Home Reno Works For Actress Reportedly Halted After Property Manager Consulted AI: “[AI] Cannot Think for You,” She Argues

Home repairs and improvements often come with hiccups, but what happens if your contractors begin to rely on AI a little too much?

Just ask Taiwanese actress Ada Pan, who recently shared about two incidents she'd encountered.

"More and more people seem to treat AI as if it's the final authority. They'll even pull up screenshots of AI conversations to debate or argue with you. Without independent thinking, AI can actually create more conflict than clarity," the 49-year-old shared on her socials.

The first incident involved an electrician discovering that electricity supplying the rear section of an unidentified property was connected to Ada's electricity meter.

Believing someone had illegally tapped into Ada's electricity supply, he immediately cut the wire and said he was going to take legal action.

He then asked AI, which replied: "Stealing electricity is illegal." That was enough for the electrician to conclude that the other party had definitely broken the law.

Ada, however, argued that things were not as straightforward as the answer provided by AI. 

"If someone intentionally taps into another person's electricity without authorisation, then yes, there may be legal liability," she said.

"But in any real case, you still have to consider the full context: When was the connection made? Who installed it? Was it intentional? Is there sufficient evidence?"

She stressed that AI was describing a general legal principle, not determining the facts of her specific case.

In another incident, Ada planned to install epoxy flooring at her property in Hengchun in Taiwan. 

The property manager, however, suddenly insisted that she couldn't proceed. He said that if she did, she would have to restore the floor to its original condition before moving out.

"I spent a long time explaining that epoxy flooring isn't just ordinary paint that you buy for a few thousand dollars and roll onto the floor. It's a complete flooring system, and the installation alone costs tens of thousands of dollars," she recalled.

Again, the property manager turned to AI.

"AI answered: 'Hengchun is hot, humid, and exposed to salty sea air. Epoxy flooring is prone to bubbling and lifting.' He immediately accepted that answer as the final conclusion."

To Ada, the reality is that epoxy flooring does not inevitably bubble.

"What really determines whether it succeeds or fails is the condition of the concrete substrate, moisture control, the quality of the materials, and the workmanship," she argued. "AI described a possibility, not a certainty."

That said, the actress underscored that she's not against AI.

"On the contrary, I use AI every day. It's an excellent tool and an incredible knowledge resource. If I need to learn something new, organise information, do research, or polish my writing, it's remarkably efficient," she explained.

She nevertheless believes AI should always be treated as a reference.

"It doesn't know the full story. It doesn't know everyone's perspective. It wasn't present when the events happened, and it doesn't know your real intentions," she wrote.

She added that AI also gets things wrong sometimes, and the way a person asks a question can lead it to generate the answer they were hoping to hear.

"What really matters isn't what AI says. What matters is whether you have the ability to judge whether what it says is actually correct," she urged.

According to Ada, the best way to use AI is to think for yourself first, then let AI help organise, refine and expand your ideas so they're more complete and easier to understand.

"Not to accept its answers as the final word. AI can help you think, but it cannot think for you. In the end, the real answers still come from human judgment."