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What could have been

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Re: What could have been

#31

Post by tyre »

ipsin wrote: post #12

I wonder about the world where, instead of investing in AI, everyone invested in API . Like, surfacing APIs, fostering interoperability... I don't want an AI agent, but I might be interested in an agent operating with fixed rules, and with a limited set of capabilities. Instead we're trying to train systems to move a mouse in a browser and praying it doesn't accidentally send 60 pairs of shoes to a random address in…

We work with American health insurance companies and their portals are the only API you’re going to get. They have negative incentive to build a true API.

LLMs are 10x better than the existing state of the art (scraping with hardcodes selectors). LLMs making voice calls are at least that compared to the existing state of the art (humans sitting on hold.)

The beauty of LLMs is that they can (can! not perfectly!) turn something without an API into one.

I’m 100% with you that an API would be better. But they’re not going to make one.

Re: What could have been

#32

Post by Gigachad »

ipsin wrote: post #12

I wonder about the world where, instead of investing in AI, everyone invested in API . Like, surfacing APIs, fostering interoperability... I don't want an AI agent, but I might be interested in an agent operating with fixed rules, and with a limited set of capabilities. Instead we're trying to train systems to move a mouse in a browser and praying it doesn't accidentally send 60 pairs of shoes to a random address in…

Basically the opposite has happened. Not only has every API either been removed or restricted. Every company is investing a lot of resources in making their platforms impossible to automate even with browser automation tools.

Mix of open platforms facing immense abuse from bad actors, and companies realising their platform has more value closed. Reddit for example doesn't want you scraping their site to train AIs when they could sell you that data. And they certainly don't want bots spamming up the platform when they could sell you ad space.

Re: What could have been

#33

Post by Philpax »

busterarm wrote: post #26
thaumasiotes wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every VC pitch is about some ground-breaking tech or unassailable moat that will be built around a massive SAM A surface-to-air missile? As funny as that would be, maybe you should define your terms before you try to use them.

[flagged]

Hacker News may be hosted as part of the Y Combinator website, but as the name suggests, the primary audience is hackers, not entrepreneurs. Your answer is good, but could have done without the condescension.

Re: What could have been

#34

Post by gmuslera »

What could have been if instead of crypto trillions were invested in something actually useful? What about the housing bubble of which we learned nothing as we are falling into it again?

There is a lot of stinky garbage in AI, but at least you can rescue some value from it, in fact it could be most of the activity out there, but you only notice what stinks.

Re: What could have been

#35

Post by eastbound »

simonw wrote: post #21
ipsin wrote: post #12

I wonder about the world where, instead of investing in AI, everyone invested in API . Like, surfacing APIs, fostering interoperability... I don't want an AI agent, but I might be interested in an agent operating with fixed rules, and with a limited set of capabilities. Instead we're trying to train systems to move a mouse in a browser and praying it doesn't accidentally send 60 pairs of shoes to a random address in…

LLMs offer the single biggest advance in interoperability I've ever seen. We don't need to figure out the one true perfect design for standardized APIs for a given domain any more. Instead, we need to build APIs with just enough documentation (and/or one or two illustrative examples) that an LLM can help spit out the glue code needed to hook them together.

Today I’ve compiled a few thousand classes of Javadocs in .978 second. I was so impressed, with a build over 2 minutes, each byte of code we write takes a second to execute, computing is actually lightening fast, just now when it’s awfully written.

Time of executing bytecode << REST APIs << launching a full JVM for each file you want to compile << launching an LLM to call an API (each << is above x10).

Re: What could have been

#36

Post by Gigachad »

wnc3141 wrote: post #29
user3939382 wrote: post #19

I've been watching this my whole life. UML, SOA, Mongo, cloud, blockchain, now LLMs, probably 10 others in between. When tools are new there's a collective mania between VCs, execs, and engineers that this tool unlike literally every other one doesn't have trade offs that make it only an appropriate choice in some situations. Sometimes the trade offs aren't discoverable in the nascent stage, a lot of it is monkey-see…

you forgot IoT

IoT wasn't exactly a waste of money. If anything, the problem was that companies didn't spend enough doing it properly or securely. People genuinely do want their security cameras online with an app they can view away from home. It just needs to be done securely and privately.

Re: What could have been

#37

Post by gavmor »

GaggiX wrote: post #18

>"while delivering absolutely nothing of value" Well maybe for you and not the millions of people that use this technology daily.

Unlike "value demand," which is genuine demand arising from customer needs, failure demand is demand caused by failures such as errors, defects, inefficiencies, or poor service delivery. For example, if a service does not fulfill a customer's need properly, the customer must come back, creating more demand that is essentially avoidable. Failure demand leads to inefficiency, additional costs, and deteriorated customer and employee experiences.

Re: What could have been

#38

Post by MyOutfitIsVague »

busterarm wrote: post #26
thaumasiotes wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Every VC pitch is about some ground-breaking tech or unassailable moat that will be built around a massive SAM A surface-to-air missile? As funny as that would be, maybe you should define your terms before you try to use them.

[flagged]

Been here for years (across many different accounts), and this is the first time I've heard of these terms. I am here for programming content, not business.

Re: What could have been

#39

Post by busterarm »

Philpax wrote: post #33
busterarm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Hacker News may be hosted as part of the Y Combinator website, but as the name suggests, the primary audience is hackers, not entrepreneurs. Your answer is good, but could have done without the condescension.

[flagged]

Re: What could have been

#40

Post by busterarm »

MyOutfitIsVague wrote: post #38
busterarm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Been here for years (across many different accounts), and this is the first time I've heard of these terms. I am here for programming content, not business.

Why should I expect anyone who openly admits to having multiple accounts on the site in clear opposition to the site rules to have any level of awareness?

I'm sure dang will come and ding me for this one, but I'm sitting here having my points undermined by literal sockpuppets.

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