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Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
11–20 of 31 posts
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#12AIs are tools similar to hammers and such. Their function is to help us achieve a goal. Mostly, we don't grab a hammer and think about where we can use it. We start with a problem and then we ask what tools we need to fix it. A hammer might be part of the solution. We have many problems in real life where AI will help. Our job is to find impactful problems that will help the human race and then use AI to help solve t…
Tools can sometimes be interesting enough in them selves to justify learning about just the tool. Not disagreeing with the comment just adding my take.
I bought a little CNC machine years ago. I just wanted to learn a little more. Then started looking around for projects that might make a little money, more just to know if there are "profitable" projects I could do with it (mildly successful).
As for the original question, start with simple (an alarm clock that tells you why you need to get up?) and build up from there. I would like to hear if you come up with something. Good luck.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#13Firstly, remember the AI companies have something that is able to do interesting product demos but that is it. If I had a dog that could tell me what was happening in the world but got it wrong 5% of the time my response would be "Oh shit, a talking dog!" and then I would keep watching the news as normal. This is not going to get better: the energy demands are enormous, the amount of untapped data sets for consumption into the models is rapidly running out and the one company who I would have thought would have the best data set, Google, has an AI that tells people cook spaghetti in gasoline for flavor.
Secondly, I want you to think about who is most excited for AI "art". Without wishing to disparage them too unfairly, they are the sort of people who could have a meal prepared by a Michelin Star restaurant or the custard machine from Teletubbies and would evaluate both by portion size.
No one is excited to go see an AI generated movie. No one is looking forward to the weekend so they can curl up on the couch and read an AI generated novel. There is no demand for AI art on the consumer side, it is entirely on the production side by bean counters who would have had Michelangelo carve the Statue of David from styrofoam to save money.
The future is not in AI, if anything the oceans of AI slop will destroy the recommendation algorithms so we'll be back to good old fashioned human curation.
Honestly, I would suggest maybe talking to a therapist about these feelings; you cannot look at every aspect of your life through a lens of effort/reward mechanics.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#14There seem, to me, really two bifurcating paths ahead. Maybe 2.5.
In both of them, AI is Not My Problem.
In A, we get a technological singularity, and AI is beneficial and benevolent; life is radically improved. In A.5, we don’t quite get to that technological singularity immediately, but get vast improvements in domain-specific systems from individually optimized models. Life is still significantly improved, so much that the edges of post-scarcity start to hit. This is the only one with a maybe caveat, but if anything it’d be leveling disparities.
In B, we get a technological singularity (or closeish) but fail to get the alignment problem down. The Terminator movies are so far from how badly we’d lose it won’t matter.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#15I have a bit of a spiritual, but also actually a super practical take.
Imo this whole situation finally liberates us from chasing things for personal gain, for result, being driven by selfish ego. And instead allows us to focus on what we really enjoy or find meaning in _doing_, for the sake of the process, not the outcome. Which is basically the definition of selfless action (karma-yoga) and is one of several paths to elevated conciousness.
Can confirm from my personal experience (of being a shitty but joyful musician among other things) that this indeed is a great way of dealing with this reality. The key is not to compare yourself to AI or other people but to just keep playing your own games that have personal meaning and satisfaction.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#16I have a bit of a spiritual, but also actually a super practical take. Imo this whole situation finally liberates us from chasing things for personal gain, for result, being driven by selfish ego. And instead allows us to focus on what we really enjoy or find meaning in _doing_, for the sake of the process, not the outcome. Which is basically the definition of selfless action (karma-yoga) and is one of several paths…
I agree with this take. Maybe this is your calling to free yourself from the cycle of desire and achieve true personal liberation.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#17AIs are tools similar to hammers and such. Their function is to help us achieve a goal. Mostly, we don't grab a hammer and think about where we can use it. We start with a problem and then we ask what tools we need to fix it. A hammer might be part of the solution. We have many problems in real life where AI will help. Our job is to find impactful problems that will help the human race and then use AI to help solve t…
Computers are tools similar to hammers, too. Lots of people in the technology industry do, in fact, start with a computer and think about where they can use it to solve a problem.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#18Learn manual skills, such as those of a carpenter, plumber, mechanic or a sex worker, as these professions are unlikely to be replaced by AI.
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#19> AI can do [intellectual work] well You are living in a radically different world than I am. AI-generated content is noticably shitty in almost every sphere. Improvement probably will come, but it's pretty damn far off from acceptable (let alone good) right now. Literally every time I've tried to use it for coding problems, it's hallucinated a non-existent function/option or given me something that _looks_ correct b…
I will go so far as to contend that generative AI is a bigger nothingburger than enterprise blockchain.
generative AI photos are the headline photos for like 60% of 'Google feed' type news these days.
Did 'enterprise blockchain' ever change the real world in any ways noticeable to the laymen outside of the industry?
Re: Ask HN: I'm getting overwhelmed by AI. How to cope?
#20Well, this is like saying why learn anything when there are thousands of experts out there who understand it better than you ever will.
Except there are only so many human experts to go around, whereas everyone can have their own personal AI expert, or a whole team of them.