DAalseth

The old saying is, “There are two kinds of people, those that HAVE lost everything because of a system failure, and those that WILL lose everything because of a system failure.” That’s why you back up your stuff. 

I believe in defence in depth. One backup is better than none, but two is even better. So I use:
TimeMachine on my system. It runs all the time.
A lot of my stuff I save automatically to iCloud
Once a month I copy my critical files* to an external drive that’s kept separate from my Mac. If lightning hits the house and fries my system I’m good because the backups are not electrically connected to anything and are kept in a non conductive (wooden) cabinet away from everything electrical. I used to keep them at my office at work which was even safer, but I work from home now so this is the best I can do.

*Critical files includes Photos, Movies, Music, Documents and Desktop folders. I also copy all of the data on iCloud. You think of iCloud as a backup, it’s not really. Good for temporary storage, but files deleted on your desktop will get deleted if you keep your desktop folder on iCloud. Files from apps if deleted, will get deleted from iCloud if that’s where you keep them. So I go into the iCloud folder in Finder on my Mac and copy each folder out and paste it into my backup drive. 

As to why I don’t clone my system, lost files are one thing, but if my system gets stolen or fried somehow I’m going to want to set up a new one with a new OS, all the patches, and none of the kruft that builds up over the years. So all I really need and want is my data. Applications and the system can get reinstalled on new hardware.

Example: There’s a story on another site that I read a couple of days ago. The poster said that they went to their dentist and the hygienist mentioned that their gums bled a lot during the cleaning and flossing. They said the person needed to improve their oral care. This person was a bit offended because they made a point of brushing and flossing, and using an oral rinse twice a day. The dentist came in and talked with them, and looked over the report and noted the bleeding. Out of the blue he started asking about the poster’s diet, especially fruits and vegetables. It turned out this person was a student that was living on pasta and such. The dentist looked at them and said they had the first signs of scurvy, and needed to eat more fruits and veg. The story ended with the person saying that they had adjusted their diet, their gums stopped bleeding, their mood improved, and their grades were getting better. All because their dentist had a hunch.

This is exactly the kind of thing a real doctor can do, and an AI will never pick up.

anonymouse said:

DAalseth said:

pulseimages said:

DAalseth said:

No, I’ll pass

Why?

The idea according to the article is to be “a new AI agent would monitor the data in the Health app and provide feedback to the user on how to improve their health. This will apparently work to offer advice similar to how a real doctor would to a patient.”
Considering how many truly idiotic mistakes AI systems make there’s no way I would trust it. Maybe in 20-30 years, but today? Hell no we’re still at the stage where AI systems recommend adding glue to pizza sauce. 

Seriously, how hard can this be to get right — "offer advice similar to how a real doctor would to a patient" —considering how bad a job most doctors do of it? In fact, you'd probably be much better off with even today's AIs monitoring your health than today's doctors.

Then you need to find another doctor. Mine is very good, gives great insights, and has provided some good prospectives on what I’m experiencing. My previous doctor, now retired, was who figured out that I didn’t have a food allergy, rather it was cancer. Every one I’ve worked with, GP, ophthalmologist, surgeons, oncologists, have been very good. 

quakerotis said:

you wanted your comic book villain?

Huh, what’s the word. You know, for someone working inside the government, trying to use government contacts, and coercion, to get them to restrict competition, to benefit that persons company. To use the tools of government to establish athemselves in control of an abusive monopoly.

There’s a word for that. Corr…corru…something. 

appleinsideruser said:

DAalseth said:

pulseimages said:

DAalseth said:

No, I’ll pass

Why?

The idea according to the article is to be “a new AI agent would monitor the data in the Health app and provide feedback to the user on how to improve their health. This will apparently work to offer advice similar to how a real doctor would to a patient.”
Considering how many truly idiotic mistakes AI systems make there’s no way I would trust it. Maybe in 20-30 years, but today? Hell no we’re still at the stage where AI systems recommend adding glue to pizza sauce. 

…and heads of state suggest bleach to treat viral infections. 🙄

LOL, yeah we do seem to be entering the Age of Stupid.