I saw a headline in my RSS feed this morning that noted Calibre, my ebook management system and favorite open source software, is adding AI features, and immediately groaned. Suppressing the urge to just uninstall it though, I checked the article, and the author (of Calibre) is doing it right. AI services are being added not to the base program, but via its plug-in system. There are choices, as well, regarding providers: adding AI doesn't have to mean submitting your request to an online provider (though it can, and there are options there). One of the plugins is for local Ollama, meaning that if your hardware has a sufficiently powerful GPU, you can keep it local.
This is what I want to see from any and all software that feels like it needs to incorporate AI, either to chase trends or mollify demanding users: make it an external component that can be easily added by those users who want it, and stays away from those of us who do not. I may be somewhat embittered by Copilot at work.
(A note for anyone who might read this or the linked article and take interest in Calibre: install using the install script on Calibre's site, not the software store. The package is years out of date, missing numerous security fixes and features. The installer will complain of a missing dependency--I forget which--but that dependency can be added with a single apt install from Zorin's repositories, after which Calibre runs great. If a newer user isn't sure how to add the dependency, copy and paste the last lines of the output and I'll happily work it out. The only reason I'm not here is because I don't want to uninstall and reinstall it to see the error again.)
AI is a powerful tool, for both assisting with tasks as well as a data gathering for big companies... That's the only gripe I have with AI everywhere. As long as I can choose to run it, and do so locally, I'm very happy to have that option.
Thats mostly been my issue with it as well. No one (in the large, general user sense) even considers that in the slightest. At least in these scenarios, you could run a small version locally to do whatever it is you needed to do in a small-scale sense, and stop as soon as you're done with it. I'm ok with that, at least I know how much energy I'm using in that scenario at least.
I have serious issues with that as well. Additionally, the land usage for data centers when housing prices are already out of control in much of the US. (I assume much of the rest of the world as well, but don't have that information.)
True that... I only use it occasionally but I've seen people getting more complacent every day. Just last week a friend of mine "had to" ask Mr. GPT for a simple math operation... More than the energy consumption cost — that seems like a solvable problem — I'm worried about the cognitive cost it's having on people.
I've linked elsewhere on this forum to news about mental harms it's doing, to an article about Microsoft's internal study that indicated skill atrophy, and mentioned my best friend having to go to town on others' code in code review when they used Copilot and didn't have the experience to catch its mistakes.
That's a definite effect, but it's the same effect you get when you replace any cognitive task with a tool. If you use a calculator instead of doing any arithmetic, you're going to degrade your ability to perform basic calculations, too. The difference is that for the first time, we have a tool that purports to handle any cognitive activity, and between inexperienced users expecting perfect results, and experienced users becoming reliant, we lose the ability to recognize that we've traded away our ability to do something for some saved time.
There was an absolutely massive power outage in the east of the USA and Canada in 2003. When it happened, a friend of mine was working a register. They were the only one around able to count out change; everyone else was just used to scanning items and entering the cash handed to them, then handing back the reported difference. AI is doing the same to a much broader range of skills.
Edit: This has gone far afield of the original topic, which was that I'm glad to see AI being an extra a user has to ask for, not something stuffed into my face all over.
In my total honesty, if its part of the topic, AI should always be optional, and it should be treated as a tool, not a replacement.
When I look at content created with AI, i considered that type of content to be non-genuine because I have a interest in digital art, multimedia, and tech. Human creativity is all I matter because it shows hard work and authenticity.
Agreed. That's why I was praising Calibre's handling of it. It doesn't even come with Calibre when you install the software; you have to go into its plug-in manager and add it.
I have said this many times on the forum before. I like AI, when its used as a production tool, such as, making my life easier editing my photo's, in Adobe LiteRoom.
However, I'm completely against the use of AI, for corporate data mining, I think its gone completely out of control, and our government has intentionally allowed it to happen.
We live in a time, when both corporate and government want to snoop in our pants, cause its all about the money. Unfortunately, there is even more going on in our country beyond the abuse of AI.
Basically, were becoming the movie called Imposter, with Garry Sinise, most known from his role in Apollo 13.
As far as cognitive decline, were already seeing it in GenZ, they are falling behind so far, they can't even pass their SAT's, that some schools are reducing passing requirements, so kids can pass, so it looks good for our government.
My generation is far smarter then these kids today, and we know how to speak proper English, and use full sentences. These kids today, they want to speak as few words as possible, because their generation thinks its cool, to speak like a Neanderthal.
yeah phoenix code & onlyoffice do a similar thing, AI is an optional plug-in that has to be enabled by the user. i dont use ai, so i appreciate programs that give people a choice. it's tiring whenever something mentions implementing ai that i have to make sure it's optional. unfortunately, AI is typically opt-out if that choice is even given. I avoid programs that don't give users a choice, and if ai is on by default.
