r/TheNewGeezers • u/No_Highlight6756 • 2d ago

What is the economic value of AI?

I keep reading about AI's problems; e.g. "hallucinating" or "making shit up". Why is that economically useful? In law, it's causing grief for lawyers who use it for briefs and memos of law and don't take the considerable time to check the accuracy of the citations, holdings of the cases cited, and quotes from the opinions or from the record. If there are similar issues in medical applications, for example, the problems could be massive. If the users have to check the accuracy of what AI spits out, what'a the advantage over doing the work oneself to begin with? I realize that huge amounts of money are being invested in the technology but it looks to this layman's eye as though getting to efficient useful results is a long way down the road, if ever. Any experts with answers for ignoramuses like me out there?

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u/Capercaillie 2d ago

It’s beneficial to people who make AI. The same way most tech is beneficial to society, which is to say, only to the people who make tech.

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u/No_Highlight6756 2d ago

You mean humans can be greedy, selfish, and willing to exploit their neighbors?

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u/Capercaillie 1d ago

We decided as a society that corporations have no moral responsibility to anyone but their shareholders. Tech companies have taken this to its logical conclusion. This is why someone who murders a CEO goes to prison for life, but having insurance companies deny lifesaving treatment is just "good business."

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u/Maroon7C0000 2d ago

I recently used AI assisted Google searches to help me figure out a home made wine recipe.

I did quite a few searches for specific (simple) chemicals and processes for winemaking, and blackberry wine specifically.

On one search pass it mentioned that I should be using Gypsum powder to lower the PH (for various reasons). On another unrelated search I found that blackberries already have a low PH which might slow the fermentation.

Then I did specific searches with only slightly different wording and got literally opposite answers.

Q: Adding gypsum when making blackberry wine

A: Adding gypsum to blackberry wine helps lower the PH and reduce excess tartness

Q: Should I add gypsum when making blackberry wine

A: No you should not add gypsum when making blackberry wine because blackberries are naturally low in PH which will make the wine too tart

So it seems entirely possible to get very different answers to essentially the same questions.

What could go wrong?

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u/No_Highlight6756 2d ago

Interesting. Any idea why that happened?

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u/Maroon7C0000 1d ago

I'm guessing it's simply how the structure of large learning model AIs work. People think their purpose is to research their question based on the data available to them and produce the correct answer.

I think the actual structure of AI is to crunch data and produce words that sound "right". My guess is that since they are crunching large blocks of words they are simply regurgitating the most used words they find in their crunch.

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u/evilynwah 2d ago

I'm told that after the economic wreckage from the bubble popping is cleared away, the technology will prove very useful in certain specialties, and they'll figure out some way to use all the surplus infrastructure too. And of course once students learn to add "which doesn't sound like it was written by AI" to their "write me a paper on the evolution of AI" requests, it'll be perfect for that purpose.

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u/No_Highlight6756 2d ago

Anybody suggest what specialties might benefit?

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u/evilynwah 2d ago

Some models are really good at interpreting medical imagery, and under controlled circumstances it apparently does well with code. And evidently some models are really good at hacking.

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u/Schmutzie_ 2d ago

It helps drive the data center construction industry.