Gavster wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 10:30 am
It is a learning process, think of it like the last time you had to learn how to use a new piece of software. You will be largely clueless at first, but it's only through trying to create something with it that you'll learn, and then use youtube etc for help when you need a bit more info
Subscribed, so far so good.
I think because most of my mental capacity is taken up with work, I just can't be bothered with any technology. Even with my car, I still haven't looked through the menu screens. Took me 3 months before I connected my car to the app.
But I think Ai could be perfect for me, having a 24hr assistant I can ask that can dumb it all down for me does sound pretty awesome.
Beany wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 2:14 pm
Just be prepared for it to have periods where it just stares at you drooling while it talks utter bollocks.
Which they all do on occasion...
More likely to be me in all fairness
Ah, no I mean seriously, keep an eye out. Gemini, for example, will confidently state plausible sounding things for hours until you call it out and get it to double check for real time info or to provide a linkable source to back it up. At which point "I'm sorry, you're right to call me out" - which is a bit late if you've already published something.
Keep that in your pocket (and put it in a system prompt if you can)
Beany wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 2:14 pm
Just be prepared for it to have periods where it just stares at you drooling while it talks utter bollocks.
Which they all do on occasion...
More likely to be me in all fairness
Ah, no I mean seriously, keep an eye out. Gemini, for example, will confidently state plausible sounding things for hours until you call it out and get it to double check for real time info or to provide a linkable source to back it up. At which point "I'm sorry, you're right to call me out" - which is a bit late if you've already published something.
Keep that in your pocket (and put it in a system prompt if you can)
It will mainly be used for suitability reports which will need to be checked by me before being sent out. I will be giving Claude a template it can work from, bullet points of info it needs to add to the report and then I can check what it's done.
Its all about correct prompts with AI.... As mentioned, it'll give you some bullshit answers until you call it out, but frequently getting more accurate results is down to improving what you ask it
I do wonder if it'll get worse over time, especially given it'll either be sourcing it's own incorrect facts OR someone else's incorrect facts that they've published after AI told them the (wrong) answer.
I've had it give me an incorrect answer. And it links the source, which is the opposite of what it says. It then says "oh, I can see how you thought that but..." like I'm the one who's wrong!
Yep, couldn't find the torque spec for a bolt on my suspension. Give the AI a go. Gives me a number. Ask it if it's sure as it seemed very little, like 30 nm for a big ass bolt. It says it's sure. Ask it for source. Sends me to a forum where it's people talking about a different car and different part altogether. Point out it's a moron. Reiterates it has it correct.
We use it a lot at work. I've found the best results are when you give it the source you want, tell it to be conservative, concise and not make shit up.
ChatGPT is getting good, I've not tested Claude yet, but that should be coming this week.
Copilot is stupid. Asked it to make some changes in a Word document. It made the wrong changes, and told me that what I had requested it couldn't do, but it was happy to tell me how to do it.
Explosive Newt wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 5:51 pm
AI is not google.
(Which is confusing as google now brings you AI.)
If you want to find a fact, I would not use it.
If you want to automate a process, it's great.
Agreed, although I do think it can be really helpful pointing you in the right direction - especially if you've got some vague prompts.
DeskJockey wrote: Mon Jul 06, 2026 8:26 pm
Copilot is stupid. Asked it to make some changes in a Word document. It made the wrong changes, and told me that what I had requested it couldn't do, but it was happy to tell me how to do it.
CoPilot makes me laugh every time for this. "Want me to format that into a Word/Excel document for you?" - sure, CoPilot, that would be great
*spins for 5 mins*
"I'm sorry, I'm not capable of creating documents, just copy and paste it in"
It boggles my mind how Microsoft have got it so wrong. They're the default choice for office productivity software with no real competition apart from Google, and they had a golden opportunity to lock their customers in even further by providing a capable toolset that is right there in front of the users.
We have CoPilot at work. I use it to write unit tests and that's it. It's clearly defined and small scope so it's good at that. I usually have to tweak it a bit but on the whole it saves me a fair amount of time. Every time I've asked it to do something more significant, it's royally fucked it up and I've spent longer fixing the garbage it's produced than if I'd just written it myself.
If you get all wobbly-lipped about the opinion of Internet strangers, maybe it's time to take a bath with the toaster as you'll never amount to sh1t anyway.
