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Bored of It

paulrobertlloyd.com

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Re: Bored of It

#91

Post by martindbp »

I've noticed something about people's reaction to AI. People who view themselves mainly as engineers or craftsmen are threatened by AI, understandably. People who just want to make cool stuff, solve real problems or just have fun are not threatened, but love it.

And I get it, an expert furniture craftsman will not have respect for IKEA furniture, and that's fine. But it means I can affordably furnish a new apartment for $2k instead of $20k. Of course it's even more threatening because there is the risk that the AI will actually do a better job in the future. But people still play Chess and have fun with that, and people enjoy watching Magnus Carlsen play even though he can't beat the AI on a phone.

In the end, we will all have to adapt, and for your own sake I don't think it helps putting your head in the sand and being bitter. Instead of being bitter, try thinking about all the cool stuff you can make now as a one person team.

Re: Bored of It

#92

Post by DontchaKnowit »

teekert wrote: post #40
DontchaKnowit wrote: post #7

It is legitimately like the least interesting topic of convo. When someone says "maybe they could use Aai to...." I tune out immediately

Recently I had a convo starting with: "Maybe we can use AI to infer whether we are dealing with an experiment or a control based on the metadata of these public studies." These data are tables, people call "controls" anything from "control" to "ctrl" to "ctr" to "t0", either in the file name, a random column, etc etc etc. It worked well and I'm glad we tried it. In time I think we will derive value from deciding to u…

I mean I am not really talking in a professional setting or technical setting... I mean just shootin the shit with people.

Re: Bored of It

#93

Post by placardloop »

AI is really bringing out the worst in capitalist corporatism. I think even the most pessimistic AI doomer will agree that the technology is fascinating and can do some cool things, but our corporate overlords have made it such an all-encompassing topic that it’s hard not to be disillusioned by it.

Yes, it’s an interesting technology - but seeing other interesting technologies and projects get disinvested in because it’s not new shiny AI - or watching leaders insist on creating yet another chatbot just so they can pat themselves on the back - or replacing an already-working system with a half-broken AI one just so we can say we use AI, and then forcing everyone at the company to use it just so we can release a press release saying ‘all of our developers use AI’. Watching our overall quality of work decrease, but leaders celebrate it because “mediocre but done with AI” is gold standard now…

All of it feels like a sham. Feels like we’re trying too hard to prop up AI as amazing, rather than letting it succeed on its own merits.

Re: Bored of It

#95

Post by unfamiliar »

thih9 wrote: post #70

> You know what I’m talking about, even though I’ve not mentioned it. Many comments here assume the "it" means AI. Is that certain though? As in: is there a line that without doubt would point to AI? In my view this text could just as well be about the iPhone (written 15 years ago and published today). Perhaps this makes "it" even more boring; i.e. that when the process ends with one "it", it starts again with a new…

Just like a psychological diagnosis is often based on proximity to a cluster of symptoms rather than specific ones that must be met, you can't point to one particular line that makes it AI. It is the combination of all of the sentences that aligns with our perception of AI.

Re: Bored of It

#96

Post by rsynnott »

Best bit is, this is perennial; while, given the date one assumes it is a vile libel against our benevolent robot overlords, if written a few years ago you'd just assume it was about blockchain.

Re: Bored of It

#97

Post by lolinder »

latexr wrote: post #17

> The best minds of my generation I’m tired of that line. I remember first seeing it on “the best minds of our generation being employed to sell you ads”. Making a computer go brrr doesn’t qualify anyone for a “best mind”. I’d hope a “best mind” would be, above all, empathetic. Concerned about the well being of their fellow humans. Philosophical about the state of the world. Patient. Curious. Wise and not just smart.…

This reminds me of Bret Devereaux's series on Alexander III of Macedon and the meaning of "greatness" [0]:

> Only once we’ve stripped away the mythology and found the man can we then ask that key question: was Alexander truly great and if so, what does that say not about Alexander, but about our own conceptions of greatness?

"Great" and "best" are both just words, words whose definition is defined by us who use them.

[0] https://acoup.blog/2024/05/17/collections-on-the-reign-of-al...

Re: Bored of It

#98

Post by jsheard »

terhechte wrote: post #71

I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the na…

The younger generations do seem to be embracing AI more, but mainly because it can do their homework for them without requiring them to learn anything. For now at least, until curriculums have time to adjust to this new reality.

Re: Bored of It

#99

Post by antonvs »

thih9 wrote: post #70

> You know what I’m talking about, even though I’ve not mentioned it. Many comments here assume the "it" means AI. Is that certain though? As in: is there a line that without doubt would point to AI? In my view this text could just as well be about the iPhone (written 15 years ago and published today). Perhaps this makes "it" even more boring; i.e. that when the process ends with one "it", it starts again with a new…

"It" could be computing in general.

Or American-style ultracapitalism, a phenomenon for which terms like "the control problem" and "alignment" are certainly relevant.

Re: Bored of It

#100

Post by mdp2021 »

zwnow wrote: post #63
latexr wrote: post #17

> The best minds of my generation I’m tired of that line. I remember first seeing it on “the best minds of our generation being employed to sell you ads”. Making a computer go brrr doesn’t qualify anyone for a “best mind”. I’d hope a “best mind” would be, above all, empathetic. Concerned about the well being of their fellow humans. Philosophical about the state of the world. Patient. Curious. Wise and not just smart.…

Why is being empathetic a trait of a "great mind"? Wouldn't it also be possible that "great minds" don't consider things like empathy as useful? Looking back at human history, its usually people that aren't empathetic who end up being successful. At least in a way that people consider "successful". Humanity has long outlived the usefulness of empathy.

> end up being successful

And """success""" is not a value. Taken in those ways, it is the mark of the psychopath.

Of course they did, because it is easier to achieve goals if you cut corners. In a gaming framework, it amounts to cheating.

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