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At the bottom of the article is the blurb about the author: > Matt Welsh (mdw@mdw.la) is the CEO and co-founder of Fixie.ai, a recently founded startup develop

At the bottom of the article is the blurb about the author: > Matt Welsh (mdw@mdw.la) is the CEO and co-founder of Fixie.ai, a recently founded startup developing AI capabilities to support software development teams. He was previously a professor of computer science at Harvard University, a director of engineering at Google, an engineering lead at Apple, and the SVP of Engineering at OctoML. He received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley back in the days when AI was still not playing chess very well.

alexchantavy 4y ago
Oh neat, I really enjoyed reading his blog years ago: http://matt-welsh.blogspot.com/ http://matt-welsh.blogspot.com/
InsaneOstrich 4y ago
I took that article a lot less seriously after seeing that the author just founded an AI startup
- dinkumthinkum 4y ago
  I felt like it was fairly irresponsible hand-waving in the ACM.
- tasuki 4y ago
  Why? Perhaps the author's opinion was the reason they founded the startup? Don't the arguments stand on their own, independent of who made them?
  - InsaneOstrich 4y ago
    It's still a definite conflict of interest; the author is making an argument that they have a financial interest to advance regardless of how true it is
- DryLabRebel 4y ago
  Would you prefer an article about the future of AI written by a chef, or a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist?
Uehreka 4y ago
If this article was some sort of “Don’t worry, the AI-enhanced world is gonna be just fine!” puff piece then the author’s credentials here would take be quite discrediting. I think it takes balls to start an AI startup and then post an article urging caution about AI and saying that recent developments should “scare the living daylights out of people like Nick Bostrom… who are (rightfully) concerned…” Like sure, it’s in his interest to portray AI as being powerful. But this article felt pretty candid about what the effects of that power could be.
- brandall10 4y ago
  It's the exact opposite of take balls - it promotes a stance that is in direct alignment with his startup's business model, a pretty strident conflict of interest for an ACM article. It's a fire and brimstone treatise and he's the prophet that is here to shepard you to the promised land. Seriously, this is the text from the home page of Fixie.ai "We're setting out to change the way the world builds software, using AI as a foundation. We're founded by a team from Google and Apple with expertise in AI, systems, and the web. We're funded by Zetta Venture Partners, SignalFire, Bloomberg Beta, and others. We're hiring for multiple roles." Yes, he is a highly competent and experienced individual, but so were legions leading up to the AI winter. Can't place much faith in someone who has something to sell with much as confidence as a ChatGPT response - an academic no less - in regards to the near-term future of this space.

alexchantavy 4y ago

Oh neat, I really enjoyed reading his blog years ago: http://matt-welsh.blogspot.com/ http://matt-welsh.blogspot.com/

InsaneOstrich 4y ago

I took that article a lot less seriously after seeing that the author just founded an AI startup

dinkumthinkum 4y ago
I felt like it was fairly irresponsible hand-waving in the ACM.
tasuki 4y ago
Why? Perhaps the author's opinion was the reason they founded the startup? Don't the arguments stand on their own, independent of who made them?
- InsaneOstrich 4y ago
  It's still a definite conflict of interest; the author is making an argument that they have a financial interest to advance regardless of how true it is
DryLabRebel 4y ago
Would you prefer an article about the future of AI written by a chef, or a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist?

Uehreka 4y ago

If this article was some sort of “Don’t worry, the AI-enhanced world is gonna be just fine!” puff piece then the author’s credentials here would take be quite discrediting. I think it takes balls to start an AI startup and then post an article urging caution about AI and saying that recent developments should “scare the living daylights out of people like Nick Bostrom… who are (rightfully) concerned…” Like sure, it’s in his interest to portray AI as being powerful. But this article felt pretty candid about what the effects of that power could be.

brandall10 4y ago
It's the exact opposite of take balls - it promotes a stance that is in direct alignment with his startup's business model, a pretty strident conflict of interest for an ACM article. It's a fire and brimstone treatise and he's the prophet that is here to shepard you to the promised land. Seriously, this is the text from the home page of Fixie.ai "We're setting out to change the way the world builds software, using AI as a foundation. We're founded by a team from Google and Apple with expertise in AI, systems, and the web. We're funded by Zetta Venture Partners, SignalFire, Bloomberg Beta, and others. We're hiring for multiple roles." Yes, he is a highly competent and experienced individual, but so were legions leading up to the AI winter. Can't place much faith in someone who has something to sell with much as confidence as a ChatGPT response - an academic no less - in regards to the near-term future of this space.