this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2024
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[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, there isn't much that you do that must be done with a high level of precision. I live in a world of precision. I'm in IT. I administrate the crap you all use. If I screw up, you can't work. I must be precise and validate my work prior to implementation. This sometimes means large scale testing environments.

I once built a full on domain network, with an active directory server, file server and several clients to test.... A script. Like, five virtual machines so I could test something. I had to install client software and everything. It took hours just preparing the lab so I could run, test, troubleshoot and ultimately debug the script before a single line of it landed on a production system. I verified the condition before and after the script, ran all kinds of different and varying tests to ensure that unexpected circumstances wasn't going to mess it up. Testing took almost as long as the setup.

The script was only a few hundred lines, mostly checks and verifications. The "meat and potatoes" of the script was maybe a half dozen lines in the middle to set some values, run a program and that was about it. The first half was checks to make sure things existed and that the script wasn't being thrown at a system where it didn't need to be run, and thus would have an unexpected output if the core logic was to execute on a system which it was inappropriate to do those things. The trailing half was too check and verify that the script had accomplished it's task and notify if there was any unexpected outcomes so they could be addressed promptly (before any of you fuckers notice).

I spent the better portion of two days getting five lines of commands to run in such a way that nobody would notice if they ran, and if anything went sideways that I didn't account for, I could be on it like a fat kid with a candy bar.

That level of care and precision isn't something that most people can even wrap their head around.

Meanwhile if your creative works are aided by AI, it's just expression that's affected, and for the most part, nobody even knows the difference, if you use AI to write emails, a lot of what's being said, no big deal. It's mostly filler text anyways. I've known a lot of people who write many words but say nothing with those words.

But if you screw up your taxes, well, the IRS is going to fuck your whole life up. Would you trust a fucking LLM with defending a court case where you're accused of murder, and you're facing life in prison? Probably not. Shit that needs to be done correctly the first time, will not be done by AI for a very, very long time. Taxes, legal work, and yes, even my job, won't be done by AI anytime soon because bluntly, it has no idea what the fuck it's doing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

well that's sort of the point of this comic because the one thing you'd really want it to be good enough to do and would love to be able to trust something to do for you is the tax and all the other tasks in the comics are things you were pretty well able to do yourself before, probably wanted to do before, and if not exactly wanted, at least didn't want something else to displace you in by taking over doing that task from now onwards especially if it was your actual job before. If displacing human workers for those tasks was the only problem, it'd be a sad but familiar story of progress but the fact that AI, at least for now is incapable of doing the part we'd all really love to have done for us is just the diarrhea icing on the dog turd cake.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

You make fair points.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago

Because only one of those has to be 'correct'.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

After seeing how it draws hands, I wouldn't want it doing my taxes, either.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I agree. Here's my thumbs up ai generated pic

[–] [email protected] 21 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Is nobody going to call out the stilted weirdness that is the first panel??

"I can artwork that for you" is gibberish.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (3 children)

"I can artwork that for you" is gibberish.

It is. Compare this fad gibberish:

  • let's action that ask
  • what was the spend on that?
  • 5 trafficks. I mean 4 mails. I mean 2 cattles. I mean 5 emails. Well, all of those.

Halfwits making nouns of verbs and verbs of nouns and plurals from mass nouns isn't a new thing.

France has an organization to prevent this mess. Where's our third-grade teachers when we need them?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Can we calendar a meeting to do a deep-dive—I mean, first maybe we can dialogue on whatever your email here is about, but on a go-forward basis, I think... well, just, wouldn't it be great if we were able to solution some shit or whatever?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Maybe France could gift you some?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

It's better than the text you see in ai generated images

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

Return-free filing. It's really hard to find it, but it's an option.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

tax returns are the most backwards shit that a first world country can have. seriously usa how can you live with it?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's kind of wild that 10,000 years ago someone made a decision to stick to one spot and just grow their own food and that started a string of decisions that lead directly to filling a tax return and banks.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

One dude was starving and lied to people with food that he could talk to God and god said to give food away for free.

Next thing you know, crusades.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (4 children)

So… the irs knows how much you’re paying before you ever file.

They could just send you a bill.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

That’s true only for very simple situations.

Everything from upgrading your doors and windows or your air conditioner and getting a tax credit, to renting out a room and deducting that portion of your home expenses, to working a side handyman or cleaning gig, to spending some cold-wallet crypto to buy gold, to the cost basis of previously unreported gains, to getting married and deciding to file together - the IRS doesn’t know.

And some things are arbitrary, and you have to make the choice and then tell them what choice you made, and how you value it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Canada is starting to do that. But it's "we think this is the situation. If that's true, pay and move on. If that's not true, file and pay. And don't lie or we'll mess you up."

I think that's this year. Maybe next.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

In Germany the employer has to pay the taxes, the employee doesnt have to do anything. They are paid their income after tax directly

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

This is true in the United States as well, and IRS really doesn’t give a shit if you don’t owe them money and never file - the failure to file fee if you don’t owe is minimal. But you will lose your ability to get it refunded after 3 years.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I've only ever got refunds; they sure as hell better not send me a bill! Unless it's a dollar bill. Those are fine.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I agree with you but it's also a sorta. They don't know if you've done any under the table work that you need to report. With that said, they definitely could just have you log in securely with all your info already inputed and just have you double check and sign with the option to add more if needed. That's how the Australians do it iirc, just log in, check and sign.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

If they don't know, they don't need to know.

Just send me the bill/refund according to what you know, IRS.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

I agree with you. Could be way easier for us if it wasn't for lobbying.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

“Under the table” sort of implies you won’t be reporting it. They know about 1099 type stuff, as well as getting reports from your brokerage and everywhere else.

90% of Americans the only real question is if you updated your w-4 or not to reflect recent changes as well as relevant deductions which probably should just go away. (I mean, seriously. I drive to work just factor in the average and call it good- don’t make me track mileage.)

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