A cognitive bias wherein individuals, after identifying clear errors or limitations in AI-generated content within their own area of expertise, nevertheless continue to place undue confidence in the same AI’s output on topics outside their expertise. This phenomenon reflects a selective skepticism: the observed unreliability of AI is compartmentalized rather than generalized, leading to inconsistent trust in the technology.
Jared, a software engineer, noticed that the AI couldn’t correctly format a for-loop in Python. Ten minutes later, he trusted it to draft a legally binding employment contract. Classic Smith-Sauer AI Amnesia Effect.
by Geoff Carr April 24, 2025
Get the Smith-Sauer AI Amnesia Effect mug.A common mental disorder developed during HR and legal investigations where people forget important details that would show them in poor light.
Honey sugar, I had to pop two pirin tablets for my selective temporary amnesia, not to mention show my outrage with, “What?! how rude! People do such things in the workplace?!” on the HR query on why I decked that cuntbag.
by ilacevoli January 9, 2026
Get the Selective temporary amnesia mug.Materials that shouldn't exist under normal conditions but somehow do—room-temperature superconductors, stable metallic hydrogen, transparent aluminum, and other substances that would revolutionize everything if they could actually be made. The phrase is scientific shorthand for "things we've theoretically predicted but cannot practically produce," or more cynically, "grant proposals that will be funded for another decade." Exotic materials at ambient temperature and pressure would enable lossless power transmission, hovering vehicles, unbreakable everything, and a permanent place in the Nobel Prize committee's heart. Their absence from your daily life is a reminder that nature doesn't give up its secrets easily, and that "theoretically possible" is not the same as "actually feasible."
Example: "The researcher announced a breakthrough in room-temperature superconductors—exotic materials at ambient temperature and pressure that would transform the world. The stock of every energy company fluctuated wildly. Then the results couldn't be replicated. Then the researcher retired. Then someone else tried and failed. The exotic materials remained exotic—beautiful in theory, absent in practice."
by Dumu The Void February 16, 2026
Get the Exotic Materials at Ambient Temperature and Pressure mug.by Angel234IsTheDarkSeraphim April 30, 2025
Get the <.7.9.7.6.>I Forgot How I Knew I Had Amnesia<.7.9.7.6.> mug.by Angel234IsTheDarkSeraphim April 30, 2025
Get the <.7.9.7.6.>Amnesia, amnEsia, amnesiA<.7.9.7.6.> mug.