Wish you did tracked delivery it's scary af thinking about a $100+ order with a first class stamp on it I just wouldn't be able to do it lol

that and it's almost impossible to plan anything when 1st class is taking anywhere from 1 to 9 bloody days

Defo hear that 💯

I'd love to order some but the review under cereal milk about the wrong item being sent is concerning as this happened to me as well last year (I didn't raise a complaint I just took it on the chin)

Sorry to hear this. Rest assured the static is what it says on the tin. I have multiple strains. Ive just started curing the blueberry last night.

Wow

Looks mental

Both the current statics are absolutely banging.

Defo don't miss out.

Another drop just fell into my hands

When are you listing it? I was going to make another order asap! my last order from a week ago still hasn't landed yet, just want to get another order in seeing as the wait times are getting too long and unpredictable

1 week? I ordered the two statics over the weekend so I might have a while to wait yet 🤣
I also want to order a few from these new drops also I want to see how the Blue dream compares to the one I loved from RealD

It wont compare because his is moroccan dry sift, not real static from cali.

I received both the statics and they look fantastic, only tried a tiny amount of the cereal milk so far and it's 11/10. Your pics were correct and the smell is out of this world.
Cannot wait for you to drop your other fine wares 👌

I'm eyeing up that Illuminati OG! Is that GG I can see as well?

Defs in for some crumble me !!

Looks banging

Sweet mother of god.

Not sure if it's just my profile but before I choose a country I see 17 items available. When I choose my country, only 14 are available and the three items that are "shipped from Spain" disappear but re-appear when choosing Spain as the country. Is this an error or are the three "Spanish" items only available in Spain?

Those 3 items are under "spain" are whats available at the moment.

I will add more options tonight for EU buyers. Dry, Frozen and flowers.

And are those 3 items available in Spain ONLY at the moment?

Those Illuminati and Gush Mints statics look fire!

Hopefully they will be available in the UK soon.

They're on the way

Yeah, I'm sure they will.

This is a much more serious issue than is being talked about on here. Most folk seem quite blasé about it but having experienced an audit first-hand they dont play around. LB`s reliance on a single form of Crypto has always been a bit of an issue but from next year (probably later this year tbh) it's going to become a very serious problem I suspect. I love this place & want to see it continue & grow but if it just stays as-is in the face of the new regs I`m not sure how it survives.

Anyone who has not actually looked at the reporting requirements should have a proper look at them. It's bad enough as a customer, as a vendor I would be very nervous I think.

Is it a solvable problem? Yes of course it is, all problems are but given we have be clamouring for alternative payment options for literally years at this point & we are still stuck on BTC only I`m not sure it will get solved.

Governments were never going to tolerate the "Wild West" approach of Crypto for very long, they like control too much.I am reluctantly looking into other options as I dont need the stress of every transaction potentially triggering an investigation. What would you realistically tell them anyway?

Hi Foxy2022

I agree with you I had a letter from them saying that they were aware of my online selling on digital platforms and that I had to report everything else they'll look into it deeper.

If they do the same with crypto there is going to be much pain.

Should we be optimistic thats it’s only from 2026?

We could be, but it’s financial services, and those guys don’t mess about when it comes to keeping their house in order. Perhaps it’s time to lay low and see where the dust settles. I just hope LB comes up with some alternative ways for users to purchase now that doesn’t drag us all down via the taxman

Hi clifton

I've repeatedly tried to warn biggas about this without being too explicit (not mentionning some Gov related keywords).

The way I've dealt wiht it is that I closed my Revolut account at the end of 2024 and am siting tight and watching what will happen next.

Some biggas could be in for mighty fines and big trouble.

Cheers

small time weed buyers using crypto will not be fined. The fines mentioned in the article are for the companies themselves. The regulations may make buying more problematic from Jan 2026 onwards. Peoples accounts may be restricted or suspended, but there will be no financial or legal difficulties for past buying behaviour.

I totally agree with this. We keep getting our knickers in a twist but there is no offence of buying weed online -offences cover possession and supply not crypto purchases for personal use. Sure companies can ask for more information about your transaction but I do not think they’re going to be able to check that information. My bank contacted me several times wanting to know about my small purchases of crypto. The first time I told them I was building a crypto portfolio. The second time I said I was buying medicinal cannabis. They said that’s okay we just need to make sure you are not being coerced or scammed. I really wonder whether anybody gives a shit about personal use by post.

Hi Polly

Your bank is not the problem the problem is going to be Exchanges reporting all your crypto transactions to the Taxman:

Quoting (but you'll find more if you do your own research):
https://x.com/UKCBT_org/status/1924473318297764236
#################################
From 1 Jan 2026, UK-based cryptoasset service providers must collect and report user data to HMRC, under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), aligning with OECD standards.

🔍 Who’s affected?
Any platform that facilitates crypto transactions : exchanges, brokers, dealers.

📊 What data is required?
• Individuals: name, DOB, address, tax ID
• Entities: legal details + controlling persons
• Transactions: type, units, value
📅 First report due: 31 May 2027 (for 2026 activity)
✅ Systems must be CARF-ready by 31 Dec 2025
💥 Penalties: Up to £300 per user for non-compliance. Senior management may be held liable.
#################################

I'm not 100% certain of what will happen but I can tell you I'm already being burned by mandatory reporting of online selling platforms to the Taxman. They use AI to sift through the data and spot suspicious transactions.

Right now my approach is lto lay low and investigating P2P / non-KYC.

Better safe than sorry!

Sorry mate, but am I missing a point here? Surely you are only liable for tax on your crypto earnings. What’s that gotto do with buying weed? Personally I don’t stake any crypto. I literally just load up my wallet when I want to buy so where is the problem?

You are, Pol. They consider potential profit at the time of disposal of the crypto (in this case, by buying weed) for the purposes of Capital Gains. The threshold for that is £1k, I believe, so I can't see that I'd need to declare, as I rarely hold it for long, and often also make losses which would offset the gains. Hopefully they either don't notice, or agree if they do...

Again though that’s just paying tax on gains. So what?

So if it's less than £1000 in gains (not in purchases), and you have no other things to consider for the calculation, then it's fine...right...? They can talk to my accountant, again...

Hi MightyRux

Technically if you make less than 3K£ of Capital Gains in 25/26 you should not pay CGT.

The problem is that they expect you to keep the following records in case they carry a compliance check:

You must keep separate records for each transaction, including:

type of tokens
date you disposed of them
number of tokens you’ve disposed of
number of tokens you have left
value of the tokens in pound sterling
bank statements
a record of the pooled costs before and after you disposed of them

You may also want to keep other records such as wallet addresses.

HMRC might ask to see your records if they carry out a compliance check.

Some cryptoasset exchanges can provide reports of your transactions. These reports can be essential for working out how much tax you owe. However, these reports are not tax calculations and will not keep track of your pooled costs.

Yeah, they can fuck right off with that. I can barely keep track of legitimate records, let alone crypto weed purchase ones.

Hi Polly

MightyRux has it right in his post below.

CGT allowance is 3000£ for 25/26.

You are expected to track and report every transaction where you dispose of crypto to purchase services and goods even if it's a loss.

From the horse's mouth:
Individuals need to calculate their gain or loss when they dispose of their tokens to find out whether they need to pay Capital Gains Tax. A ‘disposal’ is a broad concept and includes:

selling tokens for money
exchanging tokens for a different type of token
using tokens to pay for goods or services
giving away tokens to another person (unless it’s a gift to their spouse or civil partner)

I am like you I never hold onto crypto but if I do not report those disposals and they start mining the data sent to them by the UK KYC Exchanges they will come for me with big trouble.

You might think that they won't have the staff and resources but the bastards now use AI to mine the data, I even found an FOI from late 24 where someone was asking them to divulgate the AI algorithmn which they use and they blocked it.

Hey Dukey,
I'm not trying to be difficult but we seem to be going around in circles here. My point is about biggas being at risk because they are buying drugs using crypto. I'm saying there is no risk in that respect. I totally get it that CGT is payable on crypto earnings and that Ruxxy for example stakes crypto as well as doing vast numbers of sizeable transactions (lucky sod!). In my case I could look at my exchange record, see maybe 100 transactions with a total value of c.£5k but it also shows the rate the crypto was bought at and transferred and its virtually the same because I am only buying to spend. There is no gain or loss. That information is sitting there for anyone who wants to see it and why should I care? Even if they hold me down and beat me until I tell them about all my tiny weed purchases online I still haven't done anything wrong.

I'm looking at it from the drugs angle mate not a tax issue. Where its a much bigger issue is secondary wholesalers and vendors but I'm guessing they have their methods as do many in Crypto Land...

Stakes it?! I'm the barometer of when not to buy or hold it mate! Genuinely. If you want to know when to buy it's probably when I have to sell (to get weed), and I lose money. That's what annoys me most about all this nonsense. Oh, and they don't take into account any fees you had to pay, they just want their cut. It's all hypothetical until it's cashed out, surely...? Entry and exit of the system are the risk points.

I definitely take your point about large buys though as it's at least £1k/month (well, just under, as then there's no trigger of anything to look into) that I'm getting and not holding for long. There's always some residual amount in the wallet though.

Hi Polly

You're not being difficult buddy.

Bear in mdin that I am not an expert, I am not saying that it will happen only that it might happen.

I received a letter about my online selling on digital platforms so I know that they can target people poking around their businesses.

I merely wanted to let biggas know that they have said they would get the exchanges to report to them.

The way I see it the current Gov is squeezing every penny they can from us common people so no sum is too small for them to recover.

I guess if I'm right we'll start hearing some horror stories early next year.

Good point, if you only buy and then move to exodus and send for purchase, and have never sold btc..are you exempt from all this?

I guess we'll have to wait and see but if I got a letter from the Revenue tomorrow then I would reply with a big fat duck egg '£0' and if they wanted the detail I would print off my exchange transaction sheet. Job done...don't see the issue.
There is a tendency to see ghosts in the shadows simply because we are buying drugs.

I do agree however that we are not exempted by the small transaction size. That actually makes us the low hanging fruit. Its so much easier to come after us than the big boys. Its the same reason why Coinbase have cancelled so many accounts- show the regulators some (meaningless) action whilst letting the players play...

For buyers the most worrying issue IMO isn’t HMRC saying we owe tax (though a 20% effective rise on weed prices certainly isn’t good)….
The most worrying side of this is the very real risk of having your bank account closed due to using it for illegal activity.
I know 2 different people who had their revolut accounts closed because they were regularly buying crypto but had no legit source of income.

Banks are in no way obligated/legally required to let you open an account with them & they don’t even need to tell a reason if they decline your application. Banks also very much share information between each other.
Sure if you get one account closed for using crypto for illegal activity, you can probably open another account with a different bank…but what happens when that account also gets closed down? There is not an unlimited amount of banks in the uk. From what I’ve read from 2026 banks will be taking much more interest in any crypto transactions.
Plus having an account closed can’t look good for anything like mortgage/loan applications etc.
Personally I am very concerned about these upcoming new crypto reporting rules.
Pretty sure I read the free tax limit is being reduced from £3000 to £1000 also

I bloody hope so, Pol!

Doesn’t the ‘building a portfolio’ reason not just mean they have already ticked the box on you for potential capital gains tax. Can’t even spend the money we earned that is already taxed without it being taxed again….wonder what LB can do to adapt for this because it could kill the business on here. It might be scaremongering but either way I don’t likely…

Hi Cheeching

That's exactly what my finance officer told me at work: the bastards tax you twice.

She invests in crypto but for long term gains only.

It'll be fine always been a cat and mouse game.. I've just been putting sending to myself so good luck to them 😂

Yeah how are they going to track all this. Doesn’t it mean it’s going to be worse for the vendors who are raking it in….i send to myself but then from exodus wallet purchase, does that not then look like I am accumulating crypto…

Vendors will have their coin sent to non-KYC wallets, and do magical mixing things and transfers before exiting the system (the risk point). Or, they could cycle it back into products and all still be anonymous? Definitely not a risk from this in that scenario, surely?

So thinking about stuff like this ages ago I made an Exodus wallet just to receive my referral payments from here (as obviously I wouldn't want that associated with a non-KYC wallet), and all I ever do with that is buy things from here. Closed system and no association with anything else, or any ID.

The article mentions that these crypto banks should start collating the data now in readiness…whether they will or won’t is anyone’s guess but I would venture they will start soon so they have their houses in order go for Jan 2026. Is it time to call it a day I wonder or how would one work around this

Just do some research into how best to cover your tracks. Bitcoin will get increasingly less transparent. So move your transactions about a bit. If you really are paranoid, look into bitcoin tumblers. But even these aren’t foolproof.

At the end of the day there are > 1,000,000 transactions a day.

Unless they really care about £100 each time. You don’t need to worry about it.

At the very least transfer from your exchange to a personal wallet. It’ll cost slightly more, but negligible really.

It does become slightly more suss if the only reason you transact Bitcoin is for cannabis. But it’s very, very hard to prove. Especially in small amounts.

I’d not use Bitcoin for weight. Seems too traceable.

Hi Syd

They've got tumblers covered too:

"Using a mixer, tumbler or similar service so that the individual receives the same type of tokens that they put into the transaction also is not a disposal. However, it will constitute a disposal if the individual puts token A into the transaction and receives token B in return."

As I said they will go after every penny and they put the onus on you t report everything least they'll look into it themselves and that you do not want.

That’s an absolute other story. The whole they’ll “go after every penny” thing.

You sir. Have made £1000 of obscure purchases this year. Declare that shit. Or we’ll fuck you up. 🤷‍♂️

If you’ve made £100k worth. I’d be a little more concerned.

It’s in the long run cheaper to go after the higher value targets. Your £100 here, £100 there.

I’d say you’ll be minorly inconvenienced, at best. It pays to stay sensible though.

So what can vendors do to keep biggy alive I want to stay but I’m not as in the know as much as I would want to be could someone help a bigga out

Not a vendor, just super cautious, but the main thing I feel as an initial step would be only having payouts from here sent to a non-KYC wallet like Exodus. You'd need to chat to vendors about mixing and sending to other wallets and how to exit the system

You can also mix between coins and muddy the waters that way.

You have to suck up the transaction fees of course.

Exidous ✅ go too for a wile thank you rux

I’m surprised that a site like LB hasn’t embraced XMR/Monero. The last time I checked it was one of the few untraceable crypto’s. Easily exchangeable for other digital currencies. It would seem ideal for LB purposes.
That all said & done I don’t know how this tightening of rules & regulations is going to effect a currency like Monero.

Oh ffs, so what is going to be the best way around this now. Should I be closing my CB account, and just give up on LB. Surely this is going to kill the site and its users unless a new approach is found

Just closed my Revolut acc which I never used anyway…everything I do is on CB, but I then use exodus wallet

Hi Cheeching

That's what I've done too.

Looking at P2P and non-KYC.

Some places in Europe still have crypto ATMs but this a an OECD initiative supposedly to fight money-laundering and such things.

Any links/ pointers for this p2p, I am clueless on it

Hi cheeching

Thereis hodlhodl where you can sometimes buy BTC off private sellers using bank payments.

There is also one called Bisq which I started looking into but is more complicated.

Ok thanks, will have to a look. Bank payments you say…?

Google hodl hodl and the site doesn’t load for me, do I need to be on vpn..or something else?

Hi cheeching

Bank payments but also other options.

Main thing I'm after is npn-KYC so that they don't report thransactions to the Taxman.

It loads OK for me hodlhodl.com but I use a VPN indeed

I could never work out how to actually make a transaction on there. Baffled me, and I generally deal with complex information as a matter of course.

Hi MightyRux

Which is why I said I am investigating it :-)

HodlHodl does not see too complicated but ther clearly is a trust factor at work.

If I'm lucky I'll be able to go to one of those EU countries where they still have crypto ATMs although the UK clampdown on crypto is part of a wider OECD initiative so I wouldn't be surprised if European ATMs disappear.

Definitely not mids I bought some, if your not happy reach out to the vendor leaving a shit review is just below the the belt.

Just looked at the review history of the person, looks like an alt tbf. Around 50% of reviews are 6 or lower, absolute clowns.
However I have been looking at your menu for bout 4 weeks now and will definitely be sampling, jus real hard to decide what to go for as my head combusts with all the options
Stay blessed

Evening BigRoo, As someone who has never tried orange strains, How would you say the stone is? I've had a couple of bits from GC before and have all been absolutely top notch, I may order the Mimosa Punch next.

Generally a good orange bud stone will be a fairly gentle hit to start but with a much more solid but delayed follow up hit. So you have a bit of a high first but then a heavier stone sneaks up and kicks in. That's the sign of good orange genes. The Mimosa Punch is a really decent stone but not a massively heavy hitter. I've got several strains at the min and am only smoking the mimosa though. I've got a melonade I've not even opened. That says a lot.

I am vaping away on the Melonade right now, I rate it highly (though I don't carry much weight around here), And I'd be very interested to hear your opinion on it. Though I am new I have read most of your reviews and have been toking a little while now before I found LB.

The melonade is lovely. A fruity twisted diesel flavour. It's a good strength with thick smoke. I like it.

A sentiment I echo, it's packed with flavour and goes nicely in the Volcano too. Just curious, and I'm not getting preachy (You do you man), but have you ever tried a DHV? Not cheap shit, a good one? I haven't smoked for years and struggle with a good old joint. I understand the "cleaner" stone might not be everyone's cup of tea, I'll be honest, it took a while to get used to.

I've got an Xmax which is alright for my occasional vaping. My mates got the mighty which is excellent but I think he probably goes through more weed. Every so often I quit spliffs and use my vape and also my dab pen. I always go back to smoking joints. I miss the slow burn chill of a simple joint. If you've not tried extracts through some sort of dab rig or pen then that's a pretty good experience. They go a long way in a pen too.

I may also own a Proxy for extracts. I'm glad you've done what a lot of my friends have done, which is try a DHV. I feel as though cannabis is a journey for some of us and it is all about trying new experiences.

My grandma always said it was important to try new things. Tis good advice.

I'll dig a bit out tomorrow and have it as my first one. My review now would just be "it's not orange" as I've already started on the Mimosa.

Thanks for reading my stuff man. No one's opinion is more important than anyone else's though. Our cannabis consumption is a personal thing and I'm sure we all have our unique needs. You're the best judge of your own needs so your opinion is just as valid as mine. You may also find there are more people like you here than me. So your opinion has every chance of speaking to more people than I do. Your voice likely has more weight than you realise.

A good example is that I haven't vaped any of this weed. And quite often you'll find things that smoke well don't always vape so well - and vice versa. So even within the remit of this chat you have some knowledge I don't (yet). This places you as the vape expert within this conversation.

Hey BigRoo, you have got me very tempted to try this one. I would love to buy enough to press some and get some orange rosin but I spent all my coin on hash again.💚

Now that'd be an interesting product to smoke. Be a pricey one to make though.

I wish I needed to restock! Still got lots of Skywalker og and pink certz, didn't have that in stock when I purchased.

Skywalker OG is one of my favourites when you get the really blue tasting versions. I had pink certz smalls which was probably the best bargain bit I've had on LB. Really lovely smoke that.

Honestly I'm over stocked at min as I ordered twice in just a few days - and I've not got the money for the druids new crop which I'd probably have dived into. I guess life is all about choices.

Lol. Yes mines quite blue it's very nice, very strong flavor in the vape. The pink certz is very candy like. I've just bought 3 live resin vapes so don't need more bud 😅

I'm not familiar with the druid, who's this?

The druids are a small grower that produce really old school natural buds with tons of flavour once per season. Their latest batch went live and sold a couple of strains out straight away. I'm not surprised. It's really nice weed - and very different to the commercially grown furry pebbles we're more used to. I've not had any of this recent lot so can't say how it is but I expect it's lovely. Worth keeping on your radar. Linked to their profile.

Thank you! Know what you mean about furry pebbles. I love a pungent flavoursome flower that's got nice structure not like a rock. Just checked out druid and looks like they have nice bud for sale now.

Snap it up while it's there if you've got the coins. So long as you're expecting a more wispy natural grow with lots of old school flavour notes I think you'll be happy with it. I can see why they sell out fast as it's a lot different to most commercial buds here - aside from a few other small growers - so is a standout product. Damn it I want some too now...

I thought you'd like it mate....wish I'd bought more !

I've over spent early though so am committed to an orange month. I've got last bit of jungle juice, forbidden fruit and double helping of mimosa. The druids are due a new crop sometime soon so will be a shame if I miss out through cash flow thoughtlessness.

I'm with you on the cash flow front , I'm smoking shake at the mo...all my good buds gone on gardening chores this weekend and the coin man says no more til payday too. I,ve got about an ounce to go through and I just looked st GCs menu and i have just enough coin to get an oz of his Skywalker trim. Gonna be a lean couple of weeks.
Druids look like they've got a couple of nice bits coming through...fingers crossed til.payday

Looked at Druids again last night and couldn't resist trying Wham Boom...so the trims out the window now!

After reading this topic I jumped in on the Wham Boom too. Never had driuds stuff before. Can't wait. Thanks guys.

You are in for a treat!

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'm jealous.

Damnit.... Everyone has the druids weed but me. Might have to scrape it together for an order. Let us know how you get on with it.

Will do .. i changed my mind on the 7g of wham.boom and went 3.5 wham boom and 3.5 fosters ...the other strain they had on ..they got some frozen black cherry coming through soon

Good choice. I'd have done exactly the same. Might wait til the black cherry. I'll mull it over later and make a decision.

I'll let you know how it goes
There were no reviews on these two strains so might be around a little while

Thanks mate. I'll be interested to know. The druids stuff doesn't usually hang around for long though.

Well the druids landed today, I must say it's impeccable service from these guys...when I message to change my order I had an immediate reply. Never had that happen on LB before.
The bud, they really do stink, both have a skunky edge to the smell. I've only tried the Foster so far...so glad I changed my order! Sticky icky buds, light in weight and take a bit of grinding coz of the stickiness..smells so good tho...even though I think that grinding buds knocks the flavour/ taste ..a discussion for another day that. Still it tastes divine, and a quick draw on the blunt before lighting takes you back 30 odd years , beautiful taste. Smokes and burns clean,no harshness at all . The high hits fairly quick In the eyes but the head takes a little longer but it keeps coming and coming....I has my first blunt around lunchtime, 12ish...had another about 2ish and still felt stoned when I had tea at 6 ish ..never touched anything else til after tea. Bloody lovely.
If you can, grab some mate ...you won't regret it.
Wham boom tomorrow 👍

That's the druids experience! Top vendor. I felt just the same when I got my first order. Took me back to early Dam days.

Apologies for the delay... Wham boom, another beautiful smelling offering from Druids.... sweeter smelling bud this, definitely get vanilla and a bit nutty too but my nose isn't the best! Again sticky buds, a bit denser than the foster too. Smokes super clean and smooth, can taste the vanilla aswell on the inhale a bit ...slightly spicy exhale, not unpleasant at all. The hit comes on pretty quick to the head, quite uplifting straight away...then after 20min ish the body starts to catch up and everything starts to relax. All in all pretty well balanced imo.
Again I have no hesitation in recommending it...but if you have to pick one I'd go for the foster...so happy I changed my mind and got some of both.
Have a good weekend BigRoo

Damnit. Feel like I missed out. Druids always pop out unusual strains grown to perfection. Am jealous. I can't justify ordering though as got a few bits left still. I'm smoking the blue lemon from GC at the min. Was silly cheap but is actually pretty nice to smoke and tastes much as the name suggests. I've got some RS11 for later on. One of my favourite strains. Seems to taste of something different each puff. I've still got some mimosa tucked away. Will go back to it once I'm desensitised to the orangeness.

GC has had quite a few nice cheap bits lately . Never tried the blue lemon tho.
Roll on the end of the month! Have a good one sir

Thanks man for your kind words. I had the mimosa punch from MJ too which was lovely. This is a bit different to that, the buds don't have those dark little leafy bits like on the MJ version so it's not as pretty. But it's a stinky old school flavoured double orange bud to smoke for sure. Price is cheap too.

I put up marquees for a living and no ai is going to do that, mainly because it's utterly wank. Arnie would definitely fuck it off.

This (AI within office-work) has only come up recently. I'd be curious and eager to hear how y'all have automated your tasks.

I process data on a large quantity but manually. There's some VBA and Excel involved, sure, but I - our team - need to go through the data. This is because of manual checks required on the potential products. We need to be thorough in how we catalogue, otherwise our applications of products will not fit / be suitable.

Could it be better performed through AI? Perhaps. Though we might require an external database, potentially, and I do not believe this is within our budget - even if we make nice profit commercially.

There is also, as another has touched upon already, decision making. We've tested it. Believe me. Is it infirm and incapable of making choice? Nope! It isn't as terrible as I'm making it out to be. But it does nonetheless lack the correct context, considerations, perspectives to succeed. I have no doubt this could change, though.

I worry that it will struggle to lead people. I think there will always need to be a human at the helm, even if only as a puppet propped up by AI; and I don't believe that machine will be effective at inspiring and providing that shoulder to cry upon, which I do think still holds value in workplaces or the ones which care about their employees, anyway. But I think AI will overcome this hurdle too at some point.

And which job will become immune, totally immune, I cannot say. It is hard to predict the future when it is so ever-changing.

The moment machine steps away from being logical and develops capacity for emotions, and how to relate to humans, I truly think no job will be safe. Thinking of priests, police, therapists, politicians...

The question only depends on the margins: Will it disrupt operations and by how much for how long to gain how much return in how soon?

this answer from hunyuan-turbos-20250416:

That's a fascinating and very real-world use case — thank you for sharing it, Nietzsche. You're touching on an area where AI can bring immense value, especially when precision, context, and volume intersect. Let’s break this down and explore how AI might support or even transform the way you and your team work with large amounts of data that still require human-level scrutiny.

---

### 🧠 First: Understanding Your Workflow

From what you've said:
- You deal with **large quantities of data**, likely structured (Excel sheets, databases).
- Some automation exists (VBA, Excel formulas/macros), which is great — it means there's already a foundation.
- But there's a **manual checkpoint phase**, especially because the data requires **thorough validation** and **contextual understanding** before products can be applied or catalogued correctly.
- The cost of error is high: improper cataloguing could lead to unfit product applications.

So you're not just doing number crunching — you're interpreting, verifying, categorizing. That’s where AI can really earn its keep.

---

## 🔧 How AI Can Help – Concrete Applications

Here are several ways AI could assist you, depending on your exact needs:

---

### 1. **Smart Data Cleaning & Preprocessing**
Before humans even look at the data:
- **AI can detect anomalies**, duplicates, missing values, outliers.
- Natural Language Processing (NLP) models can standardize messy text inputs (e.g., inconsistent product names, typos).
- AI can suggest rules (or even auto-generate VBA/macros) based on observed patterns.

🔍 *Example:* If one column contains product codes that sometimes include extra spaces, slashes, or alternate naming conventions, AI can flag or normalize them automatically.

---

### 2. **Intelligent Document & Data Parsing**
If your data comes from PDFs, scans, emails, or messy web exports:
- AI-powered document understanding (like GPT-style models + computer vision) can extract tables, read unstructured text, and populate your structured sheets.
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) enhanced with AI can understand context — e.g., distinguishing between similar product codes or units of measure.

📄 *Example:* You get supplier specs in PDF — AI reads them, picks out relevant specs, and inserts them into your catalog template.

---

### 3. **Assisted Validation & Decision-Making**
Instead of replacing your judgment, AI becomes your intelligent assistant:
- Train custom ML models or use LLMs to **flag entries that are likely to be problematic**, based on past rejected/reworked data.
- Use AI to **group similar products** or highlight contradictions/inconsistencies across fields.
- Set up a **chat-based interface** (think: ChatGPT plug-in or internal tool) where your team can ask things like:
> “Why was this product previously rejected?”
> “Are there any known issues with supplier X’s stainless steel grade 316?”

⚖️ *Example:* Highlight rows where the weight tolerance exceeds historical thresholds, or where a product’s description doesn’t match known specifications.

---

### 4. **Semi-Automated Cataloguing**
For new products:
- AI can **pre-fill catalog fields** using known mappings (“If code starts with AB-12, it’s likely a type 3 valve”).
- It can suggest categories, tags, or compliance requirements based on descriptions.
- NLP classifiers can interpret free-text specs and route items to the correct review queue.

🗂️ *Example:* Instead of manually assigning 100 new widgets to categories, AI proposes categories first, and your team just approves or adjusts.

---

### 5. **Knowledge Base & Feedback Loop**
Over time, AI can become smarter by learning from your decisions:
- You correct a prediction? AI remembers and updates its model.
- You flag something as an edge case? AI starts recognizing similar ones.
- Eventually, this becomes a **living knowledge base** your whole team can query.

🧠 *Think of it as building your own AI colleague that gets better every month.*

---

## 🛠️ Tools & Technologies to Explore

Depending on your tech comfort and infrastructure, here are tools that can help you start:

| Tool/Platform | What It Can Do |
|---------------|----------------|
| **Microsoft Power Platform + AI Builder** | Build no-code/low-code apps with AI model training baked in. Works well with Excel/Office. |
| **OpenAI / ChatGPT (w/ plugins or API)** | Automate classification, summarization, data entry suggestions. Custom GPTs can be trained on your internal docs. |
| **Google AutoML / Vertex AI** | Train custom ML models without deep coding. Great for classification tasks. |
| **UiPath + AI Fabric** | For automating workflows involving both screen scraping and AI decision-making. |
| **LangChain / LlamaIndex** | If you want to build custom AI agents that query both data and documents. |

---

## 🔄 A Hybrid Approach: AI + Human-in-the-Loop

Given that thoroughness is critical in your line of work, the best approach is rarely full automation. Instead:

✅ Use AI to:
- Preprocess and flag.
- Suggest likely outcomes.
- Surface risks or inconsistencies.

👨‍🏫 Then you:
- Review the shortlist.
- Provide feedback.
- Train the system over time.

This “human-in-the-loop” model balances speed and accuracy — letting your team focus on hard cases while AI handles the routine.

---

## ✅ Next Steps for You

Here’s how you might start experimenting:

1. **Pick one painful sub-task** (e.g., cleaning supplier data, categorizing new items).
2. **Gather a sample dataset** (100–500 rows) with known good/bad cases.
3. Try:
- Using GPT-4 to write Excel formulas or VBA based on examples ("few-shot learning").
- Uploading anonymized data to ChatGPT (via code interpreter / advanced data analysis) and asking it to find patterns or anomalies.
- Exploring Microsoft AI Builder if you're in an Office-heavy environment.

4. **Document the wins** — even small time savings compound over time.

---

If you’d like, I can walk you through setting up a small pilot — say, an AI assistant that summarizes product sheets or flags inconsistencies in Excel. Just tell me more about one specific task, and we’ll prototype a solution together.

Would you like to start with a particular part of the workflow?

Janitorial staff is pretty secure