Is AI Limiting The Knowledge Base On 914 World? Options

[Osnabruck914]

Might just be me, but it sure seems like since the ramp up of Artificial Intelligence, especially in the last six months or so, the number of new threads on 914World Garage Forum has dropped off. If true, is it because Google searches on questions about our cars are now routinely answered by the the Google AI component at the beginning of the search results presented, often negating the need to start a new thread on the World? I'm not saying the Google AI answers are foolproof by any means, but quite often they are spot on, and use the exact verbiage of what posters have previously written on the form.

This is concerning, because if true, it is essentially putting a cap on the online knowledge base the administrators and contributors to the site have created. If we all begin to rely solely on AI availability, then new perspectives, methods, repair tricks, etc. will never be generated and added to the knowledge base.

I guess Andy and Co. can confirm or debunk my suspicions, by looking at statistics on new posts. I certainly hope I am wrong about all of this.

Osnabruck914

[chmillman]

I'm not particularly worried - for the moment. Certainly, you might get good answers to simple questions using Google's AI-powered search for a simple question, one that has been discussed a certain number of times on various forums with consistent answers. For example, I asked Google for the torque spec on the oil strainer nut:



The "copper washer" item was interesting, I have also seen this in several places, but the crush washers for under the nut that come from my suppliers are aluminum.

I also asked ChatGPT for how much to torque my Fuchs wheels and whether I should use anti-seize or not:

https://chatgpt.com/share/692ff73a-e4f4-800...45-a012ccf75503

Interesting, it got the torque value right of course, but it couldn't really exclude the use of anti-sieze, it just said there's no evidence in the factory manuals of it being recommended...

All that aside, people come here for much more complex questions, often related to their particular car or some modification/restoration issue. These kind of questions still need human eyes, analysis and experience to respond - often with other questions - and AI agents are (currently) just not capable of that.

Plus, this is indeed a social place - where real humans come together and interact around a subject that they are passionate about - and no AI can match that*. Much of the fun here is not just getting questions answered, it's the sharing of experiences and storytelling. Often the tangent discussions that happen spontaneously are more interesting than the original question. Plus the nice (human) feeling of having helped a fellow 'teener lover get his or her car problem sorted out. It's what we call a "community". It's a living thing.

OTOH, the 90's forum format here just does not do it for the scroll 'n swipe generation... Which is why maybe people go looking for answers on Facebook and company. It fits their modus operandi better. I'm typing this on an old-fashioned computer keyboard, I would never do this on my phone. But I'm an old guy...

Anyway, here's to continued human interaction here!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

*Well, there are stories of people having romantic relationships with ChatGPT, using it as their personal psychologist etc... So who knows?