I can't turn on the radio TV without them talking about AI every 5 minutes. It's bitcoin bullshit allover again. Or Big Data, or 'new media' or etc etc.
Great comparison. Like Blockchain, LLMs are an amazing technology with several potential applications. Like Blockchain, and every other technology, there is a lot more that they can't do than what they can. Like Blockchain, they're being hyped as the This Changes Everything that will finally bring us into "the future" (whatever that is). And finally, like with Blockchain, the people doing the most hyping are the ones that understand the least about the technology.
While I agree in general, Generative AIs have already changed much more about my everyday experience than Blockchain has in all these years.
The difference is that Generative AIs can be applied much more broadly for end users. You can run a small LLM, image generator, voice synthesizer etc at home. I don’t think any run-of-the-mill person actively uses Blockchain or Big Data for anything, really
The media vastly overhype LLMs etc, just like the do any new technology. Venture capitalists jump on the hype train, blowing it out of proportion. However, below all of that is what I consider genuinely transformative technology, with a long-term impact orders of magnitude above Blockchain.
This is pretty categorically false. The main difference between the 2 is how many people need to be on-board for the train to leave the station. With things like Blockchain, and Crypto, it requires a majority of individuals to buy in to the system. If no one is using your currency, it's literally worthless. With something like AI, it doesn't require additional people to buy in for the product to be used. A good example is the help line that fired all their staff and started using an AI instead. This failed pretty spectacularly, but only because the implementation was rushed. There are LOTS of other companies that aren't rushing their implementation.
Exactly. It works well to replace an intern but if you want anything that is fact checked, can draw hands correctly, etc. without plagiarizing you are out of luck.
Over the last few years an easy way to get financed for internal projects within a company, or from VC pigs is to include "crypto", "nano", "3d Printers", "green/recycling", "machine learning" or a host of other similar buzzwords that most corporate executives barely understand.
IMO it's the inevitable outcome when something relatively niche is introduced to the general public all at once.
Suddenly folks who have never encountered generative AI are using it, and freaking out about it -- while those of us who have been engaged all along are a bit more clear eyed.