Feel like we’ve got a lot of tech savvy people here seems like a good place to ask. Basically as a dumb guy that reads the news it seems like everyone that lost their mind (and savings) on crypto just pivoted to AI. In addition to that you’ve got all these people invested in AI companies running around with flashlights under their chins like “bro this is so scary how good we made this thing”. Seems like bullshit.

I’ve seen people generating bits of programming with it which seems useful but idk man. Coming from CNC I don’t think I’d just send it with some chatgpt code. Is it all hype? Is there something actually useful under there?

  • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
    992·
    11 months ago

    I don’t think the comparison with crypto is fair.

    People are actually using these models in their daily lives.

    • PeepinGoodArgs@reddthat.com
      51·
      11 months ago

      I’m one of those that use it in my daily life.

      The current top comment says it’s “really good at filling in gaps, or rearranging things, or aggregating data or finding patterns.”

      So, I use Perplexity.ai like you would use Google. Except I don’t have to deal with shitty ads and a bunch of filler content. It summarizes links for me, so I can more quickly understand whatever I’m searching for. However, I personally believe it’s important to look directly at the sources once I get the summary, if only to verify the summary. So, in this instance, I find AI makes understanding a topic easier and faster than alternatives.

      As a graduate student, I use ChatGPT extensively, but ethically. I’m not writing essays with it. I am, however, downloading lecture notes as PDFs and having ChatGPT rearrange that information into outline. Or I copy whole chapters from a book and have it do the same. Suddenly, my reading time is cut down by like 45 minutes because it takes me 15 minutes to get output that I just copy and paste into my notes, which I take digitally.

      Honestly, using it like I do, it’s pretty clear that AI is both as scary as it sounds in some instances and not, in others. The concern with disinformation during the 2024 election is a real concern. I could generate essays with it with whatever conclusions I wanted. In contrast, the concern that AI is scary smart and will take over the world is nonsense. It’s not smart in any meaningful sense and doesn’t have goals. Smart bombs are just dumb bombs with the ability to hone in better on the target, it’s still has the mission of blowing shit up given to it by some person and inherent in its design. AI is the same way.

    • hglman@lemmy.ml
      124·
      11 months ago

      People have actually used crypto to make payments. Crypto is valuable, but only when it’s widely adopted. Before you say something like “use a database,” you might take the time to understand what decentralized blockchains are accomplishing and namely removing a class of corruption from any information coordination tasks.

      • beatle@aussie.zone
        62·
        11 months ago

        Why bother with the overhead of blockchain when users centralise on a handful of banks exchanges.

        • hglman@lemmy.ml
          62·
          11 months ago

          Exchanges only exist to convert away from the crypto. If that’s the standard money, they don’t live. They aren’t the banks of the blockchain. They are the intersection of fiat banks and the blockchain.

          • beatle@aussie.zone
            62·
            11 months ago

            Strongly disagree, some exchanges don’t even have fiat on-ramps.

            Blockchain is inefficient and pointless when users centralise on coinbase and binance.

      • mim@lemmy.sdf.org
        111·
        11 months ago

        And yet, people still don’t use crypto in their daily lives. How many years has it been?