I've made my feelings about AI quite clear. When it comes to AI "art"... it's theft. When it comes to AI "writing"... it's theft. AI has mined the hard work of countless creatives in order to make a Frankenstein monster that's delivered to you based on what you want it to provide.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg.
AI needs vast resources to operate, centered around the data centers which power them. And the more you look into it, the worse it gets.
AI many, many times does not provide accurate information. Which means a lot of people relying on AI for information are being lied to. And this is how misinformation starts, which is destroying us.
It goes on and on.
There are, however, many uses for which AI can be a benefit. One of my favorite has been AI analysis for weather patterns to provide more advanced warning to people in the path of weather-related danger. Or analyzing patient scans to provide better care. Stuf like that.
But, no, I don't endorse AI when it comes the mass-adoption models we're getting.
This morning I took a look at Facebook's Muse AI agent to see if it was worth destroying the planet to install more data centers.
But first thing's first. I asked my fuzzy Muse avatar to add some bear ears. And this is what I got...


Adorable.
And then I got to work. Asking Muse to help me with finding information, shop for the best prices, and helping me build a travel itinerary.
The results were better that what I've seen from other AI models, but there were always problems. Information wasn't entirely accurate. Travel itineraries were basic. And shopping usually ignored a bunch of places where I would have checked if I were charged with finding the best price...

I tried five times to have Muse find the best price on an item. It only did so three of the five, and I was able to find better with minimal effort twice. And so... would I trust Muse to hunt down the best price for me as a shopping agent? No, not really. I'd be too worried that it would give up before searching all the places I would check. The only way this would be useful to me would be if Muse checked a lot more places, including those that I didn't know to check and finds lower pricing than I could find. And what about finding the best shipping inclusive price? Without that, it's all pretty useless. Maybe it finds an item $10 cheaper at one place... but the shipping cost makes its total price $5 more? That just means I'm paying more. Which is certainly not worth stripping the planet of resources.
And so... cute as Muse is, I'm going to be ignoring it. Like I'm ignoring most AI tools that are being unleashed because they aren't worth the trouble.
Maybe if I asked Muse to turn into a cat?

I love comments! However, all comments are moderated, and won't appear until approved. Are you an abusive troll with nothing to contribute? Don't bother. Selling something? Don't bother. Spam linking? Don't bother.
PLEASE NOTE: My comment-spam protection requires JavaScript... if you have it turned off or are using a mobile device without JavaScript, commenting won't work. Sorry.

There's no comments here...