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Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#111

Post by WastingMyTime89 »

lqet wrote: post #42

ChatGPT. This is the only technology that truly freaked me out in my lifetime (I am 35). It competently explained to me the difference between Dijkstra's algorithm and A* in a psalm-like poem [0]. It was able to find misspelled words in a long text I just made up, list them in alphabetical order, and explain to me why I misspelled them. It correctly simulated a ChatGPT instance which was accessible via a HTTP API, an…

Yet it will happily tell you random non sense with utter certainty like that it takes twenty minutes to boil a whole chicken in the middle of a recipe or listing an incorrect number of children with fake names while writing a biography.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#112

Post by greggsy »

Ftuuky wrote: post #35

Seeing a dude grow human neurons directly connected to a computer chip to make a "human AI", all from his garage [0]. It showed me what is possible with science these days if you have enough dedication and know-how. Made me feel deeply excited and scared for the incoming future. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YDApNRK3g

The thought of clandestine modding labs and neural implants brings to mind a future similar to Ghost in the Shell.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#113

Post by O__________O »

tricky wrote: post #34

Magnetic resonance focused high intensity ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier in humans to deliver drugs directly to brain tissue - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12426-9

Related news coverage:

https://google.com/search?q=lipsman+ALS+MR-guided+focused+ul...

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#114

Post by nemo44x »

lqet wrote: post #42

ChatGPT. This is the only technology that truly freaked me out in my lifetime (I am 35). It competently explained to me the difference between Dijkstra's algorithm and A* in a psalm-like poem [0]. It was able to find misspelled words in a long text I just made up, list them in alphabetical order, and explain to me why I misspelled them. It correctly simulated a ChatGPT instance which was accessible via a HTTP API, an…

I agree, it’s amazing and it’s just the beginning. When this get numerous iterations of improvement and is distributed at scale and integrated with everything it will power the next technological leap forward. This to me is obvious.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#115

Post by O__________O »

Majestic121 wrote: post #14
O__________O wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would be interesting to see an environmental impact analysis of use of mail vs a compost cycle that’s does not use mail. Find it hard to believe they’re reusing the labels, boxes, plastic wrapping, etc too.

I think the impact analysis should be between a compost cycle that uses mail vs no compost cycle, because I would imagine that the alternative to this is just throwing food in the trash for most people

Possibly, though there are plenty of high-density urban areas that require separating compost materials and pick it up with trash, recycling, yard waste, etc. — so to me that would seem like a better comparison; or just compare all options.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#116

Post by rpdillon »

jvanderbot wrote: post #66
paulgb wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> These tools are about as good as a non specialist with time to undertake some bullshitting. You’re not wrong, but AI being passably good at bullshitting (while mostly keeping a rhyme/meter) is still mindblowing to me.

It's an amazing accomplishment technically, and that deserves to be emphasized, but it is still not producing reliable outputs. Subjectively incredible; objectively flawed.

What does produce reliable outputs?

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#117

Post by bilsbie »

7ewis wrote: post #60
bilsbie wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you worry about losing it though?

Yeah, I have insurance with 'Flyaway Coverage'. Still have to pay a fee and there's a limit to the number of claims you can make over a time period but it's a lot cheaper than buying a new drone.

Wow how much is it? Where do you buy it? Is it worth it for a sub $500 drone?

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#118

Post by lqet »

jvanderbot wrote: post #48
lqet wrote: post #42

ChatGPT. This is the only technology that truly freaked me out in my lifetime (I am 35). It competently explained to me the difference between Dijkstra's algorithm and A* in a psalm-like poem [0]. It was able to find misspelled words in a long text I just made up, list them in alphabetical order, and explain to me why I misspelled them. It correctly simulated a ChatGPT instance which was accessible via a HTTP API, an…

That's wrong. It's poetic, but incorrect. These tools are about as good as a non specialist with time to undertake some bullshitting.

> These tools are about as good as a non specialist with time to undertake some bullshitting.

Even if you are right, you still acknowledge that ChatGPT is on the level of a non-specialist bullshitting human you can have a meaningful conversation with. This alone would be enough to freak me out. If you would've told me that this is possible 10 years ago I would've called you crazy.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#119

Post by michaelt »

arcturus17 wrote: post #25
smallerfish wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow - they raised $100 million. They're expecting people to pay $33/mo for the service, which includes the grinder/dehydrator bin, plus the cost of mailing the dense milled organics back to their processing facility. Figure that actual physical expenses cost $18/mo, leaving $15/mo profit per household; on top of that, they'll have extensive marketing costs - let's say marketing & employee costs take another $10/mo, l…

> How did they possibly win over investors? Low interest rates have shifted massive amounts of capital to vc. We’re talking trillions possibly, including sovereign funds and ultrabillionaire family offices. Are those wealth and investment managers nuts? Maybe, but I’ve concluded the most likely explanation is that they know exactly how to play the vc game: place a number of wild bets and hope that one in a hundred pa…

> the most likely explanation is that they know exactly how to play the vc game: place a number of wild bets and hope that one in a hundred pays off.

But isn't a key point of this theory of investing that you invest in many companies that have a 1% chance of making a 100x return - rather than investing in companies with a 0% chance?

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#120

Post by mjhay »

vijayr02 wrote: post #97
jvanderbot wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's wrong. It's poetic, but incorrect. These tools are about as good as a non specialist with time to undertake some bullshitting.

So perfectly suited for a management role? :)

I did read somewhere that in some tests, ChatGPT-generated MBA papers got better grades than average MBA students.
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