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The Generative AI Con.

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  • C This user is from outside of this forum
    C This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

    I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

    None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

    My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

    And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

    F V greg@lemmy.caG I frequenttimetraveler@lemmy.worldF 8 Replies Last reply
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    • C [email protected]

      I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

      I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

      None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

      My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

      And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

      F This user is from outside of this forum
      F This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      author complains about having to repeat himself in his ranting over and over again, 2/10

      read this if you like angry people yelling at you.... tons of bold, italics, underlines, and even the occasional ALL CAPS

      my favorite part: 1. Shut the fuck up!

      A 1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • C [email protected]

        I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

        I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

        None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

        My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

        And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

        V This user is from outside of this forum
        V This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        antithetical to the spirit of silicon valley

        Tell me you haven't been paying attention without telling me you haven't been paying attention.

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • C [email protected]

          I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

          I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

          None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

          My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

          And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

          greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
          greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          The author seems to think that OpenAI having an unsustainable business model means generative AI is a con. Generative AI doesn’t mean OpenAI 🤦‍♂️ There is a good chance that the VC funds invested in OpenAI will have evaporated in 5 years. But generative AI will exist in 5 years, it will be orders of magnitude more useful, and it will help solve many problems.

          V sentient_loom@sh.itjust.worksS 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • greg@lemmy.caG [email protected]

            The author seems to think that OpenAI having an unsustainable business model means generative AI is a con. Generative AI doesn’t mean OpenAI 🤦‍♂️ There is a good chance that the VC funds invested in OpenAI will have evaporated in 5 years. But generative AI will exist in 5 years, it will be orders of magnitude more useful, and it will help solve many problems.

            V This user is from outside of this forum
            V This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            The level of user sophistication required to use modern "Ai" in a productive useful way puts it squarely beyond the reach of the masses. Alphafold is fucking awesome, chatGPT O3 is nothing but a gimmick.

            greg@lemmy.caG 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • V [email protected]

              The level of user sophistication required to use modern "Ai" in a productive useful way puts it squarely beyond the reach of the masses. Alphafold is fucking awesome, chatGPT O3 is nothing but a gimmick.

              greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
              greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              100% and like any tool, it can be used poorly resulting in AI bit rot, bugs, unmaintainable code, etc. But when used well, given appropriate context, by users that know what good solutions looks like, it can increase developer efficiency.

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • C [email protected]

                I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

                I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

                None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

                My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

                And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

                I This user is from outside of this forum
                I This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                “If we run terabytes of text through a statistical model, then spend millions of man-hours labeling outputs, we can approximate the way humans respond to a prompt.” –OpenAI, more or less

                Wow, what a surprise. I'll do you one better: if you take me to a river, I can tell you where the water is going to go next! Maybe we can get some VC money by promising to deliver clean water to every business in the world without all the expense of pipelines and plumbers? I mean, just look at all this water. It may not go where you want right now, but let us dump sewage in it for a couple years and who knows what it’ll do.

                1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • greg@lemmy.caG [email protected]

                  The author seems to think that OpenAI having an unsustainable business model means generative AI is a con. Generative AI doesn’t mean OpenAI 🤦‍♂️ There is a good chance that the VC funds invested in OpenAI will have evaporated in 5 years. But generative AI will exist in 5 years, it will be orders of magnitude more useful, and it will help solve many problems.

                  sentient_loom@sh.itjust.worksS This user is from outside of this forum
                  sentient_loom@sh.itjust.worksS This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  it will help solve many problems

                  And will make many jobs redundant.

                  jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • sentient_loom@sh.itjust.worksS [email protected]

                    it will help solve many problems

                    And will make many jobs redundant.

                    jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                    jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    It will. So has just about every other major technical development ever. Eventually those lost jobs should be replaced by even more jobs made possible by the new technology, but in the meantime it will suck.

                    Thats how you know its not just a gimmick. How many jobs did blockchain replace? Just about zero. How many jobs did computers or the Internet or the mechanical loom or the freaking steam engine replace? Tons.

                    A 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ [email protected]

                      It will. So has just about every other major technical development ever. Eventually those lost jobs should be replaced by even more jobs made possible by the new technology, but in the meantime it will suck.

                      Thats how you know its not just a gimmick. How many jobs did blockchain replace? Just about zero. How many jobs did computers or the Internet or the mechanical loom or the freaking steam engine replace? Tons.

                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      except genAI has proven no purpose. this is like saying "look at how many jobs bankers replaced! we just used to eat for free, now we have to work our entire lives for it or starve!"

                      jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ greg@lemmy.caG 2 Replies Last reply
                      0
                      • F [email protected]

                        author complains about having to repeat himself in his ranting over and over again, 2/10

                        read this if you like angry people yelling at you.... tons of bold, italics, underlines, and even the occasional ALL CAPS

                        my favorite part: 1. Shut the fuck up!

                        A This user is from outside of this forum
                        A This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        it's called having a conscience, you might wanna try it

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • C [email protected]

                          I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

                          I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

                          None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

                          My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

                          And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

                          frequenttimetraveler@lemmy.worldF This user is from outside of this forum
                          frequenttimetraveler@lemmy.worldF This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Think of the Metaverse. Or Web3

                          They didnt really fall apart, they faded out as the VC money moved from them to AI. There is too much money sloshing around, courtesy of moneyprinting and inherited wealth from the largest and richest generation the world will ever see.

                          Neural networks work. We know they do, but they have some way to go before they learn to do the work for us. The current crop of companies will become obsolete as soon as the RSUs of most of their workers vest.

                          Patience

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • C [email protected]

                            I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

                            I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

                            None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

                            My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

                            And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

                            M This user is from outside of this forum
                            M This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            Not the most important thing big god I hate this website’s image. “WYEA?” [rock man smiling smugly]

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • A [email protected]

                              except genAI has proven no purpose. this is like saying "look at how many jobs bankers replaced! we just used to eat for free, now we have to work our entire lives for it or starve!"

                              jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                              jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              Im pretty sure most of us already have to work our whole lives or starve.

                              A 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • A [email protected]

                                except genAI has proven no purpose. this is like saying "look at how many jobs bankers replaced! we just used to eat for free, now we have to work our entire lives for it or starve!"

                                greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
                                greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                except genAI has proven no purpose

                                Generative AI has spawned an awful amount of AI slop and companies are forcing incomplete products on users. But don't judge the technology by shitty implementations. There are loads of use cases where when used correctly, generative AI brings value. For example, in document discovery in legal proceedings.

                                S 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • jrs100000@lemmy.worldJ [email protected]

                                  Im pretty sure most of us already have to work our whole lives or starve.

                                  A This user is from outside of this forum
                                  A This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  great, now enjoy that 10 times worse when genAI is used to make skeleton crews an even bigger issue and increase worker exploitation

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C [email protected]

                                    I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

                                    I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

                                    None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

                                    My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

                                    And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

                                    O This user is from outside of this forum
                                    O This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    What is the E in WYEA? I’ve only seen this used in ways that had no context clues.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • C [email protected]

                                      I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

                                      I'm tired of the delusion. I'm tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I'm tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes' Midas list.

                                      None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

                                      My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don't really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

                                      And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

                                      F This user is from outside of this forum
                                      F This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      I feel the frustration. I swear to God, the market evaluation of this technology, compared to downright environmental and financial costs, is absolutely insane. There is nothing they can solve that would excuse this kind of investment and damage, nothing. I love machine learning and data science, but my urge to violently bludgeon every stupid MBA biz-dev head to death for constantly over-promising and straight up lying to customers is rising every month. Fuckers will cause another AI winter, while burning the Earth so we can get more shitty slop.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • greg@lemmy.caG [email protected]

                                        except genAI has proven no purpose

                                        Generative AI has spawned an awful amount of AI slop and companies are forcing incomplete products on users. But don't judge the technology by shitty implementations. There are loads of use cases where when used correctly, generative AI brings value. For example, in document discovery in legal proceedings.

                                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                                        S This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        But is it worth the cost, and is it the best option? Everyone knows that the generative models are heavily subsidized by VC.

                                        You could have other kinds of language processing and machine learning do document discovery better.

                                        greg@lemmy.caG 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • S [email protected]

                                          But is it worth the cost, and is it the best option? Everyone knows that the generative models are heavily subsidized by VC.

                                          You could have other kinds of language processing and machine learning do document discovery better.

                                          greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
                                          greg@lemmy.caG This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          It is the best option for certain use cases. OpenAI, Anthropic, etc sell tokens, so they have a clear incentive to promote LLM reasoning as an everything solution. LLM read is normally an inefficient use of processor cycles for most use cases. However, because LLM reasoning is so flexible, even though it’s inefficient from a cycle perspective, it is still the best option in many cases because the current alternatives are even more inefficient (from a cycle or human time perspective).

                                          Identifying typos in a project update is a task that LLMs can efficiently solve.

                                          S 1 Reply Last reply
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