I’m Really Getting Sick of So-Called AI

It might even be worse than dealing with a moron.

Cartoon by Lambert-King

Unlike Mary Tyler Moore who had love all around her in Minneapolis, I seem to be surrounded ignorance. It’s is all around. I suspect that’s true of most of us. You don’t even have to leave the house to find it. Especially if you are a writer. I know I’ve been irked by Medium’s algorithm. Generally, when you think something is costing you money, it’s not a happifying experience. But I’ve got over things to rant about besides Medium’s algorithm. I'm going to talk a little bit about News Break.

I just got through getting a title for a piece to be accepted after about five tries. It seems you can’t use certain words in a News Break title, even if they are relevant to your article. I understand not using profanity, or even titillating language, but News Break’s AI seems to go far above and beyond that.

Don’t use any words that might make someone want to actually read your article

That seems to be News Break’s mantra. It seems that titles that might use words that imply something interesting are flagged.

Words like, “hacks,” “tips,” ”helpful,” or even helps won’t work. But I will ask the readers to note that, unlike Johnny Fever, I didn’t try to us the word, “booger.”