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Querydash

@querydash.bsky.social

330 followers 980 following 2K posts

NYC person. UX and behavioral researcher.

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Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · Feb 4

Putting this XKCD comic here for OH I DON’T KNOW, NO REASON.

An XKCD comic showing a large contraption with “all modern digital infrastructure” written at the top, and a tiny arrow pointing to a little strut, holding up the entire thing with the words “a project Some random person in Nebraska has been thankfully maintaining since 2003”.

https://xkcd.com/2347/

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 16h

This is an effective video. More plain language, literal demonstration videos please.

Actions speak louder than words, every time.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 18h

Our protest had a couple of trucks with Trump flags, the weirder one being the guy with a giant Trump-riding-a-Dinosaur flag.

Which one assumes he bought.

As a grown man.

Reposted by Querydash

Anonymous @youranoncentral.bsky.social · 1d

Turn off your Face ID and Touch ID if you are taking your phones to the protests. Keep it in airplane mode and use encrypted apps where possible. Protect yourself.

#3E #NoKings #50501Movement #indivisible #wearetheflood

TURN OFF FACE ID & TOUCH ID

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 1d

I am enjoying that the No Kings/Trump Resistance is shaping up as a plague of frogs, partly because some future historians are going to guess it originated from Exodus and defying a Pharaoh’s power instead of “good-lookin’ inflatable costume on Temu”.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 1d

I think it’s even dimmer than that. They know a tool can be created by a corp they own. They want to monetize it. But they then cosplay a Normal Person when drumming up uses for the tool.

“You are not the User” is a UX mantra. But these guys think they’re Normal People. So they get it wrong.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 1d

This was part of a larger conversation where he would name an AI feature and I’d ask what current pain point in the user’s life it was solving.

So much of this is a (very) costly AI hammer seeking out every nail-shaped item it can find.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 1d

A CEO listed off to me some of the things AI will do to make my life easier, including domestic scheduling. When I asked him who does those for HIM now, he paused and said “…well, my assistant”.

These guys do not use their own AI, but abstractly map their human EA’s capabilities onto it.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 1d

You LOST MONEY AS A CASINO OWNER.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

So if you are already susceptible to Cool New Gadgets AND you’ve found an instance of AI that provides you with an easily expertise-checked shortcut, great.

But that isn’t the experience of most people exposed to AI in the workforce. They’re getting the AI Band-aid, slapped on anything at random.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

For many people, their corporation is MAKING them use AI, and when they do they sometimes get hallucinated results. It’s particularly dangerous for non-experts, who can’t quickly spot the hallucinations. And for lots of experts? It’s a toy, slightly amusing but actually time-consuming to correct.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

Well, you’re one persona (AI Enthusiast) casting all other personas as dim complainers, so… yeah. Bad premise.

But I am interested in what you’re using AI for. My guess is graphing/charting, which is a good use case. But you’re dismissing other personas forced to use AI to disrupt their workflow.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

Many lawmakers simply have no idea how things work, and staff to buffer them from finding out firsthand. Here, they just don’t understand the breadth and depth of implementing process change.

Same with DOGE “modernization” of legacy systems - any true techie knew it was hazardous bullshit.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

To be fair, Local Man posted about AI in a way that essentially reads: all you lazy whiners would like AI if you bothered to actually use your brains.

That’s not just opining on AI, it’s walking into a rowdy bar while swinging a chair.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

A lot of coders I’ve talked to will use it for autocomplete but - and this is pretty damn key! - it’s because they can instantly recognize if the code’s bad. Experience means they know the “right” options.

The danger is juniors who DON’T have that code muscle memory, and just trust the AI.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

I generally treat AI like a summer intern: if I’m too busy to start something, I’ll let my Intern AI scuttle off and throw together a rough outline. Which I will then have to thoroughly review before actually getting into the task.

I NEVER let it write for me. Ever. Uncanny Literary Valley.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

And just, like, wincingly embarrassing.

If there were a stage direction, it would be “talk-shouted with all the energy of an NFT early adopter”.

AI has its uses. Few people who actually understand AI use this tone.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

I would LOVE to see what instance of AI he’s using. Because I know of quite a few AI tools that plot graphs really well, and if that’s his use case - sure, good shortcut.

But hilarious confirmation bias if he’s then projecting that assumption across all AI.

AI has its uses. But they’re limited.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

And last note: there’s a curve where the people most impressed with AI are the ones who don’t have the context to understand either 1) the answer is wrong or 2) the answer is technically right, but generic pap wrapped in fancy words.

People who know their shit are… scornful? That’s the big vibe.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

…and by “strongest” I mean “one I hear most frequently”.

And I really have to emphasize: I’m talking to actual AI devs, tech company engineers, Silicon Valley employees - these are incredibly smart people, and their risk assessment for most AI is “faster for me to just do it myself”.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

Hi, AI qual researcher here! Incorrect (and, like, WILDLY leading).

By far, the strongest position in this debate is “I tried AI, it helps with some things but completely hallucinated others, so anything it does I have to double-check. I maybe use 15% of the AI tools my employer has launched”.

Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 2d

There are basically only two positions in the debate about AI.
1. I’ve barely invested any time in learning how to use it effectively. AI sucks.
2. I’ve invested in learning how to use this tool. Holy cow, it’s transformational.

Position #1 has lower barriers to entry.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 2d

I know it’s hard and so many studies claim it’s completely useless because our lizard brains overpower our rational thought centers, but:

Abstinence is effective against AI & surveillance-state shit. Just refuse it. Curate. It’s the only way to starve this particular beast, but you have to commit.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 3d

It’s understandable! I read “The Girl Who Owned a City” when I was a preteen and loved it, seemingly for its apocalyptic strategy bits. Read it again in my mid-30s and WTAF. It was unhinged.

Turns out it’s a libertarian screed for kids. But as a preteen I didn’t catch it, and neither did these guys

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 3d

“I’m proud of my Large Adult Book!” is the subtext of every teenage guy hauling around Dune or The Silmarillion.

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 3d

(reference:)

A screengrab of Patrick Cosmos’s Bsky thread reading:

working on a new unified theory of american reality i'm calling "everyone is twelve now"

"I'm strong and I want to have like fifty kids and a farm" of course you do. You're twelve.
"I don't want to eat vegetables I think steak and French fries is the only meal" hell yeah homie you're twelve. "Maybe if there's crime we should just send the army" bless your heart my twelve year old buddy

Querydash @querydash.bsky.social · 3d

Right - I actually doubt he could name a sci-fi book he’s read published after 2005. Leckie, Wells and Tchaikovsky aren’t bouncing round in there. He read adult sci-fi books when he was a young teen and only has a teen’s understanding of them.

All fits very well in the “buddy, you’re 12!” theory.