"Blob of semen" feels kinda like it's stretching for prurience. It's probably damning enough that Microsoft was so gutless in their Copilot marketing that they were only comfortable getting behind an amorphous blob. The damn thing literally has no corners.
Same goes for most of the comparisons of AI company logos with anuses. In the majority of cases, the similarity to a person's fundament is incidental to the choice to represent their organization with a symbol so valueless, so devoid of meaning, that the most anybody can say about it is, "I guess it's kind of a ring-shaped thing." What do we stand for? Round objects with holes! Give us money!
Except for Claude and ChatGPT. Those are straight-up bungholes.
I have a lot of disrespect for everyone working at Anthropic, but whichever designer got them to plaster their product with an absolutely no-questions-asked butthole is a goddamn hero.
If I was responsible for this kind of stuff at Microsoft I would probably try again with Clippy as the face of AI. A lot of people would enjoy it ironically since it has been mocked so much.
But there's probably a great reason why I'm not responsible for this kind of stuff at Microsoft.
I'm trying to remember why people mock Clippy. How much of it was stuff inherent to Clippy, such as getting in the way and being unhelpful—versus people's tendency to mock any character, no matter who it is?
I have fond memories of being bored while writing essays, clicking on Clippy, and triggering the little bonus animations.
I think it had to do with how intrusive he was? Pop-ups can be annoying without a character actively talking to you, and I think the timing of him popping up further grated on nerves. Being asked "would you like some help with that?" while doing a simple task, or when you're already frustrated with something... Yeah, that usually tends to piss people off.
I also have fond memories of Clippy. But then, I was a kid and I found all the assistants interesting. (I remember there was also a dog and I think the planet Earth??)
I'm extremely nostalgic for Clippy personally. I'd probably find anything similar extremely annoying now, but he was an intrinsic part of Microsoft Word during my formative years, and that sticks around lol
If anyone is actually curious, this happened when Louis Rossman (a privacy focused youtuber) made the "Clippy did nothing wrong" slogan a trending thing. With the implementation of so called "helpful" AI assistants that also harvest your data, his idea was to put his banner behind Clippy. Clippy tried to help you without needing anything in return, even if the results weren't all there.
This took traction as a form of soft resistance (though slacktivism probably isn't too far off the mark either) where people would replace their profile pictures with Clippy.
i would like to chime in and say that rossman is also a kiwifarms user, before folks get excited about him if this is how they'd learned about him. i don't wanna turn this thread into a drama thread, so i won't really go further than this; but a few searches on fedi and the wider internet will show you what i mean
You have to see just one of his videos to see he's a weirdo. A very privacy focused weirdo, but a weirdo nonetheless.
I don't particularly mean that as derision. Some folks are just odd ducks. Some odd ducks have strange bedfellows.
I have no image of the man beyond YouTube. What he does for the right to repair, ownership and privacy on an individual level is undoubtedly positive.
Nevertheless, for some people this knowledge can be a make or break so thanks for the addition. I wouldn't have known otherwise.
[OP] rodrigo | a day ago
In case you missed it, Mico is (was?) Microsoft Copilot's mascot that resembles a blob of semen.
Promonk | a day ago
"Blob of semen" feels kinda like it's stretching for prurience. It's probably damning enough that Microsoft was so gutless in their Copilot marketing that they were only comfortable getting behind an amorphous blob. The damn thing literally has no corners.
Same goes for most of the comparisons of AI company logos with anuses. In the majority of cases, the similarity to a person's fundament is incidental to the choice to represent their organization with a symbol so valueless, so devoid of meaning, that the most anybody can say about it is, "I guess it's kind of a ring-shaped thing." What do we stand for? Round objects with holes! Give us money!
Except for Claude and ChatGPT. Those are straight-up bungholes.
whbboyd | 8 hours ago
I have a lot of disrespect for everyone working at Anthropic, but whichever designer got them to plaster their product with an absolutely no-questions-asked butthole is a goddamn hero.
dhcrazy333 | 22 hours ago
Did they learn nothing from Clippy?
tomf | 19 hours ago
Microsoft should have doubled down on clippy and cashed in on the hate/nostalgia but made it the least annoying AI assistant.
hobbes64 | 22 hours ago
If I was responsible for this kind of stuff at Microsoft I would probably try again with Clippy as the face of AI. A lot of people would enjoy it ironically since it has been mocked so much.
But there's probably a great reason why I'm not responsible for this kind of stuff at Microsoft.
bitshift | 20 hours ago
I'm trying to remember why people mock Clippy. How much of it was stuff inherent to Clippy, such as getting in the way and being unhelpful—versus people's tendency to mock any character, no matter who it is?
I have fond memories of being bored while writing essays, clicking on Clippy, and triggering the little bonus animations.
CannibalisticApple | 19 hours ago
I think it had to do with how intrusive he was? Pop-ups can be annoying without a character actively talking to you, and I think the timing of him popping up further grated on nerves. Being asked "would you like some help with that?" while doing a simple task, or when you're already frustrated with something... Yeah, that usually tends to piss people off.
I also have fond memories of Clippy. But then, I was a kid and I found all the assistants interesting. (I remember there was also a dog and I think the planet Earth??)
sparksbet | 2 hours ago
I'm extremely nostalgic for Clippy personally. I'd probably find anything similar extremely annoying now, but he was an intrinsic part of Microsoft Word during my formative years, and that sticks around lol
xyhhx | 21 hours ago
oh that's why everybody made clippy their profile pic!
CptBluebear | an hour ago
If anyone is actually curious, this happened when Louis Rossman (a privacy focused youtuber) made the "Clippy did nothing wrong" slogan a trending thing. With the implementation of so called "helpful" AI assistants that also harvest your data, his idea was to put his banner behind Clippy. Clippy tried to help you without needing anything in return, even if the results weren't all there.
This took traction as a form of soft resistance (though slacktivism probably isn't too far off the mark either) where people would replace their profile pictures with Clippy.
xyhhx | 27 minutes ago
i would like to chime in and say that rossman is also a kiwifarms user, before folks get excited about him if this is how they'd learned about him. i don't wanna turn this thread into a drama thread, so i won't really go further than this; but a few searches on fedi and the wider internet will show you what i mean
CptBluebear | 12 minutes ago
You have to see just one of his videos to see he's a weirdo. A very privacy focused weirdo, but a weirdo nonetheless.
I don't particularly mean that as derision. Some folks are just odd ducks. Some odd ducks have strange bedfellows.
I have no image of the man beyond YouTube. What he does for the right to repair, ownership and privacy on an individual level is undoubtedly positive.
Nevertheless, for some people this knowledge can be a make or break so thanks for the addition. I wouldn't have known otherwise.