u/SillySausageSpaceman

To start right from the get-go, I am not here to convince anyone of my viewpoint and in fact I am extremely open to the fact I am ignorant/wrong/misguided and so on. In-fact I guess that is the real essence of this post.

Essentially, I am what I think would be called an 'AI Pessimist'.

I do not mean I think it's going to kill us all or society is doomed (although....)

What I mean is my own experience of AI just does not correlate with the ever-increasing hype around AI.

For context, I have worked in technology for 25 years (I am Gen-X) but not a coder or developer at all. I do not have the remotest idea how to develop stuff.

So right there it feels like I am disconnected it feels by a large chunk of the wonders of what AI can do.

I would consider myself a regular 'Joe Blogs' who uses AI like most non-developers do.

Chatting with our favoured LLM (I have switched between ChatGPT and Claude).

Those chats are.....inconsistent to say the least. Sometimes its feels awe-inspiring - but mostly its frustrating/eyebrow raising and constantly trying to correct it when you know its wrong.

At best it feels like a suped up next-gen of Search for me. I can ask its stuff and get a reasonable answer most of the time. Although more often than not I lean back to doing my own research on plain old Google and sources - as I do not trust it.

Beyond that.....

I can read this Sub and others - and people speak of the wonders of AI. But I think I can represent a large chunk of the population when we say - we do not see it.

Even at work where our company and leadership have gone AI crazy - it has done very, VERY little to change how we work or improve productivity. It has sucked up budget etc.

I guess to sum up - as a non-developer everybody/regular person - there is just this massive disconnect from what people say about AI and what we actually experience.

Is this just ignorance? Being a non-developer? Or is the hype just that - massive hype?

I lived through the dot com bubble and it feels like this. Sure AI - like the internet - is here to stay. But everyone has just gone crazy on its true capabilities.

I do have one academic friend whose field is tangential to this and his main argument is we have a shiny new toy - that 'looks' like it can do some neat tricks. But that is all it is. Tricks. Smokes and Mirrors. Without true reasoning or logic processing, we are far beyond the expectations and promises we are being given.

This is a feeling I have heard many non-technical/developers share. This giant disconnect in what are told about AI and our own experience.

Are we the fools?

Planning my 2nd ever wild camping trip

First - which I reported on in this sub - was Dartmoor and was great. Loved it.

Next one due this weekend I am planning somewhere different. Exmoor.

I am not after any specific location advice - Rule No1 of the sub after all.

But I am planning on visiting the 'Valley of the Rocks' area - and finding somewhere near there. Along the coastal path.

I guess I am still a little nervous with wild camping - and this being the first away from the 'sanctioned' safety of Dartmoor - I was wondering if anyone has any advice.

Again not needing specific locations. I have been researching and identified a couple of places via maps etc. That I think should be ok.

Just I guess more advice - or someone to sanity check me and say if this is a bad idea?

If this sounds like a newbie question - it is. Please go easy. Still nervous when first starting out. I know by watching enough YT vids I should not be - but can't help it

My OS Maps yearly sub is coming up for renewal and might shop around.

OS maps have been ok. The downloads were a bit buggy - and for some reason I cannot get the maps and route to show on my Apple Watch (maybe they can't?)

Someone recommended Outdoor Active.

So question to the hivemind - what is your map app of choice?

Hello everyone,

Newbie help. I have a Vern 1 - which is great - and will be my winter/bad weather tent. But its very heavy - and I think I want to get something bigger/lighter for good weather.

As this is 2026 and everyone is obsessed with AI - I tried asking the bots - but you might not be surprised when I say their answers were pure garbage and obviously wrong.

I may be after something that doesn't exist - but hoping the hive-mind here can tell me if I am off-base.

Ideally I am after a:

• 2 man
• Dome
• All-in-one-pitch
• Not trekking pole based
• Light-ish
• Can stand a bit of bad weather if needed.

I say some of the above - because I am a little wary of inner pitch first (UK weather and whatnot) and I heard tunnels can be a pain to pitch. Maybe I need to be corrected if I am thinking wrongly there?

I would use this sprintgto autumn and the Vern 1 Winter and bad weather edges of spring/autumn.

Does this ideal (for me) tent exist?