ivanvector

US automakers designed EVs that are really just toys for the wealthy, not a family mover or grocery getter or daily commuter. It’s not just the EVs: I’m in Canada and the market is different but not that different, and I don’t know anyone who drives a US-brand vehicle smaller than an F150. I haven’t set foot in a US dealership in maybe 30 years. US automakers are apparently baffled that they’re not selling luxury second vehicles at a time when affordability has been on the decline for 40+ years.

Meanwhile, in markets with reasonably affordable, well-built, and compact EVs available, they’re selling like crazy.

I believe that was the point. The examples people keep giving for how AI is revolutionary are examples of things we’ve been able to do quite reliably for years already. Hundreds of years, for both of these examples. The first published weather forecast was 165 years ago, and we’ve known how to forecast the sunrise longer than we’ve known how to write things down.

I mean, they’re still an idiot. When the fire alarm goes off you get the hell out of the building, not start a group chat on Slack.

I hope everyone who gets one sends a letter back telling the government to get on with taxing the damn billionaires.

The company I work for uses it to transcribe meetings. Every time I’ve reviewed its notes on a meeting where I’ve spoken, the transcription is reasonably accurate, but the summary is always wrong. Sometimes it’s just a little wrong like it rounds off a number in a way that I wouldn’t have, but sometimes it writes down that I said the literal opposite of what I actually said. Not great for someone working in finance.

I make note of it in my performance reviews, anticipating that someone in management will rely on one of those summaries to make a horrible business decision and then blame me for what the summary said. I’m positive it’s going to happen eventually.

Not with that attitude

The funny thing about that is Canada offered to buy the Ambassador Bridge in 2009, but the owner wanted almost double what the government offered. They only started talking about building the Gordie Howe after that.