Yahoo AI: A Not-So-Academic Take on Babysitting Schedules

In an unexpected twist of events, I discovered just how far Artificial Intelligence can stray from clarity when I received an email from my sister regarding a babysitting schedule. The email landed in my old Yahoo account, and the first thing I noticed was a rather bold AI-generated summary at the top. Little did I know, it would lead to some amusing confusion.

At first glance, I mistakenly believed the AI summary was my sister’s schedule, and I was left scratching my head. Had my sister’s cognitive abilities taken a nosedive? What was going on with this chaotic account of our evening?

To clarify, here’s the original babysitting schedule, altered for privacy, with me referred to as “Aunt,” my sister as “Mother,” her husband as “Father,” and the children as “Daughter” and “Son”:

• 5:25 PM: Aunt arrives at the house.
• 5:30 PM: Mother drives Aunt to the park where Son and Father are playing soccer.
• 5:40 PM: Aunt remains at the park with Son while Mother and Father head off in their Ford.
• 6:00 PM: Soccer practice concludes. Aunt decides between staying at the park or returning home briefly before picking up Daughter.
• 6:25 PM: Aunt departs with Son to collect Daughter from her dance class.
• 6:45 PM: Daughter’s class wraps up. Aunt brings both kids home.
• 7:00 PM: Dinner for the kids if they’re hungry.
• 8:30 PM: Begin the bedtime routine.
• 9:30 PM: Parents return home.

A concise and straightforward schedule, right?

Now, let’s take a look at the AI-generated summary that preoccupied the top of the message:

“You babysit Aunt’s children after their soccer practice at the park, with Aunt staying at the park until 6:25 PM to pick up Son, who she then takes home to join Daughter for her class, and you have dinner and tuck the kids in for bed.”

On closer inspection, this summary is a wildly exaggerated interpretation of my sister’s organized timeline. It seems to imply that the kids belong to me, that my sister is somehow babysitting me, and that her son might potentially run off if left unchecked! To add to the chaos, the summary