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This is insane. We have created the greatest tool in human history and people are complaining. I can use it to help me code, fix modeling issues as I learn CAD,
by hersko 2y ago
This is insane. We have created the greatest tool in human history and people are complaining. I can use it to help me code, fix modeling issues as I learn CAD, help me troubleshoot the issues in my two-stroke leafblower engine and can consistently walk me through complex leetcode algorithms. It literally knows everything and people still complain.
- nessbot 2y agoPeople saying things like "It literally knows everything..." unironically is half the reason some of us are bored of it.
- kashnote 2y agoAnd it's cheap. Imagine I told you that you could have direct access to every PhD in the world and they would respond to all of your questions instantly... for $20/mo. Mind-blowing stuff and people still complain.
- nessbot 2y agoBut it's not "direct access to every PhD in the world." You don't really believe that do you?
- crazygringo 2y agoIt gives me better answers on most things than my actual PhD friends do. So... yeah? The funny thing is, it's somewhat less useful for certain business stuff, because so much of that is private within corporations. But the stuff you learn in a PhD program is all published. And it's pretty phenomenal at distilling that information to answer any specific question. Multiple times a week I run into an obscure term or concept in a paper that isn't defined well or doesn't seem to make sense. I ask AI and it explains it to me in a minute. Yes, it's basically exactly like asking a PhD.
- nessbot 2y ago"But the stuff you learn in a PhD program is all published." - What? This is the kind of misunderstanding of knowledge that AI boosters present that drives me insane. And last sentences conflate a PhD with a google search or even dictionary lookup. I mean, c'mon!
- crazygringo 2y agoI'm not talking about learning practical skills like research and teaching, or laboratory skills. I'm talking about the factual knowledge. Academia is built on open publishing. Do you disagree? And the things I'm looking up just can't be found in Google or a dictionary. It's something defined in some random paper from 1987, further developed by someone else in 1998, that the author didn't cite.
- spencerflem 2y agoAnd something that lead you to that paper would be wonderful but instead you have been disconnected from the social side of scholarship and forced to take the AI "at its word". I've also seen AI just completely make up nonsense out of nowhere as recently as last week.
- crazygringo 2y agoHuh? Nobody's forcing me to "take the AI at its word". It's the easiest thing to verify. And I've got enough of the social side of scholarship already. Professors don't need me emailing them with questions, and I don't need to wait days for replies that may or may not come.
- spencerflem 2y agoHow do you verify it or connect it with other papers if it gives you a summary instead of linking to the paper itself?
- spencerflem 2y agoThey do is the thing
- elicksaur 2y agoIt’s like the people who say these things live on a different planet. Or an alternate timeline where a different version of LLMs were invented.
- gh0stcat 2y agoIt’s not actually cheap, just subsidized. Becoming reliant on it now virtually guarantees you will have a tough decision to make later when profitability is actually important.
- goda90 2y agoThe Internet was the greatest tool in human history and it has lead to all sorts of issues. Misinformation at amazing scale that has undone lots of social progress that was made in the 20th century and 2000s. It has driven the greatest wealth disparities ever seen. It has become a harmful addiction for millions of people. That's not to say the Internet hasn't caused good things to happen, but to ignore the bad things is counterproductive. Maybe it's ok to slow down and take a step back to make sure we're not doing more bad than good.
- hardlyfun 2y agoPeople want to remain valuable and this tool takes that away. As long as you still find meaningful ways to contribute, all is good. But this says nothing about all the skills mastered that have been rendered effectively useless. And in time, as this tool gets better, it could rob you of the agency to change your environment.
- gh0stcat 2y agoI’d like to hear an explanation of what mastered skills are useless?
- ilikecakeandpie 2y ago"Computer" used to be a job title https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_(occupation)
- elicksaur 2y agoIt literally knows nothing. It is incapable of knowledge. I’m bored of it.
- john-h-k 2y agoMaybe the tool knows nothing. But it allows me to learn niche things often much faster than via a web browser. So it has to value for me. I think there’s lot of dangers and problems with it and frankly I’d probably be happier if it was never invented. But even then I can still see the value it has
- therealdrag0 2y agoNeither does Wikipedia. But it’s still awesome.
- elicksaur 2y agoNo one says, “Wikipedia knows everything.”
- sigseg1v 2y ago> the greatest tool in human history So would the greatest tool in human history in your mind be something that is used to plagiarise most content in the world and then output correct-30%-of-the-time slop? Or is there another definition you would use? I'm struggling to think how this could even be in the top 10 tools in human history.
- GloamingNiblets 2y agoAs a counterpoint, if I were to be teleported naked onto an abandoned island 10000 years ago and could bring one "tool" with me, a solar powered terminal with an LLM would be my #1 pick. An able-bodied and resourceful individual equipped with an LLM could accomplish far far more than with any other tool I can think of.
- 9rx 2y ago> and people are complaining. Not about the tool, though, but about people (who, granted, have some connection to the tool, even if indirectly). We've had people for hundreds of thousands of years, so fair to say that they have become quite boring.
- placardloop 2y agoIt isn’t even close to being the greatest tool in human history. This type of misunderstanding and hyperbole is exactly why people are tired/bored/frustrated of it. The uncomfortable truth is that AI is the world’s greatest con man. The tools and hype around them have created an environment where AI is incredibly effective at fooling people into thinking it is knowledgeable and helpful, even when it isn’t. And the people it is fooling aren’t knowledgeable enough in the topics being described to realize they’re being conned, and even when they realize they’ve been conned, they’re too proud to admit it. This is exactly why you see people that are deeply knowledgeable in certain areas pointing out that AI is fallible, meanwhile you have people like CEOs that lack the actual technical depth in topics praising AI. They know just enough to think they know what “good” looks like, but not enough to realize when the “good” output is just lipstick on a pig.
- therealdrag0 2y agoIt’s not hype when it’s released and used for concrete tasks. Some are hyping future potential sure. But GP is hyped about how he can use it NOW. Which I agree is very cool.
- BinRoo 2y agoThe human still needs to think, of course. But, I can get to my answer or my primary source using a tool faster than a typical search engine. That's a super power, when used right!
- pera 2y agoThe jump in productivity we had with the world wide web and search engines was several orders of magnitude higher than what you have right now with LLMs, yet I don't remember a single person back in the 2000s calling Google "the greatest tool in human history". Almost sixty years after ELIZA, chatbots seem to still produce a very strong emotional reaction to some folks.
- senordevnyc 2y agoWhat is the greatest tool in human history in your opinion? I think it's too early to call whether AI is the answer to that question, but I think it could be. Yes, LLMs are terrible in all kinds of ways, but there's clearly something there that's of great value. I use it all day every day as a staff-level engineer, and it's making me much better and faster. I can see glimmers of intelligence there, and if we're on a road that delivers human-level intelligence in the next decade, it's difficult to see what else would qualify as the greatest tool humanity has ever invented.
- ilikecakeandpie 2y agoThe cases you're showing here are things that can also be accomplished by looking in books. You're describing Google if it actually worked
- swat535 2y agoA tool that constantly generates incorrect information, lacks any real awareness or internal state, and doesn’t even recognize its own mistakes, even when you explicitly point them out is, frankly, pretty useless. Ever had this conversation with ChatGPT? - ChatGPT: Here's my solution! - You: This is wrong, you need to do X. - ChatGPT: You're right! My solution was wrong because [repeats what you said]. Here’s my revised answer! - You: This is still wrong. I said do X. - ChatGPT: Understood! This clarifies: [still gets it wrong]. Or worse, you can trick it: - ChatGPT: X + Y = Z (which is actually correct) - You: No, X + Y = Q (which is false) - ChatGPT: You're right, X + Y = Q is correct because... I guess it's useful for generating boilerplate code or text, but even then, it often makes mistakes.
- adr1an 2y agoThis. Precise text auto-completer. Without reasoning or cognitive processes whatsoever, just a very marketable illusion of it. Despite the lies, a great tool. As any tool, it takes knowledge and responsibility. Just lile the unix chainsaw.