The Generative AI Con
www.wheresyoured.at
It's been just over two years and two months since ChatGPT launched, and in that time we've seen Large Language Models (LLMs) blossom from a novel concept into one of the most craven cons of the 21st century — a cynical bubble inflated by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman built to sell

cross-posted from: https://ponder.cat/post/1675150

I refuse to sit here and pretend that any of this matters. OpenAI and Anthropic are not innovators, and are antithetical to the spirit of Silicon Valley. They are management consultants dressed as founders, cynical con artists raising money for products that will never exist while peddling software that destroys our planet and diverts attention and capital away from things that might solve real problems.

I’m tired of the delusion. I’m tired of being forced to take these men seriously. I’m tired of being told by the media and investors that these men are building the future when the only things they build are mediocre and expensive. There is no joy here, no mystery, no magic, no problems solved, no lives saved, and very few lives changed other than new people added to Forbes’ Midas list.

None of this is powerful, or impressive, other than in how big a con it’s become. Look at the products and the actual outputs and tell me — does any of this actually feel like the future? Isn’t it kind of weird that the big, scary threats they’ve made about how AI will take our jobs never seem to translate to an actual product? Isn’t it strange that despite all of their money and power they’re yet to make anything truly useful?

My heart darkens, albeit briefly, when I think of how cynical all of this is. Corporations building products that don’t really do much that are being sold on the idea that one day they might, peddled by reporters that want to believe their narratives — and in some cases actively champion them. The damage will be tens of thousands of people fired, long-term environmental and infrastructural chaos, and a profound depression in Silicon Valley that I believe will dwarf the dot-com bust.

And when this all falls apart — and I believe it will — there will be a very public reckoning for the tech industry.

  • BlameThePeacockEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    Am I not in an industry when I do work?

    I’m not the only freelancer I know using this and making more money.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      1·
      3 days ago

      Again, this is what you said:

      genai tools are already increasing productivity in many industries.

      How many industries do you work in? Let’s see a number.

      • BlameThePeacockEnglish
        1·
        3 days ago

        Depends on how you count.

        I have four regular clients in post secondary education, local government, finance, and transportation.

        Given that I’m doing work inside those companies, it could be argued I work in four different industries.

        That being said, the tasks I do happen in almost every company larger than a handful of people.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          1·
          3 days ago

          Well it’s pretty disturbing that you claim you work in the education industry since you think that “four” is the same as “many” and that you suggest that because it increases your personal productivity that it increases productivity industry-wide.

          • BlameThePeacockEnglish
            1·
            3 days ago

            And it’s pretty disturbing that despite the absolutely massive avalanche of evidence that these tools have valid use cases that improve productivity, you’re pretending they dont.

            I don’t care to argue, you keep ignoring them, I’m gonna keep making more money for less effort.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              1·
              3 days ago

              Massive avalanche of evidence? You didn’t provide a shred of evidence. You just talked about how it’s useful to you.

              If you want to talk about ignoring evidence, I provided you with multiple links, all of which you hand waved away because you find it useful.

              You also think “four” is “many.” Good luck finding people who agree with you on that.