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Comment by simonw

6 months ago

"AI has no utility" is a pretty wild claim to make in the tail end of 2025.

Still surprised to see so many take this as such a hot claim. Is there hype, absolutely, is there value being driven also absolutely.

Whenever I see someone say AI has no utility, I'm happy that I don't have to waste time in an argument against someone out of touch with reality.

  • I'm more unhappy than happy, as there are plenty of points about the very real bad side of AI that are hurt by such delusional and/or disingenuous arguments.

    That is, the topic is not one where I have already picked a side that I'd like to win by any means necessary. It's one where I think there are legitimate tradeoffs, and I want the strongest arguments on both sides to be heard so we get the best possible policies in the end.

    • I agree, but you can't win against religious people. Better spend your time talking to the rest of us.

      The article made a really interesting and coherent argument, for example. That's the kind of discourse around the topic I'd like to see.

  • If AI is so useful, we should have a ton of data showing an increase in productivity across many fields. GDP should be skyrocketing. We haven’t seen any of this, and every time a study is conducted, it’s determined that AI is modestly useful at best.