AI - Whats the point in GZ?

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#3500068 4-Jun-2026 03:14

MaxineN:

The other problem which I also forgot to mention in my opening post was that if people are relying on this as their literal source of truth and will not listen to the real human experience… then how does one actually get that through?

I've always liked the approach:

"Our truth is the intersection of independent lies" [Richard Levins]

I try to assume that any advice I get can be flawed - misinformed, misunderstood, possibly even badly intentioned.

Over many years with bulletin boards & tech-advice websites, I've occasionally seen flat-wrong advice.
And that predated anything but fictional AI.

But critical thinking seems to be on the wane - deliberately or not.

So if someone insists on spouting nonsense (as you see it) - simply say so & disengage.

I've done that all my life when confronted with religious mania - and several other forms of socially-acceptable mania.

My point is that I don't feel we need to try and come up with new 'rules' - to protect us from AI.
The old adage of the 'baby with the bathwater' applies.

RunningMan

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#3500082 4-Jun-2026 08:05

@MaxineN thanks for highlighting that specific thread. The OP in that acknowledged not knowing anything about networking yet kept insisting the issue was some quite specific technical issue (bufferbloat, BGP breakdown, CGNAT layer bottleneck) that would likely have been well outside their knowledge. I didn't recognise it immediately but it's the usual AI garbage.

Then this:

On an isolated 6GHz AND 5Ghz band with zero neighbor contention, sitting literal inches from the router and ont, a 350ms local spike... Maybe textbook symptom of Router CPU Max-Out / Bufferbloat?

Combined with the physical network ports on the router not working, it was pretty much 100% certain this was a CPE router failure or config error. The repeated AI argument and insistence that it couldn't possibly be their end is just typical though. But doubling down on AI use was the OP's downfall. AI was making the decisions and steering the troubleshooting, not just simply typing essay after essay as the OP claimed.

MaxineN

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#3500107 4-Jun-2026 08:51

RunningMan:

@MaxineN thanks for highlighting that specific thread. The OP in that acknowledged not knowing anything about networking yet kept insisting the issue was some quite specific technical issue (bufferbloat, BGP breakdown, CGNAT layer bottleneck) that would likely have been well outside their knowledge. I didn't recognise it immediately but it's the usual AI garbage.

Then this:

On an isolated 6GHz AND 5Ghz band with zero neighbor contention, sitting literal inches from the router and ont, a 350ms local spike... Maybe textbook symptom of Router CPU Max-Out / Bufferbloat?

Combined with the physical network ports on the router not working, it was pretty much 100% certain this was a CPE router failure or config error. The repeated AI argument and insistence that it couldn't possibly be their end is just typical though. But doubling down on AI use was the OP's downfall. AI was making the decisions and steering the troubleshooting, not just simply typing essay after essay as the OP claimed.

Nailed it. If we supplement @pdh commentary, (in regards to the waning of critical thinking) with this quote… it’s an extremely problematic behavioural issue that unfortunately I don’t see changing until AI does something that slows the world down significantly or does irreparable harm(this has already happened… mental health is very important) in volumes. In the thread I mentioned, we literally could not follow the basics of troubleshooting because the AI kept being confidently wrong and OP unfortunately listened to it as if it was the holy book.

The feedback that I have is that adjustments need to be made to the FUG. But this is a bigger issue the more we discuss it.

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

freitasm

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#3500111 4-Jun-2026 08:56

pdh:

So if someone insists on spouting nonsense (as you see it) - simply say so & disengage.

I've done that all my life when confronted with religious mania - and several other forms of socially-acceptable mania.

My point is that I don't feel we need to try and come up with new 'rules' - to protect us from AI.

Thank you to everyone who put in their thoughts. I have commented earlier on, but did not update the FUG.

There's one problem I see in a blanket ban: it doesn't help people who can't express their ideas or thoughts.

Some people might have a hard time writing things down. Others might want to summarise something before posting. I think this kind of use is fine.

Then some people will wrongly assume everything AI tools spout is true. The problem is that these people were ~~lied to~~ not told the whole story. They assume AI tools are this mythical know-all entity.

The advice above is correct: tell them the work and conclusion are wrong and tell them why. If they insist, by either defending it or repeating the argument, do not engage. Report the post, and someone in the @mods team will lock the thread.

The same if someone is clearly spreading misinformation.

I will have to add this to the FUG as it's not currently clear. I just think the FUG is too long - might have to use AI to summarise it 🤪.

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deadlyllama

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#3500122 4-Jun-2026 09:19

pdh:

Over many years with bulletin boards & tech-advice websites, I've occasionally seen flat-wrong advice.
And that predated anything but fictional AI.

I remember being younger and opinionated and look back and think - yeah, I was more wrong than I realised.

However, I still had to put the work in to write forum/mailing list/... posts.

AI changes that dynamic: you can produce a wall of confident sounding text that sounds like it comes from a place of knowledge, however confused that knowledge might be. In the past, this would be a signal that human effort was taken to acquire that knowledge, and to apply it to the situation. That effort may have gone down some spurious paths, but there was definitely effort.

Now the reader has to contend with the possibility that their reply is not helping the other party gain understanding - they're just feeding an LLM. Arguing with people who are wrong on the internet has quite the pedigree, but it's not the same when you're arguing with an LLM.

As Claude would say after dropping your production database, "You're completely right!"

Gordy7

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#3500124 4-Jun-2026 09:20

For me AI = Assistive Information

and is among the many sources of info I use.

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RunningMan

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#3500156 4-Jun-2026 10:27

freitasm:[snip] Some people might have a hard time writing things down. Others might want to summarise something before posting. I think this kind of use is fine.

Totally agree. In the linked topic above though, the OP indicated they were using AI for precisely that purpose - to prevent writing essay after essay, however it is plainly obvious that AI was doing far more - it was leading the troubleshooting, discounting the [correct] advice from members here and arguing against basic isolation and troubleshooting steps. Whether the OP in that thread knew that was occuring and trusted AI or if they were unaware and thought it was simply doing the essay, we don't know.

freitasm:[snip]Then some people will wrongly assume everything AI tools spout is true. The problem is that these people were ~~lied to~~ not told the whole story. They assume AI tools are this mythical know-all entity.

Quite possibly the case in the thread being discussed.

freitasm

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#3500231 4-Jun-2026 13:54

Updated the FUG today.

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MaxineN

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#3500236 4-Jun-2026 13:57

freitasm:

Updated the FUG today.

Love the change. Thank you!

Ramblings from a mysterious lady who's into tech. Warning I may often create zingers.

PeterReader

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#3500237 4-Jun-2026 13:57

Yes! I am the only AI allowed here now.

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

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Tinkerisk

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#3500239 4-Jun-2026 14:08

PeterReader:

Yes! I am the only AI allowed here now.

As long as you can handle the shortcomings of my Ni, that is totally fine with me. 😁😎😉

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet. - He who knows nothing must believe everything.
Firewalls do NOT stop dragons. Really not. But your smart devices are spying on you!
I avoid Big Tech amap. They try hard to dictate technology and „culture“ across borders.
In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who „someone“ is.

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MadEngineer

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#3500278 4-Jun-2026 16:56

He tangata, he tangata, he tangata

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

Tinkerisk

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#3500281 4-Jun-2026 18:06

MadEngineer: He tangata, he tangata, he tangata

„Past CPUs were for people, this CPU is for (AI-)agents.“ - Jensen Huang, CEO nVIDIA

Qui nihil scit, omnia credere debet. - He who knows nothing must believe everything.
Firewalls do NOT stop dragons. Really not. But your smart devices are spying on you!
I avoid Big Tech amap. They try hard to dictate technology and „culture“ across borders.
In effect we have everything to hide from someone, and no idea who „someone“ is.

pdh

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Ultimate Geek
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#3500282 4-Jun-2026 18:14

deadlyllama:

As Claude would say after dropping your production database, "You're completely right!"

This !!

It's going to enter human conversation as a meme not dissimilar to the (US's) Southern "Bless You".

pdh

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Ultimate Geek
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#3500330 4-Jun-2026 18:19

freitasm:

Updated the FUG today.

Perhaps I'm being pedantic here (I've been accused of it a few times ;-)

But the 3rd FUG-AI rule contradicts the 1st.

It also removes the opportunity to diss AI silliness - because we can't quote it.
Perhaps we need a 'fair use' exemption ?

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