3mo ago

AI in Australian workplaces: Michael used AI to write a work email. It ended up costing him $2000

amp.9news.com.au

What a moron 🤣

28 comments

Seems like a problem that doesn't require AI. Just have an email template with all services, and delete the unnecessary ones. Shouldn't take 5 hours.
- Or if he absolutely has to have a 1 hour response time sounds like a hiring someone to do admin might be the best way to stay competitive.
  Had a chat with my kids friends while dropping them at home, they were talking about a kid who got busted using ChatGPT for some schoolwork. When I jokingly asked one of them how he avoids getting caught he admitted he uses it for "first drafts" then rewrites the whole thing in "his own words". A bit of drilling down and he admitted it takes him longer to write a short paper with ChatGPT but it's easier because he doesn't have to think of what to say, just how to change the words.
  If he was being honest the irony of the dumb kid rewriting the idiot boxes responses so he doesn't get caught is just... Getting the article off Wikipedia and doing the same thing would have a similar result... Only with less faffing around and environmental impact.
  
  Thats really sad. That kid is learning to get good at the one thing ChatGPT excels at - rewriting words into a different form. Who is going to want to employ someone for that?!
  I always felt that schools do a bad job of explaining why plagerism is bad. Its not just that its theft, the really damaging part is that it cheats the student out of their own education. A late or poorly written assignment is far better than a passing chatgpt written assignment, because its still involves learning.
- tbh his use of AI is just plain weird, this is more a job of quoting/invoicing software which would already automate and speed up a lot of this stuff
  but at the same time it just depends, can getting the response time from 5 hours down to 1 earn them more than taking longer but being more accurate, or even modifying the template so that it doesn't modify line items and values just the writing around the items
- Response time does not equal time to write an email.
  
  True. I just assumed it was a significant part of the response time given they went to the effort of automating it. Still, like the other person said, a proper invoicing software should be the correct tool
I write all my emails with ai. But I always read the entire thing before putting in the to email. Ohh and Thunderbird has saved me so Manny times with their did you mean to attach an attachment warning before u send.
- +1 for the Thunderbird alert.
Should have cost him his job.
I recently found out that a major health insurer is encouraging all staff to use CoPilot for everything.
I am so glad that they don’t have my health data.
Companies are just going to add a blurb like «quote generated by ai, we won’t pay for shit»
Sounds like standard genAI to me. Train on shit; output shit. It's not thinking, it's just loading in the next likely words on a topic.
Common AI in its current state is just 2025 Clippy and finally most people are starting to realise. There's been no major leaps and bounds in technology, just how that tech was applied to stuff and made more available to the masses.
AI is excellent for many things. GenAI is not for most things. There is no magic, just easier access.
- I think CopyWriting is an under appreciated art form.
  I had an apprentice that was moonlighting doing contract CopyWriting for a large advertising conglomerate.
  First he tried writing himself, then he outsourced to India, then he used ChatGTP, finally, he just submitted nonsensical Lorem Ipsum text. He still got paid and still kept getting contracts.
  I think this is more critical about the Advertising industry than CopyWriters.
- idk if this is a left wing progressive trend or if you genuinely called ai clippy, but you clearly have never used clippy
  
  Clippy and I are old fr-... acquaintances.
User error. Pretty much every AI tool says that you should not trust what it says and that you should check everything yourself.
Also while this cost him $2000, how much did he save by having AI do all the work? If he saved more than $2k then it’s still a net positive.
- I saw somebody post some AI stuff the other day. Another dude corrected the glaring error in the first sentence and said AI was rubbish.
  I was mortified that the OP posted "AI is awesome, but does need to be fact checked".
  But hang on, they knew the limitations and they didn't check anything? Sure enough, when they were called out, they just started name calling everyone.
  That day, I clearly saw the future....

28 comments