We need a tech hype that is not terminally tainted as an anti-human abomination. Is it too much to ask for? Surely those gazillions of GPUs can be deployed to do something actually useful? Are we beyond redemption?
If anything causes the AI bubble to burst, it's that 99% of finding is going to companies that don't solve any real problems. It's shocking that the only major player in real world problem solving is DeepMind.
I'm going to say "when" and not "if" here, because of your assertion above. VC's spending multiple fortunes on shoehorning in shit that nobody wants or needs.
I'd say most will fail (although this is the case for most startups anyway) but the question is if there will be any massive success that pulls the average up, so to speak.
As we work our way to the last two steps of the Gartner Hype Cycle, there will no doubt be legitimate uses. But shoving "AI" in everything will be a punchline for a long time to come.
What you consider “useful” is not useful for others, and vice versa. For some 19 year olds, curating their IG feeds and making the smoothest transition on TikTok to go viral is actually important.
It sounds stupid, but we went through this entire debate back in early 2010s. FB/IG/TT/YT obviously won, and seems like that’s what majority of people prefer doing.
This relativism applies to some extent to pure entertainment activities. What is worthwhile, trendy, in-group (or whatever) does vary enormously by region, age group etc.
But these platforms are now for most people "all-there-is". They have replaced effectively any other source of information. What can go wrong when algorithmically titillated echo chambers shape people's mental horizons and behavior? We are increasingly finding out.
