Tim Bray10h ago

1. GenAI is probably going to impact us but how? Nobody knows.
2. The worst thing about GenAI isn't the technology, it's the shitty people: https://karlbode.com/the-problem-with-ai-is-shitty-human-beings [<must-read]
3. We can’t have a grown-up conversation on the subject because the trillion-dollar bet’s fear+greed pressure crowds out truth.
4. When the bubble pops, the shitty people will melt away. Then we can maybe figure it out.
5. We so *SO* need that bubble to pop. Next week would be ideal.

#GenAI

The Problem With AI Is Shitty Human Beings

The problem with AI isn't going to be Skynet. It's going to be amoral extraction class assholes applying half-cooked automation at scale onto deeply broken sectors in exploitative ways in a country too corrupt to have functioning regulators.

The Fine Print*
Show threaddegenerating degenerate

@timbray It's not wrong that part of the problem discussing AI is shitty people... but on Mastodon there's a widespread anti-AI feeling that is driven by (not entirely unreasonable) fear of what it is going to do to them and their disposable income.

That causes them to lash out, shut their minds and for some of them, act like shitty people. The "clippy bubble" popping isn't going to help them or cause them to discuss reality rather than "AI is the Devil".

4:56amWeb
Show threadUkeleleEric1h ago
@hopeless @timbray tbh, a system that is based on theft of other people's work shouldn't even be considered.
Show threaddegenerating degenerate1h ago

@UkeleleEric @timbray Yeah... but is the strawman version of AI that it's perfect to get permission to hate on, the reality?

For example I maintain a large FOSS project with a liberal license, it's perfectly fine with me and the LICENSE if it's used for training AI. I chose the license.

So... it's not right when I use a coding assist AI to claim snootily it's a "system... based on theft of other people's work"... but can we discuss the more complex reality? Or is it not fun like that?