Just sharing my standard prompt to Mistral chat (in this example used to validate my continued use of Joplin for note taking and sharing across devices - works great for me). Hope someone finds it helpful in exercising a due diligence.
Can you research and summarize the background of software “Joplin” - ownership, applicable law, financials and potential controversies around?
In case the summary was calling for action, I’d ask for alternatives
Can you find free alternative solutions governed by EU law (any member) and available for Android, Windows and Linux
I wish alternativeto.net included info on which country they’re from.
It seems a shame to use AI queries, most of this info should be in the about us section on the website. And I’m not sure I trust any LLM’s sensibilities about what is controversial or objectionable. Even mistral will just pull random opinions off the internet.
I don’t get the AI hype either. Hallucinated answers and way too much power and water consumption.
It is just not there yet, still everyone is forcing it on us.
I’m not even really objecting to AI on all accounts here, though I tend to agree. My work involves some writing long form reports that I can prove nobody actually reads, and for that Mistral has saved me some time.
My job is bullshit istg. But if you want information you’ll use that actually matters, nothing beats finding out for yourself. Go directly to the source, or at least Wikipedia, or do a web search in that order rather than ask a mindless words-firehose.
How many Apps did you already check that way?
