Lili SaintcrowHuh. I’m starting to see some publishing-adjacent folks who were all hot to jump on the “AI” slopwagon apparently having second thoughts.
Interesting.
(What’s the technical term for when the second-string or fellow-traveler grifters start leaping from the doomed ship?)
Dan Sugalski@lilithsaintcrow for the AI grifters? I think the term is “Check out my new quantum computing startup!”
@wordshaper Ooof. Yeah, you're right; by all indications, “quantum" is the new grift, and they're starting to ramp that up now.
Charlie Stross@lilithsaintcrow @wordshaper The "quantum" grift failed to launch back around 2004, if memory serves, but it's been bubbling under ever since.
Given the current focus on LLMs I reckon the next bubble could well be quantum machine learning, which crosses the streams:
Mark von ÜbelgartenQuantum computing is as real as quantum mechanics and so is the vulnerability to have the name stolen by charlatans.
(On a side note, it has been some time that I don't get quantum pseudoscientific trash on my feeds ... But perhaps because I kept these scammers/crackpots out of my personal bubble)
@vonubelgarten @lilithsaintcrow @wordshaper
Yes, quantum computing is real—but so far it's also useless for any practical purpose (hey, you want to find the longest common prime factors of 31? Break a leg!).
So anyone touting for investment who promises useful results, let alone quantum supremacy, is almost certainly a charlatan. Unless they admit they're still doing basic engineering R&D. In which case the vultures like a16z will give them a wide berth.