I've been listening to faster and worse (see https://awful.systems/comment/6216748 ) and I like it so I wanted to give it ups.
(I think this and the memory palace are the only micro podcasts I've listened to. idk why it isn't a more common format)
this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025
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Big brain tech dude got yet another clueless take over at HackerNews etc? Here's the place to vent. Orange site, VC foolishness, all welcome.
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thanks! It might be uncommon because it's a real pain in the ass to keep it short. Every time I make one I stress about how easily my point can be misunderstood because there are so few details. Good way to practice the art of moving on
this is also why pivot to AI is mostly 200-250 words, not 1200 or 2000 or 8000
It's probably more sensible for me to try writing short bits too, instead of faffing around with videos
apparently video is just huuuuge
if it's any reassurance, i've understood all your points perfectly! you're basically making an argument for all UI to be more apple-like
holy shit, I really don't know if this is real or a joke
:)
really, thanks for listening! It's fun making them and nice to know they are being listened to
ran into this earlier (via techmeme, I think?), and I just want to vent
“The biggest challenge the industry is facing is actually talent shortage. There is a gap. There is an aging workforce, where all of the experts are going to retire in the next five or six years. At the same time, the next generation is not coming in, because no one wants to work in manufacturing.”
"whole industries have fucked up on actually training people for a run going on decades, but no the magic sparkles will solve the problem!!!11~"
But when these new people do enter the space, he added, they will know less than the generation that came before, because they will be more interchangeable and responsible for more (due to there being fewer of them).
I forget where I read/saw it, but sometime in the last year I encountered someone talking about "the collapse of ..." wrt things like "travel agent", which is a thing that's mostly disappeared (on account of various kinds of services enabling previously-impossible things, e.g. direct flights search, etc etc) but not been fully replaced. so now instead of popping a travel agent a loose set of plans and wants then getting back options, everyone just has to carry that burden themselves, badly
and that last paragraph reminds me of exactly that nonsense. and the weird "oh don't worry, skilled repair engineers can ready multiclass" collapse equivalence really, really, really grates
sometimes I think these motherfuckers should be made to use only machines maintained under their bullshit processes, etc. after a very small handful of years they'll come around. but as it stands now it'll probably be a very "for me not for thee" setup
what pisses me off even more is that parts of the idea behind this are actually quite cool and worthwhile! just..... the entire goddamn pitch. ew.
https://www.theverge.com/news/614883/humane-ai-hp-acquisition-pin-shutdown
lol, lmao
edit: I've ragged on John Gruber in the past, but he's really lighting them up 🔥
116 million
There’s no way that what they’re buying is worth that much.
In other news, Brian Merchant's going full-time on Blood in the Machine.
Did notice a passage in the annoucement which caught my eye:
Meanwhile, the Valley has doubled down on a grow-at-all-costs approach to AI, sinking hundreds of billions into a technology that will automate millions of jobs if it works, might kneecap the economy if it doesn’t, and will coat the internet in slop and misinformation either way.
I'm not sure if its just me, but it strikes me as telling about how AI's changed the cultural zeitgeist that Merchant's happily presenting automation as a bad thing without getting backlash (at least in this context).
will automate millions of jobs if it works, might kneecap the economy
will kneecap the economy if it works, too. Because companies certainly aren't going to keep people employed in those millions of jobs.
I mean, I love the idea of automation in the high level. Being able to do more stuff with less human time and energy spent is objectively great! But under our current economic system where most people rely on selling their time and energy in order to buy things like food and housing, any decrease in demand for that labor is going to have massive negative impacts on the quality of life for a massive share of humanity. I think the one upside of the current crop of generative AI is that it ~~threatens~~ claims to threaten actual white-collar workers in the developed world rather than further imisserating factory workers in whichever poor country has the most permissive labor laws. It's been too easy to push the human costs of our modern technology-driven economy under the proverbial rug, but the middle management graphic design Chadleys of the US and EU are finding it harder to pretend they don't exist because now it's coming for them too.
automation is good because big tv. once, no big tv. now big tv
more seriously I can't really criticize automation in complete generality. it's way too broad a concept. I like having abundant food and gay people talking to me on my phone. but we all know the kind of automation merchant is referencing does very little besides concentrate power with the ultra wealthy
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On a semi-related note, I suspect we're gonna see a pushback against automation in general at some point, especially in places where "shitty automation".
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@lritter/114001505488538547
master: welcome to my Smart Home
student: wow. how is the light controlled?
master: with this on-off switch
student: i don't see a motor to close the blinds
master: there is none
student: where is the server located?
master: it is not needed
student: excuse me but what is "Smart" about all of this?
master: everything.
in this moment, the student was enlightened
What if HPMOR but Harry is Charlie Manson?
--2025, apparently
this article came to mind for something I was looking into, and then on rereading it I just stumbled across this again:
Late one afternoon, as they looked out the window, two airplanes flew past from opposite directions, leaving contrails that crossed in the sky like a giant X right above a set of mountain peaks. Punchy with excitement, they mused about what this might mean, before remembering that Google was headquartered in a place called Mountain View. “Does that mean we should join Google?” Hinton asked. “Or does it mean we shouldn’t?”
But Hinton didn’t want Yu to see his personal humidifying chamber, so every time Yu dropped in for a chat, Hinton turned to his two students, the only other people in his three-person company, and asked them to disassemble and hide the mattress and the ironing board and the wet towels. “This is what vice presidents do,” he told them.
so insanely fucking unserious
Has he never heard of a humidifier? Good lord.
I am willing to bet the upshot here is that he has certain very specific ideas about how humidifiers can be improved, and of course will accept nothing less
Amazon Prime pulling some AI bullshit with, considering the bank robbery in the movie was to pay for surgery for a trans woman, a hint of transphobia (or more likely, not a hint, just the full reason).