Recently I stumbled across a joke and liked it:
There is special Linux command to review and modify AI-generated code. Similarly to other Linux commands it is abbreviated, namely, to “rm” for the case. E.g.
$ rm <code>
rmcommand has some options, which help [r]ecursively [f]ix whole project folders, that is$ rm -rf <~/project/>
That’s either funny (for those who understand it) or life threatening (for those who don’t appreciate having their systems destroyed by a single command.
Unjoke:
The command
sudo rm DASH rf /
Will remove all files from the system!
Brian, please, do not leave that command usable in the wild!
Can you please insert a space between the “-” and the “rf” ?
Thank you.
Are you serious about putting a space - before the rf? Some people might not understand the “joke”, but that joke isn’t “funny” - performing that command can be quite destructive, so doing what I showed above is something you might do ONLY if you intend to REPLACE the system anyway, otherwise it’s an EXTREMELY BAD idea, so I felt that this is a SERVICE to alert those who may NOT understand it.
The “bad guys” already know this stuff, but they’re not likely to run it; they’d rather insert nefarious code onto the systems people use so they can steal information, property, or anything of value.
IT professionals tend to have internal jokes about persons who are IT challenged. One of my colleagues tends to repeat the one that says the problem is between the computer and the chair. I would admit I do find some of them to be hilarious, but I also do understand that with knowledge comes power, the power to teach or the power to hurt.
I am guilty, I did find the joke above to be funny, but I do agree with @Brian_Masinick. If the joke is kept among a small group of IT professionals then fine, but if it got out into the wild it will not be funny for the poor soul who executes that command. It does lend to the fact that the usage of AI is quickly becoming a double edged sword. It can do a great amount of good, and it can do a great amount of harm.
Just as it is “sensible” to add spaces around the “@” in an email address, to prevent address harvesting, it is also sensible to do as I indicated.
As the saying goes …
WIth great power … comes great responsibility!
it behooves us all to avoid, figuratively, leaving “matches” near the “children”.
Hence my earlier request.
