Let's Talk About AI
After trying an AI machine for a month, here's what I learned. And my review on whether I found it helpful or wasteful. Plus: jelly shoes' summer 2.0.
What Caught My Eye is a daily column about internet culture, people you should know about, business, shopping, and fashion.
Hello everyone, hope you had a good weekend. And happy Mother’s day to our mom readers, we appreciate you! I still prefer a thought-piece about motherhood over a “50 best things under $50 to buy for her!” guide, although those are fun to indulge in, too. The NYT wrote a great piece about questions we can all ask mom to get to know her better, I’ve gifted it here.
In the weeks running up to this year’s Mother’s Day, I asked a friend, and a new mom, what she thought of a really nice wooden chopping board as a gift idea. She completely rebuffed the idea, telling me, “save that one for Father’s Day!”
I would love to know your thoughts. I still think it could make a great gift. A charcuterie board, cheese, honey, bread, pickles and a glass of wine is mine and mom’s go-to at Pastis whenever we’re in town.
Today’s post is about a buzzy story from last week, and about AI.
You must be thinking… what on Earth is he talking about AI in a fashion shopping newsletter for? It’s got more implications on the industry than often seems obvious. For starters, more people are using ChatGPT to respond to their emails than you are aware of (making for a very well grass-fed algorithm).
ChatGPT is extremely easy to use. There’s a whole New York Mag story about it (and podcast episode). The kids are partying and sailing through college essays with the machine. If only professional life were just as easy as barking orders at the computer. In some ways, it is, they argue.
Secondly, and probably the most obvious, brands scrub the internet for data they can use to sell you product, and AI is able to agglomerate and spit out trends based on online traffic.
But most importantly, I find that I hear about AI more than I actually understand it. Whenever I do read about AI, I walk out more confused than I was in the very first place. And since this newsletter is about simplicity, I wanted to dig a little deeper across muddied waters.
I wanted to write about this experience not to knock on a start-up company’s efforts to take technology a step further, by all means, invent! But I wanted to inform the public about my experience in editing my CV with enhancecv.com, and whether the $30 monthly subscription was worth it or not. P.S. this is not a sponsored post. Here’s my story.
WCME: Is AI worth it?
A few weeks ago I subscribed to Enhance CV, a resume builder AI startup that promised to “change my life”. But most importantly, I wanted a fresh look at my resumé and this seemed like a good idea.
How does it work? The sales pitch
The idea seemed a little too good to be true. I needed to upload my current CV in its PDF form and wait a few seconds for the AI to rework it. In went my 10 years of work experience and a master’s degree through the computer, so the AI could spit out a templated version of me. My words with some very shiny tools that were hidden behind layers of gatekeeping. The website said, ‘press this button, and you’ll achieve your professional dreams.’
I won’t lie, I was kinda hooked. I was going to get a more sophisticated (and richer, shinier version of me!) for only $30 a month! What could possibly go wrong? The new CV the website was gatekeeping from me looked fresh, everything suddenly fit into a page… and I had more room to add on a few details. The eloquent graphics made me look oh so good, like a Vice President! And the way it displayed my fluency in 3 languages was selling me.
In some ways, AI is helping innovate existing presentation systems that have been around forever. Microsoft suite has looked the same for about 12 years. Canva has been active for a good 5 years. Are we just really into shiny things?
Just look at the top image of this post. I’m republishing a picture WWD ran that represents an AI interpretation of what Hedi Slimane’s Chanel would look like. A blonde AI model is wearing a black & white tweed bouclé suit, pearl and bow choker, sunglasses, and branded double-C cap. Is that what I wanted to be?
Was it worth it?
When I went behind the paywall, everything worked well for the first 30 minutes. For starters, I was able to download the thing after the paywall. All I had to do then was copy and paste a job ad that interested me and and run the machine, out would come a new CV.
After running different job listings, I started to see a pattern emerge. The CV was the same, only the summary shifted. The algorithm was inventing performance numbers that didn’t correspond to my experience, I have no idea where those came from! And after a hard thought, they would be hard to prove in the context of the ads. It didn’t serve me any more justice than working with Canva. The AI started to feel delusional and made me look wonky.
But it’s a thrill of a ride! The entry-level tools are fun to play with. Still, the AI should’ve asked me a few questions or two, and learn to work as a tailor, rather than a spitball machine. More muscle, less pleasure.
The price was inflated, and during the second month I was forced to write the hard to find customer service email and ask for a cancellation of my subscription and refund because the system was not truly adding new value on a month-to-month basis. I salute the start-up, but I’ll stick with Canva and Microsoft for now.
As for the AI Generated Chanel by Hedi Slimane, while the image echoes a bland version of Hedi, it hardly captures the imagination of a tailor and the beauty of a living and breathing atelier. There’s just too much behind a fashion brand than meets the eye.
Jelly Shoes Aren’t Just For Kids
This season is starting to feel like a 2.0 version of last summer. Last year’s jelly shoes are back for another season. You can find them from $25 to a coveted pair from Chloé or Bottega Veneta. They’re pushing the early 2000’s forward.
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