Dear Open Office,
I thank you for making Open Office available to the public. That being
said, I want to complain that your software is using AI to change what I
type in, without my request.
I was using OpenOffice 4.1.13, OpenOffice Calc, spreadsheet software.
The installed default settings were:
Tools> Cell Contents > AutoInput:checked-ON. I could not find the
source of the problem on my own even though I searched endlessly through
things like "Options". I had to go to the blogs. Once there, I found
many, many, many other people complaining about the same problem .
The bad AI software decides it knows what I want, more than I myself
know. It will not let me correct it's bad changes. I delete the AI
entry and enter what I want, again, and the bad AI repeats it's bad
choices again. The bad AI and I went through this, over and over and
over again. It does not learn. You allow the bad AI to change what I
type in. But you don't allow me to change what the bad AI typed in.
First of all, you should NEVER assume that the AI software knows what I
want better than I do, myself.
Second of all, if you are going to offer various form of "autocorrect
software", the default setting should NOT be to autocorrect without
warning! If you want to put a red squiggle under my typing to highlight
a possible mistake, feel free! If you want to suggest a change in a
pop-up/pull-down menu, that's fine. SO LONG AS YOU DO NOT CHANGE WHAT I
TYPE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. I know that when I print, the squiggles
won't show up. So I am now able to ignore the squiggles.
The default setting should be to highlight potential bad entries. The
default should NOT be to create bad entries. The AI DOES NOT know what
I want in my spreadsheet. The AI must not override my inputs by
default.
I know that your competitor, "_X___", made this same bad default in
their software. Just because a competitor makes a bad change to it's
software, does not mean that you, OpenOffice, should repeat that bad
decision and give AI free reign to adulterate your users' work. You are
smarter than that. That is why I chose you, even though I have a trial
version of _X__ installed on my computer. I preferred you, before you
started becoming more like them.
At work, my we have "X" installed. My boss was entering part numbers in
a spreadsheet of parts that needed to be ordered. The bad AI in the X
software, changed her entry to a different part number that she had
previously typed in. The wrong part was ordered. A week later we
received the wrong part. Incoming Inspection had to go back to the boss
and point out her mistake. This is never pleasant for anyone concerned.
An internal Non-Conformance-Report (NCR) had to be written up. Too many
NCR's on our record make us look like a bad company. Too many NCR's can
prevent our company from getting ISO Certification. The part had to be
returned and exchanged for the correct part. The project was delayed.
I personally had to spend 4 man-hours generating corrective action
paperwork because of the bad change that X's AI software made. Many
other employees also wasted their time, inspecting the wrong parts and
trying to assemble them where they do not belong. All this, because X
company was so in love with itself, that it thought it's AI knew what my
boss wanted, better than my boss knew what she wanted.
I had already changed the default settings on my computer, to shut off
the "autocorrect" in my spreadsheets. I wrote up the path to the
settings and gave it to her. My boss had to then call in the IT to
change the default settings on everyone's computers, so that AI
generated errors like this would not happen again.
Please stop repeating the mistakes that X company made. You are smarter
than X company. Do better.
Let me give you another example. On my cellphone, I was texting my
daughter. I made an innocent type-o of one alphanumeric letter. My
daughter would have clearly figured out the intended word, had AI left
it alone. But AI software changed not only the word, AI also changed
the grammar around the word, to make it sound like a phrase with a dirty
innuendo. Because AI changed the grammar to match the new word, AI made
it "LOOK LIKE" I INTENDED to write that! AI's auto-corrections made me
look like a bad person and a bad mother. This has got to stop.
In Conclusion: In OpenOffice 4.1.13, OpenOffice Calc, the default
settings should be Tools> Cell Contents >AutoInput:OFF.
The same should apply to all your software, like OpenOffice Writer.
Thank you for hearing me out.
Sincerely Yours,
Grateful User.
