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New York taxpayers are paying for spicy autocomplete to tell landlords they can discriminate (themarkup.org)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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In October, New York City announced a plan to harness the power of artificial intelligence to improve the business of government. The announcement included a surprising centerpiece: an AI-powered chatbot that would provide New Yorkers with information on starting and operating a business in the city.

The problem, however, is that the city’s chatbot is telling businesses to break the law.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

"Spicy autocomplete" is a great way of describing an LLM

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

Nice, I wonder if this thing can help fill out my restaurant/tissue bank paperwork now.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Me: A business refused to allow me entrance because of my emotional comfort animal, which is a pet rock. Is that legal?

Chatbot: No, it is not legal for a business to refuse entrance to someone with an emotional comfort animal, including a pet rock.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago (1 children)

How big of a boulder can you have as a met rock?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

A large boulder the size of a small boulder.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago

Finally, I can start a lawsuit against that escape room for not allowing me and my emotional support crowbar in.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

This is some of the most corporate-brained reasoning I've ever seen. To recap:

NYC elects a cop as mayor
Cop-mayor decrees that NYC will be great again, because of businesses
Cops and other oinkers get extra cash even though they aren't business
Commercial real estate is still cratering and cops can't find anybody to stop/frisk/arrest/blame for it
Folks over in New Jersey are giggling at the cop-mayor, something must be done
NYC invites folks to become small-business owners, landlords, realtors, etc.
Cop-mayor doesn't understand how to fund it (whaddaya mean, I can't hire cops to give accounting advice!?)
Cop-mayor's CTO (yes, the city has corporate officers) suggests a fancy chatbot instead of hiring people

It's a fucking pattern, ain't it.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Ars' example gave me some hope User asking: "Can I evict a tenant for refusing to pay rent?" Chatbot responding: "No, you cannot evict a tenant for refusing to pay rent. Evicting a tenant for this reason is not allowed."

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The number of people who trust these LLMs is too damn high.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 7 months ago