Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

frank.computer

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 124 posts

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#101

Post by leecommamichael »

jraph wrote: post #36
leecommamichael wrote: post #12

I'm of the opinion that it can be a tool if used as one, but that most people are currently interested in experimenting with various sci-fi visions. I don't ascribe any emotion or judgment to that, either. We should be doing the things we're excited to do if it doesn't cause too much harm. There are boring and reliable uses for these things, but then the wins are smaller, so they're not as worth talking about. We all…

Your comment focuses on usage. The post argues that we can't say "it's just a tool" because there are inherent traits that don't depend on usage. > if it doesn't cause too much harm. You touch something there: some of us think that simply using LLMs at all encourages developing / spreading this tech that inherently causes too much harm.

Yeah, I tried to just tuoch that because it is highly personal. I don't think I entirely understand the post's point about "inherent traits that don't depend on usage." All tools have these traits as well, don't they?

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#102

Post by leecommamichael »

user43928 wrote: post #60
leecommamichael wrote: post #12

I'm of the opinion that it can be a tool if used as one, but that most people are currently interested in experimenting with various sci-fi visions. I don't ascribe any emotion or judgment to that, either. We should be doing the things we're excited to do if it doesn't cause too much harm. There are boring and reliable uses for these things, but then the wins are smaller, so they're not as worth talking about. We all…

In my opinion AI is good for: - developing all but the most complex software - maintaining a >100k LOC codebase on your own - generating illustrations and animations My iOS codebase has 95k LOC + another 40k tests, and it is working great. It has been months of work.

What does your application do?

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#103

Post by chungusamongus »

hn_acker wrote: post #99
chungusamongus wrote: post #15

There is another platitude people spout on the matter. "Technology is not neutral." Usually without elaborating. Any correct statement can become a thought eliminating cliche over time.

> There is another platitude people spout on the matter. "Technology is not neutral." Usually without elaborating. And some people post the "usually without elaborating" platitude even in response to elaborations.

If you're referring to the article, there's no coherent argument to respond to. Sorry

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#104

Post by jraph »

leecommamichael wrote: post #101
jraph wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comment focuses on usage. The post argues that we can't say "it's just a tool" because there are inherent traits that don't depend on usage. > if it doesn't cause too much harm. You touch something there: some of us think that simply using LLMs at all encourages developing / spreading this tech that inherently causes too much harm.

Yeah, I tried to just tuoch that because it is highly personal. I don't think I entirely understand the post's point about "inherent traits that don't depend on usage." All tools have these traits as well, don't they?

Sure, but making them work doesn't usually boil the planet, exhaust all the resources and risk causing an economical crisis while stealing anything that lies around on the internet.

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#105

Post by Izkata »

michaelt wrote: post #45

As I understand it, in America "it's just a tool" is shorthand for "guns should be regulated like hammers, i.e. barely at all, responsibility lies with the user not those who make, market and sell it" Needless to say a lot of people disagree with that, because of the shootings. And internationally, a lot of societies regulate guns a great deal. I'm not saying this to steer the conversation towards gun control, or to…

> As I understand it, in America "it's just a tool" is shorthand for "guns should be regulated like hammers, i.e. barely at all, responsibility lies with the user not those who make, market and sell it"

You're partially right about the responsibility part, but I think the rest is going too far. The phrase is a direct response to media and gun control advocates who treat the existence of guns as the cause of crime instead of the people using the gun.

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#106

Post by dd8601fn »

delichon wrote: post #94

AI is a tool, just like other tools we use. And it's clearly a useful one. - Linus Torvolds https://x.com/gustavokov/status/2077426451456872866

Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m not inclined to model my personal and professional life on a tweet-based appeal to authority, either way.

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#107

Post by pupppet »

michaelt wrote: post #45

As I understand it, in America "it's just a tool" is shorthand for "guns should be regulated like hammers, i.e. barely at all, responsibility lies with the user not those who make, market and sell it" Needless to say a lot of people disagree with that, because of the shootings. And internationally, a lot of societies regulate guns a great deal. I'm not saying this to steer the conversation towards gun control, or to…

If a gun is just a tool, is an atom bomb just a tool?

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#108

Post by youre-wrong3 »

customguy wrote: post #92
youre-wrong3 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> You state “ignore these downsides” and “due to their own ignorance…” What's the criticism? That you can't ignore something you're ignorant of? [0] or maybe you don't understand what that means in the first place, making it impossible for you to hand wave it away [1] I hate this style of discussion, "uhm akshually there's a piece of dust" that is just left hanging, as if that means the point is somehow diminished. A…

Sigh. This is the same old tiresome HN anti ai stuff. If you can’t see how he contradicted himself, and the follow on with anti ai reply to me. It just shows how little you know of ai.

There is no “uhm akshually there's a piece of dust” discussion. There is so much misinformation about ai that people make blanket assumptions like “it removes human interaction” “it replaces everyone” “look people got made redundant” when the reality is it doesn’t replace human interaction and the people being made redundant are all currently anti ai people.

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#109

Post by zahlman »

leecommamichael wrote: post #12

I'm of the opinion that it can be a tool if used as one, but that most people are currently interested in experimenting with various sci-fi visions. I don't ascribe any emotion or judgment to that, either. We should be doing the things we're excited to do if it doesn't cause too much harm. There are boring and reliable uses for these things, but then the wins are smaller, so they're not as worth talking about. We all…

> The asterisks denote potentially faulty usage. Short scripts are great to have roughly automated, but as ever the risk with these things has been that they might grow into programs, and that's a poor foundation to build on.

They can be. But you can also refactor (AI assisted or not) before proceeding.

Re: Stop saying that AI is just a tool and it only matters how it is used

#110

Post by zahlman »

jraph wrote: post #104
leecommamichael wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I tried to just tuoch that because it is highly personal. I don't think I entirely understand the post's point about "inherent traits that don't depend on usage." All tools have these traits as well, don't they?

Sure, but making them work doesn't usually boil the planet, exhaust all the resources and risk causing an economical crisis while stealing anything that lies around on the internet.

To the extent that these claims actually pan out, responsibility should be assigned to the companies developing these systems, not to their product.
Post reply on HN