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Tech 📱 Chat GPT and the expanding role of Artificial Intelligence

The Terminator said:
Its this amazing technology with so much potential for good, being rolled out by the worst of humans to chase the worst kind of human ambitions (greed, surveillance capitalism, "smart wars").
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You might want to rethink that statement, Sparky, unless you have some proof that AI developers are also mass murderers or pedos or something...
 
Bubba said:
You might want to rethink that statement, Sparky, unless you have some proof that AI developers are also mass murderers or pedos or something...
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Sam Altman.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/travel/rental-car-ai-scanner-hertz.html

^ These are the types of things AI Startups roll out. As long as we exist in our current economic order, AI is going to be dominated by products that nickel and dime ordinary people and replace human workers. Not saying there aren't many applications of AI in medical, humanitarian and educational etc. fields that are improving peoples lives. But as is typical with western media, the f*** up ones get the most press.
 
The Terminator said:
I was in a local ice cream parlour near my folks back Downstate, around late April this year. I saw a woman wearing a "JP Morgan Chase: AI Research Team" custom Nike running jacket. I asked the lady, "so you're part of the team that uses Skynet to spy on American's private finances and replace our jobs with algorithms?". She just gave me a nasty look and darted off with her sundae.

I really have no sympathy for the AI industry as it stands. Its this amazing technology with so much potential for good, being rolled out by the worst of humans to chase the worst kind of human ambitions (greed, surveillance capitalism, "smart wars"). AI needs guardrails. Until those are in place (which will be never), I am by default, Anti-AI.
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That's funny given your screen name...

(I don't disagree with some of your points through. I do think there is good with AI. Just look at how they are using it for medical research with vaccines. We would not have had the COVID-19 vaccine so quickly if it was not for AI.

The Terminator said:
^ These are the types of things AI Startups roll out. As long as we exist in our current economic order, AI is going to be dominated by products that nickel and dime ordinary people and replace human workers. Not saying there aren't many applications of AI in medical, humanitarian and educational etc. fields that are improving peoples lives. But as is typical with western media, the f*** up ones get the most press.
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Anytime there is technology changes, human labor gets moved and replaced. Look at the creation of the cotton gin, the automated assembly line, the typewriter, computer, and more. This is nothing new.
 
I have been messing around with ChatGPT to create some planning related illustrations. My results have been subpar at best, which I am sure is just a matter of getting the right prompt. I have given examples and have been very specific on the measurements and I get stuff like this.
IMG_7101.jpeg


Does anyone have some tips or resources to create something similar with better results.
 
michaelskis said:
There are several free websites that do this really well.

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Those work, I was just trying to figure out if it would be useful for illustrations. It would be neat to generate them in certain styles not limited to the online generators.
I use it a lot for generating fun photos, like the one of my grandson below. So I am familiar with the image generation
aspects but it's hard to get specific results for semi-technical illustration.
IMG_7104.jpeg
 
Excellent podcast episode: “In this episode, Ryan and Todd discuss the effect artificial intelligence is having on higher education, primarily through commentary on ChatGPT. They first discuss how immediacy and the elimination of labor are key to ChatGPT's appeal before moving to discuss how it produces an idea of what Lacan would term the Big Other and how its ruling logic is one of emergent consensus. They end by arguing that ChatGPT inverts Rick Boothby's axiom that "the Big Other doesn't know" and how that introduces a damaging psychic dilemma.”

 
I am going to bump this with a Planning related question that came up recently.

I was watching a local presentation, and they commented about the use of AI for Plan Review and it got me wondering if anyone else uses it? I know of a situation where a newish building inspector was using Chat GTP to do his inspections instead of knowing the book, but I have not found much in the terms of using AI for development plan review.
 
michaelskis said:
the use of AI for Plan Review
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I have so many questions! How effective could that tool be in the context of doing an initial review for likely errors and in order to report back to the applicant? Which is to say, are the current AI tools able to be not so literal as to what their job is? I think it would be helpful to know ahead of time if the AI tool is advanced enough differentiate an inadvertent error on the document by the design professional from a misapplication of the code.
 
Wannaplan? said:
I have so many questions! How effective could that tool be in the context of doing an initial review for likely errors and in order to report back to the applicant? Which is to say, are the current AI tools able to be not so literal as to what their job is? I think it would be helpful to know ahead of time if the AI tool is advanced enough differentiate an inadvertent error on the document by the design professional from a misapplication of the code.
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That was some of what I was thinking. It would not replace staff doing reviews, but would be a tool to assist to get a lot of the mundane things out of the way like measuring and counting parking spaces per the code requirements, plant locations and species, lot dimensions per zoning classification, and that level of stuff. Just for giggles, I uploaded a residential phase of a construction drawing set to chat GTP with a link to our code, and I was surprised what it was able to pick up. It wasn't a complete review by any means, but something as basic as that did a lot better than I anticipated.

I can't imagine this question hasn't come up with companies like Bluebeam.
 
If AI can spot breast cancer in X-rays better than any physician, as I have heard it reported, I'm pretty sure it can be trained to evaluate site plans as well as any planner.
 
Gedunker said:
If AI can spot breast cancer in X-rays better than any physician, as I have heard it reported, I'm pretty sure it can be trained to evaluate site plans as well as any planner.
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Question doesn't local requirements first have to be loaded so it knows what to look for/read ?
 
JNA said:
Question doesn't local requirements first have to be loaded so it knows what to look for/read ?
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Of course. And, you only have to do it once, as opposed to the training required each time you hire a new plan reviewer after the former reviewer burned out. :cool:
 
michaelskis said:
I am going to bump this with a Planning related question that came up recently.

I was watching a local presentation, and they commented about the use of AI for Plan Review and it got me wondering if anyone else uses it? I know of a situation where a newish building inspector was using Chat GTP to do his inspections instead of knowing the book, but I have not found much in the terms of using AI for development plan review.
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There's a couple of applications out there that does this. Cembla and Codecomply.ai are ones that I have seen mentioned. I haven't used either.
 
JNA said:
Question doesn't local requirements first have to be loaded so it knows what to look for/read ?
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Yes. And if you change your code, you just add in the new standards and it will take it from there.

I saw a demo of an AI-based plan checking software. It does not get into site design principles, but basically takes your code standards and creates a report on what standards are and are not met. I imagine that it helps save time on the perfunctory elements of plan review so that you can focus on everything else. As with other AI uses, there should still be oversight for accuracy.

There is also growing AI software for Code Enforcement as well.
 
I worry about AI for so many reasons, and the allure of it to help stave off menial tasks is not even at the top of my list. First and foremost, I have so many questions. That ChatboxPT or whatever it is that you interact with, is owned by a private company, more than likely the same company that already knows how to serve ads to you that are tailored to your interests and preferences. Wink wink, the McChatFuck AI bot is already in your head and you don't even know it. Now imagine that McChatAI bot having access to that stream of so-called purged personal privacy data. And take that a step further and think of how the tech companies can create synergies with that old data about you while they go ahead and juice their McChatAI bot by renting changeable "switches" within the algorithm so that it can casually serve suggestions, i.e. product placements, to you during your McChatAI bot sessions. It would be so easy for google's McChatAI bot assistant to suggest an idea of how cool it would be to check out the Hurry! Act fast! Now! deals at Michael's when searching for creative Gender Reveal Party Idea Boards, and by the way, we're happy to share with you that right now today only that new Cricut you've been eyeing is now 20% off. But hurry! Your McChatAI bot will eventually get enshiffified to monetize itself. Ya know what I mean? It was never useful.
 
Wannaplan? said:
I worry about AI for so many reasons, and the allure of it to help stave off menial tasks is not even at the top of my list. First and foremost, I have so many questions. That ChatboxPT or whatever it is that you interact with, is owned by a private company, more than likely the same company that already knows how to serve ads to you that are tailored to your interests and preferences. Wink wink, the McChatFuck AI bot is already in your head and you don't even know it. Now imagine that McChatAI bot having access to that stream of so-called purged personal privacy data. And take that a step further and think of how the tech companies can create synergies with that old data about you while they go ahead and juice their McChatAI bot by renting changeable "switches" within the algorithm so that it can casually serve suggestions, i.e. product placements, to you during your McChatAI bot sessions. It would be so easy for google's McChatAI bot assistant to suggest an idea of how cool it would be to check out the Hurry! Act fast! Now! deals at Michael's when searching for creative Gender Reveal Party Idea Boards, and by the way, we're happy to share with you that right now today only that new Cricut you've been eyeing is now 20% off. But hurry! Your McChatAI bot will eventually get enshiffified to monetize itself. Ya know what I mean? It was never useful.
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That is an interesting perspective, and you might be 100% correct. But I also go back to thinking about all the companies that have so much more information about you. Hospitals, Tax Accountants, cell phone companies, tech companies like zoom, Microsoft, google, Netflix, Hulu, or amazon, search engine websites... the list is nearly endless. I do think that privacy is a valid concern and I don't have a good answer on how (or if) it will be addressed.

At one point an older family member was hesitant about using the internet for many of the same reasons that you mentioned above. Now, it is almost impossible to operate in society without some level of internet interaction.
 
Just received this in email:



Hi planit,

I’ve been following XXX's active development, especially initiatives like Draft XXX Comprehensive Plan (Blueprint XXX) and Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Update. With so much momentum, I am sure your staff fields a high volume of zoning, permitting, and infrastructure-related inquiries from both internal departments and the public.

That’s where our solution at Conflation Labs can help.

We’ve built an AI-powered assistant that enables staff, developers, and residents to instantly access zoning, infrastructure, and land use data by simply asking plain-English questions.

For example, someone could ask:

“Can I open a gym at 123 Main Street?”

“Which parcels in XXX are zoned residential but currently undeveloped?”

“Where are upcoming infrastructure upgrades planned for FY 2025?”

and receive immediate, map-based results with plain summaries, no GIS experience or long document reviews needed.

Cities we currently work with have reported a 70-80% reduction in such inquiries directed to their planning departments.

Would you be open to a quick 15-minute call next week to explore how this might support Newton's planning and development goals?

Best Regards,

Al D
Co-Founder, Conflation Labs
 
www.nytimes.com

Inside Three Longterm Relationships With A.I. Chatbots

Three people on the joys and anxieties of A.I. romances.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Even as someone who's always lonely, I find the prospect of AI romance really jarring and an insane indicator of the decadence/decline of Capitalist material production and "culture".

Paul Simon needs to rework his song as "50 Ways to Leave Your AI Lover" before he croaks. Paul is 84 and still has a decent enough voice to make this one a late-career banger.
 
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