Hope Yet for Technical Writers, Part II

NBC News offers a glimmer of hope in the increasing artificial intelligencing of our world: Professionals are being called in after the fact to fix the slop the AI clankers produce.

The gist is this: Companies approach AI text or art generators with the idea that these free or exceedingly cheap services can write blog posts or make logos for them and whatnot.

But because artificial intelligence can't really learn the nuance of vibes people want to include in their content, still has no idea when it comes to text in images, and writes hallucinations when it knows it actually knows better.

From the article (emphasis in that last sentence is mine):

"Anyone can now write blog posts, produce a graphic or code an app with a few text prompts, but AI-generated content rarely makes for a satisfactory final product on its own.

The issue has transformed the job market for many gig workers. Despite widespread concern that AI is replacing workers across industries, some are saying they’ve found new work as a result of AI’s incompetencies: Writers are asked to spruce up ChatGPT’s writing. Artists are being hired to patch up wonky AI images. Even software developers are tasked with fixing buggy apps coded by AI assistants.

A recent MIT report found that AI has displaced outsourced workers more than permanent employees. But it also found that 95% of businesses’ generative AI pilots are getting zero return on investment."

Sure, the boosters claim, but AI will continue to get better.

They're probably right. But can't they get better at stuff nobody wants to do, rather than get better at the stuff people enjoy doing, like writing, designing, and such? I know, it's the low-hanging fruit. The tech bros look at AI and think that writing and art and coding are the easiest things for them to accomplish.

Work harder, tech bros. Work harder.

Let humans create. The robots can tap buttons at our command; that's all we really want from robots.

Hope Yet for Technical Writers

 

There's hope for us, even in these artificial intelligence times.

I posted this on a Terry Pratchett fan group on Facebook and contrary to Facebook tradition the responses have been great to hilarious. That's not what I usually get from random Facebook groups. It's good to see Terry Pratchett has a good fan base on social media.

. . . A Nice Pile Drive to the Face . . .

 

It *does* say in the Bible not to wrestle your neighbor . . .

Yerdplagh

[Deep in thought as I'm leaving the bathroom at work, I encounter a co-worker coming in as I'm going out.]

Him: Oh, excuse me.

Me [Brain struggling with the switch from the deep thought algorithm to the idle social chit-chat algorithm.]: Yerdplagh.

I will have to hide in my cubicle for the rest of the day now.

AI Issues Incorrect -- but Confident -- Answers, Knowing Deep Down It Doesn't Know

Chinese researchers, in a new paper, explain that artificial intelligence offers "confident" answers to questions it really can't find an answer for in its vast trove of stolen text -- explaining some of the "AI hallucinations" that are commonplace in large language models.

A rundown of the paper is here.

From the website, and the paper:

A new paper from China contends that LLM models actually secretly know that they cannot answer a question posed by the user, but that they are nonetheless compelled to produce some kind of answer, most of the time, instead of having enough confidence to decide that a valid answer is not available due to lack of information from the user, or the limitations of the model, or for other reasons.

The paper states:

‘[We] show that [LLMs] possess sufficient cognitive capabilities to recognize the flaws in these questions. However, they fail to exhibit appropriate abstention behavior, revealing a misalignment between their internal cognition and external response.'

The paper points out some flaws in the research methodology, of course. But I like the idea of AI blithely expressing the same kind of idiot confidence many in the tech industry spout about their innovations when, deep down, they know they're blowing a lot of marketing smoke and hope the technology can eventually catch up to the dream. (I'm looking at you, Juicero and Theranos, among many, many others.)

I don't fault them for dreaming big. But there is fault in refusing to say "I don't know," or "I don't have enough information to give you a complete answer." That kind of talk doesn't get venture capital funding.

On the Subject of . . . Wossname.

What we ought to do is this:

Remain horrified that it was done by an "other" that we knew already was *bad* and remain smug that it was not one of *us* and point fingers of blame everywhere but the root causes we *could* be doing something about.

That attitude has served us well since the last time something like this happened.

And the time before.

And the time before that.

And the time before that . . .

The Monkey Dances Slowly

I know I've been generally dismissive of AI - and rightly so - but something about Meta's AI asking the same kinds of questions I occasionally ask myself about my own life struck me as utterly human.

Or at least shows me I'm not the only one out there asking such questions for the AI bros to find on the Internet and scrape to train their large language models.

Maybe if enough of us Gloomy Gusses stamp our seal of disapproval everywhere, AI will have second thoughts when it comes to the whole sentience thing.

No Dog in the Cracker Barrel Fight

I love it when the Internet hands me a controversey/kerfuffle in which I have absolutely no dog in that particular fight.

The latest one is the noise about Cracker Barrel's logo change and aesthetic redesign.

I *think* I've been near a Cracker Barrel, maybe once or twice. It's certainly possible I've eaten at one, though it's antique/junk store aesthetic that a lot of people are upset about disappearing in the redesign is something that's been in restaurants since Neanderthal times. I seem to recall the Frontier Pies restaurant in Rexburg, Idaho, having such an aesthetic.

So really, it doesn't affect me one bit, this mess. Now, I'm perfectly fine with other people being upset. Cracker Barrel clearly means something to them, so it's logical they be upset about the changes.

But as for me and mine, we don't care. This is probably the biggest reason:

It's hard to get upset about something you'd have to drive 2 1/2 hours to be upset about.

Looking for Houses

We have, of course, been heavily into looking for houses as Lexi and Keaton prepare for their return to the Idaho Falls area.

Our first foray into the market was, as I blogged earlier, pretty scary. It's been better since, though a mixed bag of quality and everything with prices a lot higher than what we saw when we bought our current house in 2011/2012.

We have since done two rounds of house tours on their behalf:

First, Aug. 13:

701 Moonlite Drive

1970s build. Kitchen has had some updates but the rest of the house feels like it's in the 1970s. Not terrible, but some updating would be needed over time. Electric baseboard heat, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in Idaho Falls, but will mean a drier heat than what's provided by gas. No AC. Nice deck out back, with great shade trees, including a plum tree. Yard is smallish, but the back yard borders on a city park and you have gate access to the park. Shingles look like they've been replaced in the last 10 years or so. Mom said there was a musty smell inside. I also noticed pet odors in some rooms. Might be cured by carpet cleaning, might not. Layout reminds me of the Sugar City house, split level. One car garage. Stair handrails are iron, and kinda felt funny under the fingers.

1758 Peggy's Lane

Early 1990s build. Interior in general felt modern and updated. Nice deck on the front of the house. There were signs of water damage in one of the basement bedrooms. The listing says natural gas heating, but Juan and I suspect that's an error as there are Cadet heaters (electric) all over the house, and I couldn't find a furnace. We have such heaters in our house, but don't use them much. Where this house and the Moonlite house are on Idaho Falls Power, they have much cheaper electricity than we do. It has a built-in wall AC unit in the upper floor. Exterior of the house is a bit frightening. It looks like they had a guy with a paint sprayer paint the exterior without doing any taping or covering of items. Paint all over the window trim, some on the glass, some on the concrete. They even painted parts of their garden hoses. They didn't scrape or repair any of the spots on the exterior that needed scraping or repairing, and it looked like there were quite a few spots where the siding (wood shiplap) would have to be replaced. With the painting we saw and with the water damage in the basment, we suspect they did a slapdash paint job to try to hide some structural defects that are letting water in.

1044 Westergard

Built in 1959. I'll be honest, of the three we saw tonight, this was the best. It was clean inside, no smells, looks like mostly new carpet. Some updates (mainly kitchen). One stall garage. No trees whatsoever. Fence in the back is leaning like our old one, so it would need replacing. Gas heat, and what looks like a new furnace. Exerior needs some scraping and painting, but at least they haven't covered things up by doing the job themselves. Basement is partly finished (two rather large rooms are finished, one has what looks like an old fireplace in it (Brick wall and platform), but the chimney is no longer in place. Mom was jealous of the basement cabinet storage. Other half of the basement is unfinished, but that's where the furnace and water heater are. Lots of potential down there, certainly lots of storage space. Basement does not have egress windows (big enough to climb out of in a fire) so you really shouldn't use the rooms down there for sleeping. You could cut the concrete and put egress windows in (like what we have in our basement).

And then on Aug. 22:

660 Butterfly Lane

Bigger house with double garage and a greenhouse in the back. Corner lot. Lots of room and storage. Heat is electric, with baseboard heaters in part of the house and heat cable in the ceiling of other parts of the house. Also has a fireplace in the basement. Juan mentioned that the electric bill was probably about $120 a month, year-round. No air conditioning. Yard is nice.

740 Butterfly Lane

This house is small, just over 1,000 square feet. Three bedrooms, no basement. It does have gas heat. Lots of updates throughout the house, and it all looks well done. Tile floor in the kitchen looks like I did it, so a little uneven. Yard would need some work, but it does have a bigger back yard than the first house. Probably would want to put in some privacy fencing or put up some bushes that grow to screen the neighbors. It is fenced with a chain link fence on three sides, maybe four feet tall. A good starter home, one which you could buy, build equity,and then sell in seven to ten years depending on market conditions and replace with something bigger. No AC, but might have option to add such since it has a furnace and ductwork. Also, small enough you could probably cool it with a few window AC units.

363 8th Street

A lot of updating has been done, including water piping and electric, by the looks of it. One room on the main floor looks like it has original hardwood. All the floors were squeaky,and Mom kept encountering bugs. Basement ceilings are 7 feet, so you're ducking going through the doorways. It has a gas fireplace on the main floor, but the rest of the heating is radiant heat via heated water (so think radiators). Kitchen not up to much int his house. Yard was bigger than I expected for a house on the numbers street, and has alley acccess for an RV pad. Electric work in the garage looked incomplete, and the garage needs a good scraping and painting. Some concrete spalling on the foundation, uneven floors in the basment. Has a nice front porch, but it needs some wood repair and a scraping and painting.

2081 John Adams

Again, a bigger house. Nice yard. It has electric baseboard heat, but has gas stoves on the main level and in the basement. Garage reminds me of ours in Ammon, where you could get two vehicles in it, but it would be a squeeze. Nice updates throughout the house. A lot of closet storage. Some of the closet doors need to be adjusted, but that's something that could easily be fixed. Nice back yard with a big porch area. Driveway is sloped. We parked in it with the parking brake on. John Adams can be a busy street in the morning and at 5 pm, with some traffic noise. One of the bedrooms is set up as a hair salon,complete with a shampooing sink. This house is the most expensive one on the list, If I remember right, but there's a lot there, with a lot of square footage.

None of these houses, including one that barely stretched to 1,000 square feet, is under $300,000. That stuns me. When we bought our current house in 2012, it was, granted, at the bottom of a bad market. We paid $140,000 for 2,700 square feet. We would be priced out of this neighborhood now.

Two more potential houses to look at in the near future:

Neither of these are on the market yet, though the agent we're working with predicts they'll be in the $320,000 range. It's scary out there, folks.

An Update: First Street AND Camper Tires

First Street is open, and it is indeed glorious.

Now, as the mad Former Chief Inspector Dreyfus says, on to the next step.

The city will be widening first street to five lanes between Hitt and Ammon roads, hopefully starting next summer. Then we'll see how hard it is to get out of the neighborhood trying to turn left. It's already pretty difficult. Maybe more lanes will made a difference.

And look: New camper tires:

 

DEATH TO SQUIRRELS!

Daisy treed a squirrel today, and the squirrel wasn't happy about it.

Crickets

I hope, over all the other evening noises, that you can hear the crickets. I've always loved listening to the crickets.

When we lived in Sugar City, no crickets. It was weird. It's like we were north of the Cricket Line or something.

First Street Blues, Part 2

Tonight I thought I'd be clever and avoid the Hitt Road hubbub by getting onto John Adams at Woodruff to get home.

Ha ha.

Sat at the intersection of Hitt and John Adams for a solid five minutes.

You can barely see the light from here. Took at least three cycles to get through 

On the map below, blue shows the turning bay. Red is where I was stopped at first, blocking a *lot* of traffic this time around.

First Street Blues

I can see they're striping around the new bit of road at Hitt and First Street, which is good news:

It's good, because the backup on Hitt at John Adams -- where the bulk of the traffic detours -- is a bit much:

If you squint, you can see waaaaay up there the stoplight. We are backed up quite a bit. Here's my estimate:

The red line shows the approximate length of the turning bay at John Adams. The blue shows approximately where I joined the turning lane. Note: There aren't any entrances to the right or left of the point you can see to the north (top) of Elite Auto Sales, so we weren't blocking anyone. A few brave souls try to get into the turning lane further up, and once in a while there's someone nice enough to let them in. But that's rare.

Look at the backup behind me:

New roads are nice, but it's sure a pain when they're blocked off for construction. Hopefully, First Street opens soon.

Then it'll be chaos next summer when they widen it.

I Pass the Test

So I had hoped when I got back to work this morning that I'd discover we had another week's worth of training to do, because that made last week a lot of fun.

Alas, the training is indeed over, but I still had the test to face.

It's been a long time since I've taken an academic test -- likely more than 15 years. So I was nervous.

Contrary to what I usually do, I did exactly what the trainer recommended: Reviewing the course objectives from the past week of training. Usually, I just wing it, but I was nervous enough I figured I'd better study a bit.

It paid off. We're supposed to get at least n 80% to pass the course and get Procedure Professionals of America certification, and I nailed it with a 97%. Behold:

It'll be a few more days before it's official, but I'm glad to have the test over with. Particularly since I mentioned PPA certification on a resume I handed out over the weekend.

It'll be exciting to be officially "humbled and thrilled" on LinkedIn, where I assume I should also brag about this feat.

My Facebook friends, of course, celebrated with me in their inimitable fashion.

A Scout is What Again?

 

Saw this today in the Facebooks. Clearly, a Facebook group to steer clear of 

Now, I have no idea what drama or shenanigans left to the admin making this post, but I do know one thing: Group behavior tends to reflect/mirror that of the leaders. This admin is displaying poor scout behavior, making me not want to see this group again.

It's also a poor reflection on Scouting America, but I'm sure he doesn't see it that way.

Based on his responses to some of those posting on his thread, he wouldn't miss me. And that's fine. I certainly don't miss him or this group.

Again With A Bathroom Update?

I can officially say that the wallboard in the basement bathroom is finished. Behold:

I also got the floor cleaned up and checked that the floor grout hasn't lost its glow in the dark abilities -- which it has not.

I'd like to work further, but Michelle really wants the lawns leveled out, so that's going to be my next big push. Maybe I can get back to the bathroom later this fall. I'm not particularly fond of the idea of working with wet tile during the winter. Not that it's cold inside, but cold outside where the cutting occurs.

We're all ready to have a sink and toilet in the basement again. I'm ready for the bathroom to go back into use, as it's become a haven for the stupid wolf spiders Idaho has in abundance. They get into the bathtub and can't get out, so they shrivel up and die.

More First World Woes, 2014 Tires Edition

So camp is over for the year, meaning the camper is back home, in my hands, for additional repair.

I try not to complain about being handed the repairs, because they do keep the camper in at least acceptable shape for their use. But it does get a little tiring.

Ha. Tires.

We have one that's got a slow leak in it now. I air it up, but a few days later it's pancaked again.

Took the camper to Sam's Club today so they could fix the leak, but they said as the tires were of 2014 vintage -- and that doesn't feel like all that long ago -- they won't fix the flat. And they have no such tires in stock.

So the camper is back at the curb in front of the house.

Here I am, looking at my camper tires:

And to be fair, here is my camper tire, looking at me:

Once the camper is taken care of, we need two new tires for the utility trailer as well. Woo.

Helmet Beardo

Today Michelle and two of her climbing staffers went to Island Park Scout Camp so the Order of the Arrow could use the zipline. They needed an easily-trainable warm body at the base of the tower to hand out helmets and harnesses and control traffic into the tower, so I went along.

I made that helmet look good.

But wow, that beard. I need to trim it. But I try to do so in the mirror, and I'm not all that coordinated with a mirrored image.

 

For the Want of A Comma, the Lonely Mountain is Lost

 

I saw this on social media earlier today and was appalled.

Well, not to that pearl-clutching level, of course. But would Tolkien really forget to put the comma in the sentence "Bilbo knelt on one knee filled with sorrow."?

I have to wonder if I'm overreacting here (thus the pullback from the pearl-clutching). And I also thought, "I'll check in my own copy to see if this is a transcription error. So I looked and found this:

So either this is a perpetuated mistake, or the sentence

Bilbo knelt on one knee filled with sorrow.

doesn't need a comma, thus:

Bilbo knelt on one knee, filled with sorrow.

If it were me writing the sentence, I'd use the comma. But commas, in my mind, are mysterious objects and I often find I overuse them (except for the Oxford comma; I'm a big supporter of the Oxford comma).

So what say you? What say the rules? I need a ruling, or I may not be able to get to sleep tonight.

Ok, Wired. Whatever.

That's an odd way to promote yourself, Wired, but you do you.

Surely someone along the way noticed this, right? Someone had to have said *something* and maybe it got dismissed, but they went home that night knowing something stupid was about to be a sponsored ad on Facebook.

Denied

I had hoped the folks at Ring would let this post go up.

Apparently not.

They forget: A Little Nonsense Now and Then is Relished by the Wisest Men."

Noooothing! Absolutely Nooooothiiiiiing!

I have been "back to the office" for a week and a half. And so far, the number of things I have done in my cubicle there that I could not have done working from home is:

[Takes deep breath]

[Takes deeper breath]

[Takes even *deeper* breath]

But someone, somewhere, is happy I'm back in the cubicle farm.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled lives. How long until I can retire?

So, the last two days, I've had to have my oldest son give me a ride to and from work, since the youngest son's car broke down and he needs a way to get to and from work and he goes to work earlier than I do. Logic, of course, dictates that I let him use my car because his work is longer and further away from home than mine, but because I can't work from home any more, there are TWO of us headed to and from work this week.

I'm grateful for my job. Very glad to have it. But someone, somewhere, is happier that I'm back in the cubicle farm. And so it goes.

Vootschteppes, VOOTSCHTEPPES!

In procedure-related training at work. Talking now about conditional steps.

Not vootschteppes.

You know, vootschteppes, VOOTSCHTEPPES! [Does little stomping exercise.]

Raising Steam: Finally Finished

I finished reading Terry Pratchett's "Raising Steam" today, and can conclude though this isn't my favorite Pratchett novel, and though it's uneven in its Pratchettness, it certainly is a good story.

I won't spoil anything, but I will say I was capitvated by the last third of the novel above all else. There were some surprise callbacks to past events I should have seen coming but didn't, so even with the Embuggarence making writing a lot harder for him in the end, Pratchett can certainly out-novel me in every respect. Of course, he's had a lot more practice. And gumption.

What a legacy to draw on, over forty Discworld novels.

The last line of this novel in particular gives me hope for my own writing efforts:

"What little thing will change the world because the little tinkerers kept on tinkering?"

Thank you for the stories, Mr. Pratchett. I'll keep reading, and hopefully one day, have one written.

You Know You Want to Sing Her Name

Spotted on Facebook.

There is, of course, only one possible suspect:

Simon Bar Sinister, Controlling the Weather Since 1965

Simon Bar Sinister, of course, way back in 1965, becomes the one to not only control the weather but also control it from the Moon so he doesn't become hoist by his own soggy petard.

Frankly, we could use this kind of flood-purge in the capital (and the Capitol) today. Bad guys, it seems, are never around when you really need them.

The Butterfly Haven, A Wonderful Surprise in Pingree, Idaho

So we went to this place called The Butterfly Haven out in Pingree today.

We've been to places like this in cities like Vancouver and Omaha and such, so I didn't expect to find much here in Idaho.

I was, however, surprised. Maybe the environment was a little drier than I'd hoped, but The Butterfly Haven was a wonderful surprise to find in this neck of the woods.

We went there to help one of Michelle's Cope and Climbing staffers to finish the Environmental Science merit badge. That's one of the many things I appreciate about Michelle -- she's always looking to help other people, particularly those she's close to.

 

With FREE Bird Poop!

Major find at the Deseret Industries thrift store today.

We had a Tonka dump truck like this when I was a kid, but as I recall it was all metal, while this one has a plastic cab.

Not that it matters. The only thing that matters is that it was only $5 and it's on the kitchen table right now, complete with original dust, dirt, and dried bird poop.

I bought this for fun; I'm not a collector or anything. But a cursory look on the Internet tells me these are selling for around $50 on Ebay and such.

It's going to have a place of honor in my cubicle at work, I think. That's a good place for it. I did go to the DI with the silent intent to find some tchotchkes to put in my cubicle so it doesn't look too empty.

Back to the Cubicles, A Week Later

So here I am at the tail end of the first week back to the cubicles.

I'm a lot more tired than when I worked from home. I'm up earlier. I can't set an alarm and sleep for my half hour lunch if I need to. And that drive home -- even though it's only about 23 minutes on a good day, a far cry from the hour and a half bus ride I could be doing if I were back out in the desert -- is tiring.

But if a meeting is called, I'm there. Don't have to drive in. We had a morale lunch today. Had I been working from home, I would have preserved my morale by *not* going in for lunch. So maybe it's a good thing? The potato salad was good.

Next week more of the same, of course, but tied in with four half-days of training to become certified with the Procedure Professionals Association in technical writing. I don't really know what that'll do for me that a masters degree in technical communication won't do, but I'll never say no to education.

Their logo may need a little work. They seem anxious to sell the training, but not necessarily explain its benefits. I guess there's this, but we're already doing what they outline here. I'll go into it with an open mind, however. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all those cliches.

But I will be able to summon the vast power of certification.

The Last Eagle

Honored to attend Abi Lerum's Eagle court of honor tonight.

Abi is the last of the founding members of Troop 1010, which we founded with our daughter Lexi in 2019, to receive her eagle award.

2019 seems like a lifetime ago, but it's only been a blink in time. It was fun to see her get the awards she worked so hard to get.

Sometimes I get frustrated with Scouting and the immense time sink it is, or can be. But then there are evenings like this, where it's a celebration and you get to pause for just a moment and remember the "good* part of Scouting.

Fridge Verdict: Clean Bill of Health

So, according to my son, who was home when the fridge man came:

So who knows what happened?

I mean, I'm glad it's working. Glad it passed the tests. Not so glad about the $75 service call, but the guy is trustworthy and did things I was not able or knowledgeable enough to do.

And I owe my son $75, which could be problematic:

Hope the fix sticks.

In all, I guess it *is* better than shelling out $1,500 for a new one.

My wife is equally skeptical, yet also relieved.

Again with Raising Steam

I freely admit I'm struggling to read Terry Pratchett's "Raising Steam," his last novel before The Embuggerance claimed him.

But I got to this little scene starting on page 185 of the copy I have and thought, "Ah, finally something Pratchettesque.

"There is something vaguely worrying about the word reckon that leaves the ear, for many hard to understand reasons, wishing it was something else a little more certain and a little less frightening. And as bad luck would have it, some twenty minutes later an ear was exactly what spiraled down out of the settling steaming fog and through mangled trees that looked as if they had been scythed by dragons, and the birds that were coming down cooked . . ."

I can keep reading this.

Good to Know

On a thread where the unsung contributions of Ernest P. Worrell were discussed, I discover that Facebook now takes it upon itself to translate from Hick:

And while I'm sure neither potater nor tomater are plural, I have to congratulate Facebook on its translation moxie.