Eric Schmidt speech about AI booed during graduation • Hacker News Board

Re: Eric Schmidt speech about AI booed during graduation

#441

Post by hardbass » Sat, May 23, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC

emkoemko wrote: post #397

mountainb wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can prompt up some really cool commercial-grade art within the limitations of the models. Getting more precision and consistency in the images requires additional technical configuration and actual artistic skill such that it more resembles using Photoshop and similar software. But what can be done with prompting is a lot more impressive than what can be done with rudimentary Photoshop skills and a big photo libr…

yea but the whole point is that it is not art... never will be

What is art? How is it not art? Collage is art, photoshop itself is used for cut n paste of photos, and people call that "art". AI image generators go through a much more interesting process to make their art.

Re: Eric Schmidt speech about AI booed during graduation

#442

Post by hardbass » Sat, May 23, 2026, 2:25 PM UTC

mbgerring wrote: post #424

echelon wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh sure. But that was a different tone and audience. The "it's stealing" arguments have quieted down. Especially since there are weights trained on fully licensed materials by Adobe and others. Now that code models can do it, it's a moot point. Data can be found anywhere, and models are pretty good at generalizing out of domain, not unlike human brains. Engineers finding out these models are good is drawing a lot of…

No, the “it’s stealing” argument has not died down, and if you think this it’s because you don’t actually spend time with artists. What happened is that anyone who makes commercial art, like anyone who (used to) write software for a living, is now forced to use AI to survive, or else switch careers.

That's life. Supply and demand is simply life. I understand as an artist it might hurt you. But see from the other side, paying 50 dollars to some stranger on the internet to paint something is not something even most people in first world economies do for fun. Today people can satisfy maybe 60% of such impulses with free tiers. Bump it up a few percent points for paid tiers. Most of what is paid for on artstation, deviantart etc isn't radical new art but permutations/combinations of shipping characters, outfits, etc. Commercial art as in product art, store signs, etc also doesn't have RADICAL tier of creativity requirement for the bread n butter tier of it.

I come from software dev, so sure it irritates me that its cutting my market ability down, but think calmly about the opposite side. Actually I think software is safer in some ways, software isn't just WYSWYG, it needs good thinking and engineering to make things work safely and consistently. But art? That's the oldest impulse and for many branches of art WYSWYG.

Re: Eric Schmidt speech about AI booed during graduation

#443

Post by array_key_first » Sun, May 24, 2026, 6:18 AM UTC

wvbdmp wrote: post #103

davemp wrote: post #3

Kind of goes to show how out of touch and insular the tech exec sphere can be. Almost everyone I interact with in reality has a deep distain for LLMs and their touted trajectory.

Idk what people you interact with, but my personal sample of “normal people” post AI generated pics and videos in their WhatsApp status and adorn their homes with AI generated imagery for christmas. They may not actively use LLMs or even know what they are, but they’re satisfied with Google’s AI overview and they love using voice assistants. These aren’t people from any particular sphere I sought out or which self-se…

I think a lot of those people buying Alibaba type AI generated decor and stuff are just old and have bad eyesight. I don't know that they know it's AI generated. Most of it is slop, and I don't mean in the AI sense - it looks sloppy and terrible.

Re: Eric Schmidt speech about AI booed during graduation

#444

Post by adrienne » Mon, May 25, 2026, 12:20 AM UTC

uejfiweun wrote: post #410

jiaosdjf wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm more "the kids are showing healthy skepticism of corporate dystopia but AI is vital" camp, here is my argument: 1. Yes the risk of AI corporate/authoritarian dystopia is HUGE, we'll have to fight for our rights MANY times this century. Transcendental AI takeover is probably less of a risk than humans in power using armies of robots and Stasi-AI surveillance. 2. Our current economy is bs and the last century of 'r…

I feel like the main issue here is that it does seem like in the current trajectory the job loss outcome is going to happen before any of these potential really good outcomes. I'm down for a utopian future, but I don't have to want to spend 10 to 20 years in a depressing unemployed hellscape before I get there.

If the Industrial Revolution (which people keep using as a comparator) is any guide, it's going to be more like 100-200 years in a depressing unemployed hellscape!

Re: Eric Schmidt speech about AI booed during graduation

#445

Post by gbell12 » Thu, May 28, 2026, 11:48 PM UTC

rdtsc wrote: post #55

> “If you’d let me make this point, please —” Schmidt said amid boos. “The point I’d like to make is choose a diversity of perspectives, including the perspective of the immigrant who has so often been the person who came to this country and made it better. America is at its best when we are the country that ambitious people want to come to. Let us not lose that.” How does that tie in? You have to like AI because of…

WTF - that wasn't the sequence of his statements. Are you some sort of engagement bot trying to stir up anger?

The boos about AI: https://www.youtube.com/live/b1eM3jv0vWY?si=aouJBuUZxul40LAr...

The "If you'd let me make this point, please", 75 seconds later: https://www.youtube.com/live/b1eM3jv0vWY?si=5sG8c5qEcaXOwmAv...