Reflections on AI

Forget the sparkles; the trendy metaphor in the AI world lately is the deep .

Instead of treating A.I. like a normal technological development whose emergence and effect is conditioned by the systems and structures already in place, we’re left anxiously awaiting a kind of eschatological product announcement--a deadline before which all we can do is urgently and at all costs prepare, a messianic event after which we will no l... See more

I think--I hope, at any rate--that widespread use may help accomplish that demystification: The more people use A.I. with some regularity, the more broad familiarity they’ll develop with its specific and and consistent shortcomings; the more people understand how LLMs work from practical experience, the more they can recognize A.I. as an impressive... See more

but be careful not to fall for its surface-level charm