Comment on Duolingo Fires Translators in Favor of AI

skeptomatic@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

• lemmyvore@feddit.nl ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  A loom is a precision machine. You know exactly what you’re going to get when you use one. It’s output was identical to manual work, only a lot more efficient and less error prone.

  There is no “AI”. What we have is LLMs, which are probabilistic generators. It’s anybody’s guess what you’re going to get when you use a LLM and they’re more likely to introduce mistakes rather than eliminate them.

  The comparison to looms is incorrect. LLMs can be useful but I’m a completely different way. They shine when used to augment the work of a human expert but they can’t be trusted to perform alone.

  So yeah, right now attempting to use a LLM exclusively leads to a drop in quality.

  source

  • skeptomatic@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    “They shine when used to augment the work of a human expert but they can’t be trusted to perform…”.

    I’m sure someone wrote the same about the first looms.

    source
• gaael@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  In a capitalistic world where your right to stay alive is determined by the money you make, replacing himan jobs by machine ones is a real problem.

  If what was happening was “ok so the machines are gonna do that so you’re gonna have a lot more free time but you still get your wages”, I for one would be happy.

  But what’s happening is more along the lines of “well I hope you didn’t just get a mortgage because here’s the door hahaha don’t be sad think lf the extra money the shareholders are going to make” and it’s a real problem.

  Just because it’s logical that shitty bosses take shitty decisions which impact negatively other person’s lives doesn’t mean we can’t be upset and vocal about it.

  source

  • skeptomatic@lemmy.ca ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Then y’all Luddites can make a new luddite sub and post your complaints over there.
    This is a technology sub.
    In any world, you just can’t stop progress, so complaints will be filed under “G”, for garbage.
    And the world will keep on spinning.

    source

    • TheRtRevKaiser@beehaw.org ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Hi skeptomatic, Beehaw Technology mod here. To be clear, this community is not only for the uncritical admiration technological development or the tech sector. It is a community for discussion of Technology in general, which will likely include discussion of the effects of technology on society. Those topics very well may include discussions of how and when those technologies, the environment they are developed in, or the systems they enable are harmful to human flourishing.

      You are absolutely welcome to defend generative AI as a useful or positive development - I personally think it’s a really interesting technology with some major potential (although I think we’re probably in a hype cycle and it’s being applied in all kinds of ways that don’t really make sense), but I also recognize that there are potential social pitfalls in their development and deployment. Those ideas are worth discussing in a kind, civil manner.

      Lastly, when you comment here on Beehaw, please remember our rule: Be(e) Nice.

      source

      • MrBusiness@lemmy.zip ⁨10⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        You make a good point, like how when CGI first came out and everyone had to have it in their movies. Some good movies were made laughable or absolutely worse when practical effects could have done the job.

        source