It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

It is by the juice of sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains.

The stains become a warning.

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion

Fair point, and thank you. Let me clarify a bit.

It wasn’t my intention to say ChatGPT isn’t helpful. I’ve heard stories of people using it to great effect, but I’ve also heard stories of people who had it return the same non-solutions they had already found and dismissed. Just like any tool, actually…

I was just pointing out that it is functionally similar to scanning SO, tech docs, Slashdot, Reddit, and other sources looking for an answer to our question. ChatGPT doesn’t have a magical source of knowledge that we collectively also do not have – it just has speed and a lot processing power. We all still have to verify the answers it gives, just like we would anything from SO.

My last sentence was rushed, not 100% accurate, and shows some of my prejudices about ChatGPT. I think ChatGPT works best when it is treated like a rubber duck – give it your problem, ask it for input, but then use that as a prompt to spur your own learning and further discovery. Don’t use it to replace your own thinking and learning.

There was a story once that said if you put an infinite number of monkeys in front of an infinite number of typewriters, they would eventually produce the works of William Shakespeare.

So far, the Internet has not shown that to be true. Example: Twitter.

Now we have an artificial monkey remixing all of that, at our request, and we’re trying to find something resembling Hamlet’s Soliloquy in what it tells us. What it gives you is meaningless unless you interpret it in a way that works for you – how do you know the answer is correct if you don’t test it? In other words, you have to ensure the answers it gives are what you are looking for.

In that scenario, it’s just a big expensive rubber duck you are using to debug your work.

Not just parents – my wife has an unhealthy mobile game addiction. We’ve talked about it and talked about it, but it’s still a heavy draw for her.

…there is a big, big difference between calling someone homeless/addict or saying “experiencing homelessness/addiction”

I agree with this – my point in bringing this up was to highlight the differences in the language we use and the images and ideas those words conjure in the reader/listener. Your experiences are much more direct than mine, and I appreciate the insight.

… I don’t think the author intended to degrade people with their wording. … I think we do a disservice to the people directly suffering from homelessness/addiction/mental health by misdirecting our frustrations towards the journalists increasing awareness of the problem.

I see your points. However, had the director of the facility also used the term “homeless”, I would have never posted this. Its the changing of the word from what was said to what was written that gave me pause.

On the other hand, you have also given me some other ways to think about this story and how it was presented. Thanks for forcing me to confront some of my biases.

There’s a great dissection of this whole thing by Legal Eagle on YT from last week, if you don’t mind going there.

The beatings will continue until morale improves.