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+--- Thread: Article We can't trust experts, but we can't live without them (/thread-21712.html)
We can't trust experts, but we can't live without them - C C - Oct 29, 2026
We can't trust experts, but we can't live without them
https://iai.tv/articles/we-cant-trust-experts-but-we-cant-live-without-them-auid-3714?_auid=2020
INTRO: We used to think we could turn to experts and simply follow their lead. But today, with the democratization of knowledge on social media, that confidence has collapsed, and populists on the left and right have urged us to reject their expertise altogether. According to Reiner Grundmann, Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Nottingham, this is a radical mistake. The problem isn’t expertise, but the failure to distinguish between crucially different kinds of experts. Once we see the difference, we must use our judgement to weight expert opinion on its merits, without wholesale acceptance or rejection. (MORE - details)
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I used AI to fake a scientific paper. Here’s what happened.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/ai-generated-scientific-papers
EXCERPT: On one level, this outcome was positive: A complete novice using free tools couldn’t get an AI-faked paper past the publishers’ automated defenses or a potential peer reviewer’s eagle eye. But it was hardly a resounding victory for the scientific publishing system. With general-purpose LLMs and no special prompting expertise, I had managed to conjure a superficially plausible scientific paper out of research that had never happened. And more advanced LLMs are no longer making the kind of mistakes their free, dumber relatives are making... (MORE - details)
RE: We can't trust experts, but we can't live without them - Magical Realist - Oct 30, 2026
“An expert is a man who doesn't make the slightest error on the road to the
Grand Illusion.”― Marshall McLuhan
RE: We can't trust experts, but we can't live without them - Syne - Oct 30, 2026
Due to the necessarily narrow focus of experts, I imagine they could easily be unaware of their own biases. That's why critical thinking is an important general skill for everyone.