Is the future of the Web really one where so much of the content is behind a paywall or a registration screen? (some call it a “regwall”) Are we returning to the pre-Internet days where so much information was locked away in gated “walled gardens” of online activity such as CompuServe, AOL, Prodigy, Delphi, etc.?
Each morning after our dog wakes me up sometime between 4:30 and 5:00am, I let her out in the backyard to do her thing… and then I start my morning scan of news. Over the last 15 years or so I’ve found that I’ve come to value the curation of Gabe Rivera’s teams and so I start out with Memeorandum for general news and politics, and then Techmeme for tech news and sometimes go to MediaGazer for media news.
My frustration that has been growing over the past five years or so is that so many mainstream news sites are locking their content behind paywalls or regwalls.
When I go to Memeorandum I’ve come to know that I just should not bother clicking the link if it is from the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Wired… and even sometimes Reuters.
And it’s not just news sites… I’ve pretty much given up reading Cory Doctorow’s latest articles when he initially posts them because he goes to Medium first, which won’t let me read his articles without a subscription. (In his particular case, I can wait a few days and get it on his blog.) I’ve come to just ignore the email messages Medium sends me because pretty much all the articles now either require login or payment.
And this is why I moved this newsletter from Substack over to WordPress. Increasingly so many Substack newsletters I was reading would let you read a page or so… and then you have to pay.
Even here on WordPress.com, they actively promote that you should use them for a newsletter because you can charge for content:
Earn with your work With gated content and paid subscriptions.
I could add in some blocks and set it all up so that you all had to pay to read this morning missives.
Good journalism is expensive
Look… I get it!
It’s incredibly expensive to do good journalism correctly.
And the advertising model that initially propped up so many media sites completely evaporated in the wake of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for classifieds, and the move of so many people to social media to discover news (read about the latest stats out this week).
I’ve read so many of the reports and articles about what’s happening in the media industry. I get it.
It’s an incredibly hard problem to solve.
And so I don’t begrudge news sites in putting up paywalls to try to pay their reporters. For them it’s a return to the pre-Internet model where you had to pay for a subscription or buy a copy at a newsstand.
And with all the zillions of layoffs in the media industry, I don’t begrudge all the many individual reporters who have set up their own Substack or other newsletter so that they can attempt to continue their reporting and independently make a living.
I get it. I understand.
But … what is the end game?
But how does this all end? I don’t know about you all, but I simply can’t subscribe separately to EVERY media site and newsletter that I want to read. (Nor do I want to register on every single site so they can track me.) $20 here, $20 there… and sooner or later you’re spending hundreds of dollars. It’s just like all the zillion video streaming services asking for us to subscribe to each of them.
It just doesn’t work for most people.
Will we see more “bundling”? Which is basically what Medium is doing with their “Members-only” – pay a fee and get access to all the writers who contribute members-only articles.
Will we see more of a return to the “information services” of old where only those who could afford to pay would be able to see the good articles? (And those who could not afford to do so would not.)
Or what?
The crazies don’t put up paywalls
My additional concern is that the folks who don’t care about “good journalism” don’t put up paywalls. The conspiracy theorists, the fringe groups, the extremists of all political views, the anti-vaxxers, the climate change-deniers, the anti-science people.
Disinformation and misinformation is freely available for everyone. No paywalls. No regwalls.
THAT content is what can get found in search engines. THAT content is what will get indexed by generative AI systems… and then regurgitated as “fact” by the very plausible and authoritative large language models.
Good content behind paywalls… misinformation without.
Over time I see this further eroding the trustworthiness of the Web. (That is admittedly already eroded.)
The answer is… ?
I don’t know. I know it’s NOT the utter stupidity of the Canadian government’s failing attempt at a “link tax”. (And that’s a topic for another day…)
But I’m not sure that the realistic answer is paywalls (“subscriptions”). How many can the average user afford?
What do you think?
All I know is that with every paywall or regwall … the Web, and the broader Internet… seem… a… little… less… open…
Thanks for reading to the end. I welcome any comments and feedback you may have.
Please drop me a note in email – if you are a subscriber, you should just be able to reply back. And if you aren’t a subscriber, just hit this button and you’ll get future messages.
This IS also a WordPress hosted blog, so you can visit the main site and add a comment to this post, like we used to do back in glory days of blogging.
Or if you don’t want to do email, send me a message on one of the various social media services where I’ve posted this. (My preference continues to be Mastodon, but I do go on others from time to time.)
If you use Mastodon or another Fediverse system, you should be able to follow this newsletter by searching for “@crowsnest.danyork.com@crowsnest.danyork.com“
You can also connect with me at these services, although I do not interact there quite as much (listed in decreasing order of usage):
Disclaimer: This newsletter is a personal project I’ve been doing since 2007 or 2008, several years before I joined the Internet Society in 2011. While I may at times mention information or activities from the Internet Society, all viewpoints are my personal opinion and do not represent any formal positions or views of the Internet Society. This is just me, saying some of the things on my mind.
From 1987-1994, Star Trek: The Next Generation (ST:TNG) brought an updated version of the classic show to our TV sets. Through my later years in university and first years out on my own, I tuned in each week to see the latest saga of Captain Picard, Commander Riker, Data, Worf, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge, the Crushers, and so many more.
Set 100 years after the original Star Trek series (aka “ST:TOS”), there were many advances in the fictional technology. One that captivated me (and probably many others) was the evolution of the “communicator” from a handheld device like a mobile phone… into a “badge” that was worn on your left breast.
You simply tapped on the badge and a whole realm of possibilities opened up. You could ask the computer for any information you needed. You could locate someone. You could call someone. It could serve as a universal translator between languages. It could do so many things!
Over the years, several companies have made versions of a “communicator badge” that were Bluetooth devices that could connect to your phone. Essentially a wireless microphone/speaker that worked with your phone. They were cool… but you still needed your phone.
At a high-level, the basics are that it is a $700 device that you wear on your chest or lapel and you speak to it … basically like that Star Trek:TNG communicator!
For a $24/month subscription, you have access to various services that it can perform, including responding to questions, playing music, doing translations, summarizing info, etc.
Additionally, it has a camera that can record images or video. An example they give is holding up a food and asking “can I eat this?”
It connects to all sorts of AI-related services, and uses large language models (LLMs) and natural language processing (NLP) to help with the voice interaction.
Plus, it has this cool laser display system that can project information onto your hand, and also allow to perform other gestures.
If you have 10 minutes, their launch video is interesting:
(And yes, loads of people have commented negatively about the video in articles … but regardless, it provides an overview.)
You just tap on it and start talking to it.
No separate phone required.
Now, it does require connectivity, and they mention that they have partnered with T-Mobile here in the USA. Each device has its own phone number and data connectivity. Effectively, it is a “phone” device as far as T-Mobile is concerned, even though it may never actually make a “phone” connection, doing everything over the data connection instead.
Always-on Connectivity
Which is, of course, given who I work for, one of the first things I thought about this device.
It will ALWAYS need Internet connectivity.
It can apparently do a few things in the device itself… but not much. Those earlier Bluetooth “Star Trek Communicator” devices needed the phone to be in range in order to do anything. The phone was the device that actually executed actions.
Similarly, if you use an Apple Watch or other similar smartwatch, you again need a phone in range for it to fully perform all its functions.
With this AI Pin, the devices need the network to be able to connect back to Humane’s servers and services. Otherwise you are just wearing a piece of metal and plastic on your shirt.
I do wonder how well this will work in many places.
I live in northwestern Vermont where our mobile connectivity is challenging outside of major roadways and our “urban” areas. (Our Vermont definition of “urban” may be different than yours! ) You don’t have to drive far to find places with only very limited connectivity – or none at all.
But perhaps the main place these will be used will be urban areas, or within enterprises or other denser locations.
Or… if you look at the deal between T-Mobile and SpaceX… perhaps once they get the regulatory approval to launch new Starlink satellites that can provide “direct-to-mobile” connectivity, then these AI Pins will benefit from that other layer of connectivity. (Stay tuned… there are many steps before this can happen – and you can guarantee rivals will fight SpaceX every step of the way, so we may not see it for several years.)
The key point is that the AI Pin will always need connectivity – and presumably decent connectivity – to connect to its various AI services.
Subtracting functionality for a simpler interface
If you think about it – and this is a point Humane makes in its various presentations – we keep on subtracting functionality from our devices in a quest for the ultimate simple and minimal user interface.
Some of us can remember the ginormous mainframes and their terminals… which became mini-computers… which became desktop computers… which became laptop computers… which became smart phones… which became smartwatches and other wearable devices…
At each step, we’ve continued to remove user interface (UI) functionality. I’m writing this post on an iPad, which has less of a UI than my MacBook Pro laptop. I spend a lot of time interacting with people using my iPhone, which has a similar UI to the iPad, but just a smaller screen. I can also interact with people using my Apple Watch, which has an even more minimal UI.
The AI Pin takes this minimal interface so much farther. No screen at all (well… on the device… it can project via the laser thing). Really no UI on the device at all. Just tap it to do something.
Are we ready for voice-only?
Which raises the question – are we ready for a voice-only interface?
Maybe.
The past several years have been training us all… between Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, and all the others… we’re getting used to voice commands. How many millions of Amazon Echo devices are out there? (Side note… how many are actively being used?)
I think it’s also a generational thing. I’m a cranky old GenXer who deliberately DISABLES voice systems on all my devices. And I’ve only put one Amazon always-on-surveillance-device Echo in our house (where the primary use is to play music).
But I watch my 14yo daughter and how she interacts with systems. She uses Siri all the time on her iPhone. And using it, she can look up things far faster than I can type them into a search box. (Yes, we’ve of course raced each other.) She uses it on her laptop, and she uses voice all the time to interact with the Echo in so many ways.
My teenage daughter’s generation thinks nothing whatsoever of talking to devices.
The technology and systems have come so far since the ten years I spent in the voice-over-IP world back in the 2000s and early 2010s.
And with all the developments in AI systems, the voice interaction systems are so much better. It’s truly remarkable.
But… AI.. and accuracy?
But wait… how accurate can AI systems be? What about all the times when LLMs completely make up information?
Yes, this is a major issue.
In a completely shocking lack of fact checking, the Humane folks produced and published their launch video with a blatant error from their LLM. They asked the AI Pin when is the next solar eclipse and where is the best place to view it.
The system answered correctly that the next total solar eclipse is April 8, 2024. But it then answered falselythat the best place to see it would be Exmouth, Australia, and East-Timor.
How do I know this is not accurate?
Because the part of Vermont where I live is directly in the path of the April eclipse! (In fact, some organizations are seizing on the opportunity to rent out homes to people who will visit us to watch the eclipse. )
The SF Gate site figured out that these names were the best places to see the 2023 eclipse. (They also pointed out that later in the demo when he uses the camera to figure out the amount of protein in some nuts, the amount is significantly off!)
MAJOR FAIL
And it blows my mind that someone would not have fact-checked something as major as this launch video.
Be that as it may, there is a huge amount of work happening to make these systems more accurate. Over time I think they will improve – it’s just a question of how much time that will take.
(And a point that right now would NOT be a good time for anyone to wear one of these if they need live-saving data!)
Privacy?
My other major concern is of course privacy. All this data is being transmitted from this AI Pin device up to various cloud services provided by different vendors.
Om Malik had a lengthy interview with Humane co-founder Imran Chaudhri where he specifically asked about privacy concerns. Chaudhri answered about how privacy and data protection were critical elements of their approach. And that this was in fact why they are only having limited partners initially – because they have very specific privacy and data protection requirements.
He spoke about people being in control of their own data, and about partitioning data so that even the company doesn’t have access.
I have no doubt that this is part of their core values… today.
But what if their company fails … or is bought by another bigger company for whom privacy is not a core value?
I know people with a Fitbit device who are greatly concerned about what Google is doing now that they own Fitbit. (And Google is in fact phasing out Fitbit in some parts of the world and pushing people to move to their Pixel devices.)
I do worry about how private any device like this can be in the long term.
Will I get one?
Not yet. But… I won’t rule it out.
First, the $700 is a bit steep for me to just have a device to play with – and I don’t really feel like adding another $25/month (or whatever it is with taxes).
Second, I don’t know that I could trust the info coming out of it yet. The blatant errors in their demo show that it’s not ready for major usage yet.
Third, privacy. Privacy, privacy, privacy. There’s a reason I disable voice systems on my devices.
Fourth, there just aren’t that many services yet. That will come, but right now there’s not enough for my frugal Vermonter personality to justify the cost.
BUT… if someone gave me one as a Christmas gift, I’d definitely play with it to see how it works!
I can see the promise and the potential.
I mean… I watched 7 years of ST:TNG… and then ST:Deep Space Nine… and then all the other Star Trek series that had this kind of device.
I have wanted something like this for the last 35 years!
We’ll see.
Will this AI Pin device actually prove to be useful? Will it be the launch of a new way for users to interact?
Or will it fail and just be yet-another-exciting-device-that-winds-up-dead-in-a-drawer?
I don’t know. I do know that it’s exciting to see something like this with a new form factor and services.
I look forward to seeing what Humane does with it… and if there are other companies and services that join in with this type of device.
Meanwhile… this went on far longer than I expected… and I need to go drop off my daughter at school and start my work day!
Thanks for reading to the end. I welcome any comments and feedback you may have. What do YOU think about this kind of device? Would you get one?
Please drop me a note in email – if you are a subscriber, you should just be able to reply back. And if you aren’t a subscriber, just hit this button and you’ll get future messages.
This IS also a WordPress hosted blog, so you can visit the main site and add a comment to this post, like we used to do back in glory days of blogging.
Or if you don’t want to do email, send me a message on one of the various social media services where I’ve posted this. (My preference continues to be Mastodon, but I do go on others from time to time.)
If you use Mastodon or another Fediverse system, you should be able to follow this newsletter by searching for “@crowsnest.danyork.com@crowsnest.danyork.com“
You can also connect with me at these services, although I do not interact there quite as much (listed in decreasing order of usage):
Disclaimer: This newsletter is a personal project I’ve been doing since 2007 or 2008, several years before I joined the Internet Society in 2011. While I may at times mention information or activities from the Internet Society, all viewpoints are my personal opinion and do not represent any formal positions or views of the Internet Society. This is just me, saying some of the things on my mind.
When I climb up into the crow’s nest and look out at the horizon, one of the “lands of opportunity” I continually see is the world of “decentralized social media”, and in particular Mastodon and the other services that use the ActivityPub protocol and are broadly referred to as the “Fediverse”.
For context, I first joined Mastodon back in 2016 when Twitter was going through one of its various crises. You can still find me there today, primarily at danyork@mastodon.social but also with accounts on a couple of other servers.
Part of what I value about the Fediverse is that you are not at the mercy of the whims of billionaires (ex Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg) or large “platforms” and corporations (ex Google). You are in control.
In fact, you can be completely in control if you want to operate your own server. And if you don’t want to take that on, you can choose from many different servers – and you can easily move between servers should you wish to do so.
And when the big #TwitterMigration started about a year ago after Elon Musk purchased Twitter and started making many changes, many others started flowing over here to Mastodon and the many other services that make up the Fediverse.
But it hasn’t all been “a bed of roses” as we might say here in the USA. Many people found the Fediverse confusing and not welcoming. Many were looking for the centralized, simple service like Twitter. (Hence the current interest in Threads and BlueSky, which deliver a centralized experience.) Erin Kissane wrote an excellent critique at: Mastodon Is Easy and Fun Except When It Isn’t.
What intrigues me is that Mozilla is very mission-based, and has the ability to proceed slowly and thoughtfully to “do things right”. They aren’t pressured to hit quarterly advertising sales targets, etc.
The article, based on an interview with Mozilla’s Carolyn O’Hara, states:
the company is aiming to tackle some of the obstacles that have prevented users from joining and participating in the fediverse so far, including the technical hurdles around onboarding, finding people to follow and discovering interesting content to discuss.
And those ARE some of the major challenges!
They mention creating a “Discover” feed to help people find interesting things. Intriguingly, they mention working with publishers to see if more of them can start publishing in Mastodon and the Fediverse.
This, to me, has been one of the things lacking in the Fediverse. There certainly are a number of publishers and media sites… but they are so far just a small fraction of the number of media that used to be – and in many cases still are – on Twitter.
Anything Mozilla can do to help bring more of that kind of news content will be welcome! That is so much of what some of us look for in addition to the conversations and connections.
To that end, I’m also intrigued by what they talk about for enabling the creation of smaller communities – and in general in encouraging a place for civil discourse.
On a related note, as I briefly mentioned in an example in yesterday’s message, I read a fascinating “post-mortem” analysis of what happened with the Pebble social network that launched as a Twitter competitor and then ultimately had to shut down. It’s very interesting and I strongly encourage anyone interested in these kind of services to give it a read.
This is another example of the power of decentralized social networks – you are in control. And if you want to set up a new server to bring together a community… you have the power to do so!
Thanks for reading to the end. I would welcome any comments and feedback you may have.
Please drop me a note in email – if you are a subscriber, you should just be able to reply back. And if you aren’t a subscriber, just hit this button and you’ll get future messages.
This IS also a WordPress hosted blog, so you can visit the main site and add a comment to this post, like we used to do back in glory days of blogging.
Or if you don’t want to do email, send me a message on one of the various social media services where I’ve posted this. (My preference continues to be Mastodon, but I do go on others from time to time.)
If you use Mastodon or another Fediverse system, you should be able to follow this newsletter by searching for “@crowsnest.danyork.com@crowsnest.danyork.com“
You can also connect with me at these services, although I do not interact there quite as much (listed in decreasing order of usage):
Disclaimer: This newsletter is a personal project I’ve been doing since 2007 or 2008, several years before I joined the Internet Society in 2011. While I may at times mention information or activities from the Internet Society, all viewpoints are my personal opinion and do not represent any formal positions or views of the Internet Society. This is just me, saying some of the things on my mind.
I was going to write about Mozilla and their plans with Mozilla.social this morning… but in trying out WordPress as a platform for a combined newsletter and blog, well… there’s something bright and shiny in the interface… WordPress’ experimental “AI Assistant”. A quick tap and there’s a block added to the WordPress editor that offers a chat interface, along with a warning:
Well, okay, time to play! This feels like the kind of exploration I should livestream to my Twitch account, but it’s 5:00am and other people are asleep in my house – and would you really want to see me at this time?
Maybe I will another time, but right now, the prompt beckons! Let’s see what we can do with this.
[For those unfamiliar with WordPress terminology, “Jetpack” is the set of extra features that Automattic makes available outside the core WordPress functions and features.
Also, the rest of this message is a long walk-through of me experimenting with different AI prompts with then a summary at the end. If you are not interested in generative AI tools and what they can – or cannot – do…. well, you might want to just move on to your next email. ]
Writing a post
First prompt: “write 3 paragraphs about the capabilities of Jetpack AI”
[Note: I am adding “Begin AI Text” and “End AI Text” separators for the purposes of this post. The tool itself just inserts the text directly in the post. There’s no way you could know what is or is not AI-generated. Well… except that the text below is completely different from my style! ]
—— Begin AI Text ——
Jetpack AI, the experimental AI-powered Gutenberg Block offered by WordPress, brings a plethora of capabilities to enhance content creation. First and foremost, it offers seamless customization and generation, enabling users to elevate their writing to new levels. Whether you need assistance brainstorming ideas, organizing your thoughts, or shaping the overall structure of your content, Jetpack AI is there to lend a helping hand. Its advanced algorithms analyze your input and offer insightful suggestions to improve the quality and coherence of your writing.
Furthermore, Jetpack AI excels in generating content tailored to your needs. With its text generation capabilities, you can effortlessly create engaging introductions, compelling conclusions, or captivating anecdotes. Need to fill in the gaps or expand on a particular topic? Jetpack AI can generate coherent paragraphs that seamlessly integrate with your existing content, saving you time and effort. By harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, Jetpack AI empowers content creators with a versatile tool that enhances their writing process.
Moreover, Jetpack AI encourages feedback and continuous improvement. As an evolving tool, occasional imprecision may occur, but the team behind Jetpack AI is committed to refining and honing its capabilities. Your feedback is invaluable in the quest to enhance the accuracy and efficacy of the AI assistant. By actively engaging with users, Jetpack AI aims to fine-tune its algorithms and provide an increasingly reliable and efficient content creation experience. With its endless potential and commitment to improvement, Jetpack AI is undoubtedly a game-changer in the world of content generation.
—— End AI Text ——
Well, okay, that’s a bit over the top in terms of marketing text, i.e. “undoubtedly a game-changer”, but hey, it got me my 3 paragraphs.
My newsletter is now done! Well, no, but I suppose it could be if I just wanted to spew out content.
For those curious, the Jetpack AI tool generates the text in a box and then offers you the chance to accept it or send in another prompt.
After you press “Accept” the text is just inserted into the post.
Let’s try something else…
Translations
Second prompt: “write 50 words in German about Jetpack AI Assistant”
—— Begin AI Text ——
Jetpack AI Assistant, der experimentelle AI-gesteuerte Gutenberg Block von WordPress, bringt eine Vielzahl an Fähigkeiten mit, um die Content-Erstellung zu verbessern. Mit seinen fortschrittlichen Algorithmen und Textgenerierungsfunktionen ermöglicht Jetpack AI nahtlose Anpassungen und hilft dabei, qualitativ hochwertigen und zusammenhängenden Text zu generieren. Eine bahnbrechende Unterstützung für Autoren und Blogger.
—— End AI Text —-
Not bad! The marketing is still strong but then again, I *am* asking about the product. (And if you don’t know German, it’s essentially a summary of the English text earlier, just with those beautiful ginormously long words that German has. I mean… “Textgenerierungsfunktionen”!! )
This could be interesting if you wanted to have a multilingual newsletter, or inject some content in another language.
The article discusses the journey of creating a Twitter alternative called T2 and later Pebble.
It highlights the challenges faced during the development process.
The article explores the rise and fall of the project, shedding light on its lessons learned.
Various aspects of building and maintaining a social media platform are discussed.
The author seeks further research and information in the area of creating alternative social media platforms.
—— End AI Text ——
Interesting. Super high level and kind of bland, but 4 of the 5 bullets are reasonably accurate. The fifth bullet is wrong. Unless I’ve missed it (keeping in mind it is early and I haven’t finished my first cup of tea), I don’t see that anywhere in the article. The author doesn’t say that he’s seeking further research or info. He’s reporting on what they did.
So this is that “occasional imprecision may occur” that was warned about in the block error message.
Otherwise known as “completely making stuff up”
The key points, though, are that:
The “Jetpack AI Assistant” has access to the current web.
It can do summaries
Summary of an article in another language
So… what about summarizing an article in another language?
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, sustained a knee injury, specifically a torn cruciate ligament, while practicing mixed martial arts. The incident occurred during his training session and has raised concerns about his physical well-being. The injury may potentially impact Zuckerberg’s ability to carry out his duties as the head of the company.
—— End AI Text ——
Well, okay, it’s a summary… but it completely misses the point of the article! Specifically that Mark Zuckerberg will have to delay the much-hyped (and never scheduled) fight with Elon Musk.
Oops… that’s kind of the reason someone at Spiegel wrote this click-bait piece!
And that last sentence, “The injury may potentially…”, is not anywhere in the article. Granted, my German is a bit rusty… but I don’t get that sense at all. I mean, it is a logical conclusion to draw, and it’s true – the injury may impact Zuckerberg’s ability to do his job – it’s just not mentioned in the article. The text is all about him not being able to do his fight with Elon Musk.
Well, I hope Mark Zuckerberg does get better, but meanwhile, let’s try a PDF…
The document provides perspectives on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.
It discusses the benefits and challenges of deploying LEO satellites for internet connectivity.
The document explores the role of LEO satellites in bridging the digital divide and providing internet access to remote areas.
It highlights the potential of LEO satellites in supporting emerging technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G.
The document emphasizes the need for collaboration among stakeholders to address regulatory, technical, and governance issues related to LEO satellite deployment.
—— End AI Text ——
Again, okay for a high level and rather bland summary. As an editor I would probably merge the first two bullets. I also would not have so many bullets that start with “The document…”
But for someone who hasn’t read the 16-page PDF, it does get the overall gist of the document.
Except, of course, for the fourth bullet which is completely made up!
I know for a fact (and just double-checked with a search in the PDF) that we never mentioned 5G anywhere in the document. Not even in footnotes. I did the final edits on the doc, so I know it extremely well.
And, we only mentioned IoT in passing twice. We certainly do NOT “highlight” the potential of LEO satellites to support IoT and 5G. It’s perhaps a logical thing that could be included based on info that the large language model (LLM) has in its data, but it’s not in THIS article.
Total FAIL on that bullet point.
So let’s see what else this can do…
Create an article outline
Let’s say that I want to use this to help generate ideas for how to structure an article.
Prompt: “Create an outline for an article about the 5 biggest cities in Vermont”
—— Begin AI Text ——
Introduction
Briefly introduce Vermont as a state known for its natural beauty and charming towns.
Mention the significance of exploring the urban side of the state by delving into its five largest cities.
City 1: Burlington
Provide an overview of Burlington as the largest city in Vermont.
Highlight key features, such as Lake Champlain, the Church Street Marketplace, and the vibrant arts scene.
Discuss the city’s thriving food and craft beer culture.
City 2: South Burlington
Introduce South Burlington as Burlington’s neighboring city and the second-largest in Vermont.
Discuss the city’s suburban charm and family-friendly atmosphere.
Highlight attractions like the University Mall and the Red Rocks Park.
City 3: Rutland
Describe Rutland as the third-largest city known for its rich history and heritage.
Expound on its architectural gems, such as the Chaffee Art Center and the Paramount Theatre.
Discuss Rutland’s outdoor recreational opportunities, including nearby ski resorts.
City 4: Barre
Discuss Barre as a unique city known for its granite industry and artistic traditions.
Explore the famous Rock of Ages granite quarry and the Vermont Granite Museum.
Highlight the city’s vibrant art community, with its numerous public sculptures and art galleries.
City 5: Montpelier
Present Montpelier as the capital and the smallest of the five cities.
Discuss its historical significance as the only state capital without a McDonald’s.
Highlight attractions like the Vermont State House and the artsy downtown area.
Conclusion
Summarize the unique characteristics of each of the five largest cities in Vermont.
Encourage readers to explore and appreciate the diverse experiences that these urban centers offer in the midst of Vermont’s natural beauty.
—— End AI Text ——
Wow! Okay, that’s not bad! That’s a decent framework for writing an article about our five largest cities. (Keeping in mind that this IS Vermont, so our definition of a “city” is a bit smaller than other places.)
And it had never occurred to me that Montpelier doesn’t have a McDonalds. I’m not sure that rises to the level of “historical significance” but hey, I guess that’s a point you could use. (And I’ll note that there IS a McDonalds just over the Montpelier line in Barre, VT, about 8 or 9 minutes from the downtown, so it’s not like people in Montpelier can’t get their Big Macs if they want them!)
But overall that seems a decent outline. I don’t see anything blatantly false.
What else can this thing do?
My tea is getting cold and I realized that while I had paid attention a while back when Jetpack AI Assistant was released, I hadn’t actually read what they said it can do, so let’s check it out: https://jetpack.com/ai/
What else did I not try in this post today?
Help create forms, tables and lists (hmm… this could be useful!)
Improving the quality and clarity of your text
Generating text in different tones, including “Formal, Optimistic, Emphatic, Passionate, or Humorous”
Generate ideas for titles and headings
I think I have the “free” version and so it says I have access to these features:
Quota of 20 requests
Prompt based content generation
Generate text, tables, and lists
Adaptive Tone Adjustment
Superior Spelling and Grammar Correction
Title & summary generation
Ah, and from reading the FAQ this is 20 requests, period. After that you have to upgrade to use it more. So I am already 7 requests toward that limit. (The 6 in this article plus one more I did.) Now, I *am* on the hosted WordPress.com service and so I don’t know if that limit applies but maybe it does.
Regardless, if I found this AI Assistant useful, the upgrade is only $8.33/month (i.e. $100 / year.)
Final Thoughts
So.. after all these tests, what do I think? Would I use it? Would I pay?
It’s been fun to play with this morning – something entertaining for a Sunday morning while drinking tea.
I think my answer is … I don’t know.
I could see the benefit if I was more frequently creating content. If I needed to create daily posts, or multiple posts per day, I could see it being useful.
I do like the “create outline” exercise I did above. That provided a decent structure and points to think about. And… in developing the article I would discover if any points of the outline were false.
I think that is my one concern with this – and all the other generative AI tools – the fact that completely made-up information is presented plausibly and authoritatively.
Someone who never read the LEOs PDF I referenced might understandably think that we highlighted the uses of IoT and 5G – neither of which we actually did.
In the warning I mentioned at the beginning, Automattic warns that “occasional imprecision may occur”. But this isn’t a case of not being precise, it is outright falsehood. Again, no mention of 5G at all in the document.
I worry that people in a hurry or just looking to slam out content will just use this kind of text without any checking… and the trustworthiness of the Web will decline a bit more as bogus information gets circulated.
Now, this isn’t an issue unique to the JetPack AI Assistant, it’s across pretty much ALL of the generative AI tools.
And Automattic does warn you from the start, and each time you press the “Accept” button, there is a line below that that says “Automatically generated content may be inaccurate or biased.”
Automattic also flags this AI assistant block as “Experimental” and notes that the tool is “evolving”.
You are definitely warned.
But many will just blindly plunge ahead because the convenience is so real and it’s so incredibly easy.
Regardless, I can see the potential here. Just as we’ve grown used to autocorrect (and joke about the occasional mishap), I suspect we’ll grow use to having these kind of tools around and over time they’ll just become part of our daily workflow.
And I’m sure the tools WILL evolve and get better. We’ve already seen great leaps in capabilities over the past year. We’re really still in the early days of people seeing what these LLMs are truly capable of.
For my part… well… I guess I have 13 more queries before I have to start paying, so I’ll probably experiment some more.
Yikes… this was a long one! If you read this far I hope you found it interesting. I would be very curious to know:
What do YOU think about this tool?
Where could you see yourself using it? (Are you already using it?)
Have you incorporated another AI tool in your own workflow?
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And yes, this was totally something I should have streamed to Twitch… maybe I still will, and use these examples and then explore some of the things that I didn’t dive into. Follow me over there if you want to know if I go live and do this.
Still wondering about why we need to do this time change, Dan
P.S. As I started the “Publish” process, I noticed in the sidebar that the AI Assistant can “Check for mistakes and verify the tone of your post before publishing”. Not something I’m going to do for THIS post, but maybe I’ll do that for future posts or the Twitch stream.
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) You don’t have to drive far to find places with only very limited connectivity – or none at all.
)
(They also pointed out that later in the demo when he uses the camera to figure out the amount of protein in some nuts, the amount is significantly off!)
