Kudos to Beverley Sharp's Boeing / Be Our Guest. I'm sure the other entries are also outstanding, but I didn't recognize some of the songs they were based on.
We shouldn't let AI take our dull and repetitive tasks from us, any more than we should ask it to do our children's math homework. In both cases, the problem has already been solved many times, so neither the problem nor the solution to it is fundamentally new. The great majority of problems encountered by a human are not fundamentally new. That is not relevant. The point is to develop a better and more capable person who understands the experience of solving problems. That's what you need to solve problems that have never previously been encountered, and to create novel solutions to old problems.
The real question is what will fill the void left by the AI-relieved dull and repetitive tasks? It would be nice to think of that relief as labor saving in aid of freeing up creative thought sooner, rather than simply the delegation of "housekeeping" chores. My experience with humans tells me, however, that the void is likely to be filled with more busywork, perhaps more enjoyable or less taxing, but nevertheless unproductive in the scheme of things. Certainly being able to rapidly model or show a variety of possibilities quickly, which would otherwise be laborious and quite probably limited, presumably would be helpful in jumpstarting the true creative process, but like the AI system itself, it will require training. In the end, however, we will have to resolve a significant societal issue: how to accommodate those who are only capable of dull and repetitive work by choice or necessity.
Now, having gotten that off my chest, onto the matter of problem solving which you raised a number of paragraphs earlier. The value of AI in problem solving in the context you use, is, IMO, in teaching how to solve problems. Since we, even at a young age, tend to solve problems differently or, in other words, approach a problem differently because of our unique mental framework, eventually an AI system could be trained to understand that framework and use something similar to the Socratic method with customized Q&As to guide the decision making. Short of these customized Q&As, a system could provide personalized instruction by simply presenting all possible approaches to a problem and explaining in the detail necessary, why each, other than the correct one, is wrong --- after the individual picks one solution or another and at least tries to explain why it was chosen.
Thank you, David S. Kessler, for that link to Zero Mostel singing "There's a Girl in the Heart of Wheeling West Virginia with a Watch that Belongs to Me" and the rest of the Harry Ruby songbook. Made my day. Week; year, probably.
For Paul, who wanted to turn off the emails telling him someone had liked his comments: I, of course, asked my friend Claude the AI: Here's what he said:
Yes, you can turn off the email notifications for likes on your comments in Substack chats. Here's how to disable these notifications:
Go to your Substack account Settings page.
Scroll down to the Notifications section.
Look for the option related to "Thumbs" or "Likes" notifications.
Click on the toggle next to this option to disable it12.
This action will stop you from receiving email notifications when someone likes your comments on Substack chats, including your brother Gene's chat.
Paul, tap the little thingy at the top right corner that has the little down arrow. Tap settings. Scroll down to notifications. Uncheck the ones that you don’t want to get.
Dropping the vase put me in mind of ISIS destroying ancient statues. I couldn’t find it amusing or artful. Just saying. Barbarians and bullies destroy what they lack the capacity to understand or even imitate.
Ai Weiwei knew exactly what he was attempting to express in dropping the priceless ancient vase, but the problem, as with so much of subversive art or anti-art, is it almost always has to be explained or interpreted via another medium. And just as often met with a shrug or shake of the head. So is it art or another verbal or written social statement? Thanks to a relative handful of buyers and influencers, anyone can be an artist so long as at least one other is willing to buy your creation, or describe it favorably as a person of influence, however banal or self-indulgent it may be.
Certainly wouldn't want to distract from the weekly gnashing of teeth or anal retentiveness here, but we are about a witness another iteration of the commedia dell'arte-like phenomenon called, "Selecting the Speaker of the House." Or is it more like the Encierro, or "running of the bulls?" Anyway, it is scheduled to take place tomorrow (3) starting at noon to determine if Demento's Johnson will again be supported. Many members of the party formerly known as Republican are said to already have this in hand. Or want to put it behind them. This process could um.. mushroom. Stop me before I hurt myself!
As with all creative consumables, the end user or the consumer is the determining factor of success, however defined. So it is/will be with those generated by AI, the central issues being identification and compensation for those whose work or likeness is being used in the datasets used to train the AI system. Is it close enough for jazz and at what cost? "The fundamental things apply as time goes bot" ("by" Zork-1, how many times do I have to tell you, it's "by"!?).
Don't like the "Likes" emails? (1) Never comment (2) Change your email of record to that of a relative who never thought you would amount to anything, let alone ever be liked (3) Go to your account "Settings" (click or tap on the "hamburger" or three stacked lines menu [or similar] at far upper right), scroll down to the "Notifications" section, and toggle off the option for "Likes - Notify me when someone likes my notes or comments." (4) Make comments like this.
I have a friend who always entered "billgates@microsoft.com" to all the intrusive demands for an email address in order to do any-damn-thing on a website.
Paul Merrion: Go to https://substack.com/settings , scroll down to the "Notifications" section, toggle off all the ones you don't want to get.
I particularly enjoyed the horse do-overs this week. (I hope my French spelling is correct).
The horses are always my favorites above all.
Kudos to Beverley Sharp's Boeing / Be Our Guest. I'm sure the other entries are also outstanding, but I didn't recognize some of the songs they were based on.
You can click on the link in the song title to hear how it goes.
We shouldn't let AI take our dull and repetitive tasks from us, any more than we should ask it to do our children's math homework. In both cases, the problem has already been solved many times, so neither the problem nor the solution to it is fundamentally new. The great majority of problems encountered by a human are not fundamentally new. That is not relevant. The point is to develop a better and more capable person who understands the experience of solving problems. That's what you need to solve problems that have never previously been encountered, and to create novel solutions to old problems.
The real question is what will fill the void left by the AI-relieved dull and repetitive tasks? It would be nice to think of that relief as labor saving in aid of freeing up creative thought sooner, rather than simply the delegation of "housekeeping" chores. My experience with humans tells me, however, that the void is likely to be filled with more busywork, perhaps more enjoyable or less taxing, but nevertheless unproductive in the scheme of things. Certainly being able to rapidly model or show a variety of possibilities quickly, which would otherwise be laborious and quite probably limited, presumably would be helpful in jumpstarting the true creative process, but like the AI system itself, it will require training. In the end, however, we will have to resolve a significant societal issue: how to accommodate those who are only capable of dull and repetitive work by choice or necessity.
Now, having gotten that off my chest, onto the matter of problem solving which you raised a number of paragraphs earlier. The value of AI in problem solving in the context you use, is, IMO, in teaching how to solve problems. Since we, even at a young age, tend to solve problems differently or, in other words, approach a problem differently because of our unique mental framework, eventually an AI system could be trained to understand that framework and use something similar to the Socratic method with customized Q&As to guide the decision making. Short of these customized Q&As, a system could provide personalized instruction by simply presenting all possible approaches to a problem and explaining in the detail necessary, why each, other than the correct one, is wrong --- after the individual picks one solution or another and at least tries to explain why it was chosen.
Thank you, David S. Kessler, for that link to Zero Mostel singing "There's a Girl in the Heart of Wheeling West Virginia with a Watch that Belongs to Me" and the rest of the Harry Ruby songbook. Made my day. Week; year, probably.
For Paul, who wanted to turn off the emails telling him someone had liked his comments: I, of course, asked my friend Claude the AI: Here's what he said:
Yes, you can turn off the email notifications for likes on your comments in Substack chats. Here's how to disable these notifications:
Go to your Substack account Settings page.
Scroll down to the Notifications section.
Look for the option related to "Thumbs" or "Likes" notifications.
Click on the toggle next to this option to disable it12.
This action will stop you from receiving email notifications when someone likes your comments on Substack chats, including your brother Gene's chat.
Did Claude the AI mean to say, "....especially your brother Gene's chat."?
Well yeah, I asked Claude the question in the first place, and published his answer. That was what is known as an "aside," I guess...
What "notifications?"
Gary E Masters
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Hahaha, 😆 thank u for making me snot-laugh-cough, Gene.
Oh. Thought maybe Cole was a person.
Paul, tap the little thingy at the top right corner that has the little down arrow. Tap settings. Scroll down to notifications. Uncheck the ones that you don’t want to get.
Pls. explain: Second runner-up:
From Week 68: “Breed” two names of real racehorses and name their “foal”:
Count Dracula x Rocketeer = He’s Undead, Jim (Jonathan Paul, Garrett Park, Md.)
Imagine Dr. McCoy ("Bones") from the original Star Trek saying this to Captain Kirk ("Jim").
Thx. I’m Star Trek ignorant.
Dropping the vase put me in mind of ISIS destroying ancient statues. I couldn’t find it amusing or artful. Just saying. Barbarians and bullies destroy what they lack the capacity to understand or even imitate.
Ai Weiwei knew exactly what he was attempting to express in dropping the priceless ancient vase, but the problem, as with so much of subversive art or anti-art, is it almost always has to be explained or interpreted via another medium. And just as often met with a shrug or shake of the head. So is it art or another verbal or written social statement? Thanks to a relative handful of buyers and influencers, anyone can be an artist so long as at least one other is willing to buy your creation, or describe it favorably as a person of influence, however banal or self-indulgent it may be.
Certainly wouldn't want to distract from the weekly gnashing of teeth or anal retentiveness here, but we are about a witness another iteration of the commedia dell'arte-like phenomenon called, "Selecting the Speaker of the House." Or is it more like the Encierro, or "running of the bulls?" Anyway, it is scheduled to take place tomorrow (3) starting at noon to determine if Demento's Johnson will again be supported. Many members of the party formerly known as Republican are said to already have this in hand. Or want to put it behind them. This process could um.. mushroom. Stop me before I hurt myself!
"Demento's Johnson"!!!! AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! Need brain bleach!!!!!!!
Knew I could count on you!
As with all creative consumables, the end user or the consumer is the determining factor of success, however defined. So it is/will be with those generated by AI, the central issues being identification and compensation for those whose work or likeness is being used in the datasets used to train the AI system. Is it close enough for jazz and at what cost? "The fundamental things apply as time goes bot" ("by" Zork-1, how many times do I have to tell you, it's "by"!?).
Don't like the "Likes" emails? (1) Never comment (2) Change your email of record to that of a relative who never thought you would amount to anything, let alone ever be liked (3) Go to your account "Settings" (click or tap on the "hamburger" or three stacked lines menu [or similar] at far upper right), scroll down to the "Notifications" section, and toggle off the option for "Likes - Notify me when someone likes my notes or comments." (4) Make comments like this.
I have a friend who always entered "billgates@microsoft.com" to all the intrusive demands for an email address in order to do any-damn-thing on a website.
Hmmmm....does anyone know Il Douche's e-mail address?