4 ms·

I think it's hilariously tone deaf that travel booking and shopping are the two examples of "agentic" AI that keep popping up.

by krackers 11mo ago

isodev 11mo ago
The main reason I shop online is the joy of hitting that Buy button every now and then for something I want. I don’t want some dumb bot doing that for me (and getting the wrong thing 2/3 of the times) The real chore is having to go to the store to get groceries, doing laundry, pairing socks etc … but solving any of that would require more than just bullshit LLM capabilities.
- ronsor 11mo ago
  > get groceries Isn't that what grocery delivery apps are for, if you really don't want to go to the store. > doing laundry, pairing socks etc … but solving any of that would require more than just bullshit LLM capabilities. Yes, it's a shame robotics (hardware) is harder than software, but that's not really the fault of AI model developers.
  - isodev 11mo ago
    You kind of missed the point of my comment but ok > not really the fault of AI model developers It’s their fault for pushing all this crap in all the things and misleading their investors that there is actually “intelligence” in what we now call AI. > grocery delivery apps are for These are not popular here and for a good reason - you need to enjoy your food and it starts by picking the right ingredients yourself. “someone packs a bag for me and delivers it to my door” is just moving the problem somewhere else, not actual innovation.
    - abracadaniel 11mo ago
      They always mess up a few things, make brain dead substitutions, or get low quality produce. I had bags show up smelling strongly of cigarettes. All for a premium price, an app that takes a surprising amount of time finding things on, and the complete loss of discoverability.
      - duskdozer 11mo ago
        My experience with other shopping sites makes me suspect that with all the ads, tracking, captchas, etc bogging things down, it might be faster to just go to the store yourself.
      - 1718627440 11mo ago
        Can you refuse to pay, since you didn't got what you ordered?
  - smallstepforman 11mo ago
    Actually, for Robotics hardware is a solved problem. Software is struggling to keep up.
    - anticrymactic 11mo ago
      > Actually, for Robotics hardware is a solved problem. I understand the sentiment but this couldn't be further from the truth. There are no robotic hand models that get close to the fidelity of humans (or even other primates). The technology just doesn't exist yet, motors are a terrible muscle replacement. Even completely without software, a puppeteered hand model would be revolutionary.
- anon_cow1111 11mo ago
  Every time I hit a "buy" button it brings nothing but horrible anxiety over what future bullshit I'll have to deal with, either because the product will be garbage or the seller will be garbage. And that's after doing an hour of more research for every god damn thing. Getting groceries is practically relaxing at this point
- Libidinalecon 11mo ago
  Groceries are hysterical to me. The ultimate first world problem. It is just too much to go to the store, put what you want to eat in the cart, pay and walk out. It stresses me out too much and takes time away from wasting time on my phone.
Jcampuzano2 11mo ago
Because for the average person there isn't really that much they get out of todays agentic ai. This is all project managers can think of that applies to the average layperson. It's just shitware being added to everything at very few people's benefit just so they can score some points on the stock market AI hype leaderboard.
Terr_ 11mo ago
I think there are two factors: 1. "Help customers buy crap" is one of the vaguely plausible use-cases which excite investors who see the ads, even if it isn't so exciting for actual customers. 2. The ideas seem sourced from some brain-trust of idle-rich, rather than from the average US consumer. Regardless of how the characters in the ads are presented, all of them are somehow able to prefer saving 60 seconds even if it means maybe losing $60 on a dumb purchase or a non-refundable reservation at the wrong restaurant, etc.
- thewebguyd 11mo ago
  > The ideas seem sourced from some brain-trust of idle-rich , rather than from the average US consumer I think it says more about the economy currently. The "average US consumer" is the wealthy right now. Just 10% of the population, the highest earners, drive nearly 50% of consumption currently and that number is growing. That is the new average US consumer, hence the ads and use cases targeting a more well-off demographic. Everyone else has been left behind.
  - Terr_ 11mo ago
    Adding context: The upper 10% for household income across the US is about $160k/yr. Limiting the scope to people living in high cost-of-living cities (probably smaller than their ideal customer field) that might be $300-400k/yr.
  - A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 11mo ago
    I think my marketing professor said something interesting about it a decade or so ago. Basically, in the US we are moving towards heavy bifurcation. You can cater to the well-off or not well-off. The class was full of kids, who did not seem to understand the implications of what he was already saying then ( not that it technically is that mindblowing, the signs are there.. ).
testartr 11mo ago
searching for a flight and booking it is legitimately one of the most painful online things that exists. it's like the booking industry is feeding on suffering
- BikiniPrince 11mo ago
  It’s intentionally obfuscated because the product developers don’t want to share profits with brokers. They also do not want to compete on in the open because that too lowers odors Otherwise, we would have a system where it would be insanely easy to monitor and alert for price breaks. Hidden cities is probably the best example of how it could work and easily presents the price charts over time. Yet they too were cut off from some providers.
BoredPositron 11mo ago
Probably high priority because the dev and literally everyone else is sick of microsofts selfservice platform for travel.
rsynnott 11mo ago
The industry has decided that 'agentic' stuff is The Future, and has bet the farm on it. However, actual useful applications are, ah, thin on the ground to say the least. Accordingly, industry obsesses over the few use cases which have shown up, even if they are not necessarily use cases that anyone particularly _wants_.
kenjackson 11mo ago
Travel booking is time consuming and frustrating. In doing it now and hate it. If some YC company wants to fix this I’d be hugely appreciative.
Anamon 11mo ago
It's like the "store your recipes" to sell home computers 45 years ago. Not the problem we need solved. Or the "write code more quickly" for LLMs. NOT the problem we need solved.

I think it's hilariously tone deaf that travel booking and shopping are the two examples of "agentic" AI that keep popping up.

isodev 11mo ago

The main reason I shop online is the joy of hitting that Buy button every now and then for something I want. I don’t want some dumb bot doing that for me (and getting the wrong thing 2/3 of the times) The real chore is having to go to the store to get groceries, doing laundry, pairing socks etc … but solving any of that would require more than just bullshit LLM capabilities.

ronsor 11mo ago
> get groceries Isn't that what grocery delivery apps are for, if you really don't want to go to the store. > doing laundry, pairing socks etc … but solving any of that would require more than just bullshit LLM capabilities. Yes, it's a shame robotics (hardware) is harder than software, but that's not really the fault of AI model developers.
- isodev 11mo ago
  You kind of missed the point of my comment but ok > not really the fault of AI model developers It’s their fault for pushing all this crap in all the things and misleading their investors that there is actually “intelligence” in what we now call AI. > grocery delivery apps are for These are not popular here and for a good reason - you need to enjoy your food and it starts by picking the right ingredients yourself. “someone packs a bag for me and delivers it to my door” is just moving the problem somewhere else, not actual innovation.
  - abracadaniel 11mo ago
    They always mess up a few things, make brain dead substitutions, or get low quality produce. I had bags show up smelling strongly of cigarettes. All for a premium price, an app that takes a surprising amount of time finding things on, and the complete loss of discoverability.
    - duskdozer 11mo ago
      My experience with other shopping sites makes me suspect that with all the ads, tracking, captchas, etc bogging things down, it might be faster to just go to the store yourself.
    - 1718627440 11mo ago
      Can you refuse to pay, since you didn't got what you ordered?
- smallstepforman 11mo ago
  Actually, for Robotics hardware is a solved problem. Software is struggling to keep up.
  - anticrymactic 11mo ago
    > Actually, for Robotics hardware is a solved problem. I understand the sentiment but this couldn't be further from the truth. There are no robotic hand models that get close to the fidelity of humans (or even other primates). The technology just doesn't exist yet, motors are a terrible muscle replacement. Even completely without software, a puppeteered hand model would be revolutionary.
anon_cow1111 11mo ago
Every time I hit a "buy" button it brings nothing but horrible anxiety over what future bullshit I'll have to deal with, either because the product will be garbage or the seller will be garbage. And that's after doing an hour of more research for every god damn thing. Getting groceries is practically relaxing at this point
Libidinalecon 11mo ago
Groceries are hysterical to me. The ultimate first world problem. It is just too much to go to the store, put what you want to eat in the cart, pay and walk out. It stresses me out too much and takes time away from wasting time on my phone.

Jcampuzano2 11mo ago

Because for the average person there isn't really that much they get out of todays agentic ai. This is all project managers can think of that applies to the average layperson. It's just shitware being added to everything at very few people's benefit just so they can score some points on the stock market AI hype leaderboard.

Terr_ 11mo ago

I think there are two factors: 1. "Help customers buy crap" is one of the vaguely plausible use-cases which excite investors who see the ads, even if it isn't so exciting for actual customers. 2. The ideas seem sourced from some brain-trust of idle-rich, rather than from the average US consumer. Regardless of how the characters in the ads are presented, all of them are somehow able to prefer saving 60 seconds even if it means maybe losing $60 on a dumb purchase or a non-refundable reservation at the wrong restaurant, etc.

thewebguyd 11mo ago
> The ideas seem sourced from some brain-trust of idle-rich , rather than from the average US consumer I think it says more about the economy currently. The "average US consumer" is the wealthy right now. Just 10% of the population, the highest earners, drive nearly 50% of consumption currently and that number is growing. That is the new average US consumer, hence the ads and use cases targeting a more well-off demographic. Everyone else has been left behind.
- Terr_ 11mo ago
  Adding context: The upper 10% for household income across the US is about $160k/yr. Limiting the scope to people living in high cost-of-living cities (probably smaller than their ideal customer field) that might be $300-400k/yr.
- A4ET8a8uTh0_v2 11mo ago
  I think my marketing professor said something interesting about it a decade or so ago. Basically, in the US we are moving towards heavy bifurcation. You can cater to the well-off or not well-off. The class was full of kids, who did not seem to understand the implications of what he was already saying then ( not that it technically is that mindblowing, the signs are there.. ).

testartr 11mo ago

searching for a flight and booking it is legitimately one of the most painful online things that exists. it's like the booking industry is feeding on suffering

BikiniPrince 11mo ago
It’s intentionally obfuscated because the product developers don’t want to share profits with brokers. They also do not want to compete on in the open because that too lowers odors Otherwise, we would have a system where it would be insanely easy to monitor and alert for price breaks. Hidden cities is probably the best example of how it could work and easily presents the price charts over time. Yet they too were cut off from some providers.

BoredPositron 11mo ago

Probably high priority because the dev and literally everyone else is sick of microsofts selfservice platform for travel.

rsynnott 11mo ago

The industry has decided that 'agentic' stuff is The Future, and has bet the farm on it. However, actual useful applications are, ah, thin on the ground to say the least. Accordingly, industry obsesses over the few use cases which have shown up, even if they are not necessarily use cases that anyone particularly _wants_.

kenjackson 11mo ago

Travel booking is time consuming and frustrating. In doing it now and hate it. If some YC company wants to fix this I’d be hugely appreciative.

Anamon 11mo ago

It's like the "store your recipes" to sell home computers 45 years ago. Not the problem we need solved. Or the "write code more quickly" for LLMs. NOT the problem we need solved.