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It's absolutely wild and scary watching how much money is being spent on pushing AI down the unwilling public's throats. Nobody wants this. Yet we're hiring exp

It's absolutely wild and scary watching how much money is being spent on pushing AI down the unwilling public's throats. Nobody wants this. Yet we're hiring expensive AI researchers and developers, buying datacenters full of GPUs, and now paying "partner" companies, to deliver this thing that nobody is asking for. What in the world is going on here? What am I not understanding?

theideaofcoffee 1y ago
I think it’s probably as simple as some old fool on Sand Hill Rd got suckered into writing a check for this nonsense with promises of world domination by AI’s promised infinite profit with minimal cost. And to keep the whole charade going, everyone has to pretend that this will eventually see some returns otherwise the whole farcical system will come crashing down. We can only hope that happens and some correction rears its head. The end result being all of us suffers in some way for the greed of a handful.
Disposal8433 1y ago
> What in the world is going on here? What am I not understanding? I don't think you're wrong in any way. I've been in denial for the past few years because the world is going crazy with AI and politics. But it's actually very good for me because I'm shunning all that shit and I focus on local people and local problems more: taking care of the finances of a non-profit, being more available for my friends and relatives, solving actual problems that people may have, etc. Denial is great and it makes more active. The downside is that I now have the calendar of a CEO and less time for me, but I believe the world need some care and we all can do something about it by doing small stuff.
overfeed 1y ago
FOMO. Everyone is trying to landgrab as much territory as possible with the hope of piles and piles of money in the future. What looks like irrational exuberance to sceptics is a perfectly reasonable attempt to not miss out on the next "iPhone moment" by the believers.
- ryandrake 1y ago
  But the land they're grabbing is desert with no water and no access roads. Does anyone besides the few with their wealth invested in AI believe that AI is the next iPhone moment?
  - overfeed 1y ago
    > Does anyone besides the few with their wealth invested in AI believe that AI is the next iPhone moment? It doesn't matter because for such an industry-wide hype, there are no consequences for being wrong. If a CEO ignores AI and it does become the next iPhone moment, they'll be deposed in short order. If "everyone" is wrong and nothing comes off AI, they'll write off some investments, write some "What we learned" LinkedIn posts, and carry on. Our existing framework has no incentives to correct or innoculate agaisnt hypes led by the management/capital classes
rchaud 1y ago
What's not to understand? Enormous amounts of money have accrued to a tiny proportion of humanity in the past 30 or so years. There is no way there wouldn't be tons of waste when spending decisions are made by so few people. Now add in the fact that these decision makers are often openly avaricious egomaniacs who don't even make symbolic efforts help the poor and vulnerable, that narrows the scope of their spending to wasteful, sometimes outright harmful investments.
- pessimizer 1y ago
  > Enormous amounts of money have accrued to a tiny proportion of humanity in the past 30 or so years. 30 or so? So Reagan and Bush I somehow get a pass? It's literally still the same people and their stupid children.
  - rchaud 1y ago
    Reaganism set the wheels in motion but those wheels didn't actually come off until events like the dotcom boom normalized billion dollar valuations for half baked MVPs, creating a generation of future nutters like Thiel, Bezos, Zuck and Musk. Things accelerated even further with zero interest rate policy post-2008, making capital free for this "job creator" class while working people were charged "market rates" for home and education loans.
- andrekandre 1y ago
  > Enormous amounts of money have accrued to a tiny proportion of humanity in the past 30 or so years. There is no way there wouldn't be tons of waste when spending decisions are made by so few people. the other issue with that isn't just the decision making but the fact so much capital is accruing at the top they have nowhere else to put it all, meanwhile average people are struggling to pay rent and buy food...

theideaofcoffee 1y ago

I think it’s probably as simple as some old fool on Sand Hill Rd got suckered into writing a check for this nonsense with promises of world domination by AI’s promised infinite profit with minimal cost. And to keep the whole charade going, everyone has to pretend that this will eventually see some returns otherwise the whole farcical system will come crashing down. We can only hope that happens and some correction rears its head. The end result being all of us suffers in some way for the greed of a handful.

Disposal8433 1y ago

> What in the world is going on here? What am I not understanding? I don't think you're wrong in any way. I've been in denial for the past few years because the world is going crazy with AI and politics. But it's actually very good for me because I'm shunning all that shit and I focus on local people and local problems more: taking care of the finances of a non-profit, being more available for my friends and relatives, solving actual problems that people may have, etc. Denial is great and it makes more active. The downside is that I now have the calendar of a CEO and less time for me, but I believe the world need some care and we all can do something about it by doing small stuff.

overfeed 1y ago

FOMO. Everyone is trying to landgrab as much territory as possible with the hope of piles and piles of money in the future. What looks like irrational exuberance to sceptics is a perfectly reasonable attempt to not miss out on the next "iPhone moment" by the believers.

ryandrake 1y ago
But the land they're grabbing is desert with no water and no access roads. Does anyone besides the few with their wealth invested in AI believe that AI is the next iPhone moment?
- overfeed 1y ago
  > Does anyone besides the few with their wealth invested in AI believe that AI is the next iPhone moment? It doesn't matter because for such an industry-wide hype, there are no consequences for being wrong. If a CEO ignores AI and it does become the next iPhone moment, they'll be deposed in short order. If "everyone" is wrong and nothing comes off AI, they'll write off some investments, write some "What we learned" LinkedIn posts, and carry on. Our existing framework has no incentives to correct or innoculate agaisnt hypes led by the management/capital classes

rchaud 1y ago

What's not to understand? Enormous amounts of money have accrued to a tiny proportion of humanity in the past 30 or so years. There is no way there wouldn't be tons of waste when spending decisions are made by so few people. Now add in the fact that these decision makers are often openly avaricious egomaniacs who don't even make symbolic efforts help the poor and vulnerable, that narrows the scope of their spending to wasteful, sometimes outright harmful investments.

pessimizer 1y ago
> Enormous amounts of money have accrued to a tiny proportion of humanity in the past 30 or so years. 30 or so? So Reagan and Bush I somehow get a pass? It's literally still the same people and their stupid children.
- rchaud 1y ago
  Reaganism set the wheels in motion but those wheels didn't actually come off until events like the dotcom boom normalized billion dollar valuations for half baked MVPs, creating a generation of future nutters like Thiel, Bezos, Zuck and Musk. Things accelerated even further with zero interest rate policy post-2008, making capital free for this "job creator" class while working people were charged "market rates" for home and education loans.
andrekandre 1y ago
> Enormous amounts of money have accrued to a tiny proportion of humanity in the past 30 or so years. There is no way there wouldn't be tons of waste when spending decisions are made by so few people. the other issue with that isn't just the decision making but the fact so much capital is accruing at the top they have nowhere else to put it all, meanwhile average people are struggling to pay rent and buy food...