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Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

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Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I won't dismiss the human cost but boom and bust cycles have existed for a very long time. This isn't a new thing today, and it wasn't new then either. You can view these things 100% cynically, or you can also consider the possibility that markets over (and also under) shooting are also a form of discovery in which the value of new business models, technologies, etc. are determined. While I'm not personally a fan of…

> net-net it's probably better to live in economies where capital is abundant and malinvestment is possible, than to live economies where the opposite is true. This is a false dichotomy. Not everything needs to exist at the extremes. > boom and bust cycles have existed for a very long time. This isn't a new thing today, and it wasn't new then either. Murder and domestic violence have existed for a very long time. Rac…

> Things can be fixed, or at least improved to reduce the human cost associated with what's essentially a governance choice.

So you think there's a way to outlaw possible malinvestment?

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#42
post #4

I don't understand the people who have the patience to listen to Zitron. It's all one-tone takes with no place for nuance, you kind of know what he's going to say and the fact the mixes genuine criticism with bad faith arguments doesn't help.

> I don't understand the people who have the patience to listen to Zitron. It's all one-tone takes with no place for nuance... But that's why some people give him the time of day. A lot of people prefer to see things in black and white because it's easier on the brain. Basically, Ed is doing the easy part (pointing out the malinvestment) and not addressing the harder part, which is to predict what comes next in reali…

Ed Zitron already completely defeated the comparison that this is just another dot com boom/bust with eventual payout. You're telling yourself a just-so story.

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#43

Folks if you believe this Ed guy, you're soon going be really disappointed. LLMs are big, Codex app is huge. You can control the browser from within codex app with just natural language. Tell codex to perform a few actions, you go get coffee and come back to work done. This is real boost in productivity.

You can't tell the critics they're completely wrong and not actually address anything they're saying, lol.

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't understand the people who have the patience to listen to Zitron. It's all one-tone takes with no place for nuance... But that's why some people give him the time of day. A lot of people prefer to see things in black and white because it's easier on the brain. Basically, Ed is doing the easy part (pointing out the malinvestment) and not addressing the harder part, which is to predict what comes next in reali…

Ed Zitron already completely defeated the comparison that this is just another dot com boom/bust with eventual payout. You're telling yourself a just-so story.

> Ed Zitron already completely defeated the comparison that this is just another dot com boom/bust with eventual payout

"This time it's different" is a story told by people at both extremes.

"There is unsustainable excess and malinvestment but it's not going to be the end of the world and there will be some really important and successful things that are left standing alongside some carnage" is a narrative that doesn't appeal to the masses for a variety of reasons. And people like Zitron, who profit by selling narratives, often avoid narratives that require nuance and balance because it forces them to produce more complex and detailed, and less bombastic, analyses.

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#45
post #10

Ed Zitron, He gets things others are missing. He also misses things others are getting. I think it’s nice to have a voice criticizing the fundraising aspect of these companies. I do think we’ll see at least one of them blow up. The technology is obviously useful though. Hundreds of thousands of developers have already changed the way they were working for decades. Some of the criticisms that the technology doesn’t wo…

Some of the criticisms that the technology doesn’t work at all go a bit too far.

It's not enough for it to "work". It has to work in a way that is affordable and cost effective for widespread use.

Otherwise, people/companies will use it sparingly or not at all. Anything less than widespread, "universal" use is a big problem for those investing $ trillions in AI.

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#46
post #14

Just keep in mind that Zitron is in the business of content creation. It doesn't mean he's wrong[1] but his job isn't making successful predictions. [1] Actually I think it's right on the overinvestments and ROI claims

As if the pro-AI crowd doesn’t have a vested interest in how AI is perceived.

Ed Zitron is a journalist. Do you say that about every journalist?

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> net-net it's probably better to live in economies where capital is abundant and malinvestment is possible, than to live economies where the opposite is true. This is a false dichotomy. Not everything needs to exist at the extremes. > boom and bust cycles have existed for a very long time. This isn't a new thing today, and it wasn't new then either. Murder and domestic violence have existed for a very long time. Rac…

> Things can be fixed, or at least improved to reduce the human cost associated with what's essentially a governance choice. So you think there's a way to outlaw possible malinvestment?

You think there isn't? Or in fact that this is all that's happening, _possible malinvestment_?

Neolibs have the most rigid, binary and least creative minds I've ever encountered...

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#49

Folks if you believe this Ed guy, you're soon going be really disappointed. LLMs are big, Codex app is huge. You can control the browser from within codex app with just natural language. Tell codex to perform a few actions, you go get coffee and come back to work done. This is real boost in productivity.

You can't tell the critics they're completely wrong and not actually address anything they're saying, lol.

Oh you sure can. That’s all the boosters do on here.

Re: Ed Zitron on CNBC: GenAI Doesn't Work, and Big Tech Is Out of Hypergrowth Ideas

#50
post #14

Just keep in mind that Zitron is in the business of content creation. It doesn't mean he's wrong[1] but his job isn't making successful predictions. [1] Actually I think it's right on the overinvestments and ROI claims

As if the pro-AI crowd doesn’t have a vested interest in how AI is perceived. Ed Zitron is a journalist. Do you say that about every journalist?

It was more a critique to the crowd saying "Zitron is making wrong predictions since 2024" rather than Zitron itself.
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