← Back to context

Comment by afandian

11 hours ago

I was brought up on the refrain of "aren't computers silly, they do exactly what you tell them to do to the letter, even if it's not what you meant". That had its roots in computers mostly being programmable BASIC machines.

Then came the apps and notifications, and we had to caveat "... when you're writing programs". Which is a diminishing part of the computer experience.

And now we have to append "... unless you're using AI tools".

The distinction is clear to technical people. But it seems like an increasingly niche and alien thing from the broader societal perspective.

I think we need a new refrain, because with the AI stuff it increasingly seems "computers do what they want, don't even get it right, but pretend that they did."

6 comments

afandian

Reply
Lord-Jobo  10 hours ago

We have absolutely descended, and rapidly, into “computers do whatever the fuck they want and there’s nothing you can do about it” in the past 5 years, and gen AI is only half of the problem.

The other half comes from how incredibly opinionated and controlling the tech giants have become. Microsoft doesn’t even ALLOW consent on windows (yes or maybe later), Google is doing all it can to turn the entire internet into a chrome-only experience, and Apple has to be fought for an entire decade to allow users to place app icons wherever they want on their Home Screen.

There is no question that the overly explicit quirky paradigm of the past was better for almost everyone. It allowed for user control and user expression, but apparently those concepts are bad for the wallet of big tech so they have to go. Generative AI is just the latest biggest nail in the coffin.

  • ryandrake  10 hours ago

    We have come a LONG way from the "Where do you want to go today?" of the 90s. Now, it's "You're going where we tell you that you can go, whether you like it or not!"

    • afandian  10 hours ago

      Flash-backs to dial-up and making sure I had my list of websites written down and ready for when I connected.