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Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

paulkrugman.substack.com

11–20 of 156 posts

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#11

Outside software, AI is synonymous with low quality and low effort. As in, "I don't care enough about you to bother with you myself, I'll have the AI do it". Covers news articles, emails, customer service, products, art, jobs, etc. The actual quality of the AI output is irrelevant.

Even then when using AI just for myself I limit it to building tools, looking for errors. But when it comes to full blown generation, I just don't like what it makes.

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#12

Outside software, AI is synonymous with low quality and low effort. As in, "I don't care enough about you to bother with you myself, I'll have the AI do it". Covers news articles, emails, customer service, products, art, jobs, etc. The actual quality of the AI output is irrelevant.

Within software too.

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#13
The test of a technology is how it's actually used in society. What it theoretically could do in the abstract is immaterial.

For example, BitTorrent is a great peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol. In principle you could use this for legitimate media distribution, and in fact Rainberry Inc. (a.k.a BitTorrent Inc.) tried to do this for decades and succeeded in some one-off partnerships with legit broadcasters:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/02/sharing-d...

In practice BitTorrent as a protocol is still mainly used for pirated video files, the same as it was 20 years ago. Meanwhile BitTorrent the company was bought by a cryptocurrency startup in 2018 and laid off most of its employees in 2023.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainberry,_Inc.>

Edit: fix link and clarify

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#14
The monied are all dogpiling money, water, electricity, pc hardware into it in their classic stupid tulipomania way (Just like with NFTs and Crypto before)

The management class in corporations are obsessed with it, they are delusional and think they can finally use it achieve their dreams of having no workers. They are forcing their workers to use it somehow. The are also foisting it unasked onto consumers in their products in the most stupid way. just wrecking their products.

And the reality of it is that.. The current crop of LLMs are excellent chatbots; they're very good at fooling a human into believing that they are intelligent.. They're good for shitposting and making silly images.. They have a few other quite situational niche uses, but that's about it.

I'm just pissed off at the stupidity and waste of it all. Like the Easter Islanders, our elites are driving our society straight into the ground.

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#15

I went to look for a new phone about 6 months ago - everything was AI this, AI that, all the display stands made a big deal about AI (to the extent I considered a 2024 phone because no AI). In the end I didn't buy at that point. Just last week finally I had to buy a new phone, and so I went shopping again - this time no AI was mentioned anywhere . Not online, not on the stands in the shops, nowhere. The silence speak…

Things I had never asked for in a phone:

1) Increasingly more sophisticated cameras.

2) Fake slimness with protruding lenses.

3) Removing headphone jack.

4) Adding AI.

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#16
post #4

An alternative theory: people care deeply about art, and the people who make it: artists, musicians, writers. This is a large part of what gives out society meaning, and even for people who don't think deeply about it, we intuitively understand that these artists (outside of a lucky few) get very little back compared to the effort and passion they put in, and the value they add to society. And suddenly, here come all…

Also, art is about emotion and empathy. AI does not feel. It can imitate feelings, it can say "I'm sorry" but it won't feel sorry.

And I think this is also reflected in a lot of AI-generated art. Yes, it is fascinating to a degree and it "looks" like art, but it doesn't "feel" like art. It's heartless. It's soulless. And I say that as someone who doesn't even believe in a soul.

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#18

Given the amount of people on HN happily using LLMs for their everyday work and extolling the virtues of LLMs, "everyone" might be a bit excessive

HN is a poor representation of the average American.

Did a recent survey posted to HN not show that 60% of people dislike it? Which means 40% either like it or don't care. That's not far from average and is a long way from everybody.

Re: Why Does Everyone Hate AI?

#19

Given the amount of people on HN happily using LLMs for their everyday work and extolling the virtues of LLMs, "everyone" might be a bit excessive

HN is a poor representation of the average American.

So the title should have used "most people" then?
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