Eniko Fox

it's highly ironic that the "AI" evangelists constantly repeat that people who hate it are out of touch. they're implying that people don't like it because they don't understand it, when my experience has been people who hate "AI" seem to have a far firmer grasp on how it actually works than the evangelists

edit: reclaiming my notifications by muting this ✌

Jun 5, 2025 at 9:19amWeb
Show threadGMRaphiJun 5, 2025
@eniko Exactly my experience.
Show threadPteryx the Puzzle SecretaryJun 5, 2025

@gmraphi @eniko
My own direct experience with this phenomenon:
https://dice.camp/@pteryx/113173304397594930

And yes, their apparent lack of ability to parse hostility is something I've experienced more than once, too. (Also yes, I blocked this guy.)

Also of note with this case: I'm pretty sure a machine that churns up highly probable results is the wrong tool for finding a *rare* word in the first place.

Pteryx the Puzzle Secretary (@[email protected])

When *I'm* stumped on a couple of words, the big Roget's I have is *also* not yielding fruit, and I've had two people actually suggest trying to dig through *other languages* for the words I need *despite* the fact that this is about writing game rules in English... you know it's bad. #English #Linguistics #GameDesign

Dice.camp
Show threadEniko FoxJun 5, 2025
@pteryx eww gross, sorry you had to deal with that guy
Show threadEfi (nap pet) 🦊💤Jun 5, 2025
@eniko it's literally a matter of faith, so calling them evangelists is very on-point
Show threadAudrey Winter has moved!Jun 5, 2025
@efi @eniko GenAI bros, free-market capitalists, they're all religious zealots.
Show threadJonah GibberishJun 5, 2025
@audreygwinter @efi @eniko when you have faith in falsehoods you will be continously disappointed and have to expend greater and greater amounts energy to maintain your faith
Show threadEfi (nap pet) 🦊💤Jun 5, 2025
@jonahgibberish @audreygwinter @eniko that is patently a lie, but ok
Show threadJonah GibberishJun 5, 2025
@efi @audreygwinter @eniko show me the proof, dumbass.
Show threadEfi (nap pet) 🦊💤Jun 5, 2025
@jonahgibberish @audreygwinter @eniko
Show threadJonah GibberishJun 5, 2025
@efi @audreygwinter @eniko lmfao you could power your entire home for years with all the energy you expend to remain this ignorant
Show threadEfi (nap pet) 🦊💤Jun 5, 2025
@jonahgibberish @audreygwinter @eniko that's a nice hypothesis
Show threadHannah (With a snake problem 🐍)Jun 5, 2025
@eniko It appears that certain entities are heavily invested in seeing it succeed. Both financially and emotionally.
A reaction like this was to be expected.
Show threadIvanDSMJun 5, 2025
@eniko Just like with cryptobros, AI evangelists function in the techbro standard of "if you don't like this thing it's because you don't understand it". They cannot fathom that someone with the same (or greater) knowledge of the magical thing™ would dislike it, since it's so good that it would be impossible for that to happen. Therefore, the only explanation left is "they don't get it". I've had many arguments with people like that about AI and it's exhausting.
Show threadGlennJun 5, 2025
@IvanDSM @eniko I read somewhere once, that the key to salesmanship is believing your own lies.
Show threadAlexander 😷Jun 5, 2025

@eniko  

It's the same reason my fridge, toaster, or TV are not connected to the Internet.

Show threadlobingeraJun 5, 2025
@eniko not that i disagree, but https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44163063
My AI skeptic friends are all nuts | Hacker News

Show threadEniko FoxJun 5, 2025
@lobingera i would not say the guy who expects linters and unit tests (likely written by AI) to solve the flood of sewage code AI produces thoroughly understands how AI works
Show threadlobingeraJun 5, 2025
@eniko
On point.
Show threadEniko FoxJun 5, 2025
@lobingera a more nuanced take is that this guy is basically resorting to name-calling: he says his anti-AI friends are smarter than him but doesn't seem to give their opinions any credibility, which is pretty typical of evangelists. Also when I read his article I saw no evidence that he's done anything with AI that's production ready and stable. Generating a mostly working prototype isn't the same thing as having it work on a large codebase that needs to be stable cause thousands rely on it
Show threadsabikJun 5, 2025

@eniko @lobingera
right?

another thing is the "an agent can occupy itself for hours putzing with your tests in a vm" line

Show threadKid ManiaJun 5, 2025

@sabik @eniko @lobingera
"not that i disagree, but..."
🤔
Sure, sure.
Now have a gander at this...

People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies
Self-styled prophets are claiming they have 'awakened' chatbots and accessed the secrets of the universe through ChatGPT
https://archive.ph/eeesj#selection-1485.0-1489.120

Show threadRobin Syl 🌸 Jun 5, 2025
@eniko in my experience, most devs hate debugging and writing unit tests and only want to write code. So we invented a tool to write the code and relegate the humans to debugging and writing unit tests to make sure it doesn't hallucinate
Show threadNafeon the BearJun 5, 2025

@lobingera @eniko hehe.

I just read that post behind the y combinator.

I think in the end it is both.

LLMs will produce slop and this will be bullshit, but they will also help as code assist. Junior dev vibecoders, who don't even read the code they produce will be annoying brats in the end, but will at least help somewhat with projects. I just really hope that the CO2 footprint will shrink massively.

I really hate that I get AI generated spam with really ugly generated images now.

Show threadBill deWordeJun 5, 2025

@lobingera @eniko I found this article really interesting on a meta level. In large part, the argument seems to be: “I don’t care if it’s not AI, a natural language parser and code generation tool is useful.”

But if you were listening, that’s exactly what your AI skeptic friends are saying! A predictive content generation tool can be useful in places, if you understand its limitations and what it’s good at.

But as the author says, that’s not AI. And, more importantly, it doesn’t necessarily indicate the imminent emergence of artificial general intelligence. The only reason this is getting called AI in the first place is that drafting behind the societal conception of AI makes it possible to massively increase sales of your product.

1/2

Show threadBill deWordeJun 5, 2025

@lobingera @eniko

I suspect that if the industry were honest and accurate in describing what this tool was, and stop trying to force it on people like it’s something it’s not, a vast majority of skeptics would be a lot less vocal and there’d be a more collaborative discourse about appropriate, effective and safe use of a new tool. The author seems to walk right up to the edge of that insight and then at the last moment go with: “yeah, these folks are nuts.”

2/2

Show threadAdam CafollaJun 5, 2025

@eniko

My partner watched a video of someone telling you how to get rich with AI and it was basically a prompt to write a business plan that would make a million pounds in a year with no start up funding...

And I'm sure it will spew out the same ideas that countless make money online sites give you, but it is not going to come up with some new original money making idea BECAUSE IT IS NOT ACTUALLY INTELLIGENT.

I fucking hate these morons.

Show threadsamiamsamJun 5, 2025

@adaliabooks @eniko

AI is a gaslighting machine

yikes

Show threadhelpsterTeeJun 5, 2025
@eniko we do. And we try to tell those who don’t, but often they’re already too deep down the rabbit hole. Mental sunken cost fallacy.
Show threadSimoneJun 5, 2025
@eniko both you (and the evangelists) shall be more concrete. One does not love or hate a technology, but rather a specific use of it. AI works very well for some things (e.g. navigate, organise and leverage on knowledge) and very bad for others (mainly related to humans drowning themselves and the AI in the AI outputs). We shall keep the good and avoid the bad. History of technologies tells us that usually this come after all the bad has been (painfully) experienced…
Show thread👁Pooka🫣Boo🫵Jun 5, 2025
@eniko We live in a culture(s) where the science behind things is indistinguishable from magic for most people. (Didn't Asimov or somebody say that?) AI is a tool, nothing more. Humans invest emotion and, in some cases, life into their tools. It's a human thing to do. It's like giving your automobile a name. Some people can and will embrace AI as a tool. Some people can and will not. That's human nature. Engaging honestly and civily over its uses is worthwhile. To argue & fight about it is not.
Show thread👁Pooka🫣Boo🫵Jun 5, 2025
@eniko Furthermore, and admittedly, fighting about things is human, too.
Show threadKid ManiaJun 5, 2025

@lednaBM @eniko
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

--Arthur C. Clarke (The third of his three laws...)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws

Clarke's three laws - Wikipedia

Show thread👁Pooka🫣Boo🫵Jun 5, 2025
@clintruin @eniko 🙇‍♂️
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEJun 5, 2025

@clintruin @lednaBM @eniko Law no. 2 is why we need people pushing the envelope.

If nobody pushes the envelope then we don't know where it is. So we might be missing out on some useful bits of it.

Show threadKid ManiaJun 5, 2025

@TimWardCam @lednaBM @eniko
Caveat:
This is true.

It might also be the end of us.

But then, I have a LOW opinion of the human race.

"Everything is ultimately peculiar and ultimately ridiculous."
--Thomas Ligotti
☠️

Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEJun 5, 2025
@clintruin @lednaBM @eniko Well, suitable precautions are a good idea. It's an aviation term, and the rule is that before you play silly buggers in an aeroplane you make sure that you're not above anything that would be likely to matter all that much if you fell out of the sky.
Show threadAllpointsJun 5, 2025
@clintruin @lednaBM @eniko The converse is also true (Nivens law)
Show threadPeter BindelsJun 5, 2025

@lednaBM @eniko

Even the most obvious things are questions to many people.

What's between you right now, and the outside? IE, through the wall?

What's keeping the floor you're sitting on from falling down?

How does the image get from the baseball field to your TV?

How does your car work?

Show thread👁Pooka🫣Boo🫵Jun 5, 2025

@dascandy @eniko

The question still remains if one has the wisdom to not base their understanding of how the natural world works on faith-based supernatural explanations.

Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEJun 5, 2025
@dascandy @lednaBM @eniko There's a whole book on why you don't fall through the floor. https://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Science-Strong-Materials-Through/dp/0140135979
IIRC this is the book that explains why jelly is brittle.
Show threadStefan BohacekJun 5, 2025

@eniko It's not just you!

https://www.wired.com/story/the-less-people-know-about-ai-the-more-they-like-it/

The Less People Know About AI, the More They Like It

You might assume that tech-savvy people are the most open to using AI, but research suggests it's actually those who are least familiar with it.

WIRED
Show threadEniko FoxJun 5, 2025
@stefan gosh i love it when my hunches are backed up by actual research
Show threadPteryx the Puzzle SecretaryJun 5, 2025
@eniko @stefan
I have a problem with how this article, after making the point, then goes on to talk about it as though it's a *bad* thing, though. Clearly this is not a finding that the researchers wanted, because it means there's a tension between educating people and fleecing them, oh no! 🙄
Show threadVile LasagnaJun 5, 2025
@stefan @eniko the brain rot necessary to write "educators and policy makers need to be careful about spreading understanding about AI because if people understand how it works, they won't want to use it" is not lost on me. One of the Torment Nexii of all time
Show threadMaruno UlfdrengrJun 5, 2025
@eniko Yeah, I feel this... At my work they want to enforce people use AI... And send a survey where it's mandatory to say what kind of training you need to help you along. Not wanting to use it or it not helping you is not a good answer, they insist it should improve your satisfaction in work... Yeah no
Show threadFelichsJun 5, 2025

@eniko

I've put my thoughts here the other day:

https://mastodon.social/@felichsdakatze/114618575694253515

Show threadRAKJun 5, 2025
@eniko: Shades of blockchain evangelism; it's not coincidental that it attracted the same sorts of people.
Show threadKg. Madee Ⅱ.Jun 5, 2025
@raktheundead @eniko and the very same people, notabene!
Show threadHumanJun 5, 2025
@eniko AI just highlights societal problems. It is replacing workers because of capitalism. If everyone were paid the same, humans would do the work because they do a better job. LLMs that are tuned to drive up engagement would no longer exist. If there were free access to mental (and all) health care, people wouldn't use ai as a therapist. If we had clean power, most of the environmental concerns are largely reduced or eliminated. AI is mostly amplifying existing problems.
Show threadapophisJun 5, 2025
@eniko i've seen quite a few haters who are terribly ignorant

and a few people who are willing to use the tech and are annoyed at the blanket hate

but the ones actually promoting it as some cure-all.... yeah no they're irredeemable