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Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

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Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#101

Post by imiric »

Of course we are.

But AI tools are mainstream now. You can hear them mentioned on TV, written about online and in traditional media, see them discussed on social media in non-tech circles, etc.

So I'd say your friend is likely not well informed. AI tools are in the same arena as cryptocurrencies, perhaps slightly less widely known. Most informed people have heard about them, but not many outside of tech circles actually have any experience with them, and even less understand how they work.

This is the natural progression of technology[1]. We've seen it happen with computers, the internet, the web, cell phones, etc.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_adoption_life_cycle

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#102

Post by 29_29 »

kmarc wrote: post #92

FWIW I have the exact opposite experience: people around me, who are _NOT_ in tech, keep talking about AI and lately especially ChatGPT, whereas serious (not only senior) IT professionals don't really. Besides the science behind it, currently it feels like the same hype as crypto a couple years before.

Friends I know who previously worked on crypto side projects are suddenly LLM experts.

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#103

Post by lrem »

kmarc wrote: post #92

FWIW I have the exact opposite experience: people around me, who are _NOT_ in tech, keep talking about AI and lately especially ChatGPT, whereas serious (not only senior) IT professionals don't really. Besides the science behind it, currently it feels like the same hype as crypto a couple years before.

The hype is real. But this time it’s backed by something more real than free money out of thin air.

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#104

Post by wildrhythms »

There's a recent Pew article you might like.

>Overall, 18% of U.S. adults have heard a lot about ChatGPT, while 39% have heard a little and 42% have heard nothing at all.

>However, few U.S. adults have themselves used ChatGPT for any purpose. Just 14% of all U.S. adults say they have used it for entertainment, to learn something new, or for their work.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/24/a-majorit...

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#105

Post by samuellevy »

Obscurity4340 wrote: post #66
samuellevy wrote: post #31

There's definitely a few echo chambers around AI, but it's definitely not something that "just techies" are onto. ChatGPT made some waves at the end of last year. My in-laws were wanting to talk to (at) me about it at Christmas. There's plenty of awareness outside of the tech circles, but most of the discussion (both out and in of the tech world) seems to miss what LLMs actually _are_. The reason why ChatGPT was impr…

Not to be difficult but wouldn't "confabulating" be a preferable description for this behaviour? Hallucinating doesn't quite feel right but I can't exactly articulate why confabulate is superior in this context

Nah, my issue with both terms is that they imply that when the answer is "correct" that's because the LLM "knows" the correct answer, and when it's wrong it's just a brain fart.

It doesn't matter if the output is correct or not, the process for producing it is identical, and the model has the exact same amount of knowledge about what it's saying... which is to say "none".

This isn't a case of "it's intelligent, but it gets muddled up sometimes". It's more of the case that it's _always_ muddled up, but it's accidentally correct a lot of the time.

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#106

Post by KaiserPro »

detaro wrote: post #79
KaiserPro wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Driverless trains doesn't mean no drivers. It means remote drivers. The DLR for example still has drivers, its just they are located somewhere other than the train.

No, it doesn't mean "remote drivers". Yes, an automated network is going to have people monitoring it and the ability of remote control for emergencies or failures, but that's not the same as "remote drivers" for normal operations. (in the case of DLR, the staff on the train can take control if needed, but other networks don't have staff on every train)

I know this is getting into "technically correct" territory, but I think its reasonably important to qualify. As we are getting into AI automates when it turns out that actually was largely automated already.

For the tube, places like the victoria, jubilee, the driver doesn't actually "drive" if that makes any sense. They open the doors and hold down a button that indicates the line is clear. The driver has no real control over speed under normal circumstances.

for the tubes, the real blocker to "Driverless" trains is re-boring the tunnel to allow a walkway for evacuation.

The DLR is centrally controlled for most of the time. In the sense that there is a central operator that opens and closes the doors and tells the train to move to the next station.

the only difference is that there is no requirement for someone to hold down a button for the train to continue, the deadmans switch as it were.

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#108

Post by drakonka »

A recent experience that was sort of the opposite: I went for a haircut and my hairdresser was an older Swedish woman who was not very technical. She told me she was having her hairdressing book translated from Swedish to English and had some trouble translating the title. The Swedish title contained a witty play on words, and she had trouble coming up with an English version that would sound as clever. She said she was using ChatGPT to help her brainstorm title ideas.

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#109

Post by danpalmer »

kmarc wrote: post #92

FWIW I have the exact opposite experience: people around me, who are _NOT_ in tech, keep talking about AI and lately especially ChatGPT, whereas serious (not only senior) IT professionals don't really. Besides the science behind it, currently it feels like the same hype as crypto a couple years before.

I've seen this but it's only the people outside tech who were into crypto, and who were invested in GameStop, who min-max credit card offers or air miles, etc. It's those who are into the latest hustle-culture fad.

My family who are mostly non-technical have heard of ChatGPT but couldn't tell you what it is or does.

In tech I see a wide spectrum of skepticism, with many people using it well and getting a lot of value out of it, and many remaining skeptical or having not found a good way to integrate it into their workflow yet.

Re: Ask HN: Are people in tech inside an AI echo chamber?

#110

Post by Gigachad »

lrem wrote: post #103
kmarc wrote: post #92

FWIW I have the exact opposite experience: people around me, who are _NOT_ in tech, keep talking about AI and lately especially ChatGPT, whereas serious (not only senior) IT professionals don't really. Besides the science behind it, currently it feels like the same hype as crypto a couple years before.

The hype is real. But this time it’s backed by something more real than free money out of thin air.

10 years of crypto and still no real use cases. Less than a year of chat gpt and the average person is using it to genuinely provide value.
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