Thread Summaries and Improved Titles

[Tom]

So how often do moderators or admins manually change thread titles? I guess I haven’t noticed any, but I sure have noticed the AI ones.

Personally, I haven't had to change them very often, but it's happened from time to time, maybe more times than I can remember over my 30+ years here. I believe some of the mods have also occasionally changed the title &/or edited a message. We don't usually make a big deal of it, but will sometimes mention it to the rest of the team as an FYI in the back room. I suspect that such changes are typically small, while one of the ones referenced here was a 1-word title replaced by two short sentences - likely making it more obvious.

 

[LarsMac]

" the changes do add some clarity."

But was clarity actually needed, there? The original titles were tongue in cheek openers for a simple, non-technical, conversation of some aspect of life in our world.
The clarifications grow out of the discussion, itself.
When AI can begin to grasp the concepts of humor, and irony, maybe it will then begin to prove itself useful in the world of internet forums.

And, an aside.
Thank You to all the moderators who have a fairly unenviable task of sorting this type of stuff out.
Y'all are appreciated more than you may ever know.

 

[Tom]

On this forum I have added an occasional word to a post to help draw a helpful response because someone is new. The perfect example is a post titled "What is this?" On any other forum I would pass it right by without a thought.

Thanks Marty. Said more concisely than I could.

 

[Tom]

I must admit I haven't been reading the AI-generated thread summaries, but had to smile when I looked at the summary for this this thread.

Meanwhile, I think we're in danger of sweating the small stuff with thread title changes; Our forum rules have always provided for such edits since long before we began complaining about AI here.

 

[Larry N.]

Meanwhile, I think we're in danger of sweating the small stuff with thread title changes; Our forum rules have always provided for such edits since long before we began complaining about AI here.

The fact that the title is changed, in and of itself, isn't really the main part of the problem. A human doing so would likely improve the title IF improvement was needed. What the title is changed TO is the problem. Why must it be so wordy IF it must be changed? "Is overpacking a disease" didn't really need changing at all, and true intelligence should have recognized that. AI isn't intelligent, just clever but faulty, programming!

Addendum: I just noticed more title changes in the General forum, and I almost had trouble recognizing which is which. It no longer looks human, it is changing the feel of this site, and it looks as if there soon won't be an original title left. This is going waaay overboard. Perhaps you should take Tom's (Heli_av8tor) suggestion in post #17, and use that so-called AI to make the posts, too.

I think part of the problem in the sudden rage FOR AI is that it is poorly named -- there is no intelligence involved at all, just clever programming that pretends to look like human intelligence, tries to act that way (unsuccessfully a lot of the time) and once in a while succeeds. But the word "intelligence" should never have been included in the name because too many people are swayed to believe that it is what it is named.

This is NOT good!

 

[Tom]

The fact that the title is changed, in and of itself, isn't really the main part of the problem. A human doing so would likely improve the title IF improvement was needed. What the title is changed TO is the problem. Why must it be so wordy IF it must be changed? "Is overpacking a disease" didn't really need changing at all, and true intelligence should have recognized that. AI isn't intelligent, just clever but faulty, programming!

Understood Larry. Must have been past my bed time, and maybe I misread/misunderstood the complaint; I took it to be an objection to the fact it was changed and secondarily what it was changed to. Thanks for the wise words.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

IMO the "improved" titles are mostly overdone - wordy and formal, like an academic journal article. The AI is a pedant!

The summaries are also overly formal, but they are easy to ignore. I don't get any choice about title changes.

 

[Jackiemac]

So how often do moderators or admins manually change thread titles? I guess I haven’t noticed any, but I sure have noticed the AI ones.

Infrequently. And usually to reduce the title length!

 

[Jackiemac]

I have been typing up notes from my last trip and using Microsoft Word to do so. The spelling and grammar check function is now extremely bad. So bad that I can hardly believe it!

Predictive text on my phone has also become tiresome.

Both, I suspect, due to AI.

 

[Jackiemac]

Note that this can be turned off in your profile settings.

So for clarification - disabling the AI Summaries means you don't see them although they are still there.

 

[OldWEB]

I'm strongly opposed, and not that anyone cares but if you no longer see me posting I have quietly left the building.

I am with you Boat Bum... AI is studying all threads and in no time will be able to formulate answers and post for you, I have seen numerous posts where someone has asked AI the same question an OP has presented and inserted AIs answer. It was fun while it lasted.

 

[Professor David]

The fact that the title is changed, in and of itself, isn't really the main part of the problem. A human doing so would likely improve the title IF improvement was needed. What the title is changed TO is the problem. Why must it be so wordy IF it must be changed? "Is overpacking a disease" didn't really need changing at all, and true intelligence should have recognized that. AI isn't intelligent, just clever but faulty, programming!

Addendum: I just noticed more title changes in the General forum, and I almost had trouble recognizing which is which. It no longer looks human, it is changing the feel of this site, and it looks as if there soon won't be an original title left. This is going waaay overboard. Perhaps you should take Tom's (Heli_av8tor) suggestion in post #17, and use that so-called AI to make the posts, too.

I think part of the problem in the sudden rage FOR AI is that it is poorly named -- there is no intelligence involved at all, just clever programming that pretends to look like human intelligence, tries to act that way (unsuccessfully a lot of the time) and once in a while succeeds. But the word "intelligence" should never have been included in the name because too many people are swayed to believe that it is what it is named.

This is NOT good!

Very good point. AI just consolidates known information. It can be a useful tool. But it is just one of many tools. It has many uses but it certainly isn’t creative intelligence. The name artificial intelligence is wrong and misleading…likely developed to “sell” the idea.

 

[darsben]

I guess I am done around here then. I have no desire to interact with an AI service. Just as I would not correct you if your post wasn't very clear what makes it okay for a computer to do it.
I joined to connect with real people

 

[Larry N.]

I have no desire to interact with an AI service.

Nor do I. I've disabled the "AI summary" but the title changes I've seen are ridiculous. I'm not planning to disappear, since there are too many folks on here that I've grown to respect and enjoy their posts, even a few whom I've met and made friends with, but this AI fad is out of hand, and not JUST on this site. Management should reconsider.

 

[Trivet]

No need to scroll through lots of posts just to get the main idea!

There are already way too many people who admit they haven't read any of the previous posts in a thread, and proceed to offer up what is invariably a redundant answer. Now they're being told this is officially the way it should be done. Argh.

 

[jymbee]

" the changes do add some clarity."

But was clarity actually needed, there? The original titles were tongue in cheek openers for a simple, non-technical, conversation of some aspect of life in our world.
The clarifications grow out of the discussion, itself.
When AI can begin to grasp the concepts of humor, and irony, maybe it will then begin to prove itself useful in the world of internet forums.

Could not have put it better.

As with a number of others here I've participated in many forums over the years-- starting back even before CompuServe. Two things that are common to virtually EVERY ONE of these forums are

1. Threads being posted with vague, unclear titles (Can you help me?)
2. Thread drift-- the topic straying from the original one

I've never considered either of these to be much of a problem. Sure, might be better in a perfect forum world if everyone posted clear, concise titles and stuck to the topic at hand, but hey-- it's a forum! Not unlike any conversation around a campfire for example. There's often a topical ebb & flow to the discussion.

If somebody does post an "Can you help me" question, Some readers will just ignore it, and others might point out the vagueness of that question, maybe even offer an alternate phrasing, then go ahead and provide their input. Just not a big deal, always has and always will be that way but the last thing we need is for AI to take over, "read" the content and spit out what it thinks is a better way to phrase the question.

And as someone else pointed out, sometimes the title is intentionally a bit weird for the sake of humor. AI doesn't have much of a sense of humor.

Also, thread drift while not necessarily something AI is looking for here (for the time being a least), is something I've always considered harmless and don't take such a great offense as some others seem to. Happens here fairly often, typically with the "drifter" offering something like an apology for going astray, a few posts follow related to that interruption then the thread usually drifts back to the topic at hand.

Thank You to all the moderators who have a fairly unenviable task of sorting this type of stuff out.
Y'all are appreciated more than you may ever know.

 

[Tom]

I've passed along the fact that several folks are unhappy about this. I don't know if folks across other RVL forums have expressed similar frustrations.

 

[darsben]

Did AI help with the note to the higher ups. Maybe humans have become superfluous to the forum. AI can figure out the proper way to word the post then post the answer to the question. Humans will be unnecessary. That ought to drive less traffic to the site. IIRC activity on a site is a determinant of the revenue a site can generate from ads. Seems to me AI will decrease the traffic and number of posts leading to a decrease in traffic to the site, decreasing revenue generated.

 

[zulutron]

The new title

Why Do Some Campers Leave Campsites Behind?​

completely changed the meaning of the former title into something nonsensical.

 

[Jackiemac]

Not much chat that i could see from a quick search on irv2.

I suspect it's being used as the other forums probably get a lot more traffic so takes the burden off their moderators.

I'm not a fan myself, it takes away the personality of the post.