AsktheBuilder.com Issue #1220 (I think)

February 12, 2023

Dear ,

Are you a new subscriber? If so, you're in for a bit of a treat. If you could talk across the dinner table to a seasoned subscriber, she/he would tell you this is a rare instance where I take a deep dive into one topic and share with you important survey results.

Let's get started.

Artificial Intelligence, I'd Like You to Meet Home Improvement

Just days ago, possibly without you knowing it, I dipped you into the murky waters of artificial intelligence (AI). You may have been one who took this short survey/quiz.

I happen to belong to a secret mastermind group filled with very smart people. Most have IQs far beyond mine. I discovered long ago if you want to excel at something, surround yourself with people who are much better at it than you are. Be the dolt in the group.

Over the past week, a discussion popped up about AI and what the future holds. I thought it would interesting to get your opinion so I came up with the above survey with the help of a great friend of mine, Bob Rankin.

Bob went to ChatGPT and asked, "Write a 500-word essay on how to paint rusty metal and steel, and mention how doing so might prevent gas-line explosions. Include an anecdote about Tim Carter's daughter Meghan."

The first article in the survey I sent out was coughed up like a bad hairball by the ChatGPT computer using AI.

Bob was curious to see how it would compare to a recent column I wrote on the same topic. My column was the SECOND article in the survey.

Responses and Results

Within 24 hours I had over 718 responses! That's outstanding when you realize you had to expend some effort to read both articles. By the time you read this, I project I'll have over 800 responses.

It's important to realize I did NOT share with you at the beginning of the survey that article #1 was created by a computer or who wrote article #2. If you've been with me for years, you undoubtedly recognized my voice in article #2.

The results were astonishing. The first thing I wanted to know was how authoritative you thought each article was on a scale of 1 to 5.

Here's what the respondents said about article #1. Number 1 on the scale was Very Authoritative and #5 was Not Authoritative at All.

Note that over 50%, add together the two bars on the left, of the respondents thought that article #1 written by the computer was authoritative.

Here are the results for article #2 that I wrote:

By the way, the anecdote about me and Meghan NEVER HAPPENED. The AI computer LIED TO YOU - it MADE UP THE STORY.

How do you feel about being LIED to? My guess is you're numb to it as there's a very high likelihood it's happening to you each day, but I digress.

What About Sources?

Several times in past issues of this newsletter I've talked about the quality or accuracy of content you stumble upon out in the wild hinterland of the Interweb.

Did you know not too many years ago a few major content-farm websites paid stay-at-home moms about $10 to create a home improvement column? There's a very good chance these authors - if you'd call them that - had never done what they were writing about.

They would visit websites like mine and steal content. They'd rewrite it and presto amino you'd have a 500-word column in 30 minutes or less.

How did these authors know if what they were copying was ACCURATE if they had never done the job before?

How will the AI computers know what they're copying is accurate?

For years I've suggested you do just one thing. Do you do the following?

When you end up on a home improvement website page and are reading a column that interests you, do you STOP and click the About Us page? Do you go find out WHO wrote the column and WHAT is the DEPTH of the author's experience?

I'm willing to bet you that you don't. Such a sad mistake as Queen Cersei would say. Trust is the Achilles' Heel of just about every homeowner horror dilemma I'm called in to investigate.

More Results

Question three in the survey/quiz asked: Which article do you trust more? Here are the results. Note in the time I'm creating this newsletter two more people took the survey!

I won that battle with the AI computer with just over 75% of the vote.

Question four finally shared with you the possibility that one of the articles may have been created by a non-human. Here's exactly how question four was worded and the choices. In my haste, I didn't edit my own work and I misspelled the word sourced:

Here are the results. What part of the pie would you be eating?  

The red part of the pie is the second choice above. The blue piece is the first choice above. Add the two together and you come up with 76.6% of the respondents were NOT HAPPY about computers creating content. I would have guessed a lower number.

Fourteen percent are not picky and didn't care who wrote the content.

The gold that was in the results was buried in the Other choice. 

Let's explore quite a few of those responses just below.

If anything in this newsletter helps save you time or money, maybe you want to reciprocate and buy me a popover & a cup of coffee? That would be appreciated!

The Gold Input

Let's unearth some of the gold. I'm going to share the responses word-for-word and then offer some commentary below each one.

See how your feelings align with the respondents or what I might muse.

Let's go.

"I just need to turn up trust meter a bit. Having to do that with a lot of content these days."

Tell me how you do that. How does one turn up the trust meter?

"Disappointment than AI is writing articles without the support of actual experience."

How many articles at different sites have you read without knowing AI created them? Did you know Sports Illustrated is doing this?

"I'd be fine with it as long as the author/issuer disclosed that fact and reviewed it before publishing."

And what about when it's NOT DISCLOSED. Think about how much content online you read rarely paying attention to the author or even if the author is listed. For example, WHO WROTE THIS column? How many toilets has the author installed? Does this person have years of work experience installing toilets? Please respond and let me know what you discovered.

"Fraud"

Well, lots of attorneys in the future might agree if the AI content is plagiarized with no attribution/credit. HOW WILL YOU KNOW???

"I would do more research. If it is an important matter, I won’t rely upon just two articles."

Good for you! Tell me, how will you discern the AI articles from ones written by a human with years of hands-on experience? Do you invest that time now? Or, are you a trusting soul? What happens if the AI content is riddled with bogus information? Are you SURE you'll be able to tell?

"First, both articles scared h... out of any DIY gas pipe as might explode while I sand. Suspect #2 contrived as asked for 1-10 and only 5 provided. And liked how addressed other metals, not just gas pipes (might try on those). Suspect #2 just scoured articles and upset; didn't address current building codes relative to nails, etc."

Well, that was my mistake saying "...on a scale of 1-10..." when the linear scale only had 5 choices. Yes, you might cause a leak and subsequent explosion sanding rusted threads! Uh, I wrote #2 from my head - no research required. See how easy it is for you to be FOOLED!!!

"The second article is a self-quote by a licensed tradesman who overlooked stating what jurisdiction licensed him., it would be better if an outside authority is also quoted , Both would make it a 1, the first article a how to do it. What authority having jurisdiction is Meghan licensed by? Google or chat GBT are not licensed."

Gotcha! I wrote the second article and I'm not licensed. Well I do have an FCC radio license and a drivers license. And when was the LAST TIME you were out driving and got cut off by someone or were passed by someone going 95 mph? Do you really think licensing is the answer? Holy moly... You're right, ChatGPT is not licensed nor will it ever be. But HOW WILL YOU KNOW the content was created by AI????

"I would then understand why article #1 was so excessively repetitive if it was written by a computer!"

You only knew that AFTER I suggested it might be the case. How would you have known it was a human who got a D in English class vs a screaming AI computer? What does the future hold when AI is refineed so it's NOT REDUNDANT? HOW WILL YOU KNOW?

"Would do/ask others about best metal painting."

And who might that be? What other home improvement websites answer questions? How will you know if a HUMAN is answering your question? Automated AI answers have been around for over a DECADE.

"Aw! I'm shocked and my mouth is hanging open! They're both great articles, but No. 1 does seem more scientific and well researched. No. 2 is folksy. I'm still shocked!"

I've got news for you. You've NOT SEEN ANYTHNING YET. AI will just get better and better. Wait until it FOOLS you with first-person writing. You're DOOMED.

"Perhaps all AI-based publications should require identification."

And who's going to police that??? BWAHAHAHAHA

"If I knew the article was produced by AI software, I'd want to confirm the validity of the information independently."

And just how do you propose to do that validation? As I stated earlier, you probably will not know that the information you're using to VALIDATE is AI or produced by a human. If you can determine it's a HUMAN, how will you know their level of expertise?

Have you had enough for today? I could share many more responses, but I think I've captured the spirt of what the respondents said.

Are you troubled? If not, you should be. You should be DEEPLY TROUBLED.

Imagine how AI is going to infiltrate everything you consume. How it will shape your opinions about current events.

How will you know what is true? How will you know if a person you see in a video is the real person?

For example, how well do you know Emma Watson? You know, the Hermione Granger character in Harry Potter movies? Watch this video first, then watch a former CIA section chief show you decades-old technology. Be SURE TO LISTEN TO HER LAST SENTENCE.

I'll be back next week. Do you NEED HELP with an issue at your home? If so, GO HERE. 

Or you can call me. Maybe I'll answer. 603-867-5309 :-)

Alright, you know how I feel.

That's all.

Tim Carter

Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

My Pronouns: Told/You/So

Winter Field Day Man - www.W3ATB.com

Do It Right, Not Over!

P.S.