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This time, it feels different

nadh.in

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Re: This time, it feels different

#51

Post by coffeebeqn »

pcl wrote: post #24
haakonhr wrote: post #5

There are definitely interesting times ahead. What surprised me with ChatGPT is the impact of the interface. The quality of the responses are essential up to some threshold, but the chat interface arguably had an even bigger impact. I also remember having the same questions in my last job (in logistics) where potential customers wanted to know how we use AI. This sometimes seemed more important than whether our resul…

Yeah, absolutely. It’s astounding that Google didn’t come up with a chat-based refinement interface to a search session after all these years, instead forcing us to keep on trying again with a slightly changed query string.

I think it must’ve been an accident. LLMs need a lot to context and the more you talk and narrow your requirements down the better its response gets (in theory). But it really was chatgpt that made it go mainstream. I remember playing with the earlier GPT playgrounds and I also thought neat but not for me

Re: This time, it feels different

#52

Post by coffeebeqn »

spamizbad wrote: post #20

I see a ton of buzz around "prompt engineering", which is being able to shape arbitrary inputs into a prompt that will produce high quality results, but the next step is consuming and acting on prompt results programatically and that's an area where I see way less "buzz", but it's likely where the real value is found.

LangChain is an early example of a programming environment where you “chain” prompts, replies and 3rd party calls together

Re: This time, it feels different

#53

Post by gabereiser »

swores wrote: post #49
gabereiser wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yahoo, Compuserve, AOL, Gateway Computers, Nokia, SEGA, Blockbuster, KMart, and countless more medium-large business that didn't have a strategy for the technology shift.

Yes, good list, and plenty of others too like Blackberry, Palm, Digg, MySpace, IBM, Blockbuster, etc etc

friendster, napster, yellow pages, arcades, Pontiac, Saturn, JNCO, geocities, iomega, Sun Microsystems, CREATIVE. So many bodies...

Re: This time, it feels different

#54

Post by paulryanrogers »

rolisz wrote: post #42
blibble wrote: post #39

> I have come across people who do programming, legal work, business, accountancy and finance, fashion design, architecture, graphic design, research, teaching, cooking, travel planning, event management etc., all of whom have started using the same tool, ChatGPT if I found out my lawyer/account/tax advisor/broker had fed my privileged information into ChatGPT I'd be reporting them to their regulator and they'd be st…

You can use ChatGPT without feeding a clients personal data to it. You can ask hypothetical questions about a certain situation. Like in coding, you don't have to copy paste in source code be able to get some useful feedback on how to proceed.

This requires care as it may only require a few details or other metadata like when/where one asked to narrow down who they're talking about. Considering ChatGPT leaks and hallucinations I would hope folks in law and medicine are being very careful.

Re: This time, it feels different

#55

Post by wslh »

roenxi wrote: post #44
blowski wrote: post #4

Every few years a new technology goes mainstream and quickly changes the world around us rather fundamentally. I’ve lived through the web in 1995. Google in 2000. Web 2.0 in 2005. Smartphones in 2009. Now it’s generative AI in 2023. Every time, there’s an argument about whether it’s the end of the world or a total nothingburger. Every time, industry leaders are knocked off their perch. Every time, there are surprise…

It is amazing to think that people have already forgotten about things like the introduction of smartphones and the internet. The military applications of AI could be civilisation shattering (once someone wins a war with a fully mechanised army all bets are off as to what happens to democracy as a political system and the human race in general). Apart from that risk, there is no reason yet to think that this will be…

We forget about the "invention" of open source, Linux et al (e.g. GCC, Python, Curl, etc) that makes it possible to run those Androids, macOS, and infrastructure and zillions of devices around the world. Don't forget ;-)

Re: This time, it feels different

#56

Post by scaramanga »

ctrl-vvvvvvvvv wrote: post #29

Geez another article on the AI Spookiness? How many is that this month now? Most of these articles border on science fiction and involve a lot of projection. While I am concerned in some ways with AI, particularly in mass surveillance and public manipulation via bots, what else can we do other than be reactive to _real_ AI applications when _deployed_? Then we start to discuss proper policy towards AI. Until we see s…

It's a secular religion. The whole thing scans very much the like the man who ambushed me in a public bathhouse a few weeks ago to tell me about how skeptical he was about Jesus his whole life, right up until the moment he found Jesus. And proceeded to expound on it at great length, while I avoided eye contact, fidgeted, stared in the opposite direction, etc.. At some point you have to just get up and walk to the other side of the room from these people, because they show no sign of letting up.

Re: This time, it feels different

#57

Post by peteradio »

blowski wrote: post #4

Every few years a new technology goes mainstream and quickly changes the world around us rather fundamentally. I’ve lived through the web in 1995. Google in 2000. Web 2.0 in 2005. Smartphones in 2009. Now it’s generative AI in 2023. Every time, there’s an argument about whether it’s the end of the world or a total nothingburger. Every time, industry leaders are knocked off their perch. Every time, there are surprise…

Anybody else feel like smartphones were overall net negative? I like cell phones they fit a particular need that I think most people would agree is a net good. But smart phones? I don't fucking want to see any of this stuff on my phone its just like cigarettes, feels nice but in the long run just makes you feel sicker. And people would say ok just don't get one but I sort of feel like its not just a me thing, most people would be better off if most people didn't have a phone. Facebook would not be a problem without smartphones IMO.

Re: This time, it feels different

#58

Post by Macha »

jprete wrote: post #28
swores wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would you call Apple "industry leaders" pre-2000s, though? But anyway, they didn't specify all industry leaders, and it's pretty solid that many leaders were knocked off their perches.

Apple was absolutely an industry leader before the 2000s. Which leaders exactly have been knocked off their perches?

That's not the question was asked though. Sure, they were an industry leader in the 70s/80s but in the period 1990-2005? It's hard to claim they really were. It's one of the rare examples of a fallen giant getting back on their feet, most just slowly dissolve over a few decades. AT&T is the only other such example that comes to mind.

Re: This time, it feels different

#59

Post by layer8 »

tremon wrote: post #11
te_chris wrote: post #3

Very good piece. It really does feel different this time. Lots of McKinsey BS about job creation...but where?

I suppose the loss in engineering positions will be compensated by the growth in AI therapist positions.

You mean AI brainwashing positions.

Re: This time, it feels different

#60

Post by jatins »

ctrl-vvvvvvvvv wrote: post #29

Geez another article on the AI Spookiness? How many is that this month now? Most of these articles border on science fiction and involve a lot of projection. While I am concerned in some ways with AI, particularly in mass surveillance and public manipulation via bots, what else can we do other than be reactive to _real_ AI applications when _deployed_? Then we start to discuss proper policy towards AI. Until we see s…

> Most of these articles border on science fiction and involve a lot of projection

I understand the fatigue is real but this one does neither of above imo and was fairly grounded in reality. The author(who is CTO of a company) did a GPT integration and realised it could potentially replace 20% of jobs at their company. That is something to be spooked about.

> these articles other than some form of PR campaign

A lot of these are, but as an outside observer of Zerodha I can assure you this isn't. The company has spent zero dollars on marketing in last decade.

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