That very much ties up with my experience.

I already find I say: I want one of these what's the best, or the cheapest or the most efficient.

Then I will throw in:  and how does this one compare, what are the different features and the different benefits.

Then I check to see if the product works for me and if I can put up with the downsides.

AI is proving to be a great product research tool.

How a business manages that easily to change SEO massively.

You must be very interesting times in that space.

Glad I just invested in some Makita

Quote of the day by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei: "Humanity is about to be handed almost unimaginable power, and it is deeply unclear whether [we] possess the maturity to wield it" — warnings on the looming threat of beyond-human AI

 

Interesting name choice! Probably only to me, but certainly unusual.

I guess it was a word not often used.

I start with www.which.net

Quote from: ergophobe on May 23, 2026, 08:50:18 PMWhy have Gemini create a QR code?

Why not? Its an easy part of the prompt. It can either do the job or not at all. Why can it not go to the code (website) and get it done.


If your prompt is by voice, then you just ask. The word is that AI is taking all sorts of jobs, inc accountants.  It seals well with data.
 

One of the reasons ai irritates me is the way it takes 2 or 3 sentences to say something that requires a 3-word answer.  If we have chatty ads, that's as much a nightmare as cuddling a snake.

Meanwhile, I seem to struggle to get Gemini to generate a QR code that works, and then not change it on the published page.
Worse than a bad intern at times.

A favourite of mine:
" The only money you ever have, is the money you spend"

quite the opposite

I never saw that coming. Old PC taken off ebay.

The Netherlands are still holding back the sea.  (hows that for optimism from me )

Hand slapped appropriately.  You are right.

 We should all be more optimistic, its not always easy.

Quote from: ergophobe on May 11, 2026, 11:07:45 PM>>  wont go to the US at present

Would she consider a trip to China or Russia or the Philippines?

Absolute NO to Russia.>  Way too cautious.  China and the Philippines would be on the list to visit I think.

Quote from: ergophobe on May 11, 2026, 11:44:12 PM>> AI makes human labor close to irrelevant.

I'm not convinced this will happen. We went from a world where over 90% of all people were involved in agriculture to one where only 2% are in the US.

But it wasn't an easy process. Lots of people lost livelihoods along the way. The problem is the pace of change. If too many people lose livelihoods too quickly, that is the moment of danger. I've heard economists say that 3% per year is sustainable just through natural attrition, but 6% is major social dislocation.

Another issue we have is what sociologists call "elite oversupply." It happens periodically and we are going through it now.

Essentially, for years we have been saying, "Get a college education and get a good job." But the "elites" (college educated) may be in oversupply and this leads to particular anger. You hear this a lot from young people today: "I did everything I was supposed to, but I still can't afford to move out of my parents' house."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_overproduction
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/the-elite-overproduction-hypothesis-994

I guess like in my long discussion with Rupert, I see AI as an accelerant.

We have a house on fire and a fire engine with an empty gas tank. We also a water hose and a gasoline hose. If we can just somehow stop ourselves from filling the fire engine gas tank with water and spraying gasoline on the house, maybe it won't be so bad.

Way too optimistic     

My wife was in LA last month, to see the old relative who has just turned 100. (Congrats Aunty Marg ) .  But my sister has said she wont go to the US at present.