Ed Zitron systematically exposes smart dumb LLM loving Coli Brehs

Macallik86

Superstar
Supporter
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
6,979
Reputation
1,688
Daps
23,180
Had to suffer through him on a few podcasts that I listen to.

There is a frustration/irony that he has changed his whole schtick to be the "AI is fake" guy... I think what his readers fail to grasp is that he can make a living (telling people they should be) ignoing AI, but most of his audience cannot, and will likely be made redundant due to AI at some point.

He tells people afraid of change that there's nothing to worry about, which indirectly makes them believe that their job is safe, their kids will find employment easily, the tomorrow will be like yesterday, etc, because "AI is a scam".

Yes AI is a bubble, but it is a 'bubble' in the same way that that there was a dot com bubble in the 90s/2000s. Telling people that AI is a scam is like telling people in the 1990s that they don't need to learn about computers. There are still kinks to be worked out for sure, but he is selling a dream for people too afraid to open their eyes on what tomorrow will bring.

I am not one of those "AI will solve all of our problems" people either. I think the next decade at minimum is going to be a shytshow, but the key is to recognize and plan in advance, not listen to hacks like Ed Zitron.
 

Dorian Breh

Veteran
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Messages
22,981
Reputation
14,047
Daps
114,202
Had to suffer through him on a few podcasts that I listen to.

There is a frustration/irony that he has changed his whole schtick to be the "AI is fake" guy... I think what his readers fail to grasp is that he can make a living (telling people they should be) ignoing AI, but most of his audience cannot, and will likely be made redundant due to AI at some point.

He tells people afraid of change that there's nothing to worry about, which indirectly makes them believe that their job is safe, their kids will find employment easily, the tomorrow will be like yesterday, etc, because "AI is a scam".

Yes AI is a bubble, but it is a 'bubble' in the same way that that there was a dot com bubble in the 90s/2000s. Telling people that AI is a scam is like telling people in the 1990s that they don't need to learn about computers. There are still kinks to be worked out for sure, but he is selling a dream for people too afraid to open their eyes on what tomorrow will bring.

I am not one of those "AI will solve all of our problems" people either. I think the next decade at minimum is going to be a shytshow, but the key is to recognize and plan in advance, not listen to hacks like Ed Zitron

Literally not what he says at all.

And all of your points are refuted in the article.

Specifically the difference between the GenAI scam and the dot com bubble.

Specifically the idea that you have to know how to use GenAI to make a living.

Specifically the idea that anyone is going to lose their job to GenAI any time soon.
 

Macallik86

Superstar
Supporter
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
6,979
Reputation
1,688
Daps
23,180
Literally not what he says at all.

And all of your points are refuted in the article.

Specifically the difference between the GenAI scam and the dot com bubble.
Did you read his argument? He goes off on a tangent about GPUs and fiber cables and completely ignore the basic concept that the internet was both a bubble exploited by shytty companies at the time and also lived up to the hype and changed the way the world works.
Specifically the idea that you have to know how to use GenAI to make a living.
You don't need to 'know' GenAI to make a living, you need to supplement your work with AI in order to not become redundant. Here's a better way to frame it:

Here's a rough example:
Human Output: 1 widget a day
AI Output without human intervention: 0.25 widget a day

There are people like Zitron who see this and celebrate, but this comparison is disingenuous because there's a third option:

Human Output + AI Output: 3 widgets a day

If one human can do the work of three workers, then companies will hire less workers. On top of that, the growth of AI output w/o human intervention is continual. Here's a breakdown of the advances over time (timestamped)

Specifically the idea that anyone is going to lose their job to GenAI any time soon.
Tech companies are hitting record profits, yet they are laying people off. This is because AI allows them to create more widgets w/ less human labor. This is something that you/Ed Zitron refuse to acknowledge. There is an entire tech layoffs thread in TLR that you have posted in. There are articles discussing AI-related layoffs, and record-high unemployment for college grads w/ jobs related to AI-heavy fields

You can continue to bury your head in the sand and read Ed Zitron posts to soothe your beliefs about the future, but that doesn't stop the oncoming wave either way
 
Top