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Shunning AI is the human choice

thehandbasket.co

511–520 of 572 posts

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been on the free information train my entire life, back to my little hacker punk days in the 90's, so my opinion on that isn't worth much. I do think that the ecological considerations are also entirely the fault of the aforementioned CEOs. Machine learning research has been ongoing in good faith since the 40's. Blaming the technology is kind of silly. Imagine if we had banned trains because the robber barons we…

> is going to drive some incredible discoveries in all of STEM No it won't. Natural language manipulation is never a bottleneck in STEM.

Aside from everything everyone else has mentioned, AI != LLMs

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I run a model on my own hardware am I working with the "AI" political project? No. Obviously, what you do on your PC is inconsequential to the rest of society. But despite this, AI and its consequences in big tech have become so thoroughly linked because the entities that develop and profit off of AI use are so big and influential over the rest of us. The hobbyist space isn't what people even think about.

There are business uses of on-prem agentic AI happening right now all over the place, it's not just a hobbyist space.

Is it really that common? I know it exists, but everywhere I go I hear of everyone paying for enterprise subscriptions, the implications that LLM usage rates have for businesses, companies burning through allotted tokens, the use of cutting-edge models. From my impression, local models (especially so for image generators) were the domain of the hobbyists and only a small slice of corporate use.

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ishmael is a good read.

What is it about?

It's a fictional dialog that gives an account of history from a different viewpoint, from a society that was destroyed by modern civilization

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(Quinn_novel)

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#514
post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about you, but I can buy bows and arrows at hundreds of sporting goods stores in my local area alone, and I even know of 2 local blacksmith shops that sell swords. Castles still exist as well, you just aren't invited to them (which was true for us peasants back in the day, too). Trump is still trying to get one built under the ruins of the East Wing, in fact.

The point is not that these cease to exist. The point is that their significance decreases greatly.

But are these actually completely different technologies, and if so, where is the dividing line? Firearms certainly have not decreased in significance, and they're the modern version of a bow, which is simply 2 iterations later in propulsion methods: tensioned string -> high-tension cable -> high-pressure gas.

Are LLMs really going to fall off in significance, or will it just be the nth newest incarnation of LLMs?

The function of what an LLM does (generative language) is what people seem to take issue with, but the function is here to stay, even if the next iteration has a different name or method.

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#515
post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's math that requires an obscene amount of compute. If it's possible to make DRM chips that don't let you play pirated movies and GPS chips that shut down when going too fast, then I reckon it's also possible to make GPUs that shut down when they encounter anything that looks like a transformer. The problem is regulatory, not technical.

chips limiting what kind of software can be run sounds absolutely awful and would be a huge overstep in government power. once I buy a piece of hardware I should be able to run whatever I want on it.

Sure, until it gets to the point where you're no longer able to just "buy a piece of hardware". Then it'll suddenly sound like a pretty sweet deal. Like when Nvidia nerfed ETH mining back when that was still a thing. That too was done to give more people access to hardware, not to take away their freedom.

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#516
post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is not that these cease to exist. The point is that their significance decreases greatly.

But are these actually completely different technologies, and if so, where is the dividing line? Firearms certainly have not decreased in significance, and they're the modern version of a bow, which is simply 2 iterations later in propulsion methods: tensioned string -> high-tension cable -> high-pressure gas. Are LLMs really going to fall off in significance, or will it just be the nth newest incarnation of LLMs? Th…

The difference is in what other enabling technologies do you need to achieve it. Advanced technologies sit on a pyramid. One can build a bow and an arrow from sticks, string and rock. For reliable firearm we need chemistry and advanced metallurgy.

My view wasn't whether generative language is here to stay or not but rather will it continue to be a significant thing or not.

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#517
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> AI is here to stay I've seen this mantra repeated over and over again with the exact same wording, and it's starting to sound like some kind of psy-op. How about we start reasoning from here instead: Humans are here to stay. Whether or not we'll allow AI to stay is a function of whether or not it serves our collective interest.

Exactly. Just like how the world vetoed atom bombs from existence instead of making 12,000 of them.

In the mid-80s the world was estimated to have some 60000+, so 12000 is somewhat of an improvement. Ideally through arms control we could reduce this further, but that's no trivial undertaking.

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#518

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"My bubble is more correct then the bubble of those I disagree with". There are objective data to refer to: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/03/12/key-findi... https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3955

>5. A majority of teens use AI chatbots. Roughly two-thirds of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 (64%) say they ever use an AI chatbot, according to a fall 2025 survey. >6. A growing share of U.S. workers say at least some of their work is done with AI. That share has risen from 16% in 2024 to 21% in a September 2025 survey. >8. Younger adults are more likely than older Americans to be aware of and use AI. so, uh, thanks for…

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Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#519
post #168

These people are going to have a really hard time coming to grips with reality in the next few years. AI is here to stay, and it's expanding very rapidly. If you can't fight them, join them.

> AI is here to stay I've seen this mantra repeated over and over again with the exact same wording, and it's starting to sound like some kind of psy-op. How about we start reasoning from here instead: Humans are here to stay. Whether or not we'll allow AI to stay is a function of whether or not it serves our collective interest.

> AI is here to stay

I've seen this mantra repeated over and over again with the exact same wording, and it's starting to sound like some kind of psy-op.

It's become a religion. Or more to the point — a cult.

All worship the holy, sacred AI. Resist its hallowed inevitability and you will be excoriated in public.

Re: Shunning AI is the human choice

#520

Hating "AI" in the abstract is like hating public-key encryption. Ultimately it's just math. Once the math is out there, there's no going back. Instead of futilely demanding technology to go away, it would be better to focus on organizing together for better outcomes. https://opcraft.co/writing/2026/04/getting-the-good-ai-futur...

"Hating "AI" ins the abstract is like hating public-key encryption."

It's more like hating the Almquist shell, or UNIX utilities in general

In practice, for most of the population, "AI" is someone else's software. Maybe some dislike using it

But as the commencement speaker at Middle Tennessee State said, "Deal with it. Like I said, it's a tool."

The UNIX shell and utilities are out there, running on billions of computers. There's no going back

I chose to adapt. But many "software developers" will futilely keep demanding that the UNIX shell go away and be replaced by something else

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