From time to time, it feels like everybody is falling for the AI hype, and people are saying absolutely crazy things. You don’t need AI to be sentient to be useful. This post will lay out what I call “the talking dog test”. It is a simple device that can let you know whether you have drunk the Kool-Aid a little too hard, as well as screen out the nonsensical discord that is happening online.
The talking dog test simply states: Replacing “AI” with “a talking dog1” should not change what you think about a statement.
I will be going over some examples to hammer home the point. But if your buddy said, “ChatGPT told me who I should propose to” and you think that sounds fine, but you would intervene if he had said “A talking dog told me who I should propose to”. Then it means that you have fallen for the AI hype and need to rethink your actions.
There are additional hurdles when talking about genAI for image generation and literary work. The talking dog test mostly works when people use AI to make decisions.
A talking dog was able to write a test that increased code coverage for my project
Impressive, not a cause for worry. Is it weird that a dog was able to do that? sure, but you can verify its correctness with ease.
A talking dog helped me find a movie from my childhood, I couldn’t remember the name off
Incredibly useful. Search engines sometimes really struggle when something is at the tip of your tongue.
A talking dog did my taxes
What is wrong with you?! Best-case scenario, you did your taxes correctly; worst-case scenario, you owe a lot of money and have committed a multitude of crimes. In a normal scenario, you could blame your CPA, But no one should let you get away with blaming a talking dog, You should know better.
A talking dog told my doctor which medication I should take
RUN! Your life is in danger. Your doctor is either overworked, lazy, or unknowledgeable. All are bad. Get a new doctor.
A talking dog helped my doctor find the page he was looking for in his bookshelf
Surprisingly useful. It can be hard to remember all the names for things; Having a talking dog that brings you the book it thinks you need is surprisingly useful. Even if the dog is wrong 15% of the time, it isn’t causing harm as the doctor will know that the book is wrong.
Footnotes
The astute reader will note the similarities to Stochastic Parrots. And while that is a much better metaphor, I don’t want to overcrowd the parrot metaphor space.↩︎