Every so often I just need background noise while I am doing a task. Sometimes it is a playlist of songs I have heard thousands of times; other times it is a TV show or movie I know the whole thing. The key is something in the background for noise but not distracting. I put on a TV show from the 80’s, Miami vice, and just let it go. It is binge watching, but not paying attention. 

One Episode came on, that I heard a bit in the background. The title is “Lend me an ear.” The plot, and if you really care then go watch it, then come back and finish reading. The plot is about a surveillance expert who is selling bugs to the police and hired to sweep and find bugs by the bad guys. He is playing on both sides, making money from each. He has no problem taking money from either side. I will not tell you had it ends, because that is not why this relates to this blog. So there, I did not ruin it for you. 

That same day I was reading a blog post about how the internet is inundated with content that is being generated by GPT Tools. But that to me is a minor problem as I later saw a commercial for someone who was responding to an email using a GPT Tool.  They were bragging about how easy it was to send emails without doing anything. On a tech podcast I was listening to which talked about a company who had a resume filtering service also now had a resume authoring and job posting service. Lastly, in my news feed this week someone authored an article about how he tried out several GPT tools specifically designed for online dating. Not only would they chat with the person via the dating app but would also impersonate his voice for initial conversations.  

What if everyone employed those tools?  

  • Emails would be going between two GPTs and no one is looking at it and getting anything done 
  • Two people have their GPTs talk to one another, and when they finally meet realize neither of them have a clue about the other person or if they should even meet 
  • GPT resume writers overwhelm job posting who are using AI to screen them and thus do they really find the best candidates to get to a person. 

Inside a company both people are using the same email tool, the two people using the dating app use the dating apps tool, and there is a company that sells both the resume writer and screener. Oh, wait it was the plot of Miami Vice almost forty years ago. Someone playing both sides of the game and making money off it. And in all three cases nothing is moving forward. Neither consumer is getting the service they want.  

If you are expecting me to produce some miracle cure to this situation, well I do not have one.  Cory Doctorow coined the phrase enshitification, but that was way before this dual enshitification started. I do not want to sound like a Luddite. I am just pointing out something that I see, that as much as this technology does excite, we, we should not lose ourselves in it and believe in a sales pitch that it will make our lives easier.  

All these things existed before the AI crashed the party recently, email tools suggest responses for emails, you can use a resume writer to help you craft a resume, there are resume screener software that exists, and many companies use it, it is now the scale and reduced cost that starts to make this a problem. Companies thinking about their bottom line do not think about broader impact of what might happen. Example, for a job search service, they know if they can get your resume in front of the write people, you can get a job. This means applying with a custom resume and cover letter for the job so that it can be noticed. If they have software that can do this at scale, their costs go down and in theory profits will go up. The same with dating etc.  But if everyone is doing it on both sides what is the impact?

Ok, so maybe I will propose a solution. We as people need to think, is this an effective way to move forward? Should that email be a quick call, do I need to cc everyone on that original email? In dating even people are starting to move off the dating apps, and trying to meet in real life again. I do not have a direct answer for job searches, but I do know the old school of knowing someone is still more important than resume blasting.  

I love technology, and I continue to work with LLMs both in my job and some personal projects. In coding it is indispensable as a pair programmer. We just need to think about when to use the tools and when to interact with someone in real life. I am going to turn on an episode of Miami Vice and spark another idea for a blog post. 

This opinion is mine, and mine only, my current or former employers have nothing to do with it. I do not write for any financial gain; I do not take advertising, and any product company listed was not done for payment. But if you do like what I write you can donate to the charity I support (with my wife who passed away in 2017) Morgan Stanley’s Children’s Hospital or donate to your favorite charity. The fundraising site had to be restarted, and NYP Hospital made changes to their donation sites. I pay to host my site out of my own pocket, my intention is to keep it free.  You are welcome to comment, but note it is moderated, and all spam will be removed. 

This Blog is a labor of love and was originally going to be a book. With the advent of being able to publish yourself on the web I chose this path. I will write many of these and not worry too much about grammar or spelling (I will try to come back later and fix it) but focus on content. I apologize in advance for my ADD as often topics may flip. I hope one day to turn this into a book and or a podcast, but for now it will remain a blog.  AI is not used in this writing other than using the web to find information. Images without notes are created using an AI tool that allows me to reuse them.