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> Flash is in high demand I said for a few years to many a downvote on HN, everyone wants AI, nobody wants to pay the true costs, the AI race will turn into a

> Flash is in high demand I said for a few years to many a downvote on HN, everyone wants AI, nobody wants to pay the true costs, the AI race will turn into a "race to the bottom" that is, who can give you the most compute for the lowest cost, and still remain profitable?

kokanee 3mo ago
Does everyone want AI?
- glitchcrab 3mo ago
  Single data point; no, I don't. I preferred the pre-AI world. It makes me sad that we'll never see it again.
  - champagnepapi 3mo ago
    Personally, In SWE, i think the industry has made a grave mistake with the agents and we're just one big Catastrophe waiting to happen. I do think that there is very real value when software engineers use these tools as something akin to exoskeletons that allow the human to do more, rather than just fully replacing them. However, I'm finding more and more that companies are slop shops and just attempting to automate all of their software engineering. That will certainly end terribly. I hope we are not cannon fodder.
  - claytongulick 3mo ago
    I think (hope?) we will. Check out the New Luddite movement [1] [2] [1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/business/ai-luddite-movement-screens https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/business/ai-luddite-movement-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism
  - giancarlostoro 3mo ago
    You could always become Amish and then it all goes away... ;)
  - Der_Einzige 3mo ago
    Crab in a bucket. You choose your name well.
- bluGill 3mo ago
  For what? There are some things I want AI for because it does it well. There are some things I don't want AI for because it just makes a mess (hallucinations). Maybe the next AI will be different and we will have the conversation again.
  - pferde 3mo ago
    Indeed, it kills our planet, our culture and our economy extremely well. Oh yes, and some code monkeys enjoy that it can make computer code on the side.
    - CamperBob2 3mo ago
      Other sites beckon.
- giancarlostoro 3mo ago
  I guess it should be said, of everyone who wants AI, they don't want to pay the expense for it to the level they want to use it.
- WarmWash 3mo ago
  No. But people want what AI does for them. It's a tragedy of the commons situation.
svachalek 3mo ago
That said though, Flash isn't it. The prices on the latest flash models put Sonnet and Terra to shame.
simianwords 3mo ago
> I said for a few years to many a downvote on HN, everyone wants AI, nobody wants to pay the true costs, the AI race will turn into a "race to the bottom" that is, who can give you the most compute for the lowest cost, and still remain profitable? I keep seeing this but this line of thinking doesn't make any sense. What does it really mean? There are expensive models that increase the probability of you doing your task under a lower cost. That means you can't use Gemma for coding your new compiler - it would just be overall costlier. Heavier models are cheaper at more complicated tasks because they use fewer turns and fewer mistakes. Cheaper models are more likely to be cheap at less complicated tasks. Like if you just ask Gemma "Hi" it would probably be cheaper than asking Opus. So what does this statement really mean? People don't want to pay the extra for a more costly model? Why wouldn't you? It reduces your overall cost!
- bigyabai 3mo ago
  > Why wouldn't you? It reduces your overall cost! Because real Fable usage starts at $20/month, and has oppressive usage limits even at that (ridiculous) monthly price. Compared to my $3/month GLM-5.2 subscription, I have never felt like I was leaving capabilities on the table by refusing to cough up $20 for 15 minutes of Fable use per day.
  - simianwords 3mo ago
    This is the wrong way to look at it. If you have a complicated task , you can solve it for cheaper if you used Fable. It will use fewer turns to achieve the same result. You can solve it for cheaper if you use GLM but if you are involved in it more, but that defeats the purpose.
    - bigyabai 3mo ago
      It's not cheaper if the price of admission is $20 for the first taste. And it's definitely not cheaper to pay per-token versus using my GLM-5.2 quota.
      - 3mo ago

kokanee 3mo ago

Does everyone want AI?

glitchcrab 3mo ago
Single data point; no, I don't. I preferred the pre-AI world. It makes me sad that we'll never see it again.
- champagnepapi 3mo ago
  Personally, In SWE, i think the industry has made a grave mistake with the agents and we're just one big Catastrophe waiting to happen. I do think that there is very real value when software engineers use these tools as something akin to exoskeletons that allow the human to do more, rather than just fully replacing them. However, I'm finding more and more that companies are slop shops and just attempting to automate all of their software engineering. That will certainly end terribly. I hope we are not cannon fodder.
- claytongulick 3mo ago
  I think (hope?) we will. Check out the New Luddite movement [1] [2] [1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/business/ai-luddite-movement-screens https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/08/business/ai-luddite-movement-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism
- giancarlostoro 3mo ago
  You could always become Amish and then it all goes away... ;)
- Der_Einzige 3mo ago
  Crab in a bucket. You choose your name well.
bluGill 3mo ago
For what? There are some things I want AI for because it does it well. There are some things I don't want AI for because it just makes a mess (hallucinations). Maybe the next AI will be different and we will have the conversation again.
- pferde 3mo ago
  Indeed, it kills our planet, our culture and our economy extremely well. Oh yes, and some code monkeys enjoy that it can make computer code on the side.
  - CamperBob2 3mo ago
    Other sites beckon.
giancarlostoro 3mo ago
I guess it should be said, of everyone who wants AI, they don't want to pay the expense for it to the level they want to use it.
WarmWash 3mo ago
No. But people want what AI does for them. It's a tragedy of the commons situation.

svachalek 3mo ago

That said though, Flash isn't it. The prices on the latest flash models put Sonnet and Terra to shame.

simianwords 3mo ago

> I said for a few years to many a downvote on HN, everyone wants AI, nobody wants to pay the true costs, the AI race will turn into a "race to the bottom" that is, who can give you the most compute for the lowest cost, and still remain profitable? I keep seeing this but this line of thinking doesn't make any sense. What does it really mean? There are expensive models that increase the probability of you doing your task under a lower cost. That means you can't use Gemma for coding your new compiler - it would just be overall costlier. Heavier models are cheaper at more complicated tasks because they use fewer turns and fewer mistakes. Cheaper models are more likely to be cheap at less complicated tasks. Like if you just ask Gemma "Hi" it would probably be cheaper than asking Opus. So what does this statement really mean? People don't want to pay the extra for a more costly model? Why wouldn't you? It reduces your overall cost!

bigyabai 3mo ago
> Why wouldn't you? It reduces your overall cost! Because real Fable usage starts at $20/month, and has oppressive usage limits even at that (ridiculous) monthly price. Compared to my $3/month GLM-5.2 subscription, I have never felt like I was leaving capabilities on the table by refusing to cough up $20 for 15 minutes of Fable use per day.
- simianwords 3mo ago
  This is the wrong way to look at it. If you have a complicated task , you can solve it for cheaper if you used Fable. It will use fewer turns to achieve the same result. You can solve it for cheaper if you use GLM but if you are involved in it more, but that defeats the purpose.
  - bigyabai 3mo ago
    It's not cheaper if the price of admission is $20 for the first taste. And it's definitely not cheaper to pay per-token versus using my GLM-5.2 quota.
    - 3mo ago