AI isn't useless, but...
Bookmarked AI isn't useless. But is it worth it?.
When I boil it down, I find my feelings about AI are actually pretty similar to my feelings about blockchains: they do a poor job of much of what people try to do with them, they can't do the things their creators claim they one day might, and many of the things they are well suited to do may not be altogether that beneficial. And while I do think that AI tools are more broadly useful than blockchains, they also come with similarly monstrous costs.
Molly White's take on AI is on point. What was interesting for me, is that she's coming from a diametrically opposite starting point compared to myself:
In the earliest months of the LLM mania, my ethical concerns about the tools made me hesitant to try them at all. When my early tests were met with mediocre to outright unhelpful results, I'll admit I was quick to internally dismiss the technology as more or less useless.
I embraced the LLM mania entirely when it first began, and was convinced that generative AI would transform the world. Through extended use of these tools, I've arrived at the exact same conclusion as White does in her piece (which you should read in full, despite me spoiling the end):
I'm glad that I took the time to experiment with AI tools, both because I understand them better and because I have found them to be useful in my day-to-day life. But even as someone who has used them and found them helpful, it's remarkable to see the gap between what they can do and what their promoters promise they will someday be able to do. The benefits, though extant, seem to pale in comparison to the costs.
The hype is insufferable, and not at all indicative of the value of these tools.