There are an amazing number of cases in the last couple of years where moronic lawyers relied on AI to draft briefs and the opposing parties and judges found that AI had made up cases and quotes. Judges have pistol-whipped them and, in several cases, made them pay the other side’s fees in responding to nonsense.
Lawyers have long had forms – form letters, boilerplate for agreements, etc. AI can assist with more complex legal tasks (analyzing complex contracts or masses of documents), but I don’t think drafting basic letters is where it will make a difference.
Urgh. IMO, so-called (generative) AI is for lazy, stupid people; too lazy to realise how stupid they are, and too stupid to realise how lazy they are. It’s fine for messing about making jokes, but when you use it in a context where other people are expected to read it, it’s insulting. Of course, its not always as easy as this to spot what’s written by an algorithm as opposed to what’s just really bad work. But when I see stuff like this, I stop using the retailer and let them impolitely know why.
Thanks for posting that John. Mainstream media is a very broad brush, and it’s helpful to clarify that. But in general the high pressure on being efficient eats away at the quality of a wide range of things these days (IMO).
I also would exclude wine critics, as they do not seem to rush printing reviews. I generally read the critics my palate aligns with regardless of whether it’s printed first or not.
Along with robo-calls, generative AI intended for reading is a situation where the publisher is admitting his time is too valuable to write it, but yours is not too valuable for them to expect you to read it.
While it may work at times, there is still an implicit bias at work, that is sugar coated by “saving money” for the reader.
When I worked at Dean & Deluca (Napa Valley) in the late 90s and early 00s, we never had POS on the racks. It was all in our heads (or Palm Pilots) for a rotating selection of 1300 California wines. We created our own tasting notes as nothing else existed when we were selling it. By the time a review was published elsewhere, our clients already had it in their cellar. When Bob Parker stopped by one time and asked us what we’d tasted recently, we knew we were doing something right. Granted, it is difficult to come up with adjectives when trying to describe the differences in a dozen different wines that by design are based on the same region, vintage, and variety. Actually doing the writing keeps me aware of that. Does AI have the same discipline? I read a lot of posts on social media and the ones written by AI are not difficult to spot.
I could not agree more of the value of putting in the work, the learning (and relearning) so it’s there when you need it. And if the conversation is limited to more upscale boutique stores then a salesperson’s firsthand knowledge will be more valued. Dean and Deluca certainly fit in that category. As, I would assume, do most of the stores where WB shop.
But margins are thin, costs going up. The latter particularly in supporting said humans – salary, health insurance, PTO, etc. It’s no stretch to see bigger box stores cutting and pasting extant reviews or using AI. Why not? Not very controversial. The clientele is not apt to notice and may not even care.
So it’s a matter of how and when this creeps into the more boutique stores. Probably see owner operators working even more hours themselves to save on employee costs. Trends start in the mainstream, gain strength and breadth then come for you. I wish I could be optimistic. I guess I’ll revisit this post in five years and then again in ten.