What happened to this place?

[FreddyG]

I'm gone for a while - a year or so - and the post count is a small fraction of what it once was - perhaps a tenth of what it was! Did someone have a hissy-fit? Was it over-moderated? Or are those in difficulties or needing info just asking Chat-GPT?

 

[Ozzy]

Or are those in difficulties or needing info just asking Chat-GPT?

There’s your answer.

 

[FreddyG]

There’s your answer.

But other forums in other fields are still busy. Budget comments - Here at UKBF - one or two posts. Forum for home recording - 60 posts across two threads, just about the budget.

Somebody or something killed the forum - pity!

 

[MikeJ]

Did someone have a hissy-fit?

Yes. Someone threw a hissy-fit because he wasn't allowed to use this site as his personal blog.

 

[WaveJumper]

Its an interesting comment as I thought there would have been far more comments and discussion pre budget and even after. To be honest I thought there would have been a more "chat" about what might or might not have been coming, but there was very little.

I even started a thread to see if people were hunkering down, making changes etc due to current economics, which had very little response, so I understand where OP coming from.

 

[Newchodge]

I miss time out. I wonder if (although it wandered all round the world) it made people feel more at home here?

 

[Daybooks]

I

There’s your answer.

I expect they’ll come back when they want some proper answers.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Could AI be a simpler way to get answers, I often use Co-Pilot and get a answer without all the wise guys negativity

 

[Newchodge]

Could AI be a simpler way to get answers, I often use Co-Pilot and get a answer without all the wise guys negativity

You may get an answer, but is it accurate?

 

[DontAsk]

You may get an answer, but is it accurate?

In my experience, more often than than not, no. At best outdated or incomplete.

 

[pentel]

It is definitely quieter. I sold a business 5 years ago and got some good advice from members at that time ( and some rather rude responses). The help I did get was very valuable. I don't think I would get the same level of help (or caustic comments) now than I did 5 years ago.

 

[Mark T Jones]

AI can be great for getting concise data or factual information if yoh have a bafic understandingof your topic, and a dreadful source of general advice

 

[WaveJumper]

AI can be great for getting concise data or factual information if yoh have a bafic understandingof your topic, and a dreadful source of general advice

Now pretty sure that was not written by AI

 

[Mark T Jones]

Now pretty sure that was not written by AI

It was written with LI and sausage fingers.

 

[Ian J]

It's much quieter here than it used to be as most of the web designers and IT bods that scrapped over every question seem to have gone.

I have noticed that many people that used to be paid members are now free - including me as it has not been a useful resource for new business for me. People do ask about invoice finance and members often kindly refer them to me but according to the tracker on my site none of them ever bother visiting my website or contacting me and it has been many years since I took on a client from UKBF

 

[DontAsk]

AI can be great for getting concise data or factual information

Not in my experience. Some esoteric technical subjects, but it claims to give authoritative answers, which are wrong. Even more mainstream stuff like how to do something in Android. It will give me a list of menu items to click through which are just wrong, e.g, they don't exist.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

You may get an answer, but is it accurate?

I don't know but often more detailed than some posts on here, and they can be well off the accuracy on both options, Just giving a option to the question

 

[FreddyG]

On the subject of AI - it can take weeks or even months of preparation to teach an AI platform what you really want! And then there are too many AI systems online and only one of them actually works and it only works after a great deal of setting it up so that it knows what you want. And that AI is Chat-GPT.

I have tried all the others and their sources are doubtful, to put it mildly!

The AI has to know at what level of intellectual rigour you are working. You must give the AI reference points - tell it where to look and where not to look.

Humans ask questions in far too broad terms. They take their own background and reference points as given. I had to deal with the word "Disco" this morning, only to discover that the person using that word meant something in 2:4 time at 120 BPM - typical British Europop stuff. Someone else might mean a Niles Rogers kind of funk-beat and an urban American will mean a 4:4 slow 102-106 BPM groove, MC Doug E-Fresh kind of thing.

But they just said "disco" without defining that word. The same applies to any word and to any person. It also applies to any culture and language, and of course, jurisdiction. The AI has to know where to look and in what language - and above all, at what level. Legal questions, for example, require the AI to avoid "opinion" websites and stick to formal examples of legislation and subsequent case law - and not the opinions of 16-year-olds on TikTok.

And now for this forum - I watched it develop into a vibrant and lively forum filled with some fairly oddball characters (whatever did become of Twinkletoes?) and then disintegrate into heavy-handed over-moderation.

Experienced and successful business people do not take kindly to "warnings" and deletions from someone who still has eggshell behind their ears. And some of those who have been around the block are going to be blunt.

Some of the proposed business plans that used to be posted here were hilarious - and got some fairly blunt and hilarious replies! It made for good reading! A straightforward reply, stating that having a "brilliant" but unspecified idea, but neither experience nor money, is no recipe for success. I always enjoyed those!

And our 18-year-old bedroom "entrepreneur" posted "Why do you feel the need to be rude and put my idea down!"

I also enjoyed @Clinton 's replies to "I want to sell my business!" posts, even if he was a bit OTT sometimes. But people do need to hear the truth. The Ss in SMEs do not sell. The physical assets can sell, but that is about it. A business that is "Me, Myself and Eye" is a job.

I am fairly certain that I was never rude to anyone (unless they made disparaging remarks about the lovely Niki Minaj and her metaphorical lyrics about her tomcat that liked to go swimming).

Anyway - time for some work!

 

[ctrlbrk]

and then disintegrate into heavy-handed over-moderation.

I think you have not experienced heavy-handed over-moderation .

My opinion, but UKBF definitely does not over-moderate.

 

[Gyumri]

I'm gone for a while - a year or so - and the post count is a small fraction of what it once was - perhaps a tenth of what it was! Did someone have a hissy-fit? Was it over-moderated? Or are those in difficulties or needing info just asking Chat-GPT?

A huge turn off for me is the dominance of ads which sprout up all over the place - it's cheapened the forum by diluting it's integrity. However it's making money for the operators and so must be serving a purpose.

 

[Mark T Jones]

I

I expect they’ll come back when they want some proper answers.

Unlikely.

One of the frustrating trends (here & elsewhere) was people looking for easy answers, or to hear what they want to hear and going off in a huff when they didn't like the responses.

AI is exceptionally good at appeasement!

 

[Mark T Jones]

I think you have not experienced heavy-handed over-moderation .

My opinion, but UKBF definitely does not over-moderate.

Agree - very light touch on here.

 

[alamest]

There’s your answer.

But ChatGPT can only answer the previous incident; it cannot answer the current changes or incident happening. That's why forums still need to continue and more polished, focusing on current & future incident where chatgpt can't answer, for example, Reddit. People believe more in Reddit than ChatGPT.

Because Reddit provides live cases and examples, people soon will understand the difference between chatgpt and live cases studies.

 

[Ozzy]

But ChatGPT can only answer the previous incident; it cannot answer the current changes or incident happening. That's why forums still need to continue and more polished, focusing on current & future incident where chatgpt can't answer, for example, Reddit. People believe more in Reddit than ChatGPT.

Because Reddit provides live cases and examples, people soon will understand the difference between chatgpt and live cases studies.

I agree with you

 

[DontAsk]

A huge turn off for me is the dominance of ads which sprout up all over the place - it's cheapened the forum by diluting it's integrity. However it's making money for the operators and so must be serving a purpose.

Very few adds on Chrome on desktop with ABP. Just one banner at the top pf each forum page, or after the first post. Easily skipped and a complete waste of money for the advertiser in my case.

The ads are too intrusive on Chrome on mobile.

 

[Daybooks]

Unlikely.

One of the frustrating trends (here & elsewhere) was people looking for easy answers, or to hear what they want to hear and going off in a huff when they didn't like the responses.

AI is exceptionally good at appeasement!

Eventually the penny will drop. I accept some individuals cannot be helped.

 

[NickZ]

Could AI be a simpler way to get answers, I often use Co-Pilot and get a answer without all the wise guys negativity

AI the reinforcement of the bubble. Echo Rom

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I think the articles on setting up, employment and Legal under the Articles hearer could be given far more prominence on the top of the page, as they are most likely to be answers many are looking for, and therefore dig further into the forum

 

[glengraving]

Or are those in difficulties or needing info just asking Chat-GPT?

And a good proportion of the messages which are posted here are composed (or at least re-written) by ChatGPT (sometimes blatantly, with it's saccharine tone). It somewhat makes me despair for the future of forums - a graveyard of bots talking to bots, not encouraging.