Baldur BjarnasonFeb 7, 2025

I’ve often made the point that generative AI is an amazing tech much like asbestos is an amazing material: they have qualities that feel like genuine miracles but at a human cost so high that broad adoption is only possible if human life is devalued beyond what has been acceptable up until now

But much of the adoption of generative models doesn’t come from the few it does well, but is driven by those who do not understand the job they’re replacing.

Show threadBaldur BjarnasonFeb 7, 2025

Copywriting, illustrating, editing, or coding, the work that the model is doing simply isn’t the work the human was doing

David Gerard links to a good example of this happening in press releases https://circumstances.run/@davidgerard/113958438745025540

The "AI" replacement simply isn't doing the job it supposedly replaces

David Gerard (@[email protected])

so i just found out why the press releases i get are such cloying dogshit and why i increasingly just block the senders in gmail https://muckrack.com/blog/2024/10/16/using-ai-pitch-generator

GSV Sleeper Service
Show threadBaldur BjarnasonFeb 7, 2025
If we’re lucky, managers and execs might realise months after the fact that they’ve sabotaged their organisations by adopting these tools, but that’s unlikely because there’s plenty of economic “cover” going on. They won't realise the organisation is doing badly because of their mismanagement (their persistent overconfidence doesn't help), but because of tariffs or whatever
Show threadBaldur BjarnasonFeb 7, 2025
So, I just don’t see how we’re going to avoid a wholesale deterioration of the effectiveness of organisations, institutions, and companies in Europe and the US. The few that avoid using the tools because the bubble makes the tools too risky to adopt still have to use the services and products made by the rest
Show threadDan SeitzFeb 7, 2025
@baldur I see your point, and share your concern, but I think you're overestimating the interest in these tools outside a fairly narrow scope. There just isn't an effective consumer/nonindustrial use case here. As the hype wears off that's going to become painfully clear.
Show threadDan SeitzFeb 7, 2025
@baldur I think a better comparison is voice assistants. For some people, like the visually impaired, it's an incredibly useful tool. For most, it was a novelty they forgot about, in part because the tech wasn't really there.
Show threadJohn LooneyFeb 7, 2025

@Dseitz @baldur

It's a real shame, that with all the "improvements" in AI, that Voice assistants have gotten so much worse over the last few years.

It's as if technology, products, and user experiences actually have nothing to do with each other.

Show threadDan Seitz
@bigvalen @Dseitz @baldur I think it really speaks to the fact that these are technologies that require constant care and thus probably aren't ideal for private enterprise.
Feb 7, 2025 at 1:58pmWeb