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

Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

washingtonpost.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 75 posts

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#21

Post by thriftwy »

gumballindie wrote: post #13
ramesh31 wrote: post #5

I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we're actually excited about something in tech again. Like for real, not in the "oh thats interesting now how can we make money" kind of way. It's been a long time, well over a decade since that's happened. The energy of SF in the late 2000s with the mobile boom was electric. Would be wonderful to experience that again.

Yeah but this time the tech is based on stealing people's intellectual property. Hopefully this theft ends soon.

You cannot expect to be paid the same amount of money by the same size audience when the supply increases dramatically. Recording industry got this lesson 20 years back.

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#22

Post by reducesuffering »

Solvency wrote: post #15
datadrivenangel wrote: post #7

https://archive.ph/SPkAx Summary: Meetups, especially AI meetups, are back in SF. Love to see it, but we're also seeing the same thing happen here in DC with the meetups I run, so it's not especially newsworthy?

Cool, so there are AI meetups, which are finite sessions inside random cafes and businesses. But what about literally everything outside those meetups, like the horrifying human experience involved in the commute/walk/bike to and from said meetups?

> horrifying human experience involved in the commute/walk/bike

Have you been to SF? 95% of my trips around SF are far better than the average soul sucking drive around the rest of the country. Most of it has lovely architecture, beautiful parks, and great spots to stop into. For sure, there can be more extremes in the other direction, but imo they aren't that common and don't much bring down how much better the average is. Plus they're concentrated in tenderloin / civic center and most people will avoid that area to reduce ever encountering crazy stuff.

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#23

Post by ben_w »

CrzyLngPwd wrote: post #2

It's 1999 all over again. Escuse me, I have some tulip bulbs/crypto for sale.

Changing the world doesn't necessarily require revenue to accrue to any specific named individual or group: "computer" used to be a job, now a single Raspberry Pi zero would beat all humans combined in this role, even if we all operated at the standard of the current world record holder. It costs $5 new when launched, rather than being valued at the entire global GDP each.

Likewise, even though the dot-com bubble did have a lot of bankruptcies, the fundamental idea was right: the internet did, only a few years later, radically change how connected we all were, and now almost every business has at least some internet presence even if it's a roadside shack outside Nairobi[0] with a gmail account next to their phone number.

AI? It may likewise be too soon for this level of exuberance, leading to a market crash; and it may likewise lead to such a degree of post-scarcity in the specific job roles it can automate that those roles are subsumed entirely within 30 years by the name of the hardware or software that do those roles, with the wealth flowing to everyone else except those who worked them, and the stock market valuations of the supporting businesses remaining small compared to the overall economy.

No way to tell.

But I'm sure it's not tulips.

[0] https://www.google.com/maps/place/Curio+Shop/@-1.0622165,36....

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#24

Post by kiernanmcgowan »

ramesh31 wrote: post #5

I think the one thing we can all agree on is that we're actually excited about something in tech again. Like for real, not in the "oh thats interesting now how can we make money" kind of way. It's been a long time, well over a decade since that's happened. The energy of SF in the late 2000s with the mobile boom was electric. Would be wonderful to experience that again.

Having energy and money go to something that is not crypto is so refreshing. I’m having conversations about how to use technology to make things cheaper and easier again!

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#25

Post by discard123 »

Solvency wrote: post #15
datadrivenangel wrote: post #7

https://archive.ph/SPkAx Summary: Meetups, especially AI meetups, are back in SF. Love to see it, but we're also seeing the same thing happen here in DC with the meetups I run, so it's not especially newsworthy?

Cool, so there are AI meetups, which are finite sessions inside random cafes and businesses. But what about literally everything outside those meetups, like the horrifying human experience involved in the commute/walk/bike to and from said meetups?

[dead]

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#27

Post by harsh1618 »

datadrivenangel wrote: post #7

https://archive.ph/SPkAx Summary: Meetups, especially AI meetups, are back in SF. Love to see it, but we're also seeing the same thing happen here in DC with the meetups I run, so it's not especially newsworthy?

That only summarizes the first two paragraphs. The article goes on about VC funding and office expansions among other things.

  The flow of venture capital dollars into AI and machine learning companies in San Francisco hit new highs this year, with start-ups raising $18.5 billion in the first quarter — about 82 percent of U.S. investments in the segment
There's no denying the fact that SF is the place for AI startups.

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#28

Post by clay_the_ripper »

ben_jones wrote: post #20
Solvency wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, so there are AI meetups, which are finite sessions inside random cafes and businesses. But what about literally everything outside those meetups, like the horrifying human experience involved in the commute/walk/bike to and from said meetups?

A horrifying human experience is living in a war zone. It’s not having to move to a different bart car or endure a pan handler requesting money.

Have you/do you live in SF? I have had my fair share of horrifying experiences in SF that were a lot more serious than a panhandler. And I think others would agree.

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#29

Post by a13n »

ben_jones wrote: post #20
Solvency wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, so there are AI meetups, which are finite sessions inside random cafes and businesses. But what about literally everything outside those meetups, like the horrifying human experience involved in the commute/walk/bike to and from said meetups?

A horrifying human experience is living in a war zone. It’s not having to move to a different bart car or endure a pan handler requesting money.

I know several people who have been physically assaulted in San Francisco, including one guy who was shot. It’s far worse than you describe.

Re: Growing AI presence is re-energizing parts of San Francisco

#30

Post by stingrae »

datadrivenangel wrote: post #19
Solvency wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cool, so there are AI meetups, which are finite sessions inside random cafes and businesses. But what about literally everything outside those meetups, like the horrifying human experience involved in the commute/walk/bike to and from said meetups?

The article also mentions a few AI companies which now employ a few dozen people and have signed a handful of leases in SF? So yeah, not much.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/openai-s-f-bi... Yep. nothing to see here.
Post reply on HN