Thread Summaries and Title Tidy-ups to Improve Search

[Mr P]

Disruptive? I just want to not participate in the fake intelligence and useless (IMO) waste of electricity, water, and other resources.

Can I opt out?

Edit to add: I've seen many instances of AI being used by folks here in the "how to do something" vein....where AI has suggested a TOTALLY incorrect approach, yet the ignorant don't know any better. AI is helping to make stupid more so...

 

[Rucker]

I noticed an AI summary today. Since I do NOT want to cause demand for "data centers" that are ______, how do I "opt out" or turn this site's AI "off"????

It's the power button on your computer. That's all the control you really have at this delightful buffet.

 

[ewo1]

I noticed an AI summary today. Since I do NOT want to cause demand for "data centers" that are ______, how do I "opt out" or turn this site's AI "off"????

Appreciate all the work you do as admins. Thank God no 2FA.

Fixing titles is a good thing. Hard to see how that can be disruptive to the community.

If your simply looking at "fixing titles" then yes your are correct. But if you look beyond that, the REAL reality of "data Processing"... making money from tracking your laziness....

Here's an example...you buy all your toilet paper from amazon, pay by credit card.... amazon sells your purchase and payment data to a broker, now they know you take a lot of craps, and how you pay, then you start getting junk mail, emails and phone calls offering you designer toilet paper along with a payment plan....

When you go to the store and pay cash, no one knows or cares how many craps you take!

Seriously, every single aspect, thought, decision or turn you make in your life today is all monitored and sold primarily thanks to our Smart phones and sheer laziness... conveniences in life come with a steep price tag nowadays!

How can we stop this?
Stop using smart devices...oh wait, that's too hard... that means I will have to think and do stuff myself....

I need a beer.......

Oh and I paid cash so NO ONE knows how much beer I drink!

 

[desrtdog]

Here's an example...you buy all your toilet paper from amazon, pay by credit card.... amazon sells your purchase and payment data to a broker, now they know you take a lot of craps, and how you pay, then you start getting junk mail, emails and phone calls offering you designer toilet paper along with a payment plan....

…or worse, the AI somehow infects your dog’s brain, and he goes on an Amazon Shopping spree, and suddenly you’re inundated with these:
Doggie Bags

…wait…on second thought, maybe that’s not all that bad…

 

[Mr. Beefy]

Just FYI, @Mr P, there is a setting (checkbox) in your user preferences that enables/disables AI summaries. You'd think site staff would have mentioned such in this discussion, but apparently they abandoned this thread some time back. No sense in listening to your user community complain about stuff you're moving forward with regardless of whether they like it or not.

Of course that doesn't change the fact that regardless of whether we see these summaries or not, other people are. Our posts are being distilled down into easily-consumable data purposefully detached from 'us'. There is not opting out of being commoditized, depersonalized, or summarized.

On the same day I noticed my first A.I. summary, a new user starts posting obvious A.I. generated content, attempting to pass it off as their personal contributions (or the user was a bot. Who even knows any more). Coincidence?

LOL at the future y'all are building. Pretty soon this site - along with all the other cookie-cutter rv-life sites out there - will be a bunch of bots, giving other bots advice, remotely based on prior contributions by the real people with real value/experience, who no longer come here because... AI & bots.

@ewo1, I heeded your advice on pulling back waiting to see how this situation played out. Guess we know now.

 

[Rucker]

Here's an example of a thread summary from this forum. It is fan-freakin'-tastic:

Thread Summary​

Summarized on: Yesterday at 1:12 PM
This AI-generated summary may contain inaccuracies. Please refer to the full thread for complete details.
Members shared a range of solutions for preventing and fixing window leaks in a 2009 Thomas Blue Bird, with most agreeing that a thorough, multi-step approach is necessary. The most common advice is to remove the windows, clean all old sealant, and reseal using polyurethane caulk or butyl tape, as these products remain flexible and durable over time. Several RVers emphasized avoiding silicone-based products, except in rare cases where original manufacturer silicone performed well. EternaBond tape and 3M self-leveling epoxy seam sealer were highly recommended for roof seams, with warnings not to paint over EternaBond due to potential adhesion issues.

Some members reported that even after extensive resealing, leaks persisted until they addressed roof seams and rivet lines, suggesting that water intrusion can originate above the windows. One member solved persistent leaks by installing an external rain guard above the windows, which proved more effective than repeated resealing attempts. Overall, the consensus is to use elastic, paintable sealants, thoroughly clean surfaces before application, and consider both window and roof sources for leaks. Outlier solutions, like rain guards, may be necessary in extreme cases or challenging climates.

 

[Rucker]

Where I'll be focusing my attention is on those contentious threads with poor/incorrect information and back-and-forth discussion with competing ideas. If there's a summary it may struggle summarizing or may include bogus advice (literally, someone's bogus advice that enters the canon, so to speak). It's a pretty darn good addition to the forum, imho.

 

[Mr P]

Rucker. Watch the movies documentaries called "The Matrix" and "Idiocracy".

 

[ewo1]

Where I'll be focusing my attention is on those contentious threads with poor/incorrect information and back-and-forth discussion with competing ideas. If there's a summary it may struggle summarizing or may include bogus advice (literally, someone's bogus advice that enters the canon, so to speak). It's a pretty darn good addition to the forum, imho.

Your point is valid, on the human side of things but AI, is looking at the "humans" words and then compiling and distributing the same trash or bogus information, bringing it forward and people are thinking this is gospel... further enhancing the the "lazy" brain activity that humans are experiencing because they get too lazy to think for themselves....

and to quote a famous song that I think we all can relate too...

She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper
And it helps her on her way
Gets her through her busy day

"Things are different today"
I hear ev'ry mother say
Cooking fresh food for a husband's just a drag
So she buys an instant cake
And she burns a frozen steak
And goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper

 

[Mr. Beefy]

Here's an example of a thread summary from this forum. It is fan-freakin'-tastic:

​

Yeah, it's really great. All the real people here are condensed into the label 'member', and what qualifies as concensus becomes truth. Problem is: what is consensus, is often very far from truth. In fact, if we're being honest, on any given subject, the number of people who truly know what they're talking about is the vast minority. The 'outliers' (AI's words, not mine) are being marginalized, while whatever serves as the status quo for a particular thread is given unwarranted weight and import.

What's fan-tastic is real people sharing human-generated ideas, learning from each other, getting to KNOW each other, respecting each other and their contributions, learning who knows what about what. Knowing who doesn't. These A.I. summaries undermine actual dialogue. They make the process of gathering knowledge a one-way enterprise, and in doing so lessen the quality of that knowledge considerably.

Maybe you think it's fantastic to have all your contributions condensed into a summary so no-one has to know who you are or if you're even worth listening to. I myself find it insulting.

 

[Rucker]

I respect your opinions, and totally get the concerns. I detest the slop out there, and worry the social world is simply an echo chamber rehashing pointless words.

It's a powerful force and (currently) a leading factor in the enshittification of our lives. And like any advancement, certain to introduce unintended effects.

But I think we're still in the 'degree, not kind' space, meaning it's not fundamentally changing things, just inflecting them. In this case it looks like the changes introduced will improve the quality of the content, or make the content more accessible.

I try to remember I'm a guest in this space. I always keep in mind I have the option to walk away from the community, if I think it's not doing the things I think it should. Heck, that's why I don't participate in any of the Facebook skoolie communities, which are far, far worse. I think the ai summaries for some of those community's threads might read like this:

"This discussion consists of a random question asked using text to speech by a new user with no previous participation where the original poster is seeking validation for a poor decision made. Responses include one-word answers (equally 'yes' and 'no'), attacks by edge-lords, and multiple ai-bots extolling the virtues of their new mattress. This ai summary may contain inaccuracies, but do yourself a favor and skip this thread unless you, too, have no life, get drunk in the afternoon, and take issue with peoples' choices of pronouns."

Interesting discussion, but that's about all the gas I have for it at this point. I'm gonna make a cup of tea.

 

[Rucker]

<snip>

What's fan-tastic is real people sharing human-generated ideas, learning from each other, getting to KNOW each other, respecting each other and their contributions, learning who knows what about what. Knowing who doesn't. These A.I. summaries undermine actual dialogue. They make the process of gathering knowledge a one-way enterprise, and in doing so lessen the quality of that knowledge considerably.

Maybe you think it's fantastic to have all your contributions condensed into a summary so no-one has to know who you are or if you're even worth listening to. I myself find it insulting.

You make a great point, friend. How about we as a community start to create summaries for some of these long-ass threads?

 

[Mr. Beefy]

I try to remember I'm a guest in this space. I always keep in mind I have the option to walk away from the community, if I think it's not doing the things I think it should.

You're not a guest in this space. You're a commodity. We all know (or should know) that our presence and contributions here are used to make money. That's fine and dandy when you're given something in return... community, companionship, friendship, knowledge, respect, a platform to express your personal knowledge, skills, and creativity. A.I. assisted depersonalization undermines all these things.

It isn't any of us walking away from the community. It's the hosts of the community turning their back on us and expecting us to just go along with it smiling. It's the hosts of the community undermining the very sense of community in their use of A.I.

I wonder what @Stephan86 thinks of this discussion. That's the future. A.I-generated posts that are going to be summarized by A.I. and labeled 'consensus'. Pathetic.

 

[nikitis]

That's why I suggested we do a Wiki,

You make a great point, friend. How about we as a community start to create summaries for some of these long-ass threads?

 

[Mr. Beefy]

You make a great point, friend. How about we as a community start to create summaries for some of these long-ass threads?

Nikitis beat me to it. He's been pushing this wiki for ages, and has effectively been ignored.

We can't even get threads stickied.

 

[Rucker]

Omigod, I just took a look at the posts and I think Stephan86 is a bot! I just replied to a comment by...himherit? Let's see what comes back.

As to your other point, I am both a guest and a commodity, and I'm okay being purpose-fluid (just made that up). And so far this conversation has been quite interesting/real.

 

[MountainGoats]

Hello everyone, I just wanted to share my perspective. I understand where you’re coming from, and yes, AI is everywhere now. From my experience, though, this isn’t really anything new for forums. Sure, some were better or worse than others, but expertise has always been a challenge online. Even before AI, not everything was better, even if some people are looking for someone to blame now.


Forums are meant for sharing opinions and experiences. Occasionally, a professional might chime in with advice, but that’s the exception. If you read between the lines, you can still find valuable insights and real experiences from other users. A forum is not a replacement for a professional service.


The bigger issue, in my opinion, is that many people come here wanting to do things they don’t understand at all. They expect that reading a few forum posts gives them the knowledge to do it correctly, and then get frustrated when it doesn’t work as planned.


In practice, knowing something in theory doesn’t mean you can execute it correctly. Mistakes happen—and that’s how we learn. What matters is that forum users are willing to try things themselves, make mistakes, and improve. AI or not, it can make life easier for those who know how to use it. For those who don’t want to use it, that’s fine too—but it’s here, and we need to learn to live with it. How each person chooses to use it is up to them.

 

[ewo1]

We all have some quite clear emotional and somewhat rational views on AI.

here is the truth, like it or not, where it Is heading... ->

AN AI summary on AI,

The future of AI by 2030–2035 promises a shift from generative tools to autonomous agents, heavily impacting the workforce by automating administrative tasks and transforming industries like healthcare and cybersecurity. Key trends include multimodal AI, quantum computing integration, and the rise of human-robot collaboration, with potential to displace millions while creating new "human-plus" roles.

Jobs for the Future (JFF) +4

 

[Mr. Beefy]

Here's a perfect example of what this new 'tech' promises us, taken from today's activity:

Can a Ground Loop from My Inverter Damage Dashboard Gauges?

The current A.I. summary (which may change by the time I finish typing) claims "Several RVers report dashboard gauge failures after installing an EG4 3000ehv inverter, with most gauges stuck except for PSI readings". Problem is, only one person made that statement - which was actually more a question: the OP. Not only is the A.I. summary erroneous, it's slanderous, making these inverters appear to be dangerous garbage to the casual reader.

The really funny part can be found further down, when our resident bot - who appears to have recently had its battery recharged - is now labeled an 'experienced member' (after 15 posts and a 2026 join date), with many of the 'consensus' data points derived from its single post (which was filled with poor advice).

LOL.
LOL.
LOL.

What a joke.

 

[Mr. Beefy]

Forums are meant for sharing opinions and experiences. Occasionally, a professional might chime in with advice, but that’s the exception. If you read between the lines, you can still find valuable insights and real experiences from other users. A forum is not a replacement for a professional service.

Wrong.

This forum is filled with professionals.
Professionals with lifetimes of experience in diverse skillsets, which is handy, as building a bus requires a diverse array of skills.

We have software developers, professional metalworkers, licensed electricians, mechanical engineeers, woodworkers, plumbers, experienced mechanics, school bus drivers... the list goes on & on & on.

When it comes to bus conversions, the people here are the ones you turn to. And when you query ChatGPT about something bus-conversion-related, chances are, the information it's spewing out is likely derived (albeit inadequately) from the PEOPLE who have historically populated this forum.