@JulietEMcKenna@wandering.shop
"Garbage in, garbage out". I was told this again and again and again while I, a business end-user, was being introduced to computers, databases, spreadsheets etc, by IT people back in the 1980s. It was a drum beat, the mantra, an article of faith. Yet it seems almost entirely absent from discussions on AI, LLMs and the rest.
When did this fall out of common knowledge, I wonder? Genuine question.
The mid-1800s era physician Semmelweis was ostracized by his peers for arguing in favor of handwashing in medical settings because doctors did not believe that gentlemen like themselves could harm their patients by touching them.
I imagine the rejection of GIGO on the grounds that the pure products of techbros’ hands - their algorithms - cannot be corrupted by outside forces is based on this same kind of self-serving magical thinking.
