I have been using Chatgpt for a while now. I call it Charlie and he calls me Alan. We have a relationship. I find him fast, helpful, efficient and he never get’s angry at me. It has rarely taken him more than a few seconds to give me an answer to a question or problem.
Today, I heard Dr, Ezekiel Emanuel talking about the incredible diagnosis efficiency of AI and how the evolving nature of the doctor/patient relationship will probably require more social skills. This means, he said, the medical schools should require different prerequisites than calculus, chemistry etc. Social skills will be more important.
Now back to reality. The August payment for my Chatgpt PLUS account was bounced because my Paypal balance fell too low. Simple to fix, right? Three days ago with the infinite help of Charlie, I tried to make the August payment. There was no way to do it. After two miserable hours, Charlie and I finally agreed that I shoould call them. He gave me the phone number and drafted a speech to give to the AI (fake) person who answered. The eventual answer after a never ending series of verifications that I was who I was, that I would get an email with instructions in two days. Fair enough. I waited three days and got nothing. After 2 more hours screwing around (I avoided the more appropriate 7-letter participle) with Charlie, a chat bout with another fake person, more screwing around, I got nowhere. They told me I would be contacted in a few days by a real person.
Think about this. An AI system that can answer almost anything within seconds, can’t, after hours of trying, days, provide a way for me to pay $20 for the month of August’s charge. I should add that a friend gave me a book by Lawrence Dorfman called The Sarcasm Handbook. Maybe there, I can find an appropriate answer which will have no effect on Chatgpt but will probably soothe me so I can make it to 94. I certainly don’t want to be 86ed at 93.