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The current wave of AI seems more like an investment scam to me. Like crypto currencies and NFTs were.

entropi 3y ago
I also agree that it is a bubble, but I feel like it is more of a "dotcom" type of bubble rather than crypto/NFT type of bubble, if it makes any sense.
- DebtDeflation 3y ago
  It makes sense. Investor hopes and the resultant valuations have gotten way ahead of the actual state of the market, but the underlying AI tech is real and useful and being applied everywhere. Crypto/NFT was never anything more than a blatant scam.
- _ugfj 3y ago
  However, the dangers here are immense. There was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVJKj8lcNQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVJKj8lcNQ where they argued for 2028 being an AI election where the person with most computing power wins. Propaganda produced by humans on small scale killed 300 000 people in the US alone in this pandemic https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071284/this-is-how-many-lives-could-have-been-saved-with-covid-vaccinations-in-each-sta https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071... imagine the next pandemic when it'll be produced on an industrial scale by LLMs. Literally millions will die of it. This bubble must be extinguished by all force US regulators possess. There's not much time left, it must banned with prejudice.
Mistletoe 3y ago
https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2c4fad0w6irk838pca3gg/portfolio/money-is-pouring-into-ai-skeptics-say-its-a-grift-shift https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2c4fad0w6irk83... I agree and it is the current last hope investors are putting their dreams in for the overvalued stock market to keep going up. “But what if AI changes everything?” I don’t really see their point of view and I would love to see how AI would usher in this new era of value being created if anyone wants to share. Wouldn’t it more be used to lay off millions of people and information workers that can be replaced by AI, that now can’t buy things?
anonylizard 3y ago
You have companies like Midjourney, making hundreds of millions per month, off a staff of 50. The users of Midjourney aren't there for future riches, they use it either for daily entertainment or for work.
- orwin 3y ago
  I would never use midjourney for work related projects, or stuff I want to sell/publish. For my rpg campaign though :)
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
weevil 3y ago
The interesting difference here is the emotions involved in the marketing and public perception; crypto was largely about hope, NFTs were greed and a quick buck, AI seems to be a mix of embracing the future and fear of the future. Almost all the software engineers I know are sceptical of this wave of AI at best, or openly dismissive at worst. The people I know buying into the hope and/or fear are people with no actual hands on experience, or no technical knowledge beyond the 10,000ft view their engineers describe to them. Generalising, of course, but this has been my observation as the dust settled from the AI boom late last year.
- nuc1e0n 3y ago
  Same as the dot com boom from my perspective. There is real value to be had, but when everyone gets on the bandwagon the real value is obscured by wild speculation. I reckon find some boring undervalued AI startup with a reliable revenue stream from the outset then sit on it for a couple of decades.
  - weevil 3y ago
    These are the guys making the actual money. A few mil in VC is fun but will only get you so far; finding a boring, useful niche to sit in and supply a market long-term is so underrated these days.
flagrant_taco 3y ago
I'd compare it more to VR than NFTs. VR was a technology step that could have had interesting uses for a new experience, pumped up like crazy by VCs that just wanted a new hype train to fill with cheap money. NFTs, at least most of them, were complete frauds from the beginning and only existed to scam users in what was basically a ponzi scheme.

I also agree that it is a bubble, but I feel like it is more of a "dotcom" type of bubble rather than crypto/NFT type of bubble, if it makes any sense.

DebtDeflation 3y ago
It makes sense. Investor hopes and the resultant valuations have gotten way ahead of the actual state of the market, but the underlying AI tech is real and useful and being applied everywhere. Crypto/NFT was never anything more than a blatant scam.
_ugfj 3y ago
However, the dangers here are immense. There was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVJKj8lcNQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoVJKj8lcNQ where they argued for 2028 being an AI election where the person with most computing power wins. Propaganda produced by humans on small scale killed 300 000 people in the US alone in this pandemic https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071284/this-is-how-many-lives-could-have-been-saved-with-covid-vaccinations-in-each-sta https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/13/1098071... imagine the next pandemic when it'll be produced on an industrial scale by LLMs. Literally millions will die of it. This bubble must be extinguished by all force US regulators possess. There's not much time left, it must banned with prejudice.

Mistletoe 3y ago

https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2c4fad0w6irk838pca3gg/portfolio/money-is-pouring-into-ai-skeptics-say-its-a-grift-shift https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2c4fad0w6irk83... I agree and it is the current last hope investors are putting their dreams in for the overvalued stock market to keep going up. “But what if AI changes everything?” I don’t really see their point of view and I would love to see how AI would usher in this new era of value being created if anyone wants to share. Wouldn’t it more be used to lay off millions of people and information workers that can be replaced by AI, that now can’t buy things?

anonylizard 3y ago

You have companies like Midjourney, making hundreds of millions per month, off a staff of 50. The users of Midjourney aren't there for future riches, they use it either for daily entertainment or for work.

orwin 3y ago
I would never use midjourney for work related projects, or stuff I want to sell/publish. For my rpg campaign though :)

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

weevil 3y ago

The interesting difference here is the emotions involved in the marketing and public perception; crypto was largely about hope, NFTs were greed and a quick buck, AI seems to be a mix of embracing the future and fear of the future. Almost all the software engineers I know are sceptical of this wave of AI at best, or openly dismissive at worst. The people I know buying into the hope and/or fear are people with no actual hands on experience, or no technical knowledge beyond the 10,000ft view their engineers describe to them. Generalising, of course, but this has been my observation as the dust settled from the AI boom late last year.

nuc1e0n 3y ago
Same as the dot com boom from my perspective. There is real value to be had, but when everyone gets on the bandwagon the real value is obscured by wild speculation. I reckon find some boring undervalued AI startup with a reliable revenue stream from the outset then sit on it for a couple of decades.
- weevil 3y ago
  These are the guys making the actual money. A few mil in VC is fun but will only get you so far; finding a boring, useful niche to sit in and supply a market long-term is so underrated these days.

flagrant_taco 3y ago

I'd compare it more to VR than NFTs. VR was a technology step that could have had interesting uses for a new experience, pumped up like crazy by VCs that just wanted a new hype train to fill with cheap money. NFTs, at least most of them, were complete frauds from the beginning and only existed to scam users in what was basically a ponzi scheme.