A friend of mine - who must be remarkably short of things to think about - asked Google AI about my blog (this very one you are reading), and he sent me an extract from the reply, since he thought it would amuse me. At least I hope that is why he sent it.
Here it is:
Can't really protest too much about any of that, though I am maybe a little saddened by the perceived balance. It makes no direct reference to bullshit, for which I guess I should be grateful. You probably expect me to set about checking out all sorts of AI reports now, but no.
Not going to.
Out of perversity, I asked Google AI to describe Google AI (yes, I used to watch Star Trek many years ago - I know how to upset robots). Disappointingly, the description read much more like a marketing push than an analysis - I shall not reproduce any of it. There is enough bullshit around already...
I like the “Fact” that it “ Appears to be” rather than “ It is”…
ReplyDeleteI didn’t have AI down as being a bit unsure 🤔
All the best. Aly
I'm not too sure of anything at all, so I can empathise a little.
DeleteWhat will be of ‘phenomenal’ note to the searcher would be the speed to which that and more specific detail is instantly brought up - it is in the realm of a ‘blink of an eye’ and is perhaps of equal significance as to the actual content.
ReplyDeleteHi Norm
DeleteLife affirming - never mind the quality, feel the speed.
The friend who started this is interested in how AI works - how it scopes its searches - which maybe means he is even more desperate for things to do than I thought. He reckons that if AI finds that something is a collection of stuff - such as a podcast or a newsletter - then it samples a few episodes to check the content. The fact that I lived in Morningside must be mentioned in about 1 blog post, so either it scanned the lot (unlikely, though potentially scary) or just happened to hit the post that mentioned my previous home (more likely).
It will have attained usefulness once it has developed sufficient an appreciation of the difficult art of wargames photography adequately to enthuse over the visual feasts so regularly provided here. I enjoyed your friend's ACW set up last time.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very supportive thing to say - thanks for this. We all like what we like, I guess - I'm not sure if AI likes anything, but I suspect its views will reflect the mainstream opinion. In which case I am surprised that it identified my grid-based, scenic-flock-free miniatures games at all.
DeleteBeing a dreadful old pedant, I would have thought that in the AI description of my blog, the word "sometimes" would have had a comma at each end or else none at all. Obviously it went to a different school. Yes - I am the man whose friends make jokes about how accurately I punctuate my text messages.
Hi Tony - I can't find your excellent Foy Figures on Hagens site. Are they still in production ?
ReplyDeleteThey are not listed anywhere - there may have been some falling out with the sculptor of the day. The sister(?) firm, Black Watch Miniatures, have Spanish and Portuguese Napoleonic subjects which are probably better than the original Foy range.
DeleteThat's a shame but I am looking at the Black Watch site......
DeleteWell, it's not too inaccurate, Tony, is it? I do think it's a shame it missed the term Hooptedoodle. I'd never heard that before, and these days, it always makes me smile. Shame too that it missed the simple fact that your games always look superb, or that your garden seems very nice too.
ReplyDeleteNot about to Google myself. I know who I am - don't need AI to tell me : }
Take care!
Ivan
Thanks Ivan - no complaints from me, I think.
DeleteAh yes - Hooptedoodle. I have always been a big fan of John Steinbeck, and I borrowed the term from his novel "Sweet Thursday" (which I read when I was a student). As I recall, this novel is a sequel to "Cannery Row" (?), and has many of the same characters. In a strange sort of foreword, the author is discussing the forthcoming story with the characters, and it is suggested to him that chapters which are standalone short stories, which add to the richness of the book but are not essential to the central plot, might be headed up as "Hooptedoodle", so that the reader would know that they might choose to skip them if preferred. I think I use the term as Steinbeck intended!
My garden has just enjoyed a month's rain, so things are pretty gloomy out there at present!
Is that where it comes from? They made us read 'of mice and men' and the 'red pony' at school. My therapist still gets a nice winter holiday out of talking those over with me : )
ReplyDeleteBeen raining here in Ireland since Christmas. Broke my nose after face planting on saturated soil a week ago. Feeding 'my' fox!
Always nice to chat with you
Ivan
This sounds like a good working relationship with your therapist! We need to know more about this...
DeleteSorry about the nose thing - Nature is very ungrateful sometimes.
You could argue that the AI wotsit (correct technical term) is not wrong. A bit like 'the Bible is a collection of stories with a character called God in most of them' is not wrong.
ReplyDeletePossibly.
Delete'The Bible is a book which includes stories about leprosy and money-lending' is also true, but not very helpful.
I think there is still a place for Authentic Idiocy.
Do you think you should register Authentic Idiocy as a trademark - or buy the website?
Delete