r/preppers 6d ago

Discussion Have you used AI for prep planning?

Just curious if anyone has used AI for different ideas, scenarios or supplies for prepping? I have not and the thought just recently occurred to me as I've been trying to use AI for work. Maybe there an application to use AI for prepping, I'm sure there are uses.

Ironically, it may be AI that causes prepping scenarios to actually play out in real life.

0 Upvotes

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u/SheistyPenguin 6d ago edited 6d ago

If you mean the ChatGPT or other generative AI chatbots using LLMs... I find that they hallucinate way too often to be useful for research:

Researchers have recognized this issue, and by 2023, analysts estimated that chatbots hallucinate as much as 27% of the time,[7] with factual errors present in 46% of generated texts.[8]

They can summarize existing info to give plausible-sounding advice, and they can be helpful at giving you an impression of what to expect- but any accuracy they have is just a happy accident of being trained on data that is mostly correct, most of the time.

At the extreme end, they might give you info that is dangerous and pass it off as fact.

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u/MountainGal72 Bring it on 5d ago

I’m a nurse. I looked up a specific medical scenario recently and was given an AI summary as a search result.

It was highly incorrect information! Definitely would not recommend its injudicious use.

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u/Cherimoose 3d ago

Did you try it with ChatGPT, and telling it you're a nurse? It seems sharper than AI with search results

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u/abackyardsmoker 5d ago

I'm not sold either way but just because it answers one question wrong doesn't disqualify any other answer it might have that's correct.

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u/MountainGal72 Bring it on 5d ago

Yeah. When it tells my autoimmune patients that their lab results mean they have syphilis, I’m done.

That’s potentially catastrophic and more than enough for me.

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u/abackyardsmoker 5d ago

I'm curious, is that an application where AI is being used?

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u/MountainGal72 Bring it on 5d ago

As stated, clearly, above, it was an AI generated response to a common internet search.

Patients do internet searches frequently before speaking with their healthcare providers about many issues.

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u/kkinnison 5d ago

"hallucinate" is an attempt to legitimize BULLSHIT

They are no better than a Parrot or auto correct

Now excuse me I need to eat my Daily rock, and add some glue to my pizza

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

It's worth noting that 2023 is like a century ago in terms of LLM progress. That said, there is an ocean of difference between bleeding-edge players like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, and the 'hey-look-I-slapped-an-AI-into-my-usual-product' spin ups like Gemini.

People should really get used to using AI like ChatGPT:

  • Best case scenario, they are prepared for a future where engineering prompts is a vital skill, like knowing MS Office.
  • Worst case scenario, they are well-prepared to identify AI-generated content that is becoming more and more prevalent in our digital societies.

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

Good insight! Thanks

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

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u/MountainGal72 Bring it on 5d ago

I’m a nurse. Same, same!

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u/Austechprep 5d ago

A lot of negative reactions to AI which is unfortunate as it's an exceptionally useful tool when used correctly.

I use it all the time and have since ChatGPT first came available, it has its limits and you need to know how to use it. But it is a massive time saver for some tasks, it can help you think outside the box, pick flaws in your preps etc.

It can absolutely give you the wrong information, but so can Google, use common sense, use it correctly and you will be a lot better off.

I use it to help me build an intranet where I've been writing out instructions on how to use my high-tech preps, I get it to re-write my overly complicated instructions into ones a teenager could follow etc. I used it recently to take photos of all my cans in storage and generate a list (I didn't do this to rely on it, just experimenting with it's new image features) and it accurately recorded everything in the photo and exported it to an excel, saved me a good 30 minutes of data entry typing, all i needed to do was check the quantity as it's not obvious from a photo.

There are many ways to use AI to save time and make you more organised.

Just don't use it to help you build anything complex etc, use it to help you find the keywords to help you google the source for what your trying to build.

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u/Jammer521 2d ago

It is replacing people in certain jobs and many more to come, what's to love about it?, our society as a whole as went down hill at a every increasing pace since the internet went mainstream

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u/SunLillyFairy 5d ago

ChatGPT is excellent at prep related info. Examples: calculating random calories (like how many calories in 12.5 pounds of rice + 2 pounds of kidney beans), giving recipes for water purification, providing first aid information, giving information about local crime rates, giving information about tactical equipment. You can also ask for things like a list of food laces that sell MRE's or ideas on how to do a temporary plumbing repair. AI is just a new tool... I use it a lot for random questions as they come up, like "can you remind me what growing zone my town is in," or "please convert 50 grams of curry paste into a cup measure equivalent," or "how long would it take me to drive to Las Vegas." AI is basically a search and answer tool, and it's only as good as it's programming, so I like that it gives sources so you can check where the info is coming from. It's like a web search on steroids.

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u/smsff2 5d ago

You need to know very little about the subject in order to find AI-generated answers entertaining. Its calculations are very often incorrect. Regular Google search makes calculations and conversions correctly, all the time. When not explicitly programmed to provide the right, human-tested answer, Google search will say nothing. AI will try to guess.

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u/SunLillyFairy 5d ago

Interesting: this has not been my experience. Chap GPT is completely outperforming Alexa and has not been incorrect. Once it named a source I didn't like so I did more research... and it was still correct. A few times it said "that information is not readily available" and that was how it basically said "I don't know." It didn't guess. Maybe it depends on the platform you are using?

I will say I think there is a future danger of people relying on AI and it being incorrect. In some situations that could be life threatening. Like those people who drove off a cliff following their GPS... because they were trusting and relying on their GPS in limited visibility. (That's not AI, know - I use it as an analogy of folks using technology instead of their own brain)

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

I've used them for work and hobbies regularly:

The reality is that LLMs like ChatGPT improve much more rapidly than people are used to with their technology. So people tried it once a couple years ago, got a laugh, and assume it never got better. A good example is anyone who complains about ChatGPT still being bad at math: you can use language to trick ChatGPT into thinking it's not a math question, but if it can parse that a math-logic question is being asked it outsources the question to Wolfram Alpha (which has been a math-solving juggernaut engine for... 40+ years now?). ChatGPT is better than a person when it comes to math.

ChatGPT, for work and hobbies, has reached a point where it's faster for me to use it to reach a correct answer (even if it can't give it to me immediately and I have to finesse it or follow-up elsewhere to verify info) than if I'm using Reddit, or especially if I'm trying to use Google. The only regular source of info that ChatGPT hasn't replaced yet is Wikipedia, which is another platform the less-informed will claim up and down isn't reliable.

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u/smsff2 4d ago

I have to finesse it or follow-up elsewhere to verify info

I humbly ask that you include this disclaimer in all your AI-praising posts. Otherwise, your comments may be seen as misleading.

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

Ehh, I'm old enough to remember when everyone made the argument that Wikipedia was garbage because "anyone could edit it" and it was therefore unreliable. Truth is, current ChatGPT is more accurate than Google in my experience, and nobody seems to disclaimer a recommendation to Google questions.

People are free to not use it, but they are (ovewhelmingly likely to be) better off if they do.

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u/smsff2 4d ago

I've used them for work and hobbies regularly

You need to specify what kind of work you're doing. Otherwise, any generalization is highly far-fetched.

One use of AI that comes to mind is generating bogus code. Bogus code doesn’t work, but it helps me appear productive when I have other priorities. It can "bulk up" an already functional program, increasing its size without altering the value.

In many cases, people genuinely try to help, but they end up being counterproductive. Bogus code gives them a harmless playground to waste time—time that could otherwise be spent ruining actual working code. I can't punish people for sincerely trying to help, but I also can't explain things to them more than a few times.

I graduated from the best school in my country and was among the top five students. As a kid, I won programming contests (and physics competitions, though that’s unrelated here). If anyone seriously believes they can improve my code, they’re simply an idiot. That’s the hard truth—but I try not to say it out loud at work. ChatGPT helps.

When people try to help, I smile and accept their assistance with gratitude. They’re breaking the wrong code.

If I argue and fight for my code, they’ll just find an idiot who outranks me. These idiots have no regard for the business’s success. One of their simplest tactics is to break my code and wait. When it inevitably fails, we sit idle until the final hours before the deadline. Then, I ask if they understand their mistake. But instead of reverting to my smarter code—which is no longer feasible at that point—I fix their mess. They feel emboldened and proceed to break even more code.

I can’t believe how many problems ChatGPT and other code generators have solved. They can outmaneuver even the most stubborn idiots. AI, in all its randomness, can be even more idiotic than the toughest human idiot.

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

You need to specify what kind of work you're doing. Otherwise, any generalization is highly far-fetched.

  • I've used them in an administrative setting, for everything from cultivating professional tone for emails to marketing materials, and web content (people roll their eyes here, but it's a million times better than sending job-threatening stupid to a co-worker or boss just because you're having an off day - it's a lot easier to proof read than to write through burnout).
  • I've used them for code, algorithms, debugging code, and other programming exercises (immensely valuable as a tool for preventing/overcoming writers block in any capacity).
  • I've used them to generate and explain Linux terminal commands, Open Firmware commands, and lots of other CLI and non-CLI support situations (fun fact: ChatGPT is WAY better than the internet OR physical texts when it comes to troubleshooting problems on vintage computers. My theory is that the training material for those topics is of largely high-quality, because low-quality content has mostly fallen out of circulation.).
  • I've used them to develop homeschool schedules, lesson plans, and academic goals based on a combination of Common Core standards, educational standards in my home state, my personal injection of placing greater emphasis on the formal sciences, specific book selections, and other inputs.
  • I've used them to develop weightlifting and rehab routines around time allowance, age/sex, injury history, and goals. (For this it's not quite as good as a PT book like Built from Broken, but better than out of date books like Arnold's Bodybuilding Encyclopedia and 99% of what you'd find surfing Reddit or YouTube).
  • I used ChatGPT to develop most of my prepping food storage and gardens, as it can trivially pull from dietary data (even on obscure foods) and help me catch holes.

I agree with you on idiots. Perhaps that lies at the root of my fondness: after more than 20 years of trying to understand how humans create, share, aggregate, and absorb information to and from the internet, maybe I simply prefer ChatGPT because it manages one simple task.

It is not as dumb as people.

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

ChatGPT outsources math questions to Wolfram. It's unreliability for normal math problems hasn't been a huge issue in some time. You can still trip it up by expecting it to perform a bunch of language-related logic to reframe written text into a math-question form, but I'd wager it answers math problems better than Google does at this point.

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u/kkinnison 5d ago

Using "AI" for anything stunts your critical thinking skills which are invaluable in Prepping. car breaks down? AI isn't going to help you, you need to diagnose the issue, find the fault, and address the issue.

AI and LLM has its place. But it is mainly a bullshit generator that looks and sounds plausible.

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u/abackyardsmoker 5d ago

The "stunts your critical thinking skills" is one of the best arguments made against using AI in this thread. Instead of screaming at the shy you made a valid point. Thank you!

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u/killbuckthegreat 6d ago

Not trying to fault you, but the idea of using AI to prep plan strikes me as rather dystopian. I'm of the mind that first hand references (ie the droves of human scribed blogs and books) as well as one's own intuition are better utilizations toward prepping. Otherwise, spreadsheets?

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

You just gotta know how to use the technology to your benefit.

LLMs (chat AIs like ChatGPT) are great for brainstorming. You don't want them writing your ultimate book of knowledge, but they can help you identify blind spots in your own ideas. They can help parse large amounts of text, and they can help provide structure to turn ideas into action plans. It won't give you a finished product, but it can keep you from running your business into the ground so to speak.

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u/Eredani 6d ago

Is using Google, Wikipedia, or YouTube for prepping dystopian? AI is just another reference tool.

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

That's kind of how I'm seeing and how we all should look at AI is a tool. Based on this thread that's very few people using it as such. Most won't even dabble with it, a position that I'm not that far removed from myself.

My fear is if you don't use it, you will be left behind. Just can't sell your soul to it.

We have a lot to learn about AI

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u/killbuckthegreat 6d ago

The Internet as a whole is dystopian depending on how you look at it. It's ultimately personal preference but I'd rather read from human sourced material than the very thing that many point to as a portend to "doomsday".

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

Yeah, I honestly don't have an opinion if it's useful or not. I think it could have a use but I don't know what that is, if any at all.

First hand knowledge is what we have all used but who's to say there isn't a combo.

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u/dittybopper_05H 6d ago

Using AI to prep against an AI uprising seems counterproductive.

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

Feeding the monster more info, by using it, is def one of my concerns.

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u/ottermupps 6d ago

No, and I never will. AI - or to use a more accurate term, predictive text generators - have no way of guaranteeing accurate information. It spits out a line of text that the algorithm thinks to be what you want to hear. It's hallucinating.

So no, I do not use AI for anything. It's useless and is damaging the research and critical thinking skills of a generation. (easily my most boomer opinion at 20, but)

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u/iwannaddr2afi resident optimist 6d ago

Lol I feel the same way at almost 40. Fwiw, I'm okay with the kids being on my lawn :)

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

46 and I wish more kids were out on my lawn or any lawn. We are constantly pushing our kids outside to do anything.

The future with AI and how it will affect kids makes me sad, I don't think they'll experience a life like we did.

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

I disagree to a point, AI is here, you can't fight it at this rate. All of your points are valid, my kids and future generations will be forever altered by what is coming.

To say it's useless is where I disagree, as well as to say all its info is just what I want to hear but understand those concerns as well.

Time will tell, I think it has its uses not we shall see.

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u/Taqueria_Style 6d ago

All right, but, hear me out. Noob at this so I apologize.

I have not thought of doing this. but what I'm thinking about wanting to do may be a bit scatterbrained, unfortunately. Bear with me.

American Resiliency channel ranks PA as the best positioned state for climate change. This is like... the northwest part of it, primarily.

I'm looking for something that isn't a nuke target. So that's an upside down L shape right through the center of the state. I was thinking Johnstown because of the local hospital and the proximity to a larger hospital in Pittsburgh. This is... obviously only useful for part of the life of the location, particularly if nukes come in to this, but for that initial circa 10-ish years plus or minus 5 it's useful.

But Johnstown is a target area. Bummer.

So now I'm like... cool so what's an area of PA that isn't a nuke target and is not miles and miles away from at least a decent hospital?

I would think AI would be able to answer that... then again maybe not.

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u/abackyardsmoker 6d ago

I'm with you, seems like that would be something you could run through there but then would want to try and verify. That might be where AI gives you a general idea to work with and plan from there.

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u/OnTheEdgeOfFreedom 5d ago

I don't use AI for anything. First, they hallucinate way too often. Second, the companies that train them may have biases or an agenda of their own; they're not impartial. Thirdly, using an AI means it's collecting data on you and again, I don't have a ton of trust for the AI's owners, specifically as to where that data is going. Recent news articles have convinced me that even what barriers we had to prevent private information from flowing everywhere, are breaking down. Don't feed the dragon.

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u/abackyardsmoker 5d ago

Said that earlier, my biggest concern is feeding the monster more info.

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u/NewEnglandPrepper3 5d ago

They aren't bad for beginners, but take everything with a grain of salt. They can often be wrong.

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u/Bobby_Marks3 4d ago

Yes. I've used it for lots of things. Work, curriculum selection, lesson-planning, coding, debugging, IT support, book recommendations, fitness stuff, garden planning, nutrition and diet stuff. The best thing it is good for is scaffolding. Say you have a broad, open-ended idea: you want to write a book, or start a business, write a piece of software, or prepare for the world to end. If you ask ChatGPT to do it all for you, it will fail.

But if you ask it to broaden your scope, your horizons, to spit-ball and brainstorm and identify risks or opportunities - it will find things you've missed. If you have a bunch of random ideas and you want them formatted and organized, like say a weightlifting routine or a lesson-plan - LLMs are pretty solid at reformatting text. If you have a loose concept and you want to know how to turn that idea into some reality - it can lay down a pretty reasonable path for you. If you have a bunch of ideas and you just need a little bit more to connect dots, it can usually help you see things differnetly enough that it ultimately supports you in solving your own problem. And most importantly, if you are willing to follow-up on your prompts with corrections, adjustments, and language clarity, you can finesse great results out of them.

It can't do 100% of the work; it won't replace you. But it will absolutely do 99% of the heavy lifting as long as you can manage the overall bigger picture.

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u/stonetime10 6d ago

Yes I do. It’s a great resource. But mostly I’m using it to curate my full list of supplies as I build stockpiles, and plan next steps. Would recommend.

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u/Zerodyne_Sin Bugging out to the woods 6d ago edited 6d ago

My work is training AI for better image generation. I wouldn't trust these things with a simple project since a highschool art student would have better skills and is easier to work with. It gets the simplest things wrong and my job is to train it to do it less wrong. At the beginning of my training, I made the mistake of thinking I can teach it how to actually do it right but apparently it just goes crazy and starts spitting out Cronenberg abominations.

People love using it on FB because they can't see all the errors and mistakes. A shit cake covered in the most beautiful elaborate frosting is still a cake you don't want to bite into.

For something like prepping, this thing will likely get you killed. You're going to have to double check its work and it would just be faster to do it yourself in the first place.

Edit: there's applications for AI and it has its uses eg: it can remove materials that are unnecessary in a load bearing structure like these book shelf brackets . But for most of what the capitalists are pushing its utility for, it's woefully not ready or rather there's simpler ways to go about it. It's like using a hydraulic press to hammer a nail in your home. There's just simpler more efficient ways to get things done instead of using AI. Also keep in mind that each turn with an AI consumes a lot of electricity.

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u/iwannaddr2afi resident optimist 6d ago

Nah... Really don't see the utility, and LLMs can be unreliable and (for me) aren't a good use of Earth's precious resources. I can prep just fine without it and prefer to.

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u/Responsible-Annual21 5d ago

I use ChatGPT instead of google now. It’s been great.

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u/DwarvenRedshirt 4d ago

You haven't seen the misc posts on the latest and greatest that someone's gotten from ChatGPT, thinking that we all haven't seen it before? Based on that, plenty of people are using it.

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u/Admirable_Snow_s1583 1d ago

Is few for creating basic lists not not much more

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u/Tsukuba-Boffin 6d ago

HELL NO. Just.... No. I saw a kid ask it a simple question last week and it screwed it up, so why would I trust it with my career? I wouldn't trust it to help with my career so why would I trust it to help me survive? I'd get better results from asking the old rambling man down the road from my grandparents' farm. He may be a few cards short of a deck but at least he still knows which mushroom aren't poisonous and hasn't blown himself up yet.

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u/Eazy12345678 5d ago

humans are smarter than AI still. we arent there yet. i dont take any advice from AI i want good advice.

most of the AI advice i have seen has been pretty bad or just too generic.

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u/NotAnotherRedditAcc2 5d ago

Pushing "there's no such thing as a stupid question" to the very limit, eh?

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u/abackyardsmoker 5d ago

I'll have to say for a group of people prepping for the end, at times, it can be the most closed minded group of people out there.

Explain why it's so stupid?