Byron
adafruit"Apple Predicted Your AI Assistant in 1987. They Were Off by 18 Days" Looks like there are enough tools, services, and open-source versions of various apps to make this "real" we'll see what is possible soon, Mastodon dudes, if you do not like the content we publish, you don't need to read it, block, move on - for everyone else, stop back later. siri was october 2011
Nik | Klampfradler 🎸🚲@adafruit You realise you are talking to and insulting your customers, right?
Tom BortelsThey are talking to everyone. This is Mastodon - if you don't like a poster, don't follow, or block and move on.
Background for the confused: some folks at Adafruit have found utility in using AI for circuit board layouts. This isn't unreasonable - verifiable technical tasks evade some of the flaws in current AI output. Some other folks are offended by this. They should shop elsewhere if it's that important to them. What they shouldn't do is try to drag *anyone* for it, especially on Mastodon. On mastodon, you only see content of people you follow or that people you follow boosted. If you don't like that content - block or unfollow, please. Evangelists of any stripe will have a hard time here by design. We block early and often.
Yes, AI has some ugly baggage. But like almost everything in this world, it is not wholly evil or pure - it's just tech, and the moral value comes from how it's created and used, it isn't inherent. My personal take is that the technology is far less an issue than the reality of how it was trained and how the businesses selling it are affecting the economy, but doing that justice is a rant that also probably doesn't belong here.
If this upsets anyone, block me. Please.
kholerik (they/them)I both get it and agree.
But Adafruit was unfairly dragged recently by a mistaken association with another vendor and got dogpiled on; the original poster deleted their post, but the mob is still riled.
If you dislike AI and the effects it has on our society - I mostly agree. But the problem is less the users, and more the AI companies who are doing all sorts of illegal and unethical shit. They are the correct targets of our collective ire, not the end users. I have a feeling most AI end-users will get burned quickly enough without people yelling at them online TBH - the viable use-cases are far more narrow than the evangelists would have us believe.
@tbortels @nik @adafruit I think the mob is mostly riled because of the idiotic way in which Adafruit decided to response to the initial mistake.
Besides that I think we agree. My problem with AI is mainly that it's mostly controlled by a few assholes. With the insane resource requirements being a close second.
jack@adafruit @nik @[email protected]
And if that bothered anyone reading this: yes, please block me. Do it now. You don't need me in your life.
No, really. Your feed in mastodon is yours to curate. Nobody is doing it for you - and that's a good thing. If you block me, my response is "good for you - make the world you want to live in."
I'm interested in talking and sharing. I'm not looking to fight, at least not here.
Divya Ranjan 
Proprietary software is *by definition* evil. AI, especially the ones from Big Tech, are based on such evil proprietary software that infringes on the user's freedom, privacy and destroys our environment.
The least you can do, if you guys truly represent indie hacker community in any sense, is to reject it categorically. And if you can't rejct it, just don't put yourself on that ethical ground. Say it clearly that you have given up. Also, stop blaming Mastodon's people. This is a place where we reject bad things that are prevalent in the world and mainstream industry. A place where we respect freedom. If somehow people complaining about that is a problem, then it is rather you who should be reconsidering whether you belong on Mastodon or over something like X where I'm sure you'll find many such people who can help you with AI.
Mark Struberg@tbortels @nik @adafruit I also don't get the discussion. They have been using AI to create the sym and footprint libs for EagleCAD based on the datasheet. So what? That's a perfectly fine and reasonable use case for AI. Ofc you have to verify the result before you use it, but that's exactly expected.
Indeed - the case where (1) the training material is published with the intent of sharing/teaching, and (2) the result is fairly easily tested for correctness is the one real, compelling use-case for current AI.
A hallucinated circuit should quickly be identified by the blue smoke and flame.
Chan Secodina@adafruit Longtime customer here. I'm still using the soldering iron that came in that first order back in 2018. Over the years I went out of my way to buy from Adafruit rather than Digikey or Mouser or Sparkfun whenever I had the choice. I often said "I'm sure Adafruit will do something better with my money than I would have, so I might as well give it to them." This recent embrace of AI though is giving me pause. I'm not planning to block and move on, but I think I'll unfollow and consider shopping elsewhere more often.
David Bramian@adafruit yah guys, we toally want to use AI to save the rain forrsts of only ypu let us, and pleese give us al you're moneys. thank
@adafruit Excellent Post! Many users on this platform may find this interesting and informative -- it provides a window into the mid-1980s Silicon Valley zeitgeist typified by visionary technocratic optimism. Also evident are traces of messianic God complex endemic throughout the global North. Would you like me to save Africa for you?