So, I have a warning for anyone who depends on #AI for advice or technical information for anything.
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So, I have a warning for anyone who depends on #AI for advice or technical information for anything.
This story is going to take a bit, but I want to relate it completely because it shows a pattern of supplying fundamentally false information on a topic where, in technical circles, the information is solidly documented and the technique is entirely reproducible.
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So, I have a warning for anyone who depends on #AI for advice or technical information for anything.
This story is going to take a bit, but I want to relate it completely because it shows a pattern of supplying fundamentally false information on a topic where, in technical circles, the information is solidly documented and the technique is entirely reproducible.
1/In my attempt to learn how to make #pottery #glazes, I have been trying to find materials that free me from the obligation of having to use Ferro Frits which are manufactured in the US, because with all the tariff shit and the ecological cost of shipping, well, it's neither feasible in the long term nor is it environmentally ethical.
Colemanite, mined in Turkey, is an excellent source of boron for use in glaze making but it has a little problem 2/
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In my attempt to learn how to make #pottery #glazes, I have been trying to find materials that free me from the obligation of having to use Ferro Frits which are manufactured in the US, because with all the tariff shit and the ecological cost of shipping, well, it's neither feasible in the long term nor is it environmentally ethical.
Colemanite, mined in Turkey, is an excellent source of boron for use in glaze making but it has a little problem 2/
There is a lot of molecular water bound up in Colemanite, and that can cause bubbling, pinholing and other issues during #glaze firing. The answer is to calcine the colemanite. Essentially put the material into your kiln, and boil off the molecularly bound water.
I didn't know how to do this, so I searched for instructions. Google #AI told me that colemanite should be taken up to 415C and this will caline it.
Luckily, I did not trust it. I asked a human on Glazy. 3/
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There is a lot of molecular water bound up in Colemanite, and that can cause bubbling, pinholing and other issues during #glaze firing. The answer is to calcine the colemanite. Essentially put the material into your kiln, and boil off the molecularly bound water.
I didn't know how to do this, so I searched for instructions. Google #AI told me that colemanite should be taken up to 415C and this will caline it.
Luckily, I did not trust it. I asked a human on Glazy. 3/
An exceedingly generous Uruguayan guy gave me step-by-step instructions on how to do it, as he does it all the time for exactly the same reason - to end his reliance on Ferro Frits.
His instructions were to slowly take the colemanite up to 680C and hold it there until the heat coming out of the top hole in the kiln stops steaming up a glass or mirror.
I followed his instructions, but was interested to see if the colemanite gave off its water at the temp #AI suggested.
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M mjack@mastodon.bsd.cafe shared this topic
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If truth as a concept is unreliable, nothing is. I guess they figured that the stupefaction of the populace wasn't happening fast enough through the intentional degradation of the public education system.
It may be conspiratorial, but it is interesting that the reactionaries seem to want to keep the masses as uneducated and as divided as possible...
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@Remittancegirl Another issue is paywalled information. As a chemist, I'd normally consult reference manuals in a science library; doing so at home is difficult, as most companies require a subscription ($$$) to their services to view documents online. As a result, for specialized questions, we end up with at best anecdotal and second-hand information. Or in the case of news ... biased and false information.
The internet shouldn't be run like this.
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So, I have a warning for anyone who depends on #AI for advice or technical information for anything.
This story is going to take a bit, but I want to relate it completely because it shows a pattern of supplying fundamentally false information on a topic where, in technical circles, the information is solidly documented and the technique is entirely reproducible.
1/@Remittancegirl Google does a lot of harm by offering cheap low-end AI for free. Cheap AI is dumb AI. This does not mean that AI is dumb. It just means that cheap AI is dumb.
Two problems:
1) Extrapolating from "Google AI" to "AI". I wouldn't trust *anything* that Google spews at me for free. But models like Fable or Astra can be smarter than me on engineering work.
2) People (think elderly parents) believe what Google AI says. And Google pushes the crappiest version in the search results.
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An exceedingly generous Uruguayan guy gave me step-by-step instructions on how to do it, as he does it all the time for exactly the same reason - to end his reliance on Ferro Frits.
His instructions were to slowly take the colemanite up to 680C and hold it there until the heat coming out of the top hole in the kiln stops steaming up a glass or mirror.
I followed his instructions, but was interested to see if the colemanite gave off its water at the temp #AI suggested.
@Remittancegirl it still kinda blows my mind that hydrates can hang onto their water molecules that tightly. They're fuuuunky compounds.
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So, I have a warning for anyone who depends on #AI for advice or technical information for anything.
This story is going to take a bit, but I want to relate it completely because it shows a pattern of supplying fundamentally false information on a topic where, in technical circles, the information is solidly documented and the technique is entirely reproducible.
1/@Remittancegirl I find the same thing to be true every time I have searched something in those generative LLMs in a field where I have lots of previous knowledge. The worst results I get in those fields where I have some expertise. The fields where I could most easily be convinced are the fields I have very little knowledge in - and am easily impressed by the plausible sounding answers. Because I know this split, it frustrates me that the answers in those other cases sound so plausible.
