Ask HN: Why is the HN crowd so anti-AI?

People that like AI are like children watching a magician and are completely hooked and in "awe". They see MAGIC!

Then there are people who see the slight of hand, the misdirection, the plain "being lied to" of the performance. They see the whole picture and can no longer "enjoy" the magic.

AI can be fantastic, there are just to many downsides (we are forced to use it, usage of land, electricity, water, money, other resources, being lied about things, lay-offs, investments that just don't make sense.... etc, etc.)

I hope, I really do, that things will change. And I hope we do not destroy everything we hold dear in the pursuit of "AI everything".

I could accept this, although it's not the hard truth yet. But doing is not equal to earning money. If you do more while being employed by someone else, the benefits are reaped by your employer. You only get the expectation to do more. Also, I don't believe that businesses can expand infinitely, so the employment market might not be strictly a zero sum game, it's also not an infinite sum game. Which means the competition in the workforce rises and salaries fall.

Alternatively, you would switch to be self-employed, basically starting your own business. This is what actually requires wealth (and also connections, entrepreneur acumen and ultimately desire to do business). Saying "generational wealth" was perhaps a bit of an overtone. You could substitute some part of the wealth with other factors. But ultimately, the more money you have, the more you can spend on tokens (and other things like marketing too, but that was true before ai as well) to drive your business forward.

> It might be paid worse of lower status but, to me, being useful is the whole point.

This might sound good if you live in a country with strong social support, and believe it's going to continue doing so for your lifetime. Or alternatively, that you don't have any people that depend on you and you don't value your health or physical comfort. But most people ultimately work for money, because the base necessities (food, shelter, security, healthcare) and quality of life enhancers (education) cost a lot of money, and some are growing in cost much quicker than the salaries.

Only after that is established does “why” become a useful question. Skepticism toward hype, spam, and inflated claims is not the same thing as being anti-AI.

it’s all about context.