What a relief to read something sensible about AI! When news about Chat GPT first broke, I was surprised by all the panic over what struck me as an obviously useful tool (but nothing more than that). Your article also reminds me of an ongoing debate my husband and I have about maximizers (he is one) and satisficers (I am one). My husband likes to note that if it weren’t for maximizers seeking something better, we would still be living in caves. But, as you point out, if it weren’t for us satisficers being fine with C+, we would never be able to agree on a pizza.
Incidentally, I agree that you are up there with John McWhorter as one of my two favorite writers on linguistics!
This is fantastic. I'm taking this advice to heart immediately.
Also: I'm overall bad at following this advice as of now, but I'm also the food-decider in the friend group (and my family, who reliably get extremely moody when they're hungry but can never decide where to eat). I once saved a vacation by swerving off the road into the parking lot of a shitty RV park diner, because it was the only food we had seen in the Utah wilderness for three straight hours and my family STILL wondered if we should hold out for "the next thing."
What a relief to read something sensible about AI! When news about Chat GPT first broke, I was surprised by all the panic over what struck me as an obviously useful tool (but nothing more than that). Your article also reminds me of an ongoing debate my husband and I have about maximizers (he is one) and satisficers (I am one). My husband likes to note that if it weren’t for maximizers seeking something better, we would still be living in caves. But, as you point out, if it weren’t for us satisficers being fine with C+, we would never be able to agree on a pizza.
Incidentally, I agree that you are up there with John McWhorter as one of my two favorite writers on linguistics!
This is fantastic. I'm taking this advice to heart immediately.
Also: I'm overall bad at following this advice as of now, but I'm also the food-decider in the friend group (and my family, who reliably get extremely moody when they're hungry but can never decide where to eat). I once saved a vacation by swerving off the road into the parking lot of a shitty RV park diner, because it was the only food we had seen in the Utah wilderness for three straight hours and my family STILL wondered if we should hold out for "the next thing."
Terrific. I agree with all of this but I didn't realize until you articulated it so well.