#many many chat gpt users

[annoyingcat413]

I’ve been translating the Sherlock and co scripts to Spanish and right now I have only almost finished episode 1.

It has taken me around 3 weeks?

Hopefully I get faster at doing this.

If not I’ll never finish this haha

Maaan why didn’t I start sooner.

Hopefully I can set up a kind of schedule? Idk maybe force myself to translate 5 pages per day?

That way I could translate one episode per week probably.

I could try and find one more person to help?

I wouldn’t try to organize a whole group. I don’t have the time for that. Just one or two people to assign episodes and then review together. Idk something like that I guess.

I’m really just making this because I really love the podcast and want more people to be able to experience the show. My friends irl don’t speak English and I would love to share the show with them.

Also I want to expand the fandom! It would be cool wouldn’t it? It’s already big but it can be even bigger!!!

The translated scripts could work like subtitles or as a companion to the transcripts.

I’ve listened to many Japanese audio dramas that way.

[stealthnoodle]

I see there's a new post on AO3 on AI and data scraping, the contents of which I would describe as a real mixed bag, and the sheer number of comments on it is activating my self-preservation instincts too much for me to subject myself to reading through them. Instead I'm thinking about how much daylight there is between does or doesn't constitute a TOS violation and what does or doesn't violate community norms, and how AO3 finally rolled out that blocking and muting feature recently, and how I think it would be good, actually, if most people's immediate reaction to seeing a work that announces itself as being the product of generative AI was to mute the user who posted it.

That's my reaction, anyway!

[slutforodrickheffley]

HARRY POTTER: GOLDEN TRIO HEAD CANONS

severely unhinged and a modern AU (bare with me)

ft. @littlelando44

————

Gryffindor:

•Harry impulsively buys in app purchases

•Hermione has no personal social media, only uses it to market S.P.E.W.

•Ron has his brothers old android

•Everyone hates on Ron for making the group chats green

��Fred and George sold vapes to first years (they were burnt and unusable)

•Fred and George always use brainrot terms

•Fred and George were caught using Chat GPT to write their papers

•Neville Longbottom didn’t get a phone until sixth year

•Neville Longbottom only uses Youtube Shorts

•Ginny Weasley is goated at Game Pigeon

•Dean Thomas loves making thirst traps

•Dean Thomas found Umbridge on Tinder

•Seamus Finnegan runs the official Hogwarts party page

•Lee Thomas gives the most submissions to @hogwartsteaandcrumpets even if they are not true

•Lee Thomas runs the Hogwarts tiktok where he does student interviews with a tiny mic

•Lavender Brown is trying to become an influencer (unsuccessfully)

•Colin Creevey is an ipad kid

Slytherin:

•Draco frequently browses Dracotok. Is disgusted everytime but comes back again.

•Draco has issued many apology statements on Tiktok after he was cancelled for using the M word

•Draco refers to the Weasley’s as Temu Ginger’s

•Crabbe and Goyle attempted to kickstart a soundcloud drill rapping career.

•Blaise Zabini is a huge fan of Love Island

•Theodore Nott is addicted to baby sensory videos

Hufflepuff:

•Cedric Diggory is tiktok famous for just lip sync videos

•Cedric Diggory’s digital footprint is horrendous

•After Cedric died many people made “fly high” posts about him

•Hannah Abbott reposts everything on her FYP

•Hannah Abbott loves wattpad

•Ernie Mcmillian only gets his news from tiktok

•Ernie Mcmillian is all over conspiracytok

•Ernie Mcmillian has invested in bitcoin

•Zacharias Smith can only watch videos if they have subway surfers videos

•Zacharias Smith crashes out over Blooket

•Susan Bones is a Swiftie

•Susan Bones LOVES crumbl cookie

•Susan Bones is extremely 🎀preppy🎀

•Justin Finch-Fletchley loves Instagram reels and send everyone 1,000+ per day

•Justin cannot tell if something is AI or not

•Justin unironically loves KSI’s new song

Ravenclaw:

•Luna Lovegood uses tiktok shop

•Luna runs a slime account

•Luna never skips a hope core video

•Luna has a pinterest board for EVERYTHING

Faculty:

•Snape runs a tea account for Hogwarts (@hogwartsteaandcrumpets)

•Professor Sprout is a Snapchat dealer (@profofdatza)

•Hagrid is a frequent user of Craigslist

Other:

•Lucius Malfoy was exposed for being at Diddy parties and by providing him with SPECIAL potions (baby oil, dragon scales, and house elves tears)

•Dobby is still recovering from the Freak Offs that Lucius dragged him to.

[sapphia]

Much of the internet is bots.

There are more bots every day. Every site that's in any way bot-trainable has bots scraping posts and chats.

We have AI. It can auto-recognise voices. It can mine text for information which it can categorise and file, but cannot process it or use to further its own ideas. It can compile and compartmentalise and label everything ever written, everything being spoken, all words in the world if we let it. But it can't think.

Neither can the bots on Reddit, Facebook, Twitter. They can write arguments. They can repeat arguments flawlessly. They can argue with themselves and you wouldn't know it. They are as advanced as ChatGPT.

It's 2010. Much of the internet is bots.

Reddit is a cesspit. I don't use reddit, except to find useful information. Many users are bots. There are more bots joining everyday.

We have AI. It can autorecogise voices. It can create AI generated photos that are indistinguishable from humans most of the time. A human trained to detect AI-generated faces who had spent ten+ hours learning this skill could identify an AI generated photo 90% of the time. But no one does this, and most of the tiny profile pictures are of dead people anyway.

On Reddit there are people piloting bots to generate targeted discourse. The bots analyse arguments and reply as if they were users. The good answers attract upvotes and downvotes and bots iterate accordingly. A New Zealand journalist notices they are being used for election interference and writes a book on it. We say 'That's terrible!'.

We do not read the book.

We interact with bots every day. We ignore most of them. We are used to these low-quality accounts by now. Because of how many there are, the bots often interact with themselves. It is like a cluster theory of bots, like colliding molecules in the air.

It's 2015. Much of the internet is bots. There are more bots everyday.

Reddit is a cesspit. I have a reddit account for hobbies and history and tv shows and local content. I make posts there, and they get karma. There is a lot of noise. Posting comments in the big subs get you more karma. I spend hours writing answers to ethical social dilemmas in Am I The Asshole?. I get better at ethical social dilemmas. I get better at writing answers.

It's 2022. Much of the internet is bots. Except for Gen Z, we use the internet how we've been using it since 2010. We play stupid games that take more of your money and time. We use the same social media sites. We post memes and vent and chat. We comment. We talk the same politics. We have the same politics. We are the same as we were a decade ago.

So are the social media sites.

We have AI. It can autorecognise voices. It can mine text for information which it can categorise and file, but cannot process or use to further its own ideas. It can compile and compartmentalise and label everything ever written, everything being spoken, all words in the world if we let it.

It can't think. But doesn't need to.

We are 'using' AI via ChatGPT, feeding instructions and questions and conversation into it. It is frequently wrong about easy-to-google answers, even though its conversation is perfect. We laugh at it.

We are worried that students will use chat GPT to write university essays. It is able to do this easily and mostly unidentifiably with a mere modicum of human editing. Some students still do not manage to evade human detection. But many do. Even when the humans are looking for it.

Reddit is a cesspit. I help start a NZ politics sub. Reddit has bots so good it's impossible to fully distinguish between bots and human, even when looking closely at profiles or trends.

I am banned from Reddit.

It's 2024. Much of the internet is bots.

[volixia669]

DO NOT USE KOKOBOT

While not a "will scam you out of your money" thing, the Kokobot is just not ethical or a good idea. Its from a "mental health nonprofit" from the minds that brought you "airbnb aka ruining the housing market with the gig economy".

Also there's this:

For one thing, they're acting like mental health professionals aren't real people which feeds into all sorts of biases.

Then one has to consider, if they're "random people", do they have the training for crisis management? Can they tell if someone is about to commit suicide or is just having thoughts? Can these people handle more disturbing discussions?

Its like a tech bro decided to see if its possible to make money off a discord vent channel with all the major problems of a discord vent channel (no therapists, no crisis management, pls stop using the vent channel to replace therapy) left unsolved.

Oh but it somehow gets worse.

See. One of the co-founders of Koko had the brilliant idea to set up an experiment to see if chat gpt can be used to replace actual people/professionals.

He even stated he didn't bother going to the ethics review board aka IRB because he believed he was exempt from their rules.

Oh, and no one involved in the experiment consented, there was anger they were talking to a bot, AND many of Koko's users are adolescents. As far as we know this didn't lead to anyone spiralling but we DON'T KNOW SINCE THIS WAS AN INFORMAL EXPERIMENT.

Now, there is some debate as to whether or not the IRB COULD get involved, due to lack of clarity regarding how scientific this was.

Regardless, it was unethical and dangerous. Be wary of Koko amd Kokobot.

[doubleddenden]

Yeah no, this was absolutely rigged. The shithead party that cried and screamed and shat and vomited and pissed and COMMITTED TERRORISM BY STORMING THE CAPITAL ON JANUARY 6TH absolutely cheated like they always try to do.

The Nevada signatures

People in places like NC suspiciously being unregistered to vote

The call to end voting in places like Georgia before mail in ballots could be counted

The fire bombing of ballot boxes in a couple of states like Oregon

And Muskrat and Twitter. Election gambling promotion via ads by claiming the orange bastard had a higher chance to win- that's just one of the MANY ways Muskrat is suspected of election interference.

Give it a few days and they'll say there was foreign interference like with Russia in 2016. There are too many places with too many agendas to be met by having an ego maniac sociopath dumbass in office.

Oh I'm not saying nobody voted for him- no, I live in MS, I'm well aware of cult minded, ignorant people voting that simply choose not to believe or delve deeper into the orange man's own words regarding Project 2025 and making it so his "beautiful Christians never have to vote again," or fools who still believe inflation is caused by democrats. My vote is probably the closest you can get to worthless- a match in an ocean.

That stupid fucker that couldn't aim for shit (and I'm still suspicious of for a number of reasons) definitely did not help by painting the reds as heroes with victim complexes. God that stupid photo had to have been planned.

And lastly, if there's anyone else to blame besides racist misogynists or the severely ignorant, I'll point my middle finger at third party voters, people who abstained, or the absolute morons that actually voted FOR HIM thinking it would somehow help Gaza despite him saying he wanted to help get its destruction over with (and Ukraine too, if i remember correctly, because he loves Putin). Congratulations on your morality, bros. If you can't save everyone, you may as well speed run killing millions more than the other option, right? Despite the clear warnings that 3rd parties do not win anymore, despite the clear messages that this was about keeping the LESSER of 2 evils from winning, despite the very real threat of Project 2025 taking away any future right to vote and hand over our rights to neo nazi christo fascist dictators, you get to feel warm and cozy as you sip your pumpkin spice lattes and read fics with your cat while some of us lost progress to getting affordable healthcare or more children needlessly die. Because your morals are more important than lives, obviously, because you're the main character, obviously, because bots on Twitter or chat gpt or the tumblr user with a Hazbin Hotel pfp told you we deserved to lose our rights- and you believed them because you don't like critically thinking, obviously. Thank you guys specifically for making it even harder for women to receive needed abortions, thank you guys specifically for allowing the monster that fired the pandemic response team back in office after covid killed millions, thank you guys specifically for undoing any progress made in the last 4 years and healing from him the last time. Thank you, for signing the death warrants of innocents, because you can't comprehend the fact that EVERY POLITICIAN IS EVIL and that your job is to vote for the LESSER evil that has an actual chance of winning, because we don't get to toss out the options available for a new set because any time we get close to any sort of progress it gets REVERSED. I hope you're happy with the outcome, you stupid pieces of shit, and I can only hope that it's you instead of an innocent child that gets hurt because of your actions or inaction to vote.

God I hate this fucking shithole country. Why couldn't I be at least Canadian?

[behindthewox]

World of 波特 [pinyin: bōtè]

In case you missed it, WoP is expanding with a server in Chinese! That makes sense since it's a HUGE market that you'd definitely want to get into, but what doesn't make sense is the way it's being handled at the moment.

Unlike all the other WoP servers in other languages the ordinary rules don't seem to apply. Usually the site leaders must be natives/native speakers and it's up to them to hire staff and teachers that know and use the language for their content. Everything must be written in the server's language and it has to be original material. You can't just copy from other sources, that's plagiarism and we have rules against that.

The Chinese server is set to launch January 29th, and a message has been sent out to fill the teacher positions. It outright says (I'm paraphrasing slightly) "you don't need to know Chinese, just use google translate and chat GPT to cover the minimal text requirements" (i.e. PT/BS and answering owls, maybe say hi in the chat). The message also makes clear that it's only temporary until they find actual native Chinese speakers that will fill the positions, and the newly implemented job limits don't apply here.

I can understand that it's hard to find native Chinese speakers within our current WoX community, and Chinese isn't just one language: it exists in many variants, Standard Chinese being the most common in China followed by Standard Mandarin and Cantonese in Asia (source: quick wikipedia research, I'm not an expert, don't quote me on this). In a way it makes sense to create something temporary to start with and then build from, but this doesn't feel right. This feels shoddy and disrespectful, using google translate for an entire website. Chinese is one of the most ancient languages in the world still spoken today, and like all other languages it's complex and nuanced beyond google translate.

It makes you wonder if the people who decided to launch a Chinese WoP server really thought things through. Troubleshooting and consequence analysis is important, and we've got plenty of people in the WoX community who could volunteer to do just that. We have so many experienced people who know exactly what to look out for and what to expect, what they'd personally consider red flags in a website and what they'd want to see as a user.

We don't have the full insight in what goes on in the creation of this new server, but looking at it from the outside a lot of us agree that it doesn't look good and we have concerns: Are the lessons copied from existing sites and just translated, and if so: do they have permission to use the content? Are the lessons just AI-generated? Who is going to translate all the Harry Potter-specific words and terminology (google translate doesn't do fictional concepts like polyjuice potion). Is this a serious attempt to expand the WoP family or is it a desperate attempt to get new users that will generate more income for the company?

If anyone knows, please share! Asks is open, and so is post submissions.

[note: yes, I googled "Chinese for Harry Potter" for the post title and that makes me a hypocrite, but in my opinion singular words and phrases is fine to translate by manually looking it up on the internet. What's not okay is running an entire text-based RP website through google translate and expect it to maintain a good quality. Spoiler: it does not.] [additional note: I could write a lot more but I won't, at least not in this post. There is more to be said though.]

[rajibperfection]

A Review on Merlin Lifetime deals.

It’s hard to believe AI tools help you work smarter when you’re still stuck switching between tabs to get things done. (“Just call me an AI assistant juggler.”)

With so many AI models and features on the market, you’re using way too much tech to research and generate different types of content.

What if there was a Chrome extension packed with all the AI models you need to speed up your research and content creation process?

Overview:

Merlin is a Chrome browser extension and web app that gives you access to popular AI models to research, summarize, and write content.

      Best for: 

Alternatives to:Integrations:Main Features:

Educators

Marketers

Small businesses

Copy.ai

Grammarly

Jasper

Facebook

Gmail

LinkedIn

Outlook

Twitter

GDPR-compliant

AI

Pros and cons:

Chat with leading AI models, from one browser

With Merlin, you’ll receive access to prominent AI models, like GPT-4, Claude-3, Gemini 1.5, Leonardo, and others—all from your Chrome web browser.

No more moving between browser tabs! Use Merlin’s AI Chatbot on every websites you visit.

Use complex image-generation models to develop captivating brand storylines.

Plans & features

Deal terms & conditions

Lifetime access to Merlin

All future Pro Plan updates

If Plan name changes, deal will be mapped to the new Plan name with all accompanying updates

No codes, no stacking—just choose the plan that’s right for you

You must activate your license within 60 days of purchase

Ability to upgrade between 3 license tiers while the deal is available

Ability to downgrade between 3 license tiers within 60 days of purchase

GDPR compliant

Available for new Merlin users and returning AppSumo purchasers

Previous AppSumo customers who purchased Merlin can upgrade their license to increase their feature limits

1 Merlin query = 1 Chat GPT 3.5 query

Find all other AI model Query Standards here

All purchasers subject to Merlin’s Terms & Conditions

60 day money-back guarantee. Try it out for 2 months to make sure it’s right for you!

Features included in all plans

Chat with documents

Image generation

Chatbots

Chat with web pages

YouTube summarization

Blog summarization

Twitter, Gmail, Outlook, and LinkedIn FAB bars

LinkedIn Pro connect

Create from YouTube

Post in YouTube comments

AI personas

[femenaces]

[it’s already being used to program entire websites and applications that used to take months to build in just minutes] this isn't happening. maybe extremely simple html/css skins and one off js/python/whatever scripts but i know for a fact it (chat gpt) can't actually, Actually program.

once again: it is not intelligent (it cannot THINK), it's just an extremely advanced web scraper. you give it pieces and it tries to match them. that isn't thought, it isn't "intelligence".

also your og argument was like, "ai is removing our ability to think and be human!"...i mentioned ai art taking effort to show that no, actually, you do still need to think about what you're making it do. you are still learning...picking up a book on composition and reading it so you better understand what makes an image look good is doing. and even then actual artists will have a better understanding of what makes something look good! they should integrate ai into their workflows to make things easier.

also also i have literally seen ppl on twt take your posts word for word and claim them as their own. you're already being consumed i'm afraid. artists also copy other artists all the time. this isn't anything new from a logical standpoint, it's just happening quicker now

Again, most of what you are interpreting as me "not understanding" is actually us disagreeing on a fundamental level. The exception, as you picked out, was my statement about programming. I misremembered the article I read and you're correct, as of right now, AI seems to mostly only be capable of programing "html/css skins and one off js/python/whatever scripts," and the time saved is weeks, not months. Still, that's weeks. And as is the case with everything AI right now, the limitations it has today will not be present in the very, very near future.

"once again: it is not intelligent (it cannot THINK), it's just an extremely advanced web scraper. you give it pieces and it tries to match them. that isn't thought, it isn't 'intelligence.'"

I never claimed it was real intelligence. When I used the word "think" in the phrase "aims to think for us" I didn't mean it in the literal sense, I meant that the humans who use the technology will be handing over their real, genuine thinking to an, as you say, "extremely advanced web scraper."

Which brings me to my other qualm: I don't consent to having my creations, visual, verbal or otherwise, "scraped" and fed into AI algorithms. I suspect many others do not either. The fact that the only response to this complaint I hear from AI supporters is "well then get off the internet!" is extremely concerning. That's not an acceptable solution.

"...you do still need to think about what you're making it do. you are still learning...picking up a book on composition and reading it so you better understand what makes an image look good is doing. and even then actual artists will have a better understanding..."

No, reading about what makes for a good composition so you can recognize it in one of the images your talent-scraping computer program spits out is not "doing" in the same way that actually painting the piece of art is. And it's frankly disingenuous to even suggest that. Not to mention that a general ability to recognize good artistic composition is not a difficult skill, and most people have a pretty robust innate sense for this already, or else the average person would not be able to discern between a good painting and a bad painting. And like I said before, as AI improves, users will have to do less and less of this curating.

"they [artists] should integrate ai into their workflows to make things easier"

Creating art is as much a part of what art "is" as the final result. Your use of the word "they" to describe artists leads me to believe you are not an artist yourself. So kindly, shut the fuck up about what we "should" let AI do to our hobbies and passions and livelihoods.

"i have literally seen ppl on twt take your posts word for word and claim them as their own. you're already being consumed i'm afraid. artists also copy other artists all the time. this isn't anything new from a logical standpoint, it's just happening quicker now"

Who is reposting my words on twitter and claiming them as their own? I am fine with people spreading my writing, even without credit. But I don't accept people claiming to have written it themselves. I think this portion of your ask is the most telling. "You're already being consumed i'm afraid," you say, snidely. To that I respond that consumption is entirely different than plagiarism. "Artists also copy other artists all the time" Again, direct copying, aka plagiarism, in the art world is universally frowned upon.

I've seen AI lovers claim that all AI is doing is "taking inspiration." Not only do I disagree that a machine is capable of the abstract concept of "taking inspiration," not only do I assert that the mechanisms of a human mind taking something it comprehends and re-creating it in a new way vs a computer modifying a direct image input based on algorithms is not comparable, but I also think that non-human generation of "art" is not art at all. There are beautiful, naturally occurring patterns and formations in nature, but they are not art. Art is something humans do. It isn't just a product, it's a behavior. So yes, logically, this is entirely "new." And I oppose it.

Lastly, your extremely condescending follow up ask telling me I am "blowing my top" is hilarious. Yeah, I am. I think everyone should be blowing their top over this.

[thehorrortree]

Deadline: January 21st, 2024 Payment: $100 per story Theme: 500-1000 word speculative fiction stories Hello fellow writers and readers, this is Rebecca Halsey, the new publisher for Flash Fiction Online. We are coming into 2024 with a decently sized queue of literary stories and reprints. Therefore, for our January 2024 reading period, we will only be accepting original speculative fiction. We will consider fantasy, science fiction, horror, and all the fabulous cross-sub-genre goodness within that lot. As is our custom, we will be open until the 21st of the month unless the 425 submissions cap is reached. We look forward to reading your stories! SUBMISSION GUIDELINES We are looking for complete 500- to 1000-word stories with crisp prose, well-developed characters, compelling plots, and satisfying resolutions. We want stories that engage our minds and emotions. We publish across many genres, including speculative (science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and horror) and literary fiction. For more information on the type of stories we enjoy, please read a few issues and check out our "What We're Looking For" page. Please note, that for January 2024, we will be accepting speculative fiction stories only. SUBMISSION WINDOW: We will be open to submissions on January 1st, and until January 21st, or until our 425 submission cap is reached, whichever comes first. FORMATTING: Please format your submission in a double-spaced, 12pt Times New Roman or other serif-type font (NO Courier), with standard 1" margins and black font on an unadorned, white background. No PDF submissions.  No Images and no graphics. ANONYMOUS SUBMISSIONS: Do not include your name, address, email, or other identifying information on your manuscript (header, byline, file name, etc). SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: For the January 2024 reading period, we will accept simultaneous submissions. MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: You may submit only one original story to the January 2024 reading period. AI-GENERATED SUBMISSIONS: We are committed to publishing stories written and edited by humans. We reserve the right to reject any submission that we suspect to be primarily generated or created by language modeling software, Chat GPT, chat bots, or any other AI apps, bots, or software. We reserve the right to ban submissions from accounts, emails, or users who we believe or suspect have submitted AI-generated content. QUERIES: You can check on the status of your submission at any time via your Submittable account. If, after 8 weeks, your submission is still marked as "in-progress," you may email flashfictiononlineeditor@gmail.com with QUERY in the subject line for an update on its status. (Submissions sent to this address will be deleted unread.) COMPENSATION: Our 2024 rate is $100 for each original story. We are unable to provide personal feedback or critiques. We do NOT accept resubmissions of stories previously rejected by Flash Fiction Online, unless requested by the Editor. We will NOT consider stories that promote or affirm hatred, prejudice, or violence toward any group of people based on age, race, nationality, religion, sex, gender, political affiliation, disability, neurodiversity, or other social identity. Love what we publish? Flash Fiction Online is funded entirely through the generosity and support of our readers! Check out our Patreon here. Via: Flash Fiction ONline.

[continuations]

Thinking About AI: Part 2 - Structural Risks

Yesterday I wrote a post on where we are with artificial intelligence by providing some history and foundational ideas around neural network size. Today I want to start in on risks from artificial intelligence. These fall broadly into two categories: existential and structural. Existential risk is about AI wiping out most or all of humanity. Structural risk is about AI aggravating existing problems, such as wealth and power inequality in the world. Today's post is about structural risks.

Structural risks of AI have been with us for quite some time. A great example of these is the Youtube recommendation algorithm. The algorithm, as far as we know, optimizes for engagement because Youtube's primary monetization are ads. This means the algorithm is more likely to surface videos that have an emotional hook than ones that require the viewer to think. It will also pick content that emphasizes the same point of view, instead of surfacing opposing views. And finally it will tend to recommend videos that have already demonstrated engagement over those that have not, giving rise to a "rich getting richer" effect in influence.

With the current progress it may look at first like these structural risks will just explode. Start using models everywhere and wind up having bias risk, "rich get richer" risk, wrong objective function risk, etc. everywhere. This is a completely legitimate concern and I don't want to dismiss it.

On the other hand there are also new opportunities that come from potentially giving broad access to models and thus empowering individuals. For example, I tried the following prompt in Chat GPT "I just watched a video that argues against universal basic income. Can you please suggest some videos that make the case for it? Please provide URLs so I can easily watch the videos." and it quickly produced a list videos for me to watch. Because so much content has been ingested, users can now have their own "Opposing View Provider" (something I had suggested years ago).

There are many other ways in which these models can empower individuals, for example summarizing text at a level that might be more accessible. Or pointing somebody in the right direction when they have encountered a problem. And here we immediately run into some interesting regulatory challenges. For example: I am quite certain that Chat GPT could give pretty good free legal advice. But that would be running afoul of the regulations on practicing law. So part of the structural risk issue is that our existing regulations predate any such artificial intelligence and will oddly contribute to making its power available to a smaller group (imagine more profitable law firms instead of widely available legal advice).

There is a strong interaction here also between how many such models will exist (from a small oligopoly to potentially a great many) and to what extent endusers can embed these capabilities programmatically or have to use them manually. To continue my earlier example, if I have to head of Chat GPT every time I want to ask for an opposing view I will be less likely to do so than if I could script the sites I use so that an intelligent agent can represent me in my interactions. This is of course one of the core suggestions I make in my book The World After Capital in a section titled "Bots for All of Us."

I am sympathetic to those who point to structural risks as a reason to slow down the development of these new AI systems. But I believe that for addressing structural risks the better answer is to make sure that there are many AIs, that they can be controlled by endusers, that we have programmatic access to these and other systems, etc. Put differently structural risks are best addressed by having more artificial intelligence with broader access.

We should still think about other regulation to address structural risks but much of what has been proposed here doesn't make a ton of sense. For example, publishing an algorithm isn't that helpful if you don't also publish all the data running through it. In the case of a neural network alternatively you could require publishing the network structure and weights but that would be tantamount to open sourcing the entire model as now anyone could replicate it. So for now I believe the focus of regulation should be avoiding a situation where there are just a few huge models that have a ton of market power.

Some will object right here that this would dramatically aggravate the existential risk question, but I will make an argument in my next post why that may not be the case.

[cindylouwho-2]

Recent SEO & Marketing News for Ecommerce, November 2023

As promised, here is the separate report on marketing and SEO news for ecommerce businesses, up to the end of November. This is now separate from the ecommerce report (which will be out in the next week or so).

I probably won't be posting SEO and marketing news again until the new year, so this is my chance to remind you that I plan on leaving Twitter soon. You can still keep caught up here on Tumblr, plus daily on Bluesky and on LinkedIn. My plan is to have a new way to follow my news posts in a more timely fashion early in 2024, so stay tuned!

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google launched another core ranking update on August 22, which ended on Sept. 7. eBay, Amazon and Etsy lost a fair amount of page visibility in the UK, according to this analysis. The US version of the same study saw large drops for the same 3 sites, while sites with “user-generated content” did well. Then Google released a Helpful Content update, which finished on September 28. Sites with poor UX (user experience, for example too many pop-up ads) and too much focus on on-page SEO seem to be experiencing the worst effects. Google also gave out tips on what might be considered “unhelpful.” Then, Google rolled out the October Core update, which ended October 19. But wait, there’s more! They also did a November core update, which finished at the end of the month. 

Google has long denied using click data to determine search ranking, but the current antitrust hearings have revealed a different story. We also learned that it cost $26.3 billion in 2021 alone to buy spots as the default search engine in many browsers and devices. Here are more revelations about search ranking from the trial. 

Deleting old content will not necessarily help your Google rankings or traffic. However, if Google is penalizing your pages because it deems them “unhelpful”, removing those less-helpful pages will probably help the site overall. 

Internal links on each important page of your website will generally result in better Google traffic. The study covers 23 million links, but the author notes it only demonstrates correlation, not causation. Different anchor text for the same link is an even better predictor of Google search traffic. Note that Google staff recently stated links aren’t a top-3 ranking factor any more, though. 

Optimizing category/collection/section pages can provide a big SEO boost on an ecommerce website. Here are some tips. 

Google recently started showing follower counts for social media links in search results, but says they are not a ranking factor. 

Large media sites overwhelmingly rank at the top of Google search for common queries in many areas. It’s an interesting read. 

My periodic reminder that “LSI keywords” don’t help your SEO. LSI is an outdated method of data analysis that tries to find connections between words, but it was invented before the internet as we know it existed, and simply isn’t relevant for Google. Yes, related words are good, but LSI is not the way to find them. 

Semi-advanced content: how to figure out your potential buyers’ path to your product through Google data. This is a little more detailed than figuring out which problems people have and how you can solve them, but the basic idea is there. 

In case you missed everything on Google in August, here is a roundup, then you can catch up on September, and finally, October’s changes. 

Not Google

Bing Chat (basically, regular Bing search with Chat GPT involved) is now known as “Copilot”. The name change alone is unlikely to increase traffic, though, which is showing very little gain on Google despite the AI-driven search experience. 

Yahoo’s search redesign is expected to start appearing in early 2024. 

Yandex, the top Russian search engine, is for sale.

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

Branding is an important part of social media for businesses; here are some good tips on representing your business well and getting seen. As I always remind folks, you don’t need to be on every platform; that can actually be harmful. “It’s unlikely your audience will be active on every single social media platform, especially considering how many are out there in this day and age. Be thoughtful about which platforms you want to leverage for your social media presence. Once you know where your audience is most active, ask yourself whether the platform itself aligns with your brand values, story, identity, and tone of voice.”

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

European users can soon pay a subscription to opt out of advertising on Facebook and Instagram. 

Facebook uses member information to train its artificial intelligence models, but you can opt some of your data out of that process. Unfortunately, “[t]here’s no guarantee from the company that it’ll delete it, or that it’ll provide you with the information you’re asking for, even if it’s yours.” Also, this only includes the outside data and not your actual posts. 

Meta has new AI-tools for its ads, but not all accounts have access yet, as they continue to test. Ad revenue was up 23% in the third quarter.  

Instagram

Just like many other platforms, Instagram has issues with people advertising illegal things for sale. They are also blocking people posting research on the problem, instead of blocking the illegal ads. 

The basics of Instagram SEO: “The platform says there isn’t one Instagram algorithm. Instead, there’s a personalized set of classifiers and processes for each user.”

LinkedIn

Like most sites, LinkedIn is looking to upgrade some features with AI, but unlike most sites, it is planning on summarizing the feeds of its Premium subscribers so they don’t have to read everything. 

Yes, SEO can help you get found on LinkedIn.

Pinterest

Pinterest is now a bigger shopping destination for Gen Z, who are now the site’s “fastest-growing audience”. 

Reddit

Reddit removed its awards earlier this year, and will be replacing them with gold awards only, and will also pay top creators who earn at least 10 gold a month. 

Reddit may end up blocking Google and Bing from crawling the site, as a way to stop AI training. 

Snapchat

Snapchat ad revenue led to an improved 3rd quarter for Snap, but the company is still losing money. 

Threads

Threads - Meta’s Twitter competitor - continues to get upgrades, with polls and GIFs added recently. Apparently the site has almost 100 million users every month. They are now planning to launch in the EU by the end of the year.

TikTok

TikTok may be considering a ban on links to products for sale on other sites, although the company denied it. This may be to protect their own shopping platform: “Consumers in the U.S. are currently spending around $3 million to $4 million a day on TikTok Shop, up from around half a million to $1 million a day in June, the report says. TikTok staffers expect this number to exceed $10 million by the end of the year.”

That beta test is now live: TikTok Shop is officially in the United States. “As part of the rollout, the company is bringing features such as a dedicated shop tab on the home screen, live video shopping, shoppable ads and affiliate programs for creators…TikTok execs told The New York Times that more than 90% of sellers on TikTok Shop were based out of the U.S.” 

Longer videos may be a TikTok goal, as they are easier to place ads with.

Twitter

Twitter continues to die, losing users since it was sold. Advertisers are leaving completely, and others are not posting content. (Etsy has not posted any promotions on Twitter since November 14.)

Musk keeps stating Twitter may start charging users, and the company is forcing new members in New Zealand and the Philippines to pay $1 a year if they join via the web and want to tweet or retweet, i.e., they can still read without paying. A phone number is also needed for verification of new accounts in these countries. 

Twitter removed headlines from news link cards, but will be bringing them back soon. 

Tumblr

Tumblr will be rolling back some changes and focussing on “the core functionality” of the site, after many new features failed to gain traction. 

YouTube

Look for new AI video tools on YouTube in the near future; the new “Create” app is currently in beta for Android. 

If you produce Shorts for YouTube, you will want to know how that algorithm works. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies) 

Gmail, Yahoo and AOL are all implementing new email rules in 2024 that may impact some types of email newsletters, although most major companies have already complied with the new requirements. 

While Gmail hides your promotional emails, Yahoo is now offering new AI tools that will find those missing “gift cards, discount codes and store credits that people may have forgotten about.”

Newsletter option TinyLetter is being shut down by Malichimp. 

Substack users: be aware that your subscribers may see your address and phone number unless you change the default setting. 

The first step in writing content isn’t necessarily doing SEO keyword research [I’d argue that products are different than content, though, and that even forum or social driven content could benefit from a bit of SEO.] 

Looking for content marketing topics for December? Here are 5 ideas to get working on, and if you have some free time, get a head start on January.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (EXCEPT INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECOMMERCE SITES) 

Did you know there are tools to track ads from different companies on many ad sites? Some are even free. [includes TikTok, Meta, Google and LinkedIn]

Ecommerce advertisers may find Amazon a better place to spend their budget compared to Google Ads. “Amazon’s search volume comprises 54% of all product-related searches in the United States.”

Google’s third quarter was decent, but Cloud revenue was below projections while ad money was up. Microsoft’s ad revenue also improved. 

Chrome plans on ending all third-party cookies by the end of the third quarter 2024, and will start with 1% of users in early 2024. This will affect some types of ads, if you are wondering why platforms start changing. 

Anyone using Google’s Performance Max campaigns may be interested in this overview of how to get the most out of them, with screenshots. 

STATS, DATA, TRACKING 

Since a lot of people still can’t figure out Google Analytics 4, here is yet another good overview. 

This new YouTube video from Google shows you how to figure out traffic sources in Google Analytics 4. 

Still working on moving to GA4? Here’s a bit more info, including how to save your old UA data. 

For video learners, here is “5 reasons for using Google Search Console”. [YouTube, 3 mins.]

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

A report out of the UK on small business use of online platforms calls for the UK government to better protect small businesses from the power differential often evident in these relationships. 

Amazon’s Prime Day sales barely beat last year, while their competitors actually dropped. [Washington Post gift link] Some analysts think this bodes poorly for the holiday season, and that consumers are looking for discounts.

Around 50% of Generation Zers in the US plan to shop in malls this holiday season, and people in general plan on spending less this year. But another study said nearly half of Gen Z shoppers will make at least some purchases on social media, while the US average is just ⅓. Most online holiday shopping will take place on mobile instead of computers, and ecommerce shopping will be up less than 5% per some reports, and over 10% according to others. Black Friday stats also indicate that mobile outpaced desktop - smart phones delivered 54% of online sales. “Global data from Shopify also showed strong mobile performance for merchants on that platform. Mobile versus desktop 76% to 24%, respectively.”

Large companies report that various types of consumer fraud are on the increase, and cost $100 billion annually. 

IMAGES, VIDEO, GRAPHIC DESIGN, & FREE ONLINE TOOLS

Thinking of using AI to create some products and images to sell? Be aware that AI art is not copyright-protected, at least in the US at the moment. A recent case led the court to rule that “human authorship is a bedrock requirement of copyright.” [article includes a copy of the entire case]

Need some free web design tools? Practical Ecommerce has a recent list of 19, and an even more recent list of 17. 

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour) 

A snarky article in the Verge had SEOs all worked up, and some were very defensive about it. I thought the whole thing was hilarious. 

Reminder that there are usually consequences for (and laws against) improper use of a customer’s private information, which includes asking them on a date. “Almost one in three people aged 18-34 have received unwanted romantic contact after giving their personal information to a business, a UK poll has shown.”

Do you know what happens to your website and social media accounts when you die? Sometimes, even the platforms get confused about this, and there are few laws. 

Jewellery finding company TierraCast is closing by the end of 2023. 

UPDATED: December 4, 2023

[dd20century]

Tell Me About Designer Susan Kare

Editor’s Note: This is an experimental post written with the assistance of AI software, Chat GPT. The content was vetted for accuracy and revised for style.

Susan Kare is considered a pioneer in the field of computer interface design, best known for her work at Apple Computer during the 1980s, where she designed interface elements for the original Macintosh computer. These elements include the original Macintosh typeface, Chicago, as well as many of the icons and user interface elements that were used in the Macintosh operating system. Kare's work has had a significant impact on the design of user interfaces, and her design elements are still in use today in various forms. (1)

Kare's work on the Macintosh interface was far-reaching and had a big impact on the design of user interfaces. Here are a few examples:

The original Macintosh typeface used in the Macintosh operating system and is still used in various forms today

The "Happy Mac" icon, which was the icon that appeared on the Macintosh screen when the computer was turned on and the operating system was loading (2)

The "Command" key icon still used on Apple keyboards to this day to indicate the command key (3)

The "Paint Bucket" and "Paintbrush" icon used in the Macintosh program MacPaint (3)

The "Lasso" and "Eyedropper" icons used in the Macintosh program MacDraw (4)

The "Clipboard" icon used in the Macintosh operating system to indicate the clipboard (4)

Susan Kare, User-interface Icons for Macintosh Operating System (1982-1986). Image source.

Susan Kare was born on February 5, 1954 in Ithaca, New York, United States. She attended Mount Holyoke College earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In addition, she received both a M.A. and a Ph.D. in fine arts from New York University. (5,6 )“After earning her Ph.D., she moved to San Francisco to work at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), as a sculptor and occasional curator” (5).  

In 1982 Susan Kare began working for Apple Computer and remained with the company until 1986 when she “followed Steve Jobs in leaving Apple to launch NeXT, Inc. as its Creative Director and 10th employee. She introduced Jobs to her design hero Paul Rand and hired him to design NeXT’s logo and brand identity, admiring his table-pounding exactitude and confidence” (4).

Susan Kare, Chicago Typeface for Macintosh Operating System (1982). Image source.

After working at Apple NeXT, Inc. Kare continued to work on a variety of projects including designing icons, typefaces, and user interface elements for a number of other technology companies including Microsoft, IBM, Sony Pictures, and Intel. (3) Kare also established her own company, Susan Kare Design and continues to work as a graphic designer and artist. (5) “The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) store in New York City has carried stationery and notebooks featuring her designs” (4).

Ms. Kare's influential work has won several awards. In 1999, she was inducted into the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's National Design Awards Hall of Fame for Interface Design. (2) Her work was included in the Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) 2011 exhibition "Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects." In 2018, she was awarded the AIGA Medal, the highest honor in the field of graphic design in the United States.  Ms. Kare has been a Creative Director at Pinterest since 2015. (5)

View Susan Kare's portfolio.

References

FamousGraphicDesigners.org, (2019). Susan Kare. Retrieved from: https://www.famousgraphicdesigners.org/susan-kare

Kindy, D., (9 October, 2019). How Susan Kare Designed User-Friendly Icons for the First Macintosh. Retrieved from:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-susan-kare-designed-user-friendly-icons-for-first-macintosh-180973286/

Wikipedia, (6 May, 2023). Susan Kare. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Kare

Christoph, (19 January, 2023). Susan Kare – Designing the GUI of the Apple Macintosh (and much more). Retrieved from: https://www.mac-history.net/2023/01/19/susan-kare-pixel-design-apple-mac/

Kare Prints, (2023). About Susan Kare. Retrieved from: https://kareprints.com/pages/about

[kr-kabir]

Exploring the Chat GPT-A -Complete Guide

Chat GPT is an advanced language model developed by OpenAI. It is part of the GPT-3.5 architecture, a powerful version of Generative Pre-trained Transformer. Utilizing cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, Chat GPT can understand and generate human-like text, making it an excellent tool for a wide range of applications.

ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer) is a large language model-based chatbot developed by OpenAI and launched on November 30, 2022, notable for enabling users to refine and steer a conversation towards a desired length, format, style, level of detail, and language used. Successive prompts and replies, known as prompt engineering, are taken into account at each stage of the conversation as a context.

ChatGPT is the internet’s shiny new toy. It’s also a potential shortcut for students to quickly generate essays and other writing assignments — which has many educators rethinking their assignment designs.

(For some, that means trying to AI-proof their writing assignments; for others, it may mean teaching students how to use a text-generating AI conscientiously as a writing tool.)

[bloger-knowledges]

Chat GPT Openai: The Ultimate Guide to the AI Chatbot

Have you ever wanted to chat with an AI that can understand you, answer your questions, and even generate text for you?

If so you might want to check out Chat GPT Openai the latest creation from the tech research company OpenAI.

Chat GPT Openai is a chatbot that uses a large language model called Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer ChatGPT to engage in conversational dialogue.

It was launched on November 30 2022 and has been making waves ever since.

But what exactly is Chat GPT Openai and what can it do for you? In this blog post, we will answer these questions and more.

We will cover:

What is Chat GPT Openai and how does it work?

What are the features and benefits of Chat GPT Openai?

How can you use Chat GPT Openai for different purposes?

What are the limitations and challenges of Chat GPT Openai?

How can you get started with Chat GPT Openai today?

What is Chat GPT Openai and how does it work?

Chat GPT Openai is an AI chatbot that uses a large language model called ChatGPT to engage in conversational dialogue.

A language model is a system that can predict the next word or phrase based on the previous ones.

ChatGPT is a special kind of language model that can generate text in response to a prompt or instruction.

ChatGPT was trained on a vast amount of data from the internet, including web pages books news articles social media posts, and more.

It learned how to use natural language and how to communicate with humans.

It also learned how to adapt to different domains, topics, and purposes.

The sibling model of InstructGPT trained to follow instructions in prompts and deliver thorough responses is ChatGPT.

The distinguishing feature of ChatGPT is its ability to reject inappropriate requests admit errors debunk presumptions and answer follow-up questions.

Additionally, ChatGPT users can shape and direct a discussion toward the preferred format, style, amount of information, and language used.

Prompt engineering the process of continuously asking questions and receiving responses is taken into account at every turn of the dialogue.

What are the features and benefits of Chat GPT Openai?

Chat GPT Openai has many features and benefits that make it an attractive tool for users. Some of them are:

It can provide instant answers to your questions

It can produce top-notch writing for a range of uses.

It can provide creative inspiration and suggestions

It can take your criticism into account and get better with time.

It can adapt to your preferences and goals

It is accessible from any place with an internet connection.

It can be used for free for general use

How can you use Chat GPT Openai for different purposes?

Chat GPT Openai can be used for different purposes depending on your needs and interests.

Sign up For Free

Some examples are:

You can use it as a personal assistant that can help you with tasks like booking flights ordering food, or making appointments

You can use it as a tutor that can teach you new skills or subjects

You can use it as a writer that can help you with your essays stories poems or blogs

You can use it as a friend that can chat with you about anything

You can use it as a researcher that can help you find information or sources

You can use it as a designer that can help you create logos, graphics, or websites

What are the limitations and challenges of Chat GPT Openai?

Chat GPT Openai is not perfect and has some limitations and challenges that users should be aware of.

Some of them are:

It may reflect the biases and prejudices of the data it was trained on, which could lead to harmful or offensive outputs

It may not always be accurate or reliable in its predictions or responses

It may not always be able to handle complex or ambiguous questions or scenarios

It may not always be able to maintain a coherent or consistent conversation

It may be used for unethical or illegal purposes, such as spamming, scamming, or hacking

How can you get started with Chat GPT Openai today?

If you are interested in trying out Chat GPT Openai, you can do so by visiting chat.openai.com.

There you can sign up for a free account and start chatting with the chatbot.

You can also customize your chat settings such as the length format style level of detail and language used.

You can also download the Chat GPT Openai app for iOS, which allows you to chat with the chatbot on your mobile device.

The app also has some additional features such as voice input and output emojis and stickers.

If you want to have faster response times and priority access to new features you can upgrade to Chat GPT Plus a subscription plan that costs $20/month.

Chat GPT Plus also gives you more control over your data and privacy.

Conclusion

Chat GPT Openai is an innovative and powerful AI chatbot that can provide instant answers, find creative inspiration, and learn something new.

However, users should be informed that it also has some restrictions and difficulties.

Chat GPT Openai should be used responsibly and ethically as with any technology.

This blog post has given you a comprehensive overview of Chat GPT Openai and what it can do for you. Please don't hesitate to leave a remark below if you have any questions or suggestions.

. And if you liked this article, please tell your friends and followers about it.

. Thanks for reading!

[proofofburden]

The Problem with Teaching Students to use Chat-GPT-like products

Upfront, I want to say this isn't an unsolvable problem, but if you're barreling in with the suggestion I should stop teaching people to write and instead teach them to edit Chat-GPT because that's the future anyway, you're telling on yourself!

To edit something requires a baseline knowledge of how sentences work and how communication works and knowing what you want to get out of a piece of writing. Technical shortcomings of current products aside---and they are profound---let's imagine we reach a point the main way adults write is by editing machine responses to prompts. It does not follow that the best way to learn to interface with that writing is by having a machine do it for you and turn it in. Being able to sit down and write a whole sentence from nothing is the most intimate way to get to know a sentence, even if it won't be the main way people do it once they reach proficiency. There's a parallel in math where the best calculator users tend to be those who have reached a pretty good level of computational proficiency. (There is a laudably democratizing effect of the calculator whereby once you reach that proficiency those who are better at computation have less of an advantage, but you still have to understand what you're punching in. I am cautiously optimistic this is the future of AI writing.) This is not to say that an unwillingness to make sure students can become proficient users of technology is a virtue, but that learning to use computers counterintuitively starts by learning how to think about the problem fully, and computers often impinge on that.

I find parents and legislators have a very outcome-focused view of education. While I think it's possible to be too theoretical, too abstract, and too obtuse, it's also true that learning is ultimately procedural and tool use must be supported by abstract thinking. Thinking computers are going to circumnavigate the hard work of learning to think about writing---indeed, that they don't threaten your child's education---is the kind of nonsense I have come to expect from the public. People who think computers will write for us without us deeply engaging in their output are telling me that they never learned to write well and are not used to learning difficult things as an adult. Perhaps that's working out for you, but I at least have higher aspirations for your child.

My even spicier take is that if these tools are going to be so indispensable and so important to workflow, surely firms can train students to use them! The primary goal of schools ought not be work preparedness per se, but to give students the intellectual toolkit to thrive in the face of a great many intellectual challenges in their future. Now, I'm not dogmatically against teaching calculators or editing prompt responses; these tools can be part of teaching students to thrive. But I find "they are going to use it at work" to be a concrete problem for their hypothetical bosses at some hypothetical future date; profitable businesses should stop trying to offload their responsibility to do job training on teachers. My job is to steward their minds for the time being, which does not necessitate doing their (again, stressing how much this person may never enter their lives) hypothetical boss's hypothetical job for them and training them to use the product their boss requires.

Finally, lest you accuse me of being a luddite, one thing I'm excited for is that if this technology reaches a certain point, it has a pedagogical use: It could let me skip much faster to teaching editing. Students tend to be bad at editing, mostly because getting a first draft is a huge investment and having done a lot of work they don't want to do more; further, they lack the discernment to know it is not, in fact, good enough, and that they need to do that work. I have a whole bag of tricks to get students to edit in the first place, and to see the value in it, but there's a lot of resistance! Being able to skip the first draft investment and go directly into editing with something they shepherded out of an AI could pay dividends regardless of where their first drafts come from in the future. My bigger point that they have to be able to write a draft to understand a piece of writing stands, but they don't have to write that draft to do an in-depth editing lesson. By the way, the current version of this lesson either uses former students' work or a teacher's mock-up, both of which have problems that AI solves, but also notice that it's not the sea of change to pedagogy AI boosters make it out to be.

Anyway, if you think the point of teaching writing is for students to end up with a final draft, you misunderstand learning and education. This isn't to say educators should be out of touch with how writing is changing with technology, nor that AI can never offer chances to make new and better lessons, but that often the slickest way to do something cheats your student out of thinking about what they are supposed to be learning---and there can be no learning without thinking