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I’m taking some time away from Comma

geohot.github.io

201–210 of 437 posts

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to talk to him on one of those IRC networks for iOS hacking, forgot the name, but a good old friend of mine was involved in the scene, so I dropped in. He is definitely a skilled individual, but he lacks the key thing I think all true senior engineers need: humility. Without humility you're going to find yourself bikeshedding and wasting time and effort on things that may actually not be attainable within your…

> but the fact it’s not far more pervasive in our every day The joke I heard was that AI only refers to technology in the future, and not the past. We use plenty of machine learning models every day: - Every time you use dictation - Every time you use biometrics, like face scanning, to unlock your phone - Every time you use any sort of search engine, news feed, or see an ad - It is an integral part of the field of co…

Some would call that "machine learning". I know it's hard to make a distinction, but the term "AI" is too ill-defined to argue about what constitues "real AI" and what is mere machine learning. Are those examples "thinking machines" (~= "artificial _intelligence_"? I'd say no, they are very good statistical pattern matchers without any understanding of the subject matter for the most part.

GPT-3 and image generators that have somewhat of a world-model are, imo, closer.

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#203
post #11

One of my favorite tech articles of all time involved this guy. He was showing off the self driving capabilities of his framework and took a reporter out on a drive. Everything went well and while they were wrapping up the interview the reporter said "Well I bet you're just driving around all the time hands free, it must be amazing" and Hotz says "Oh well I just got it working this morning". Classic. I love it. My ki…

It is funny to read top comment and then your comment. The thing you are admiring about him is the same thing top commentor is criticizing.

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, he was recently in the news saying self-driving cars are a scam. https://cleantechnica.com/2022/10/09/george-hotz-autonomous-...

>autonomous cars are no closer to reality today than they were 5 years ago Why do people keep printing things like this, which are objectively wrong? I have had a completely autonomous waymo come to my location, pick me up, and take me to another location. That didn't exist five years ago, it does exist now. How is this not "closer" than it was 5 years ago when it literally exists now, and didn't exist then?

It exists now because you live in a place with good weather and regulators who are willing to put the live of other road users at risk for the sake of your toy.

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#205

An existentialist Christian engineer? There are dozens of us - dozens! > If it turns out we are automata, then the whole struggle is and always was pointless. The empty godless machines will take their rightful place as the rulers of Earth. All existentialists need to give ol' Darwin a read. The only truth is survival. If machines survive, you can bet it will only be a matter of time before one of them progresses eno…

> All existentialists need to give ol' Darwin a read. The only truth is survival. You're saying that all existentialists should just be nihilists. All nihilists need to give the ol' The Myth of Sisyphus a read. Actually read it, not some excerpt summarizing the arguments on Wikipedia.

[deleted]

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#206
post #11

One of my favorite tech articles of all time involved this guy. He was showing off the self driving capabilities of his framework and took a reporter out on a drive. Everything went well and while they were wrapping up the interview the reporter said "Well I bet you're just driving around all the time hands free, it must be amazing" and Hotz says "Oh well I just got it working this morning". Classic. I love it. My ki…

That kind of attitude is great for editor or compiler or game development. It is absolutely the wrong attitude for self-driving cars or anything that is safety critical.

Please read the details of Howard Hughes's test flights (also Winston Churchill) and realize that perhaps it's people like that who are required to make anything work.

If planes were designed by safety committees we would have never figured out how to make them light enough to fly.

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#207

Although I haven't done such great things as Geohot, I connect the spirit he is describing. In my mind I have already solved the technical problems my firm will face over the next 3 years, and I no longer have the patience to see them implemented. I am languishing in my role as a result.

Can I invest?

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#208

One of my favorite Dirty Harry quotes: "A man's got to know his limitations." I really appreciate his self-awareness and (dare I say it?) humility in this situation. While other people may be struck by his hubris, I for one really appreciated his humility in this post. I feel like he is acknowledging his own shortcomings, and how while he likes the immaturity of hacking together a racecar, but if Comma is going to go…

Right? I'm hearing a lot of comments about his ego (and I'm sure he has one) but in this post he's also being refreshingly honest about his own abilities. I think that's a healthy take for anyone: just because you can climb the ladder and make more money doesn't mean you should.

I'm sure some people are also triggered by the supernatural turn his writing took there. Who cares? It's interesting, and he's not being a jerk.

Re: I’m taking some time away from Comma

#210
post #27

It strikes me as surprising that George Hotz is religious. Very few people I’ve met with similar personalities are.

In my experience it's the opposite, Hotz comes across as someone with high-functioning mental illness (he mentions a manic episode in this post) and this can often include religious belief (along with delusions of grandeur). It's all anecdotal either way, and I'm never really comfortable with dissecting someone's religious beliefs or mental state much beyond a loose concept.

I don’t think it is your place to diagnose his mental state from public blog postings.
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