Technology

We hate it because it's not what the marketing says it is. It's a product that the rich are selling to remove the masses from the labor force, only to benefit the rich. It literally has no other productive use for society aside from this one thing.

Someone on bluesky reposted this image from user @yeetkunedo that I find describes (one aspect of) my disdain for AI.

Text reads: Generative Al is being marketed as a tool designed to reduce or eliminate the need for developed, cognitive skillsets. It uses the work of others to simulate human output, except that it lacks grasp of nuance, contains grievous errors, and ultimately serves the goal of human beings being neurologically weaker due to the promise of the machine being better equipped than the humans using it would ever exert the effort to be. The people that use generative Al for art have no interest in being an artist; they simply want product to consume and forget about when the next piece of product goes by their eyes. The people that use generative Al to make music have no interest in being a musician; they simply want a machine to make them something to listen to until they get bored and want the machine to make some other disposable slop for them to pass the time with.

The people that use generative Al to write things for them have no interest in writing. The people that use generative Al to find factoids have no interest in actual facts. The people that use generative Al to socialize have no interest in actual socialization.

In every case, they've handed over the cognitive load of developing a necessary, creative human skillset to a machine that promises to ease the sweat equity cost of struggle. Using generative Al is like asking a machine to lift weights on your behalf and then calling yourself a bodybuilder when it's done with the reps. You build nothing in terms of muscle, you are not stronger, you are not faster, you are not in better shape. You're just deluding yourself while experiencing a slow decline due to self-inflicted atrophy.

I hate and like the fact that AI can't actually think for itself.

Ed Zitron is one of the loudest opponents against the AI industry right now, and he continues to insist that "there is no real AI adoption." The real problem, apparently, is that investors are getting duped. I would invite Zitron, and anyone else who holds the opinion that demand for AI is largely fictional, to open the app store on their phone on any day of the week and look at the top free apps charts. You could also check with any teacher, student, or software developer.

ChatGPT has some very impressive usage numbers, but the image tells on itself by being a free app. The conversion rate (percentage of people who start paying) is absolutely piss poor, with the very same Ed Zitron estimating it being at ~3% with 500.000.000 users. That also doesn't bode well with the fact that OpenAI still loses money even on their $200/month subscribers. People use ChatGPT because it's been spammed down their throats by the media that never question the sacred words of the executives (snake oil salesmen) that utter lunatic phrases like "AGI by 2025" (Such a quote exists somewhere, but I don't remember if this year was used). People also use ChatGPT because it's free and it's hard to say no to get someone to do your homework for you for free.

I don't hate AI. I'm just waiting for it. Its not like this shit we have now is intelligent.