Artificial Intelligence – Life-Enhancing or Absolutely Fucking Terrifying?

[Vice Admiral]

There doesn’t seem to be a general AI thread here (only a brief thread addressing the specific question of people on this site using information from Google AI in their posts).

The newspapers I read often feature articles, reports or opinion pieces about the likely impact of AI.  AI doesn’t feature much in my life, as far as I know, apart from Google AI often supplying me with helpful information.  However I don’t much like the sound of many of the implications.

The immediate reason for starting this thread is that YouTube recently offered me a music video – a cover of an old song – in which the performers, although apparently wholly and normally human, didn’t, in some way I couldn’t quite put my finger on, look entirely right.   (There was no information on YouTube.) 

So I went to see what Google AI (!!!) had to say.

It wrote:  “Yes, many music videos feature AI-generated performers. The industry has embraced this technology in several ways, from fully synthetic characters to deepfakes and AI-assisted animation.”

Others are probably ahead of me here, but the fact that the seemingly human performers in the video I watched might not be human has, for the first time, made me fully realise how – from now until the end of time, and ever-increasingly – we will never know if what we see on our various screens is real or fake.

It’s bad enough for me and you, who are reasonably intelligent and analytical.  But it’s even worse for, say, half-witted teenagers whose brains are already addled by – and susceptible to – shed-loads of false information.  An AI-generated Hitler or Pol Pot?  He’d have them eating out of his hand.

So, AI – life-enhancing or absolutely fucking terrifying?  I’m in the AFT camp.

[Mr Garmin]

I hope they don't use AI to portray men walking on the moon.  That would be just wrong and I'm sure that it would be a line that nobody would cross.

[Jonestown]

There was a time, not too long ago, when a photograph was considered proof that some event had actually taken place, them we got photoshop and the world changed.

[Iamforreal]

There needs to be regulation about intellectual property for artists and also in many other areas.
For everything else it is both Life-Enhancing and AFT.
I believe we need to learn how to work with it and adapt.
Otherwise we shouldn't call it intelligent, it isn't at all, how it works is just pattern recognition, but that's probably another topic 

[Strawberry]

I am convinced the instructor in a yoga video I used last week is AI, people were commenting underneath as if it was a real person. The account linked directly to an diet and exercise weightloss plan website.

I won't be using the channel again.

[RogerHealey]

So, AI – life-enhancing or absolutely fucking terrifying?  I’m in the AFT camp.

Me too. Doubtless the doubters will be painted as ignorant ludites. I never forgot HAL 9000. It took a while to get there but all too soon science fiction becomes science fact. Boundaries once in place then get moved be it this, genetic engineering, WMD and more. The quest for knowledge, to be the first, and the recognition and success it could bring is insatiable and can't be switched off. And you have to hope big tech and governments have a moral compass and it doesn't all turn into the reality version of Resident Evil.

And on a lighter note I'm off to listen to Hazel O'Connor's 'Eighth Day' 

[PilotMan]

Too many people focus on the popular and headline grabbing negatives. The general talk by most people just seems to be about Ai as a tool to create fakery.

I've been educating myself on how to use it; it's a powerful tool.

Like all powerful tools, you need to know how to use it.

You need to think of Ai as like having your own personal expert for any subject you need help with. Maybe you need an expert to help you create an Excel spreadsheet, or write a presentation, or do research for a product.

Now imagine that you have got the use one of the world's top experts in the field in which you are interested in. You just tell the expert exactly what you're trying to achieve, giving as much detail as possible. And, if you're not sure if you've asked all the right questions, tell the Ai to ask you if it needs clarification, and it will.

Some examples of how I have used Claude recently;
Creating a Deed of amendment to a condition attached to a property transaction. The summary from Claude included a detailed analysis of the existing agreement, and overview of the important points to cover. It also highlighted other factors to consider that should be included.
Writing a script for a YouTube video, complete with scenes and a detailed timeline and B roll suggestions. .
Writing a marketing plan for a new business venture. The plan included detailed action points and follow ups. Claude also carried out a website analysis and review.

Let me know if you have any questions 

[PilotMan]

Another brilliant example that I know of.

There's a world famous horse riding trainer I know. People pay thousands to him to attend his training courses, and buy his training modules in video format on subscription.

He's just created an Ai training app that you access by subscription. He used an Ai to learn everything that he teaches,  literally everything. He trained the Ai to speak in his voice.

The subscription works anytime, anywhere, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Here's how it works;

A subscriber is riding a horse and needs instruction or help with an issue. They just ride with the App running and call the Ai into action, describing what they are having an issue with or what they are trying to do.

The Ai responds immediately in his voice with detailed instructions on what to do, it continues to listen and guide you as you ride, in an interactive way, just like a real person.

[bigden40]

For those interested in the impact on music specifically Diplo's take - “technology always wins” - is interesting.   Also worth listening to Rick Beato on the subject. 

[bigden40]

Another brilliant example that I know of.

There's a world famous horse riding trainer I know. People pay thousands to him to attend his training courses, and buy his training modules in video format on subscription.

He's just created an Ai training app that you access by subscription. He used an Ai to learn everything that he teaches,  literally everything. He trained the Ai to speak in his voice.

The subscription works anytime, anywhere, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Here's how it works;

A subscriber is riding a horse and needs instruction or help with an issue. They just ride with the App running and call the Ai into action, describing what they are having an issue with or what they are trying to do.

The Ai responds immediately in his voice with detailed instructions on what to do, it continues to listen and guide you as you ride, in an interactive way, just like a real person.

I recently watched a presentation by Andre Agassi and his company is applying similar to tennis coaching. He partnered with IBM on this last year.

External Link/Members Only

External Link/Members Only

[Rick2468]

Too many people focus on the popular and headline grabbing negatives. The general talk by most people just seems to be about Ai as a tool to create fakery.

I've been educating myself on how to use it; it's a powerful tool.

Like all powerful tools, you need to know how to use it.

You need to think of Ai as like having your own personal expert for any subject you need help with. Maybe you need an expert to help you create an Excel spreadsheet, or write a presentation, or do research for a product.

Now imagine that you have got the use one of the world's top experts in the field in which you are interested in. You just tell the expert exactly what you're trying to achieve, giving as much detail as possible. And, if you're not sure if you've asked all the right questions, tell the Ai to ask you if it needs clarification, and it will.

Some examples of how I have used Claude recently;
Creating a Deed of amendment to a condition attached to a property transaction. The summary from Claude included a detailed analysis of the existing agreement, and overview of the important points to cover. It also highlighted other factors to consider that should be included.
Writing a script for a YouTube video, complete with scenes and a detailed timeline and B roll suggestions. .
Writing a marketing plan for a new business venture. The plan included detailed action points and follow ups. Claude also carried out a website analysis and review.

Let me know if you have any questions 

You and I are of similar build PilotMan as we seem to share the same views on a number of topics (fitness and investments before this).

I use AI a lot at work and it is very useful but it has to come a long way before it replaces me. I use it a lot as an assistant to polish emails and reports. I often work with large datasets and I use AI to write code to analyse the code and pull out particular cashflows for me to look at in more detail. One of the best things I used it for was to convert very fiddly collateral calculations in a legal document for a M&A case I was working on so I could see the formulae rather than words to help me get my head around it.

I find AI useful but I think it has a long way to go to replace blue collar jobs entirely.

I find using ChatGPT or Claude can have short comings. It seems to always want to give you an answer even if it doesn't know the answer. And it seems to place too much reliance to what random users have posted on Reddit. I was shopping for a bike recently and asked Claude to assist me, I asked it to compare two bikes and it made a comparison which seemed to back up exactly what I saw on a post I found on Reddit, but when I looked at Claude's source it has also found the same Reddit post and spouted it back to me as fact. I can see a circular thing happen where humans post things they got from AI, then AI uses references that post to answer the next round of questions.

I don't like the sound of AI producing art. If I heard the most beautiful song I had ever heard then learned it was made by a computer I just don't think I could connect to the song in the same way.

[PilotMan]

The two mains ways I use Ai now is for detailed research and analysis, and creating a document or presentation from scratch.

Ai swallowed the internet
Some of what I see happening is that the Ai are basically swallowing the whole of the internet, and regurgitating it to you in a human like written format. They are clever enough to decipher what you are asking and searching that out across the vastness of what's written on the internet to find answers, then present those answers to you in a summarised and digestible format.

Previously if you were researching you would have to go to the various search results across the internet, decipher the information, then reach a conclusion or do something with your findings. The Ai is clever enough to remove that grunt work for you, and to analyse it in the way you have requested.

Ai Mistakes
Ai does make mistakes and you should double check things if they are of critical importance. There are some high profile misuse legal cases.

Pinsent Masons got a huge slap on the wrist recently. The High Court publicly reprimanded them after a junior lawyer used AI to draft letters in an insolvency case, resulting in fake statutory wording and citations. The judge criticised the firm's failure to supervise the junior solicitor's work and check the AI outputs.

Changing how Google search is used to buy products

As an aside to using Ai as a tool, I have noticed that often when I search Google to buy something, I see all the sponsored and natural results (SEO), then I find myself clicking on the Ai tab to get more information.

For example, search Google for Wellington Boots. In order of display, it gives you sponsored results, advert pictures, natural results, then more sponsored results. Click on the AI tab and you get a summary description of Wellington Boots and their history, followed by "Notable Wellington Boot Brands & Types", followed by picture adverts.

After the pictures the Ai asks if you need help buying a pair of Wellington boots. So I think it will eventually change the way people search for and buy products, kind of like having a personal shopping assistant.



Hidden Image/Members Only

[scutty brown]

Hello Dave
I can't let you do that Dave
It's pornography Dave and it's not good for you.

[RandomGuy99]

You can say to the AI to not make stuff up and that if it doesn't know something then it should say that it doesn't know. It then starts giving you confidence scores in answers it gives.

If you tell ChatGPT to do that then it responds with

Agreed.

If I don't know something, or if I don't have enough information to answer confidently, I'll say so. I'll also distinguish between:

* **What I know** versus **what I'm inferring or estimating**
* **Established facts** versus **uncertain or disputed information**
* **Current information I've verified** versus information that may be outdated

When appropriate, I can also look up information to try to find a reliable answer rather than guessing.

You can also do not use Reddit as a reliable source of information and provide links to the source of any information you provide.

ChatGPT responds with this

That's a reasonable preference.

A couple of distinctions are useful:

* **Reddit can be a source of people's experiences and opinions**, but it is generally **not a reliable source for factual claims** unless those claims are independently verified.
* For factual information, I should prefer primary sources (official organizations, company websites, government publications, academic papers, etc.) or reputable secondary sources.
* If I use Reddit at all, I should make it clear that it reflects user opinions rather than established facts.

Regarding links: I can provide the source for factual claims I make. When I use web sources, I'll cite them directly so you can check the information yourself. If I don't have a reliable source for a claim, I'll either say so or avoid making the claim.

[PilotMan]

@RandomGuy99

Have you tried using Claude?

[RandomGuy99]

@RandomGuy99

Have you tried using Claude?

No, how is it different to ChatGPT?

[PilotMan]

No, how is it different to ChatGPT?

I found it more sophisticated for producing documents and reports.

[Vice Admiral]

There was a time, not too long ago, when a photograph was considered proof that some event had actually taken place, them we got photoshop and the world changed.

Photographic fakery and associated human gullibility actually go back a long way.  In 1917, for example, two young cousins who lived in Cottingley, near Bradford – Elsie Wright, aged 16, and Frances Griffiths, aged 9 – famously took five photographs of fairies.

The pictures came to the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the (supremely rational) Sherlock Holmes.  Conan Doyle was convinced the photos were genuine and used them to illustrate an article on fairies in the Christmas 1920 edition of The Strand Magazine. 

I’ve pasted in one of the photos below.

Actually ... now I come to look at it more closely, I think Conan Doyle may have been right.

Yes, I’ve changed my mind.  I think the fairies in the photo are genuine.  They look just like the ones at the bottom of my garden.

Hidden Image/Members Only

[bigden40]

I found it more sophisticated for producing documents and reports.

100%

I’m using Claude Pro these days, it’s giving me huge productivity benefits.

[catweazle]

I've only dabbled a little with ChatGPT ( my only  AI experiment so far). I have a lovely photo I took in the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi  - its a wonderful building and ( rightly) attracts many ( nom-Muslim) visitors.  I thought the photo might look better without visitors wandering across  it, and without a temporary sign in it. I was greatly impressed at how AI removed these items making the photo even better.

[PilotMan]

I've only dabbled a little with ChatGPT ( my only  AI experiment so far). I have a lovely photo I took in the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi  - its a wonderful building and ( rightly) attracts many ( nom-Muslim) visitors.  I thought the photo might look better without visitors wandering across  it, and without a temporary sign in it. I was greatly impressed at how AI removed these items making the photo even better.

Auto photo editing is a clever tool, but I wouldn't class that as a true Ai.

Think of Ai as a personal assistant that is an expert in every single field of work and knows about everything in the world, and that understands your natural language.

For example;

As your person Travel Agent, something that would have previously required an expert or lots or personal research.

Instead, ask an Ai to research and create a holiday itinerary for you, just give it the criteria and let it do the work.

Can you create a holiday recommendation and itinerary for me based on the criteria below - ask me any questions if you need to before giving me recommendations.

I want to travel somewhere between June 15th and July 31st
I want to be at my destination for 10 days
The weather should be sunny, but not above 30 degrees
I would prefer an adults only resort
I will be travelling with my wife
I don't mind how far away it is
I like to visit ancient monuments and historical places
I don't mind if there is no beach
I like to dine out a good quality restaurants every evening
My total budget is £6,000

After I submitted my criteria, it asked me three questions about my preferences.

Here's what it came up with:


Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

Hidden Image/Members Only

[bigden40]

Good example. 

One trick I often use would be to take criteria like you have as an example and then get one Ai to write the prompt for use in another. 

This spits out the following:

I’m planning a 10-night holiday for two adults (myself and my wife), departing anytime between 15 June and 31 July 2026. Please recommend 2–3 destinations and create a detailed day-by-day itinerary for your top pick. My criteria: sunny weather but temperatures staying below 30°C; adults-only accommodation (hotel or resort); a strong focus on ancient monuments, archaeology, and historical sites; quality evening dining at local restaurants (not hotel buffets); no beach requirement; total budget of £6,000 including flights from London, accommodation, and dining. Distance is no object. For each destination suggestion, briefly explain why it fits my criteria, the best travel window within my dates, and any practical tips. For the itinerary, include morning/afternoon/evening structure, specific site names, and restaurant recommendations where possible.

I then asked what additional information would be useful to refine the prompt:

Here are the key gaps worth filling before running the prompt:

About you & your wife

   •   How physically active are you? (Lots of walking/hiking ruins vs. leisurely paced)
   •   Any dietary requirements or cuisine preferences for the evening dining?
   •   Is this a special occasion? (Anniversary, birthday — could affect accommodation tier)

Travel preferences

   •   Where are you flying from? (You said London but Gatwick/Heathrow/Stansted affects options and price)
   •   Do you have a preferred flight duration, or are you genuinely happy with long-haul?
   •   Preferred accommodation style — boutique/characterful hotel vs. luxury resort vs. something with an apartment feel?

Budget clarity

   •   Is £6,000 your hard ceiling, or a rough guide with some flex?
   •   Does it include travel insurance, excursions/entry fees, and spending money — or just flights, hotel, and dinners?
   •   How much are you comfortable spending per evening on dinner for two?

Historical interests

   •   Any specific civilisations or periods you’re drawn to? (Greek/Roman, Egyptian, Mesoamerican, Ottoman, etc.)
   •   Do you prefer guided tours or independent exploration?
   •   Are you happy visiting multiple sites per day, or prefer one big site with time to absorb it?

Practical

   •   Any countries or regions you’ve already done and want to exclude?
   •   Any accessibility considerations?

A bit of back and forth with the AI (my preference right now is Claude) can get you to a really polished outcome. 

Ask Claude to give you the answer in a brochure format and you can print something for the missus.

I got this as the answer btw:

Destination shortlist:

1. 🇹🇷 Turkey — Istanbul, Cappadocia & Ephesus (Top Pick)
2. 🇬 Greece — Athens & Crete
3. 🇯🇴 Jordan — Amman, Jerash, Petra & Wadi Rum (temperature caveat — see below)

Top Recommendation: Turkey in June

Best travel window: 15–25 June

Why Turkey Works Perfectly

Weather: In June, Istanbul and the Marmara region sit at 22–28°C, Cappadocia at 18–30°C with cool mornings, and the Aegean region (Ephesus) at 24–32°C.  June is the sweet spot — summer tourism hasn’t yet peaked, so you can enjoy bustling cities, scenic landscapes, and iconic sites without overwhelming crowds. 

History: Turkey is extraordinary for history lovers. A well-planned 10 days covers Istanbul, Cappadocia, Pamukkale, Ephesus, and Antalya — the five destinations that define any first trip. 

Dining: Istanbul in particular has become a world-class culinary destination, with everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to authentic meyhanes (Turkish tavernas).

Flights: Return flights from London to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines start from around £254 per person in June, rising to £276 in July  — so for two adults, budget roughly £500–£600 return.