Most [0] people have phones, so if food banks are well-used, they're going to be a WiFi attractor. This is a highly likely explanation.
[0] My spouse is a social services worker who specializes in the homeless. She says having a phone is a priority among social services recipients, but they rarely have a data plan (which is very expensive in Ottawa) and rely on WiFi for everything.
But it's weird to rely on a thing like that in the first place. Unless you were able to differentiate between locals and foreigners. Because there would be many other destinations as well, that locals would be likely to group within, but which make no sense as travel destinations. Schools, churches, workplaces, gyms, markets etc.
It seems like non-locals would be unlikely to visit a food bank.
depends on the transience I guess of the people that goto them, when I was homeless at least and went to places like this in a large city many of the people were drug addicts from smaller towns or literal hobos who were there for the sake of I assume cheap drugs and social services likes food banks.
They have been quite a few news articles about the food bank traffic increasing, I’m guessing it’s pulling from those headlines and not using maps data
He put 99 smart phones in a wagon with all of them running Google maps in drive mode. Google interpreted this as a traffic jam, and made other cars avoid the area.
Rich enclaves paying you to drive a bucket of cell phones around the neighborhood slowly in an electric golf cart.
Or simpler: The rich enclaves pay you to supply their existing private security cars/carts with buckets of charged phones to drive slowly around their existing routes.
I feel like there's a great movie plot point you could write where the bank robbers use this trick to clear traffic out of their way during the escape.
During the solar eclipse of 2017, I drove to a small town in eastern Nebraska. The town had a 10k race that day. There were about 3 cars, including mine, on this stretch of road. Stop-and-going inbetween the runners. While my wife drove, I watched Google Maps. It accurately put a short red line on our part of the road. Amused me though that it only took 3 cars to accomplish that.
Hah! I have a 2017 eclipse story related to this, too!
A few days after the eclipse, we were driving through Custer State Park in South Dakota. There were relatively few cars on the road but Google Maps would inexplicably show these very short red traffic jams.
We quickly realized that we could anticipate upcoming bison sightings as people slowed down to take pictures of them walking (or sleeping) on the side of the road.
I recently learned that a friend from high school passed away. I hadn't seen her in twenty years almost. She'd been living rough in Ottawa for a few years and the Ottawa food bank was almost certainly one of the groups that had been helping her out. I'm still trying to find out more about what happened with her, but in the meantime I'm making donations to organizations like this one in her name.
Replying to this since the comment I want to reply to is flagged:
It’s okay to fall out of contact with people. You have no responsibility to keep up on every person you have ever been friends with. Some of my best friends are people that are busy living their own lives and then we find time for each other after a five year gap because we both happen to be in a city for work. Get some drinks and catch up. Don’t let people convince you you are supposed to keep tabs on everyone in your life at all times.
Edit: To people downvoting this comment, can you tell me why you disagree? I’m not against checking in on friends and supporting them in times of hardship, but I don’t think that anyone is obligated to take a roll call of their contacts every week/month. If you disagree, tell me why, please.
As a side effect of getting older, you're eligible to have friends that you haven't seen in very long periods of time. Just because you're old enough for that amount of time to have passed.
I was talking to my grandparents a number of years ago and they were talking about some good friends they have. Which they haven't seen in over 40 years. This is sometimes just a thing that happens.
ALSO, 'ask not for whom the bell tolls'. I didn't even know about this person until now, but I still feel bad for her.
Maybe a factor in the model spitting out these absurdities, is that it has consumed a ton of regular old SEO absurdities already and does it best to match the genre.
For instance I found out recently, if I search for Karigasniemi, Google recommends a site with the "top 10 hotels in Karigasniemi". It's a tiny, tiny border village in the middle of nowhere. Needless to say it doesn't have 10 hotels.
Are we assuming that the current models aren't already engaging in this practice? In a world where ads dominate the internet and revenue flows from commercial interests, it's reasonable to assume that these models might already be skewed towards those who have contributed the most financially. After all, advertisements essentially govern the online landscape, so why would this scenario be any different?
Well, yes. This is what was alluded to about the absolute breaking of shared reality that genAI allows. That's not even touching on the fact that the party that has the most control over a popular used model could filter "undesirable people" out of places they don't want to see such folks.
I have started coming across articles that seem legitimate except for bizarre patois used in the subheadings specifically: "How Long Be The Game?" "What Mean By Corner Kick?" which I'm assuming as an AI summarization artefact
Tbf, those headlines looks more like content generated or organised by English as a Second Language speakers, because one thing latest generation AI is particularly good at is following the conventions of English grammar, and when it fails it's normally a spectacular failure rather than missing articles or incorrectly conjugated verbs.
(if the writing is coherent, it's possible AI is doing the writing and ESL writers the prompting and stitching together...)
That sounds like a surprisingly fortunate mistake, because you would hope recommending others to go to a food bank will encourage (and actually make some of) them to give something to the needy there.
The suggestion the AI makes to consider going into it on an empty stomach could help the tourist to empathise with others who are less fortunate, because those are people who feel hungry every day. (Although the suggestion does sound unfortunate on first impression.)
Aplogies for the lack of clarity on my part. The other two sibling comments are right about what I meant.
I don't think a language model has empathy, but I think this suggestion can be good for the potential real-world consequences it may have and, if its suggestions are acted on, that might inspire empathy from the actors.
I think you're right that my interpretation/hope about the consequences are unlikely though.
Empathy as a cultural artefact is imbedded in large learning models insofar as one might find it expressed in their training set as human language.
It follows then that LLMs do in fact -express- empathy (as prose) even though they of course do not experience empathy as an emotion or as a call to action.
It’s important to remember that although LLMs do not have an emotional existence, they are portals through which we access a significant corpus of human knowledge, language, and culture. It follows that they will be capable and even adept at expressing elements of that knowledge, language, and culture - including parts we think of as emotionally driven.
They are places, commonly run by volunteers, where people with financial problems can get a food package at regular intervals, e.g. weekly.
They sometimes rely on food donated by supermarkets with a 'best before' which has passed - which isn't a big deal for certain types of food such as rice and pasta.
I have never heard of a food bank in Ontario offering food with passed expiration dates. I previously volunteered there and most of the food was from grocery stores/corporate donors, but not expired.
Not in Ontario, but I helped sort canned goods for a charity a few times, and they were compelled by law to be much more strict with "best by" dates and dented cans than I would be at home. I assume that approach is pretty common across North America.
The food bank I worked at had guidelines per item group. Different items had different levels of strictness, though any worker was free to throw away any item if they thought it was spoiled or too badly damaged. Dents were okay as long as it remained sealed.
My guess is the strictness of the rules is driven by availability of resources and the level of need being met by the organization.
yep. I used to volunteer in one, we had a large warehouse and everything revolved around best before dates. We had quite a few people on our lists, often single mothers with kids. We'd make up packages for them each week. A big part of it (for me at least) was giving treats so the mothers would have something nice they could give for the poor kids :( not too much of course, majority by weight was staples like bread rice flour and pasta, and lots of vegetables. We'd also occasionally get very impractical donations (like one time we recieved almost a thousand banannas) and had to get creative cooking to preserve them to last longer. Lots of pickling, jams etc
There are plenty of people who have absurdly little money, and food is far from free. With children, shelter, a doctor bill and an inefficient vehicle to get to work, your minimum-wage little money can go to zero fast.
the suggestion is terrible, full stop. it would be akin to someone standing outside a movie theater yelling at people because they should be spending their time fighting world hunger.
sure, they might be right, but its kind of missing the point.
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Someone yelling outside a theatre would be causing an active nuisance and provoking people.
What's the worst this unaggressively-worded and unintended (unintended by those who deployed this LLM) suggestion will do? I would think most people would think "that's a weird suggestion" and move on after a moment's thought, continuing to do what they did before.
It's easy to say someone yelling will significantly aggravate others. I don't think that's the case here.
Perhaps the model achieved a level of intelligence where it can understand that humans are happiest when giving to those who need, and decided that tourists ought to engage in helping people wherever they go in order to really achieve what they're looking for when going on vacation, which is not actually taking selfies in famous tourist attractions for Instagram as they'd imagined, but to feel actual happiness.
I think people are reading too much into “going to it on an empty stomach”.
It is not about empathy.
Rather, it is being treated as a highly rated restaurant that gives you a lot of food.
I have seen reviews of restaurants like buffets and other restaurants that give you a lot of food recommending you go there when you are really hungry.
If the model "understands" that a food bank hands out food without charging for it, that could be exactly the case. Although, the food bank's food still needs to be _served_ and possibly heated/cooked, so it's missing something really important. A soup kitchen would be a better mistake for it to suggest.
Great! Exit through the gift shop and donate to the cause! They should do this in every country. Proof positive that MS's AI (if that really wrote this bit) is aligned with the best interests of humanity at heart and making a real difference.
>> "Life is already difficult enough. Consider going into it on an empty stomach"
the model is all over the place, there's no sensible link between first and second sentence, even if it were about a typical Restaurant, let alone a food bank.
personally, the 'cannot miss' part as tourist spot, doesn't ring alarm bells, since tourist are in spending-mood when on holiday, and seeking new experiences - every little helps.
It may be raising eyebrows because of a socio-psychological effect , such as caused by shame or embarrassment linked to such display of poverty.
Food Banks can be massive regional operations; and their volunteer programs often share, in a great presentation, data about the needs they fulfill.
The CFO of my regional food bank was a startup leader and angel investor, led many local social events, and brought hackathon projects that the food bank and other non profits in the area had.
If you told me that the Atlanta Community Food Bank warehouse was a cannot miss tourist destination, I might agree. Google would probably agree - after all I also like touring car factories and research centers.
Cheap, unique experience, not a cliche tourist trap, meet interesting people, learn about different cultures, fulfills the soul (if you donate or volunteer).
Well "AI" might be further along than I thought, that's actually a good and creative suggestion.
The article mentions Paris Marx, who runs a podcast called Tech Won't Save Us. I doubt most people here would particularly enjoy listening to it, but might find it interesting to hear from strong critics of the tech industry. Sometimes they raise good points.
These LLMs are going to put our best useless listicle writers and filler content generators out of business, then where will journalism be? Those legendarily high standards our content production farms hold themselves to? Gone. Out the window. You want that?
Why do we still read articles? I get the entertainment aspect but it's pretty clear we ll never have to read an article about travel destinations, we will be asking the AI itself, or reddit
Only insofar as travel blogs are shallow SEO spam.
Good travel blogs maintained by locals are immensely valuable. They usually have much better technical advice about local culture, airports, payment, SIM cards and that sort of thing.
I just stayed at an Airbnb in Crown Heights (Brooklyn) a week ago, and knowing nothing about the neighborhood but wanting to eat a meal there, found that Google Maps was a little overwhelming. It was nice to skim some articles that seemed human-curated; it at least gave me an idea about where the hotspots of the neighborhood are and what kind of cuisine I should be favoring.
For every good local tourist guide in the training data there is 500 garbage SEO articles. No wonder the AI sounds more like the latter. And it won't get better in the short term. Differentiating between quality articles and SEO spam is not just hard, it's an arms race. Whatever changes you make to your definition of quality the SEO spammers will simply adapt. Until we build AI-powered robots that can go visit these places themselves, I don't think this problem can be solved.
I think the other side is true, AI gobbles lots of information, so the generic advice is going to be what is repeated. Its going to recommend seeing the touristy places, and it won't know about the hole in the wall restaurants.
Out of curiousity I asked GPT-4 to spot any oddities with the places it suggested, and it was able to identify Ottawa Food bank being odd one out.
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The places and attractions suggested in the article are genuine and well-known sites or events in Ottawa, making them suitable suggestions for visitors. Here's a summary:
The Winterlude Festival: An annual winter festival celebrated in Ottawa and Gatineau, known for its outdoor activities, ice sculptures, and skating on the Rideau Canal.
National War Memorial: A significant monument that commemorates Canadian military personnel who died in conflicts and wars.
Ottawa Food Bank: This suggestion is a bit unusual for a travel guide, as it focuses on a charitable organization rather than a typical tourist attraction. While the Ottawa Food Bank does vital work providing food to those in need, it might not be a standard tourist destination. This inclusion is what might be considered odd in the context of tourism.
Ottawa Senators Game: Attending a game of Ottawa's professional hockey team, the Senators, would be a great way to experience Canadian culture, especially given hockey's importance in the country.
ByWard Market: Mentioned in the introductory paragraph, the ByWard Market is a famous shopping district known for its food, boutiques, and nightlife.
Parliament Hill: Also mentioned earlier in the article, it's a central location for government and a popular spot for tourists interested in architecture, history, and politics.
Overall, the recommendations are generally appropriate for tourists, but the inclusion of the Ottawa Food Bank is an unconventional choice that doesn't align with traditional travel interests. If the intention was to suggest volunteer opportunities or engage with the community in a meaningful way, that context could have been provided to clarify the suggestion.
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User:
Is it poor taste?
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ChatGPT:
Including the Ottawa Food Bank in a travel guide without proper context can be considered in poor taste by some readers. While the work of food banks is vitally important and worth recognizing, presenting it alongside tourist attractions without explanation can seem incongruent.
If the intention was to encourage tourists to volunteer or donate, then providing that context would be essential to avoid confusion or the appearance of insensitivity. It could be seen as trivializing the serious issue of food insecurity by placing it in the same category as recreational activities and sightseeing spots.
In a travel guide aimed at promoting local engagement, cultural understanding, or community service, the inclusion of such a place might be fitting. However, in a typical travel article focused on entertainment and sightseeing, the lack of explanation about why the Food Bank is included might lead to misunderstanding and could be seen as lacking thoughtfulness in its presentation.
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User:
Why do you think AI did it?
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ChatGPT:
It's difficult to definitively say why an AI system would include the Ottawa Food Bank in a travel article without specific context, but there are a few possibilities:
Data-Driven Decision: AI models like this are trained on vast amounts of data. If the Ottawa Food Bank has been mentioned frequently in content related to Ottawa, the model might recognize it as something associated with the city. Without understanding the nuanced difference between a tourist attraction and a charitable organization, it could include the Food Bank as a point of interest.
Lack of Contextual Understanding: AI doesn't have personal experiences or deep understanding of human culture. It may not recognize that including a food bank in a travel guide might be considered inappropriate or in poor taste by some readers. It sees patterns and relationships in the data but doesn't always understand the deeper cultural context.
Keyword Confusion: The model may have associated keywords like "Ottawa" and "food" and made a connection to the Ottawa Food Bank. Without a deeper understanding of the context, it might include it as a place of interest related to food in Ottawa.
Intended Theme Miscommunication: If the model was provided with instructions to write about places in Ottawa without specific guidance on the type of places (e.g., tourist attractions, historical sites), it might include various notable locations, including charitable organizations.
Random Error or Anomaly: It could simply be a mistake or anomaly in the model's output. AI models, especially when generating creative or complex content, can sometimes produce unexpected or inexplicable results.
It's essential to recognize that AI doesn't "think" or have intentions in the way humans do. It makes decisions based on patterns and relationships in the data it has been trained on, and those decisions can sometimes lead to odd or unexpected results. Proper guidance, context, and post-generation editing by human experts can help mitigate these issues.
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User:
Is there a case to be made that AI wanted people to learn about poor conditions some people live in?
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ChatGPT:
AI doesn't have intentions, desires, or awareness, so it doesn't "want" anything in the way humans do. It operates based on algorithms and data, without consciousness or motivation.
However, the inclusion of the Ottawa Food Bank in the article could lead to a positive outcome if readers are encouraged to learn more about food insecurity and the work that food banks do to support those in need. This might be an unintended consequence rather than something the AI aimed to achieve.
A human editor or writer who noticed the inclusion of the Ottawa Food Bank might choose to frame it in a way that educates readers about these issues. For example, they might include a section in the travel guide about local volunteer opportunities or ways to support the community while visiting. In that context, the inclusion of the Ottawa Food Bank would make sense and could be seen as a valuable addition to the article.
In summary, while the AI itself doesn't have the capacity to want people to learn about poor conditions, the content it generated could be used by human interpreters to raise awareness about these issues if framed appropriately.
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User:
Why does it say to "Consider going into it on an empty stomach."
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ChatGPT:
The phrase "Consider going into it on an empty stomach" in the context of the Ottawa Food Bank section appears to be an attempt to evoke empathy and understanding for the experience of hunger. It seems to be a rhetorical device meant to help the reader imagine what life might be like for those who rely on the food bank's services.
However, without proper context or framing, the sentence can come across as awkward or misplaced in the article. The transition from describing a tourist attraction to a serious reflection on hunger can be jarring, especially in a travel guide that generally focuses on entertainment and sightseeing.
It is not uncommon for writing, whether generated by humans or AI, to include metaphors or rhetorical devices that are meant to be thought-provoking. In this case, the phrase may have been included to provoke thought, but without careful handling, it may also create confusion or appear to be in poor taste.
The oddity of this inclusion might stem from the lack of clear intention or understanding on the part of the AI, which doesn't have a conscious understanding of tone, context, or the emotional impact of words. Human editing and oversight can help align the content more closely with the intended audience and purpose.
At Audiala, we use a heuristic approach that leverages existing curated lists of points of interests and generative AI to produce the relevant content. The Ottawa food bank didn't make it to our list :)
