RL Peeves
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I had no idea that I desired to wear a tuxedo while teaching until I noticed that the faculty handbook forbids me from doing so.
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I have an extremely annoying colleague I am nonetheless incredibly fond of.
What annoys me about her is the exact same thing that makes me nevertheless respect her, it’s that she’s me 10 years ago complete with all the quirks and mistakes I’ve since taken pains to iron out.
The curse of having your own sins come back to haunt you in the form of a younger version of yourself has to be one of the most underreported frustrations of getting older.
I want to shake this person until she stops doing all the dumb obnoxious shit I used to do to other people.
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@Kestrel Parenthood is also this.
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Does everyone remember, idk how long ago now, when “olestra” was the biggest thing to hit food and all over the news (and the various rumors about it)?
I feel like “powered by AI” is along those lines, and I’m like, “ok. In 2025 olestra is something I never hear about anymore, so when can we get past the excessive AI push that probably isn’t really AI or as revolutionary as they claim?”
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@dvoraen AI is an interesting (read: frustrating) topic that comes up at my job quite often. I can usually sort those trying to get it brought in into one of two categories:
- A C-level exec that wants it so they can slap “Powered by AI” on the product.
- A stressed junior/mid developer who wants it to do their job for them.
Setting aside misunderstandings around what AI actually is, both of the above are fueled by a lack of comprehension of the problems they’re facing in their day-to-day life.
The C-level exec wants to sell and thinks a shiny sticker will do just that. But the issues with what we make (and there are always issues in product development, that is a fact of life) have nothing to do with a lack of AI, nor will adding AI provide any tangible benefit. Asking “how do you want to use it in the product” usually results in a blank stare and instructions to just get it done. The only success I’ve had at stopping the AI implementation bandwagon is telling C-level how much it costs to build, run, and maintain.
The biggest issue that I can go into specifics about is that implementing AI in the way our execs often ask will run us afoul of GDPR. Not might. Will. I cannot elaborate further.
For the dev, working under Infinite Crunch, they see an easy way to work faster and more efficiently. They don’t have the time to assess the code being produced by the AI let alone their own code in the grand ecosystem of the product as a whole. Ninety percent of the time, when a dev asks me for a copilot license, their code is actually pretty good. The problem is the gigantic tech debt and clashing design differences etc etc, stuff that needs to be solved by a manager wielding the Refactoring Mallet.
The manager, however, is usually too busy telling C-level how much AI integration costs to build, run, and maintain.
I sound sour about this, and I assure you, I absolutely am. AI is a scalpel being sold as a hammer, and the only people who stand to gain anything from AI implementations are the ones selling it to hapless C-level execs who don’t know better.
In conclusion, there is a detailed (and deliciously crude) blog post I often refer people to when the AI conversation comes up for the umpteenth time. At the very least it’s good for a laugh. https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/
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So far the only AI-related thing I can honestly say I am happy to see is the LLM my company built to make scraping the 10K+ pages of documentation we have for our internal software way easier when I’m trying to find a solution to an issue with the software.
Most of the AI stuff getting lots of news attention is pretty awful to me, because it’s all generative and a lot of it is sourced and trained in unethical fashion.
I am however looking forward to the stuff being experimented with using AI in science fields, and hope that one of the first mind / self-improving AI systems designed is pointed at medical or environmental science, as I have a feeling those revolutions will usher in a new age of humanity.
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Does everyone remember, idk how long ago now, when “olestra” was the biggest thing to hit food and all over the news (and the various rumors about it)?
Oh man, I remember this well - I was actually a spokesperson for Pepsi in the late '90s when Olestra was rolled out. What a mess that turned out to be. I had to include this awkward disclaimer every single time I talked about it: ‘Digestive issues have been known to occur in less than 2% of the population.’ Fun times trying to market that one!
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Wasn’t Olestra banned in like… all of Europe and most of Asia and South America?
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@MisterBoring Yep! If you wanna crap your guts out for your snack foods, you gotta come to the US!
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Adviising students visiting the US for a short class to keep in touch with their nation’s consulates, and providing them with addresses and telephone numbers for the consulates closest to the cities the students will visit. Feeling like this is a necessary precaution. Want to cry.
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There still aren’t any original fantasy MU* games to play.
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Is Songs of Avaria still running? It looked like an original setting.
