Complex Machinery 037: Cranking out trash
A dumpster, overflowing with trash bags. Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash.

(Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash)

The latest issue of Complex Machinery is out.

"Check the genAI bot's outputs" has proven a terribly difficult lesson for companies to learn.

The Chicago Sun-Times experienced this last week when they ran a summer reading list that mentioned nonexistent books.

What makes theirs an especially interesting story is that they were bitten by an indirect connection to genAI. It's a tale of automation, responsibility, and the different risk/reward tradeoffs of generated content.

I explore this in the latest Complex Machinery, "Cranking out trash". I show what genAI goofs have in common with 2008 mortgage crisis, arena rock shows, and a story that I've been using in my conference talks since 2013.

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