Comment by 3pt14159
2 years ago
I remember watching it and I was pretty impressed, but as I was walking around thinking to myself I came to the conclusion that there was something fishy about the demo. I didn't know exactly what they fudged, but it was far too polished to explain how well their current AI demos preform.
I'm not saying there have been no improvements in AI. There is and this includes Google. But the reason why ChatGPT has really taken over the world is that the demo is in your own hands and it does quite well there.
Indeed, and this is how Google used to be as a company. I remember when Google Maps & Earth launched, and how they felt like world-changing technology. I'm sure they're doing lots of innovative science and development still, but it's and advertising/services company now, and one that increasingly talks down to its users. Disappointing considering their early sense of mission.
Thinking back to the firm's early days, it strikes me that some HN users and perhaps even some Googlers have no memory of a time before Google Maps and simply can't imagine how disruptive and innovative things like that were at the time. Being able to browse satellite imagery for the whole world was something previously confined to the upper echelons of the military-industrial complex.
That's one reason I wish the firm (along with several other tech giants) were broken up; it's full of talented innovative people, but the advertising economics at the core of their business model warp everything else.