One of the problems with the current AI mania is that products now eagerly claim to use “AI” whenever they can. But you have no way to tell whether this means it incorporates a few benign heuristics that might make it work a bit better or that it’s programmed to quietly learn as much as it can about you so that when the time comes, it can more efficiently harvest your organs.
Jun 28, 2026, 8:58 AM@mattblaze my favorite AI is spellcheck.
@mattblaze Absolutely. And the tendency to assume the worst, because, sadly, that's all too often the truth, is leading to a worrying collapse of trust across tech, and even worse behaviour in some.
@mattblaze Safer to assume: organs.
Jun 28, 2026, 9:45 AM@mattblaze Yes! And whether 'used AI' means "applied machine learning on a tightly controlled data set of relevant and clean data and rigourously cross checked the outputs" or "I typed a question into ChatGPT and this is what it said"!
The tendency in much public debate to bundle a wide array of fairly disparate tech under 'AI' and then equate this with "something an LLM excreted out" and then cast anyone doesn't like chatbots as "anti-progress" is really annoying!
@mattblaze this sums up my feelings on the matter: https://mastodon.nz/@aatch/116594916458888090
Jun 28, 2026, 11:27 AM@mattblaze adding a couple of IF -> THEN rules is for most marketers enough to claim their product is AI native, or some other bullshit term.
Let’s call it what it is: AI-washing.
Jun 28, 2026, 11:00 AM@mattblaze Yeah, can we please amplify the message that providing cryptic, inscrutable Terms & Conditions should be evaluated as equivalent to providing none, from a legal perspective?
They need to cover every eventuality — I do get it — but if you can't figure something out like how your data will be used, after reading for thirty seconds or so, that is on the author of the document; not the reader.
In terms of data protection principles, that _is_ transparency.
Jun 28, 2026, 11:16 AM@mattblaze Honestly, many of us know deep down that one day humanoid robots will come for us all.
The problem is that, even knowing that, it is something like being 21st century Amish to decide not to use it
@mattblaze Ok, but isn't that kinda also an opportunity to focus on what matters? Less is more.
I haven't seen widely used AND interesting new software since, I don't know, Del.icio.us and Flickr? RIP both.
Jun 28, 2026, 12:01 PMFlickr is still very much alive, I have a paid account and do use it every so often!
The fact it hasn't changed since about 2013 isn't a *bad* thing TBH - it remains a decent place to reliably store albums of high quality photos especially for specialist / niche subjects - whether its for the aesthetics of the photo or as documentation for something like an electronics project or car maintenance..
@vfrmedia @mattblaze Sure, they're around milking it. (Not saying that's bad, it's just not the same.)
I finally left a few years ago because their customer service was unresponsive and there was no way to change my email address.
Anyway, that wasn't my point...
Jun 28, 2026, 1:54 PMThe community aspect of Flickr has pretty much gone (I'm not sure why as there didn't seem to be any issues with moderation or toxic content); but they have at least kept what works and not bolted on any unwanted features which is a lot more than so many other online services.
Some things don't even need to be "new" or "interesting", they just need to work...
Jun 28, 2026, 12:06 PMMy dishwasher has an AI mode which means it has a turbidity sensor on the dirty water pipe to check if the water runs clear.
Of course they market it as if what it does is ask ChatGPT how long to run for
@gbargoud @mattblaze
I replaced a turbidity sensor in my dishwasher ten years ago. They didn't market it at all
@mattblaze AI is a marketing term and they are taking machine learning algorithms that have been around a while and slapping AI on them, putting them in the bucket with annoying chatbots.
@mattblaze
Or more likely designed by an LLM to have a boot/trunk big enough for 2 full golf bags. Great for a car, but this is a refrigerator.
@mattblaze It's a sign of laziness. Big, bold advertising that `we have AI' is a sign of sloth, and that you have three toes on either foot, or half a doz on both.
@mattblaze "mania" is ableist. you can use "irrational hype", "bubble" etc.
@smeschmesch Some words have more than one common definition, or a different definition in general use from that in specialized use. It’s part of what makes language nuanced and expressive.
i assume its always the latter.
@mattblaze to do what with them?
