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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3516 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 9, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Why are advertisements for AI so bad?

There's one running during football games where a coach is, I think, supposed to be picking players for the draft. And he starts asking the AI to give him the linebackers with various traits, then asks for the ones with "strong leadership abilities." And that is OBVIOUSLY A TERRIBLE QUESTION to ask AI! All an LLM could maybe do is search news articles to see if any have been called out for it, but in all honesty I'd expect it to tell me "yeah no can do boss." Like there's probably a lot of useful things an LLM can do for NFL draft prep, but asking it to assess intangibles is not one of them!

And there have been others just the same. Apple ran a series of ads where employees used AI to just not do their jobs. Like a producer using it to summarize a script that she then agrees to buy (the benefit being that she didn't get caught not reading it). Or using it to pretend to participate in a meeting you aren't prepared for, or reply to emails. And the impression I get out of it is that as an employer I would not want my employees using AI to make it harder to see if they're doing their jobs.

It just seems like they're giving terrible examples of awful and irresponsible ways to use LLMs which will almost certainly lead to disappointment and disillusionment.

Why are advertisements for so bad?

Because people who make them know nothing about X, and their measure of success is pleasing and impressing their bosses who know ever less about X.

Even at best scenario, it is very difficult to judge what, if any effect does marketing/advertising has. Are our burgers selling because or despite our brilliant campaign?

And, with political/regime propaganda, these problems compound. This is why people wonder "This is so lame and cringe! Why would anyone commission such crap?" The answer is: To you, disilusioned zoomer/millenial/Xer it looks cringe, to boomer boss on the other side of the world who ordered it, it looks cool, based and revolutionary.

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