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Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

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Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#51

Post by Nathanba »

bm3719 wrote: post #11

Corollary to your complaints: Another downside that I haven't seen on anyone's AI hatelist yet is that it crowds out all other discussion. What happened to everyone talking about languages, protocols, algorithms, architecture, etc.? We can't have those conversations anymore because we're not even sure they matter now. In fact, we probably suspect they don't, hence the not bothering. Also, anything we do write will ju…

Yes I've noticed that too. It seems accomplishments in general have been devalued, it's not specific to languages, protocols, algorithms or architecture. If I have some idea at work, I feel like even that receives less recognition now because of AI. AI has ideas too, what does it matter? Sure, your idea could be good. But we are already drowning in ideas from AIs, everytime you prompt an AI it will tell you dozens of ideas on what you could improve. Who can say which one matters, does any of it really matter anymore? Why care about things that are effortless? That's the impression I get in regards to how people think now.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#53

Post by margalabargala »

throw-the-towel wrote: post #34
calvinmorrison wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why write programming languages if LLMs are fast enough to talk plaintext everything to eachother with perfect memory

Why go see Rome when you can google up some photos? Why climb Mt Everest? Why have your own sex when there's so much porn? The answer is going to be the same it's always been: because we fucking can .

I take your point, but unlike everything you mentioned, programming languages have usually been written for others to use, with a handful of Intercal-like exceptions.

Any fully new languages we get will be either doomed from the start, or the language equivalent of TempleOS. Or both.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#54

Post by lelandbatey »

Not particularly because: the LLMs can code, but holy hell can they not operate or plan appropriately for ACTUALLY high stakes operational situations. When you absolutely cannot cause downtime, if you hand Fable/Sol/Kimi the reigns and say "do this 30 million token novel thing and absolutely don't screw up customer traffic" they'll blow it after the first compaction, every time.

This is on things like "we have to migrate how we do TLS termination via coordinated infra changes and DNS changes for a couple thousand customers, many of which are fortune 500 companies". It's maddening. If there's stakes, and it's not a small enough problem that there's not already a StackOverflow post/library for how to do XYZ, then you have to be so vigilant.

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#55

Post by ChrisArchitect »

ryuuseijin wrote: post #47

I agree that AI is a gamechanger in many ways, however it is not the end of life or the end of civilization. Life will go on, and people will be happy productive members of society, even with AI becoming part of everyday life - at least that is what I believe, since believing the alternative would be self defeating. When I think back to the 90s when the internet became popular, to me, living in the middle of nowhere,…

Young People Hate AI CEOs So Passionately That It's Almost Hard to Believe

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49323932

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#57

Post by vanity0 »

Sorry, it was always meaningless. The shiny toys just distracted our attention enough to trick us into thinking there's a golden pot at the end of the rainbow. But now we can reach the end of the rainbow and it's emptiness.

Read Ecclesiastes: "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity." Everything under the sun is vain, as we will all eventually find out.

Nothing will satisfy us because our emptiness was never meant to be filled with code, knowledge, or whatever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlvOrTq4Bes

Re: Ask HN: Does anyone else feel like nothing matters anymore?

#58

Post by throw-the-towel »

margalabargala wrote: post #53
throw-the-towel wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why go see Rome when you can google up some photos? Why climb Mt Everest? Why have your own sex when there's so much porn? The answer is going to be the same it's always been: because we fucking can .

I take your point, but unlike everything you mentioned, programming languages have usually been written for others to use, with a handful of Intercal-like exceptions. Any fully new languages we get will be either doomed from the start, or the language equivalent of TempleOS. Or both.

Well, that makes sense too. I don't believe evolution of programming languages is just going to halt here, but that's just like my opinion man.
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