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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 5th, 2023

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  • I have found one use for generative AI that I have liked. I’ve thrown it at aggravating searches for me.

    Use case example: I stopped traveling across the country and got a job at one location. It’s across the city. I’d like to find an electric bike to get there. The location is 12 miles away as the crow flies. Unfortunately my city is absolute crap at any kind of non-car transportation so it needs to get myself up to 40 mph at minimum. Honestly if I’m going that speed, I’d like a scooter like the a burgman. Trouble is “scooter” runs the gambit from competing to motorcycles like the Burgman, to little ones like the Vespa, and stand up ones like you see dumped all over cities downtown. Electric motorcycles start getting into “I might as well buy a new motorcycle” prices.

    Alright, I do a search for electric scooter, I get all standing scooters. I’ve attempted changes and maybe find a sitting one that is made for not getting over 25 mph. Finally getting frustrated I remembered one of my younger coworkers talking about using AI for searches, fine… ten minutes later I had a series of results of bike that fit my criteria as well as small little dealers across the city that DuckDuckGo nor Google bothered to pull up, and that’s with me specifically asking for links because I didn’t want made up bullshit.

    Now if we get to the point of AI becoming overlords, I’m sure I’m going to be among the first against the wall because the first couple searches of it not getting things right involved me calling it a dumbshit so…

    So yea… that’s my territory of using an AI, it’s a better search engine for weird esoteric shit… I kind of wish it wasn’t an app or a website because if it was a physical device I’d have it next to a hammer which I guess shows how much I trust it.




  • Once Kansas City had apparently a fantastic streetcar. Then the car companies bought it up and tore out the rails. Now we’re getting a streetcar being built again but it’s just doing downtown on one street. I’m not near the streetcar.

    So I drive to work. It’s 12 miles, about 30 minutes (or 20 miles, 30 minutes if I take interstate around the city… honestly this city is weird, EVERYTHING is 30 minutes away.) If I wanted to take the bus, the shortest time frame would be 1 hr 35 minutes… not including that I’d have to get halfway there to get to the first bus stop.

    Cities… if I wanted to take the train, I can go to Chicago for relatively cheap using Amtrak… but gotta plan that 3 months in advance, and the 8 hour ride we HOPE doesn’t get extended because Amtrak doesn’t own the rails it’s on. Flipside, driving is 8 hours. Other cities, St. Louis, Wichita, basically I have two train lines, one in state, and one cross country. If I want to go to Denver… it’s not happening.

    So to answer your question, I want you to try to imagine how bad you think our public transportation is. Then lower your expectations.