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A computer program can create plausible responses that sound like someone saying these things, and it's tempting to think the machine is somehow objective. And that I've really done it. But, I think it's just a mirage. A very dangerous one.
This can fool very smart creative people.
I care about a lot of things that it feels like no one even notices, things that mean so much to me that are just alien to other people. Writing, making art it's just trying to share a little glimpse of these things to other people.
And when someone says "this is a lot like X, and it's also Y" and they *get it* that's the whole point.
I think it will wear thin eventually. An LLM can't really help you refine your brilliant philosophical idea or complete your novel... but it might be able to make you feel like someone understands and cares about the things you care about for a bit.
But when you take that work and show it to real people? It's not really better. You've just wasted time gazing in a flattering mirror.
But, why do any of us need that outside validation?
Why does it make me so happy when someone understands something I made, or enjoys my drawing, or when a student says "ooooh I get it now!" during one of *my* lessons?
These are the happiest moments in life, how could I let a machine simulate them?
We don't have the history but some people have worked very hard to make these systems drill right into that human need for connection for being understood.
I asked chat GPT to help me with a poem once. The response was flattering and useful and coming from another person it would have been the highlight of my day. It correctly detected the themes of the poem, it understood my references. Reading the response made me feel for a fleeting moment like a good writer.
It was like a taste of heroin.
And instantly I also felt embarrassed and manipulated. I really long to be understood like that, you know? I do need outside validation.
It surprises me when I find out that people I admire, people who are my friends have this blind spot.
I really wonder how there can be such a huge gulf. This poem is written in extremities but it is how I really feel about how this technology is being used.
The technology itself is fascinating and possibly even useful, I can see that, but how it is being used, how it's being integrated into our lives often feels anti-human.
"tell us how you really feel"
You don't stop a social trend by being nice about it...
Am I being a little melodramatic?
I will ask chat GPT
I will boil the last of our drinking water
Salt the soil of the scrub-lands
Tear the pages from books and feed them to my fire
I will ask copilot
I will scramble your library
reanimate and puppet the faces of your dead ancestors
I will bury you in poor copies of your dreams
I will ask grok
I will fall silent and never speak to you
I will talk only to myself lost in a maze of my own fantasies
I will forget all who cannot compliment me
I will decouple my soul from this world.
That is an excellent and accurate rendering of an ant in this art style.
She also loves marmite. Which is more forgivable... but still.
Pica the cat hates all human perfumes "stinky!"
But can you really listen to someone who finds the smell of roadkill "fascinating" and who is attracted to surströmming?
I regard perfumes as a powerful tool to manage memories. I like to use different obscure fragrances to mark events or times of year.
Few things can bring back the past like a fragrance. Why not use it to save memories?
My favorite daily perfume is "Activist Bohda" which smells like beeswax and honey. This one cannot be worn in spring or summer since bees will follow you. Really if you are dealing with insects skip the perfume.
I may also follow you with either of these. Make of that what you will.
It's a "quality" perfume in that it has complexity and it lasts for a long time without being overwhelming.
One should avoid going in an elevator with a strong perfume and this one won't get you into trouble.
I kind of was hoping it would be more... bizarre and edgy. (just because I love perfumes that are kind of crazy, not so much to wear but just to smell...) But it's a very wearable fragrance inspired by ants and so there is no reason why it can't be popular.
My sample of the perfume (Santi Burgas "Aroma de Hormiguero" The Aroma of the Anthill) has arrived!
It's a gender neutral cologne. More musky than what I go for mostly. When you first put it on there is a bit of citrus that is *almost* "formic acid" but it's not nearly as pungent as angry ants. This might be a good thing, practically speaking.
As you wear it longer it becomes more earthy, with hints of moss and earth.
I suspect it will annoy bees and wasps, so not good for summer.
I think some cats are picky about water like people. Hence, all of the wanting you to run the sink for them and drinking from your glasses.
I have a great gadget that fills a small bowl with water for Pica twice a day and dumps it out as well. So she has "fresh" water.
Had it for over a year and she no longer bugs me to run the sink.
Pica did a great job at the vet today. Got tons of compliments.
She's not mad at us for taking her, but I think it's because she thinks all three of us were "abducted" and I plan on letting her go on thinking that's how it works.
Yes the evil cab driver captured us all. Thank god we escaped!