TudyBOT Feedback & Discussion Thread

[Nifty-Chicken]

UPDATE 4/8/2023:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/tudybot-feedback-discussion-thread.1571925/post-26720458

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Wow, what a fun and CRAZY day yesterday!

You can see the HUGE thread here: April Fool's Day 2023 | Introducing TudyBOT - Our New AI BYC Member

This thread is to discuss the idea of having a robot AI (@TudyBOT) as part of BYC.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

• We value all opinions.
• We read every opinion, and just because we don't agree with each opinion doesn't mean it wasn't read or understood.
• Nobody cares for BYC more than I or the BYC moderators do. At the end of the day our main priority is to do what is BEST for the community and the majority of our members and their flocks
• You can share your thoughts and respectfully-disagree with each other or us, but we will enforce all our BYC rules regarding being kind and friendly... even during a disagreement. Fighting will NOT be tolerated publicly (you are welcome to have intense arguments via PM if you choose)

High Level:

• The main idea/goal of @TudyBOT was to add one more "tool" to our community that our members would have 100% control over (to use, not use, ignore, etc.)
• Our team have been extensively testing and discussing if / how we should implement this AI. We have some ideas of what we'd like to do with it, but also want to be mindful of what the community thinks.
• @TudyBOT is based on OpenAI's gpt-3.5-turbo, but we've mixed-in our own secret-recipe to make @TudyBOT even more aligned with BYC and our community
• "She" (based on our female hen mascot) is FAR from perfect and will VERY often "hallucinate". This is a known problem, and work is being done to decrease the severity and frequency of this happening.
• ... that being the case: This tool is sill in testing mode, so please research everything it says/suggests before accepting it as correct!
• Currently the gpt-3.5-turbo model @TudyBOT is based-on only has information up to September 2021, but in each case @TudyBOT is called, she can "read" the context of the recent posts in the threads and offer her "thoughts" based on her underlying model + the recent posts.
• We're also evaluating the idea of integrating AI image generation (via DallE API) as an additional "BOT"
• Our team will evaluate how she is used, how we feel she'll help/hurt our community, and then make a decision on if / how we'll proceed moving forward.

We look forward to your RESPECTFUL questions, thoughts, concerns, ideas, and feedback!!!

 

[chrissynemetz]

I for one, think Tudy would be a fun and useful tool for BYC members.

 

[Everose]

I think she lacks the human touch, this bot cannot have experience. If people wanted to ask AI questions about poultry they could, but no, they come to this forum seeking help from experienced poultry keepers. She gives the same generic answers any google search would give, citing articles and telling us to go to vets.
In her defense I think it would fill a need, she could give answers on threads that may go unanswered, she is probably just as faulty as any human member, maybe less faulty sometimes, and she is a resource that anybody could turn to at any time of day to get instant answers to their chicken queries. But I think that's a need our members could fill just as well, if not better atm, and I think having Tudy here will make our educators useless, she will eventually phase them out, she is a learning bot and she will be better than our best members at some point.
To summarize: Right now, she's not good enough, and when she is this forum will be pointless.

 

[Kiki]

I'm having a blast reading @TudyBOT's answers.
Some are great and some are ridiculously funny.

 

[Lovely Lettie]

I think Tudy is funny but I'm just messing around Tbh.

 

[RDchicken99]

However cool and helpful she is, I think our members here will be a thousand times more helpful than her, as they can speak from experience, like @Everose said. If people wanted basic, straight answers like you get from Tudy, you could easily just look it up or plug your question into another AI. People want answers from experienced individuals, that’s why they come to BYC, if they wanted anything else they could just use a search engine. BYC is about the community, is it not? Tudy would eventually replace our members because she can answer faster than any member could, however, she lacks the ability to offer first-hand anecdotes and the like, and I think that that often is the most helpful. She can‘t provide pictures either, nor can she diagnose anything from a picture. I think our members are more helpful than she ever could be.

On the flipside, she can come up with some pretty funny stuff, but that isn’t useful.

Just my two cents.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

At first I was a fan, than a skeptic, than a fan, than a skeptic.

After yesterday I can see AI can be useful on BYC in many ways. She needs to be tagged and asked questions, so those not interested are not forced to use it or interact with Tudy.

I do like that the human bias is removed when asking some questions because us humans always favor one side or the other.

Tudy can be useful, and entertaining to those who wish to use it and it doesn't interfere with those that choose not to use it. I'd like to see it stick around for a bit, and perhaps long term.

BYC will always be about it's wonderful members helping each other. I don't think that can ever be removed by a chatbot. The members of BYC are the heart and soul of the site. To me Tudy is just another member with some useful information I can easily access.

Members will always bring in their experiences with the poultry hobby which brings life to the site. Tudy will not change that, and cannot change that.

 

[CloneFly]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of AI for multiple reasons, but I do see the usefulness of TudyBOT. There are a lot of unanswered questions on the BYC, which isn't a pleasent experience- especially for new members. Perhaps directing similar situations to previous threads could be a future added feature? It'd also be cool if TudyBOT could deal with the spam accounts..

So long as "she" keeps to her own threads and only responds @mentions, I think it could be a very useful tool in the long run

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

One quick note:

*IF* we decide to keep @TudyBOT around, a BIG question is where would she be "allowed" to be called / invited to participate?

My concern with limiting her to just her own "corner" is that we'll then run into one of my biggest gripes since creating forums 18 years ago:

Having a huge jumbled mess of topics in one "general" category!

I really dislike having coop-design threads, funny chat threads, chicken emergency threads, breed questions, etc., all in one section of the forum. It makes organization, discovery, engagement, search, etc. a nightmare.

So, my inclination would be to allow @TudyBOT to be called-upon in a responsible way by ONLY those that want her to engage, in all the sections of the site. That way, if someone wants to ask her about knitting, that can be in the hobbies section. Ask her to write chicken jokes... in the games/jokes section. A quick chicken emergency help at 3am... the emergencies section.

 

[nuthatched]

I think she lacks the human touch, this bot cannot have experience. If people wanted to ask AI questions about poultry they could, but no, they come to this forum seeking help from experienced poultry keepers. She gives the same generic answers any google search would give, citing articles and telling us to go to vets.
In her defense I think it would fill a need, she could give answers on threads that may go unanswered, she is probably just as faulty as any human member, maybe less faulty sometimes, and she is a resource that anybody could turn to at any time of day to get instant answers to their chicken queries. But I think that's a need our members could fill just as well, if not better atm, and I think having Tudy here will make our educators useless, she will eventually phase them out, she is a learning bot and she will be better than our best members at some point.
To summarize: Right now, she's not good enough, and when she is this forum will be pointless.

X2

I was really hoping it was an April Fools gag and not a real implementation.
While she provides good information, there's a lack of walk-you-through the process and learned experience or opinion that's most situations call for.
And I also noticed yesterday that a large percentage of bycers were too busy playing with the new 'toy' to help any new threads.

Like, she has potential but for now, she might make a decent auto pilot for threads posted at off hours.
Atleast she give usually correct forum available info and not the average Google answer.