Comment by entech
8 days ago
To me, this is highlighting the fall of modern media - people have lost trust in MSM and have flocked to 'influencers' and 'thought leaders'. There is no checking for credibility, veracity of claims, or any relevant expertise. This is basically vibe news, sentiment peddling.
I could say AI is here - we don't even need to do research anymore. All I need to say is: "Claude, cure cancer", go away for 4 hours to drink my coffee, come back and boom - cancer cured. Perfect research ready for funding and trials.
People would call me crazy. But what if I say 'PHARMACEUTICAL CEO', 'PhD', 'MULTIPLE COMMERCIAL DRUG SUCCESSES' - people will eat it up.
Let's see what you can find out about Matt Shumer, the AI CEO, from his public profiles:
No technical background - looks like a business 'entrepreneurial' degree from what looks like a middle-of-the-road school No experience working anywhere other than the companies he founded No notable exits or commercial success from the companies he founded And if you dig deeper, it appears that:
His latest startup is a scam https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41484981 He is the CEO of a startup He's trend-hopping on the 'new thing' (all in with VR in 2019, now AI) - incredible that there is no crypto in there The post offers no concrete evidence for its claims and is peddling fear and sentiment, yet somehow respected publications write opinion pieces about his article, credible people retweet it, and it goes MEGA viral.
The only credit I am willing to give here is that he managed to accurately reflect the vibes that resonate with people, which is really a shame because this is what people actually think.
What's worse is that now he probably has legitimate people seeking his views and opinions on technical matters because he's got it 'so right' and he is so 'knowledgeable' about it.
Hopefully someone can succeed in online reputation management for websites, content, and people, and help us separate credible from grift.
Absolutely agreed—seeing this post continue to circulate across all forms of media with seemingly zero critical thinking or evaluation of its author’s credibility reminds me of the Zoolander “I feel I’m taking crazy pills” meme.
I remembered this guy from his “Reflection 70b” scam in 2024. That should have basically put his credibility at zero, but clearly it has not.
I found this interaction in the HN comments from the time of that minor scandal to be prescient:
>> It's amazing what people will do for clout. His whole reputation is ruined. What was Schumer's endgame?
> But does reputation work? Will people google "Matt Shumer scam", "HyperWrite scam", "OthersideAI scam", "Sahil Chaudhary scam", "Glaive AI scam" before using their products? He wasted everyone's time, but what's the downside for him? Lots of influencers did fraud, and they do just fine.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41485180