Dodgy product reviews.

[Robin GrahamParticipant @robingraham42208]

I buy (probably) too much stuff through Amazon. That’s partly because of the reviews – they are often useful. However, tonight I came across this for a wi-fi adaptor:

“I recently purchased the TP Link AX1800 WiFi 6 Dual Antennas through Amazon, and I am beyond impressed with its performance. This router has truly exceeded my expectations delivering a seamless and efficient wireless experience for my home network.

First and foremost, the AX1800’s Wi-Fi 6 technology has made a noticeable difference in the speed and stability of my internet connection. Streaming high-definition videos, online gaming, and video conferencing are now smoother than ever. The dual antennas provide excellent coverage throughout my home, eliminating dead zones and ensuring a strong and consistent signal in every room. Setting up the router was a breeze, thanks to the user-friendly interface and clear instructions provided by TP-Link. The mobile app also proved to be a valuable asset, allowing me to manage and monitor my network easily from my smartphone. The intuitive controls and advanced settings give me the flexibility to customize my network according to my needs.

I appreciate the sleek and modern design of the AX1800, which blends seamlessly with my home decor. The compact size of the router is an added bonus, as it doesn’t take up much space while still delivering powerful performance. Security is a top priority for me, and TP-Link has not disappointed in this regard. The AX1800 comes equipped with robust security features, including WPA3 encryption, which gives me peace of mind knowing that my network is protected against potential threats.

It is okay for me upto 95% . ”

Well, I can’t be sure of course, but that screams ChatGPTto me. I’m not sure why though!

I’d be interested to know if others agree, and if so what the language/content triggers are for you. By way of contrast, the  next review reads:

“Been using this for a few weeks now and it has worked very well. It was a simple plug it in and install the drivers to get it working. I have had no signal drop-outs or any issues with it. I had tried another brand of USB wi-fi adapter but it get dropping the signal, it was like the device was being unplugged and then plugged back in. My download speeds have improved compared to the previous wi-fi adaptor and powerline adaptors I was using.
My router is on the ground floor at the front of the house and I’m using the TP-Link AX1800 in a room on the first floor at the back. Overall I would recommend this USB wi-fi adaptor.

UPDATE:
Bought a new mini PC with Windows 11 Pro and, unfortunately, this adapter just doesn’t work well. Download speeds would vary between 0.1 and 30 (my max) at random, the device would disconnect and reconnect to USB. I updated the drivers to no avail. The device still works on my Windows 10 PC. I have noticed that my Bros Trend AC3 adapter has a specific driver for Windows 11 so it may just be a driver issue the TP-Link need to fix.”

That strikes me as genuine, partly because of mistakes ( eg “but it get dropping the signal”) and partly because of the detailed circumstantial stuff which I suppose an AI program could make up but probably wouldn’t.

I realise that the suspect review is for a router though posted in the reviews for a wi-fi adaptor, but that can happen – sometimes Amazon reviews are misplaced.

Any discussion welcomed!

Robin.

PS – ChatGPT says:

“Based on the content and writing style of the product review, it is challenging to definitively determine whether it was written by a human or generated by an AI program. The review appears well-written, coherent, and provides detailed insights into the product’s features and the user’s experience.

AI programs, particularly those focused on natural language generation, have become quite advanced and can produce high-quality content that closely resembles human writing. However, the review does not contain any specific indicators or patterns that definitively suggest it was written by an AI.

In conclusion, without additional context or specific markers, it’s difficult to ascertain whether the review was written by a human or an AI program.”

R,

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Just one crumb for the discussion, Robin …

Where is that  ‘I am not a Robot’ test declaration when you actually need it ?

MichaelG.

[NealebParticipant @nealeb]

First review looks like a straight rewrite of marketing material – easy enough without AI assistance. More like, “give it to the new intern in the PR agency” to me!

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Reads like an advertising agency wrote it, or maybe TP-Link’s doting mother posted it!

Apart from the heavy sales pitch style I can’t see any clues.  The English is international, containing no spellings or phrases that identify the writer as British, American, Indian,  Australian, or any other educated English speaker.   Could have been translated from a Mandarin sales puff into English by a technical author based in South Africa, Birmingham (Alabama), Norway or Chongqing.

Being written in international English may hint an AI was told to produce blurb that won’t upset nationalist grammar enthusiasts, wherever in the world they happen to live.   But I wouldn’t be surprised to find PR departments train their human writers to do the same.  We live in a thoroughly globalised world!

The second example is more likely to be genuine because it reports shortcomings.  The first is an uncritical eulogy that screams ‘fake’.

Dave

[HOWARDTParticipant @howardt]

While reviews can be interesting you have to sift through them, it may be worth asking a question based on what you need and see what answers you get.  I quite often get questions on Amazon about a product I have bought, sometimes the person obviously hasn’t a clue what they are buying so I just tell them not it won’t work in that situation.  Really you need to read the manufacturer’s product details and search elsewhere for more instructive reviews.  Also on Amazon look at the one star reviews.

[JAParticipant @ja]

The only product reviews worth reading are the bad ones!

This was brought home to me after booking a night in one of the worsed hotels I have ever used. All the reviews were good to excellent bar one which was correct in all ways.

I do not respond when asked to review anything I have bought or services used. I am happy to tell persons about my experiences in passing (as on this forum with good suppliers).

JA

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Agree that the first review was written by the seller and posted on one of his many gmail accounts. The one having problems though is not a true reflection of the product but probably a typical user who doesn’t know how to set up a new computer to switch 2.4/5GHz seamlessly.

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

The problem with Amazon reviews is as Bayzle says half are written by those who didn’t read the spec or just don’t understand and expect things they buy to do ‘stuff’ after reading the buyers mind. All those are obvious and ignorable.

Of the other half some may be from similar items, but not exactly the same model as the one you want, but Amazon lumps them all together. Which gives 10 relevant reviews out of the 200 listed.

[NealebParticipant @nealeb]

Funniest review I ever saw was along the lines of, “I can only give this chisel one star as I thought I had ordered a wheelbarrow.” Product types probably wrong but the original was just as silly!

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

Bugger the reviews. A router is not a WiFi access point and a WiFi access point is not a router.

If they can’t get those two functions reviewed in their own lights, they aren’t worth reading…

[Nealeb]

Thanks for replies.

On Nealeb Said:

Funniest review I ever saw was along the lines of, “I can only give this chisel one star as I thought I had ordered a wheelbarrow.” Product types probably wrong but the original was just as silly!

Perhaps not quite as bizarre, but I did read a one-star review on the Screwfix site for ‘Slot Head Solid Brass Woodscrews’ complaining that (a) they had slot heads (nobody uses them nowadays) and (b) they had a tendency to shear. Nowt rummer than folk.

On SillyOldDuffer Said:

Reads like an advertising agency wrote it, or maybe TP-Link’s doting mother posted it!

Apart from the heavy sales pitch style I can’t see any clues.

The English is international, containing no spellings or phrases that identify the writer as British, American, Indian,  Australian, or any other educated English speaker.   Could have been translated from a Mandarin sales puff into English by a technical author based in South Africa, Birmingham (Alabama), Norway or Chongqing.

Being written in international English may hint an AI was told to produce blurb that won’t upset nationalist grammar enthusiasts, wherever in the world they happen to live.   But I wouldn’t be surprised to find PR departments train their human writers to do the same.  We live in a thoroughly globalised world!

The second example is more likely to be genuine because it reports shortcomings.  The first is an uncritical eulogy that screams ‘fake’.

Dave

Hmm. I think the clues for me may have been in the switching from personal experience to sales puff – “My own experience has been good because <insert sales claim>. ”  Dunno  though, it’s just a gut feeling that example 1 was machine written.

This AI stuff is a bit spooky. I’ll leave you with this. Tonight my milling machine blew up (again) and I asked ChatGPT to console me with a poem in the style of William McGonagall:

“Oh, woe is me, a tale of despair I weave, As my milling machine met its untimely leave. In the workshop’s realm, where gears once hummed, Now echoes silence, where disaster has succumbed.

With bolts and rivets, it stood proud and tall, A mechanical marvel, answering every call. But tonight, a symphony of sparks did play, As my milling machine chose to fade away.

A catastrophic burst, a fiery display, A calamity that took my breath away. Metal and might in an explosive dance, Leaving behind a shattered, broken trance.

Oh, McGonagall, lend thy poetic grace, To capture the essence of this woeful case. The clang of metal, the splinters in the air, A lament for my milling machine, now beyond repair.

No more shall it carve with precision’s grace, No more shall it echo in the workshop’s space. Gone in a blaze, a tragic demise, Leaving me with sorrow, tears in my eyes.

Oh, milling machine, once a steadfast friend, Now a memory, brought to an abrupt end. In the ashes of gears, my hopes do smolder, A requiem for a machine, growing colder.

Yet in the aftermath of this mechanical strife, Rises a resolve to rebuild, to embrace new life. For in the ruins, a phoenix may yet emerge, A testament to resilience, as I the future urge.

So, let this lament echo through the night, A tale of a milling machine’s final flight. In McGonagall’s spirit, I mourn the loss, Yet forge ahead with determination and emboss.”

Well, you can’t argue with that.

Robin.

[noel shelleyParticipant @noelshelley55608]

VERY GOOD ! 5Gold Stars. Noel.

[VicParticipant @vic]

The first review seems a bit too comprehensive for me: “Streaming high-definition videos, online gaming, and video conferencing are now smoother than ever.” Obviously some folks will do all three on a regular basis but I wonder what kind of percentage?

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

The McGonagall poem’s a nice try, but it scans and rhymes too well, and has few bizarre word orders, unusual metaphors or references to the supernatural.

😉

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

I do on occasion leave product reviews but only when I have something to say about the product.

H

[JimmieSParticipant @jimmies]

I enjoy the 4/5 star reviews which say something like ‘excellent piece of kit which i look forward to using when I get it assembled’.

[Vic]

On Vic Said:

The first review seems a bit too comprehensive for me: “Streaming high-definition videos, online gaming, and video conferencing are now smoother than ever.” Obviously some folks will do all three on a regular basis but I wonder what kind of percentage?

Judging by sales the vast majority of customers need fast internet now.  I guess a family with teenagers and parents under 40 will all have streaming TVs, games consoles, a computer, and a smart phone each.

In comparison my retired gent internet needs are trivial; browsing the forum, some light email, and an hour or two of Netflix in the evenings.   My children both have faster internet services than me, and would insist on an upgrade if they returned home.

My nephew has 800Mb/s.  He works from home for a major ISP and is a serious gamer.  His internet experience is super-slick compared with mine, and once tried is very tempting.  Fortunately I am saved by my extreme unwillingness to spend money on anything…

Dave

 

 

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Internet speed is like so many things … Having more is initially a thrill, but it soon becomes accepted as the norm.

My move from a creaky old BT copper connection to Full Fibre was astonishing, but now that’s just “how it’s supposed to be”

MichaelG.

[Mick B1]

On Mick B1 Said:

The McGonagall poem’s a nice try, but it scans and rhymes too well, and has few bizarre word orders, unusual metaphors or references to the supernatural.

😉

Your reply O Mick  came sudden from the Cerulean blue, but struck with sudden force which made it seem true.

To those unfamiliar with the work of McGonagall he was/is famous for writing truly terrible poetry.

I tried this out on my wife and daughter, neither of them aware of McGonagall’s canon. I read them the ‘Tay Bridge Disaster’ (McGonagall) and the ChatGPT offering. Both said that ChatGPT’s work (all 3 seconds of it) was much more fluent.  Gosh, we have fun round here! So it failed to replicate the style. Even worse when I asked it to do do it in the styles of Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas – it was completely incapable of reproducing their lyricism.

I have hope that humanity will prevail against human-created robots.

Robin.

 

 

 

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

McGonagall poetry is an interesting exercise in applied intelligence and I’m fond of it:

• So bad it’s good, which occasionally occurs in films and TV soaps.  ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ is both a cult classic and perhaps  the worst film ever made.   What’s going on in my brain that makes me enjoy McGonagall?  Probably the same thing as jokes, where the punchline contradicts the setup in an unexpected way.   It’s funny because a rule has been broken, deliberately by a comedian or accidentally by McGonagall.
• My father-in-law was an ex-pat Glaswegian, and terrifically proud of his national roots, perhaps because he owed his living to the beastly English.  Therefore, I enjoyed teasing him by pretending McGonagall was Scotland’s only literary achievement!   This is a dreadful slander, but at first he fell for the notion a mere Englishman might be ignorant of his countries cultural triumphs.  He soon twigged I was pulling his leg, and we bonded.   Same technique failed outright on intolerant English Mother-in-law, who was permanently upset when I suggested her favourite Emmerdale character was being played as a closet homosexual.  (Might have been true.)
• The surprise element: will William produce a clumsy rhyme, or pull a good one out of the hat?
• The feeling I could do better.  Actually my poetry is just as bad, but its good to see someone else failing spectacularly.
• William’s gigantic ego.  Like many a Youtuber and politician, McGonagall is oblivious of his errors.  He’s convinced he’s great.  Self delusion is a common human fault, and willy wavers unconciously making a fool of themselves is always good for a laugh.

I think my reasons for liking McGonagall are all artefacts of human intelligence, and an AI is unlikely to duplicate them.   That doesn’t mean an AI can’t outstrip other aspects of my intelligence.  There are plenty of people who do so, but I’m smart enough not to compete with them on their own ground.  Foolish for me to play poker with professional gamblers.  I have no chance against an AI translating Japanese into Hebrew!

Dave

[Michael CallaghanParticipant @michaelcallaghan68621]

Hi use tripadvisor to find places to eat when I am out and about. Over the years I have found some great places going on the reviews. However over the last year I have been amazed how many 5 star restaurants with great reviews are totally horrible. I do believe that owners have found a way of pushing up their ratings by buying in reviews. When looking at tools and things I don’t go by magazine reviews, just forums like this

[SillyOldDuffer]

On SillyOldDuffer Said:

McGonagall poetry is an interesting exercise in applied intelligence and I’m fond of it:

• So bad it’s good, which occasionally occurs in films and TV soaps.  ‘Plan 9 From Outer Space’ is both a cult classic and perhaps  the worst film ever made.   What’s going on in my brain that makes me enjoy McGonagall?  Probably the same thing as jokes, where the punchline contradicts the setup in an unexpected way.   It’s funny because a rule has been broken, deliberately by a comedian or accidentally by McGonagall.
• My father-in-law was an ex-pat Glaswegian, and terrifically proud of his national roots, perhaps because he owed his living to the beastly English.  Therefore, I enjoyed teasing him by pretending McGonagall was Scotland’s only literary achievement!   This is a dreadful slander, but at first he fell for the notion a mere Englishman might be ignorant of his countries cultural triumphs.  He soon twigged I was pulling his leg, and we bonded.   Same technique failed outright on intolerant English Mother-in-law, who was permanently upset when I suggested her favourite Emmerdale character was being played as a closet homosexual.  (Might have been true.)
• The surprise element: will William produce a clumsy rhyme, or pull a good one out of the hat?
• The feeling I could do better.  Actually my poetry is just as bad, but its good to see someone else failing spectacularly.
• William’s gigantic ego.  Like many a Youtuber and politician, McGonagall is oblivious of his errors.  He’s convinced he’s great.  Self delusion is a common human fault, and willy wavers unconciously making a fool of themselves is always good for a laugh.

I think my reasons for liking McGonagall are all artefacts of human intelligence, and an AI is unlikely to duplicate them.   That doesn’t mean an AI can’t outstrip other aspects of my intelligence.  There are plenty of people who do so, but I’m smart enough not to compete with them on their own ground.  Foolish for me to play poker with professional gamblers.  I have no chance against an AI translating Japanese into Hebrew!

Dave

I too like McGonagall in the ‘so bad it’s good’ sense!

Couldn’t resist putting your last paragraph through Google Translate: English->Japanese->Hebrew->English:

In:

I think my reasons for liking McGonagall are all artefacts of human intelligence, and an AI is unlikely to duplicate them.   That doesn’t mean an AI can’t outstrip other aspects of my intelligence.  There are plenty of people who do so, but I’m smart enough not to compete with them on their own ground.  Foolish for me to play poker with professional gamblers.  I have no chance against an AI translating Japanese into Hebrew!

Out:

The reasons why I like McGonagall are all products of human intelligence, and I think it’s unlikely that AI will replicate that. That doesn’t mean that AI can’t surpass other aspects of my intelligence. There are a lot of people who do that, but I’m smart enough not to compete with them in my field. It’s stupid to play poker with professional gamblers. An AI that translates Japanese into Hebrew has no chance of winning!

It surprisingly good (in parts) but given the last sentence (and the earlier substitution of ‘on their own ground’ with ‘in my field’) I wouldn’t want to trust AI with international diplomacy.

Your point about egotism is well made – obviously we must avoid being political on this forum, so lettuce just say that there has been an outstanding example in the news today.

On Michael Callaghan Said:

Hi use tripadvisor to find places to eat when I am out and about. Over the years I have found some great places going on the reviews. However over the last year I have been amazed how many 5 star restaurants with great reviews are totally horrible. I do believe that owners have found a way of pushing up their ratings by buying in reviews. When looking at tools and things I don’t go by magazine reviews, just forums like this

I’m sure it goes on – there are also negative reviews which seem to be written by other restaurant owners in the same area. Some sort of sixth sense rings an alarm bell I suppose. Which is where this thread started. How do we recognise authenticity?

Robot. Erm, I mean Robin, nearly gave the game away there!

[Mark Rand]

On Mark Rand Said:

Bugger the reviews. A router is not a WiFi access point and a WiFi access point is not a router.

[…]

Although it does appear that this box can be used in either mode:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax20/#specifications

and https://www.tp-link.com/uk/support/faq/1384/

 

MichaelG.

[Iain DownsParticipant @iaindowns78295]

I am currently learning Italian through duolingo.  It’s great in some ways in that it’s kept my nose to the grindstone for over 6 months and I’ve progressed well (I think!).

However, they proudly boast that it’s driven by chat GPT and the ENGLISH it produces is just not quite right.  It also considers American English to be the source of truth which is irritating but not a blocker as I am bilingual in American – or at least I read it fluently!

This leads me to believe that the Italian it produces is also at best awkward and possibly wrong.

In hindsight I should probably have chosen a more grammar based approach (duolingo works on the basis that babies just hear the language and somehow learn the grammar – it provides very little help on the why of language constructs), but I am now too far down the path to start again.  Youtube is providing the needed grammar lessons!

I suppose it’s astonishing that a largely automated process can do as well as it does, but in my opinion it’s not quite there yet.

 

Iain

 

 

[Author]

Posts