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The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

wsj.com

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Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#21

Post by xscott »

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #8

I'll just keep repeating this: There are three options: 1. AI owned by everyone 2. No AI 3. AI owned by billionaires If you can make the masses fight for 2 instead of 1, then you guarantee that you don't get 1. If instead, the masses fight for 1, they've got a chance of getting it. You present AI as a false dichotomy: no AI or AI for billionaires. But 2 is a fantasy. There will be AI. Any of us arguing for (1) get sh…

I agree with your logic, but you should replace 2 with "AI used by governments only". The haters would have more luck getting rid of nuclear weapons than putting the AI cat back in the bag. Governments will use it for surveillance. Think "sentiment analysis" to make sure you're not a terrorist.

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#22

Post by JaakkoP »

throwaway27448 wrote: post #15
tptacek wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you'll find the American public is less motivated by how well-treated Mag7 software developers believe themselves to be.

Mag7?

Magnificent 7, the new FAANG where Netflix got swapped to NVIDIA and Tesla got added.

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#23

Post by mycall »

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #8

I'll just keep repeating this: There are three options: 1. AI owned by everyone 2. No AI 3. AI owned by billionaires If you can make the masses fight for 2 instead of 1, then you guarantee that you don't get 1. If instead, the masses fight for 1, they've got a chance of getting it. You present AI as a false dichotomy: no AI or AI for billionaires. But 2 is a fantasy. There will be AI. Any of us arguing for (1) get sh…

#2 is impossible now that oss models are readily available and nobody would know you are using them.

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#25

Post by rob74 »

hydroplane wrote: post #6

I often wonder how different AI sentiment would be today if all of the layoffs that were opportunistically blamed on AI by the company CEOs were instead blamed on the real reason (likely pandemic related over hiring). The root of the backlash started as a result of all those “AI” layoffs and the hyperscaler CEOs gloating how everybody was going to lose their job due to AI. So in the end, they reap what they sow. A gr…

The real reason is "make number go up". A few years ago, you showed the stock market (or your investors if you weren't listed yet) how amazing a company you were by hiring people like crazy, even if you didn't need them, and giving them all sorts of perks, including (but not limited to) home office. Now, the stock market wants to see blood, so you have to sacrifice people - not because you're actually losing money, but because you're not making as much profit as the stock market thinks you should, and therefore your shares are "underperforming".

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#26

Post by WillPostForFood »

xvxvx wrote: post #2

Americans aren’t in favor of being driven into unemployment and poverty? How dare they! Companies have their relationship with people, specifically employees, backwards. What percentage of companies out there are truly needed? What percentage solely exist because people have some surplus money to play with? No one needs Microsoft or Google products. No one needs overpriced Apple crap. AI means jack shit to almost 100…

Why would you only rollback to the 90s. Pretty sure TV was evil and destroying culture. And Rock and roll that was devastating, so we gotta roll back at least to the 1930's. That would be a fitting era to recreate.

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#27

Post by jacobn »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #17
hydroplane wrote: post #6

I often wonder how different AI sentiment would be today if all of the layoffs that were opportunistically blamed on AI by the company CEOs were instead blamed on the real reason (likely pandemic related over hiring). The root of the backlash started as a result of all those “AI” layoffs and the hyperscaler CEOs gloating how everybody was going to lose their job due to AI. So in the end, they reap what they sow. A gr…

Another part of the problem is our lax regulatory "anything goes" environment which puts no guardrails on how AI can be used / abused. For example, eventually nearly everyone needs healthcare, and the idea you might be denied by AI or fighting AI to get a claim accepted is unpopular.

So far it seems like AI is helping the little guy fight the bills more?

(That can of course change very quickly, yes)

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#28

Post by jaredcwhite »

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #8

I'll just keep repeating this: There are three options: 1. AI owned by everyone 2. No AI 3. AI owned by billionaires If you can make the masses fight for 2 instead of 1, then you guarantee that you don't get 1. If instead, the masses fight for 1, they've got a chance of getting it. You present AI as a false dichotomy: no AI or AI for billionaires. But 2 is a fantasy. There will be AI. Any of us arguing for (1) get sh…

Yeah I'll pick two, thanks.

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#29

Post by linkregister »

tptacek wrote: post #7
hydroplane wrote: post #6

I often wonder how different AI sentiment would be today if all of the layoffs that were opportunistically blamed on AI by the company CEOs were instead blamed on the real reason (likely pandemic related over hiring). The root of the backlash started as a result of all those “AI” layoffs and the hyperscaler CEOs gloating how everybody was going to lose their job due to AI. So in the end, they reap what they sow. A gr…

I think you'll find the American public is less motivated by how well-treated Mag7 software developers believe themselves to be.

The public statements of frontier labs' CEOs that generative models will replace human workers have been front page news for months.

Re: The American Rebellion Against AI Is Gaining Steam

#30

Post by kj4211cash »

If you read the article, it's mainly about data centers. Which is understandable regardless of your feelings about the technology. There's a ton of money, energy, labor, water, etc. going into building and operating data centers. It's a big change and a big topic for a lot of local governments. Because there's so much money involved and local government is so dysfunctional, there's also at least the appearance of the public will being given short shrift.

Then you add in on top of that people hearing that everyone's job is in jeopardy, like right now, even if it's not really true. Plus rumors about how untrustworthy people like Sam Altman are. Not to mention that they are San Francisco elites. Lawsuits. Cozying up to Trump. Etc. It's not surprising most of the sentiment around AI is incredibly negative and getting more negative by the day.

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