are required to study, would at least have an idea of how refrigeration works or be curious enough to look it up. Twenty-five years later I think about this and am still amazed.

Not sure how old he is but I'm an old engineer (BSEECS in 1979) and the concept of phase change and adiabatic/energy systems was drilled into my head in chemistry, physics and thermodynamics courses even though it had little relevance to EECS. It was part of the curriculum and vital if one was even contemplating EIT (engineer in training) and PE (registered professional engineer) in their future career. These concepts are as basic as multiplication tables are for learning arithmetic. You are correct to shake your head when your friend had no clue about this.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Only if you ask Grok to create a route (which is technology available in our car and takes voice instructions).

Then I do not use AI for route guidance. I do use Google Maps though via Android Auto in the car. It takes voice input also.